Rule Andrews’s, Soil Unknown, Jack Herer Grow Journal 2018, 1200 Watt LED

[RuleAndrews]

Finally got it all dialed it!
I had to move the plants into a pitch black room for the night because I was working in the tent and trying to figure out the best way to get the tempatures under 80. They are now sitting at a solid 79!

There was no way I could have gotten away without air being blown over the hps bulb. Temps were over 90 degrees 20" away from the light.

I went out and got a 8" to 6" reducer and ran 6" flex duct everywhere and got rid of the 8".

I have a fan outside the tent blowing the cool basemt air in which seemed to help out alot.

Also added a couple buckets of water with some aquairum bubblers in them. There is a very fine mist of water over the buckets which brought the RH% up to 55!

I used my Lux meter and tried to get every bud site positioned with enough intensity. Right under the hps bulb, I'm getting around 46,000 Lux and around the edges, the lowest is 24,000 Lux. It's really the only way I have to judge where the right position and distance for each light should be.

Total true watts is now 930!

Just about to start week 3 of veg. No more upgrades until next grow.

 

[RuleAndrews]

It's been 21 days since I flipped the lights. I haven't really seen too much of a stretch, but definitely see the benefits of doing a Scrog screen next time because this canopy is so uneven.

Did quite a bit of defoliating so the lower bud sites can get some light too!

 

[RuleAndrews]

I've got a bit of a dilemma looking ahead to the last couple week of my grow.
I will be taking a trip for 10 days and not sure how the timing will work.

Just to recap my timeline to this point.

Week 1 - 2 Seed
Week 1 - 8 Veg
Week 9 - 11 Flower

I'm currently into week 12 (from seeds) which is 4 weeks into flowering.
During week 8th of flowering is when I am going to be leaving...I'll actually be leaving 3 days into week 8.
Seeing the seeds I have grown are unknown, its gonna be hard to estimate accurately when they will be ready to harvest.
I was going to wait until 2 weeks before harvest and then start flushing.
I will have someone house sitting for me, but they would have absolutely no knowledge of growing anything let alone cannabis...
I could always delegate some basic tasks for them if need be.

I'm guess my questions are:
Besides going by the dates, how will I know that I am two weeks away from harvest?
Will harvesting a couple of days before or after have a drastic impact on the bud?
Lets say I am able to harvest the day before I leave, would the buds be OK to hang in my tent unattended for 10 days?

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Time means nothing to actual harvest time, trics and the plant will tell you when it's close and ready to harvest

 

[Pennywise]

If you harvest the day before place the colas in paper bags and put them in your refrigerator. What do the trichomes look like.

 

[RuleAndrews]

Wow that was fast! Great info.
So, when the hairs start changing colors, would be a good time to start flushing?

 

[Pennywise]

Trichomes are what you want to watch.

 

[RuleAndrews]

All I have is a basic magnifying glass right now. It's terrible taking a picture through it. I've never seen a plant at this stage before so I really don't know what it is I'm looking for to tell you the truth.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Look at the pics of trics, cloudy is what I want

 

[Pennywise]

I harvest at all cloudy as well.

 

[RuleAndrews]

Im gonna have to run out and grab a better magnifying glass/micro scope to see...

 

[RuleAndrews]

This is the best I can see...
What kind of magnifying glass or scope do you guys use?

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Get a loup, or USB microscope

 

[RuleAndrews]

At what point do you flush your plants?

 

[RuleAndrews]

My local shop has a 30x loupe. I'm going to grab it when I go out.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Flush when you have about 2 weeks till harvest, ish

 

[Pennywise]

A 30x loupe will work fine.

 

[RuleAndrews]

Flush when you have about 2 weeks till harvest, ish

That's the part i'm having an issue with. Maybe I'm just having a brain block moment...
When they are cloudy, time to harvest, so what will they look like two weeks prior to that?

 

[Pennywise]

Cloudy with a few clear you can start the flush.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Just be patient and watch yer plants progress, you will start understanding as they start changing