Snack420's Coco Blue Dream Journal 2014

[snack420]

Quick update...

I harvested this weekend!! Smells absolutely terrific. I'll post some pics in the next couple of days when I get a chance.

Initially I hung the plant upside down, but trimming proved too difficult that way, so I've started clipping off the individual branches and trimmed them over an upside frisbee to catch the leaves and dust. Overall, looks like it's going to be a decent harvest, especially for my first time around. Upon inspecting the trichomes right before harvest, I noticed the majority were cloudy white and some were amber tipped, so I feel like I got it pretty close to the ideal harvest time for maximum THC. I also turned off the lights for a couple of days leading up to the harvest too, which may have helped things.Overall it was about 11 weeks from switching to 12/12 and about 10 weeks from when the first pistils showed.

I feel pretty confident with the curing step, but just hope the drying goes smoothly and I don't have any problems with humidity or mold - which I gather could be disastrous. The humidity has been between 45-60% the last week or so, which my sense is a little high from my reading on the topic, but hopefully not really dangerous to the precious buds. I do have a bunch of baking soda in the tent and have the extraction fan set to minimum (with passive intake) and have turned off the desk fan that was blowing at the plant during flowering. I think this should be good air flow, and hopefully sufficient for drying, but not too much so the drying doesn't happen too quickly, which I understand can be problematic.

Not sure if anyone is reading this, but if so and you have any tips for ensuring a solid drying cycle, please let me know your thoughts.

As always, thanks!

 

[snack420]

Here are some pics of the harvest and the beginning of drying time... Enjoy

 

[Titangoddess]

Yep, someone's reading this
Everything looks good. I would cut the fan. It can cause the outside to dry and seem like the whole plant is dry. Best thing is to let it sit in a stable area and dry like that. You can tell when it is dry enough by snapping the tops of the twigs. If they snap, you can't miss that sound, they are done. If they make a small snap and bend they are not done. I was going to chime in on your trimming but it seems you did a fantastic job nonetheless…The next round will be easy peasy, trust me. You may have problems but you will be able to deal with those better and it is much less stressful
Do you know what you are going to grow? I have a wide selection of seeds that we made ourselves by feminizing them. My absolute favorite is Red Dragon. We got over a pound out of our dragon when we did it. It was our first grow in this state and we loved it so much we did it twice. Both times we got amazing results. And the smoke was the most therapeutic one we have done also. I grew an OG Kush for my mom when she had cancer also that was amazing. The colas on that puppy were outrageous to say the least. Send me a private message when you are ready to start your next cycle and maybe I can help you out a bit. Take it easy and remember smoke report

 

[snack420]

Hey TG, glad you're still here
I had the desk/circulating fan initially off, but then turned it on a couple of days ago, but had it pointing against the tent wall just to create some air flow, but not direct on the buds. I did this based on a few things I read. That said, it sounds like the drying cycle should be slowed down after the first 2-3 days, so I turned off the fan last night, so the only thing creating air flow in the tent is the extraction fan (at the end of the carbon filter) at the top of the tent. The speed is on the lowest setting creating the smallest amount of negative pressure.
Thanks for the trimming kudos! It took a bit getting the hang of it, but it soon became pretty easy, though somewhat tedious. I am keeping the clippings with the intention of using them to make some cannabutter. I'm guessing they have a fair amount of THC based on the look and feel, but of course not as much as the buds. Planning to cure for 2 weeks minimum and longer for stuff I don't use before then (which should be most of it).
QUESTION - if I use the Boveda packs in mason jars to cure, do I need to still open the jars daily to get some fresh air in there?

As far as the next grow goes, not sure yet what strain to try. I'm thinking maybe Super Lemon Haze but am open to suggestions. I'll definitely check out Red Dragon and see if it fits what I'm looking for. I think I want something that is sativa-dominant and has a low risk of becoming a hermie. From what I learned this time around, I'll probably try to get regular instead of feminized seeds.

BTW, I looked at your grow pictures, and WOW, those are some tall plants. Awesome stuff. Gotta run, but will definitely update this when things change and will provide a smoke report too. Hey TG, you gotta get your post count up in order to send/reply to PMs Would love to get some tips from you when I'm ready to start, probably after the new year. Take care!

 

[snack420]

Buds were deemed dry using snap test and then broken off branches and placed in mason jars with Boveda 62% packs to start curing. I'm planning to cure for at least 2 weeks, but going for longer. I am ecstatic to report that all the dried buds add up to a fantastic yield of over 3 ounces of fine flowers!! The total pull was about 93 grams.

My initial estimate was that I'd get somewhere in the 1-1.5 oz range, so yielding this much is really fantastic and unexpected, especially since it's just one plant and my first grow in over 20 years. I guess I was underestimating the weight of some of those buds.

Here are some pics of the bounty...

I'll provide a smoke report when I get a chance later this week, but I've tried it through a vaporizer a couple of times, and it has that distinctive blue dream taste and smell that I remember so well. The effect is a very pleasing medicinal experience. I'll have to see what other adjectives I can come up with that seem appropriate.

Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way and come along and read about my adventures with this grow. It was a lot of fun and I'm super happy with the results. I'll probably be back documenting my next grow sometime in the coming months, and in the meantime, I will try to provide help to other newbies from this amazing learning experience.

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks for sharing your grow with us.

Please head over to the 420 Strain Reviews forum and post your smoke report there too.

I’m moving this to Completed Journals now.

Have you started a new grow you would like to share with us?

If so, please feel free to start a new journal here: Journals in Progress

In the future, whenever you complete a journal, please use the Report Post feature found at the bottom left of every post, so we can be alerted to move it for you.

Hope all is well in your world.

Love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine.

 

[snack420]

Hi Colorado High,

I will certainly use the 'report post' feature the next time I finished a grow. Thanks for pointing it out and moving my grow into the finished journals section.

I hadn't visited the site in a couple of months, but finally got around to posting a smoke report so hopefully some people will find it useful. I'm hoping to start a hydro grow soon and will definitely be thinking of documenting it in a new grow journal too.

Be well and thanks for all the support!

and

 

[David Bowman]

Welcome back snack420! Glad to have you around again brother!!