Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon Haze

[snack420]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon


Hi friends! I have a trichome update to share with some photos and a couple of questions that crossed my mind.

Tori's trichomes (back right plant). This sample is a snipped end of a sugar leaf, a super small leaf coming out near the top of the bud (at least I think that's what they're called). I wonder if I should be taking samples from other parts of the bud too???

To my eye, maybe 50% or more of the trichomes in this sample from Tori has amber bulbs. Some are definitely whiteish, especially on the right side, but many are colored. It's definitely a light shade, but is that the amber I'm looking for?

I definitely see a purpley color in many of the trichome stalks in this one, which is the same as the first sample. Is that the same indication that the THC is starting to degrade, or does that mean something else?

And Sadie's trichomes. Also taken from a sugar leaf on one of the buds that is close to the light, but not the closest one.

This one from Sadie seems to have a lost of amberish looking triches - I'd estimate maybe as much as 65-80%. This is supposedly 200x magnification and I want to get a magnifier that will show something like 800x for seeing more detail.

Same picture, just with a bit less light and a slightly different angle.

everyone for joining me on this adventure in growing

 

[Major PITA]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

I can't answer most of your questions, but to me, those plants are ready to chop. Hard to tell just from pic's.
Funny, my 60X magnification looks as close, or closer than your 200X.

 

[snack420]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

I can't answer most of your questions, but to me, those plants are ready to chop. Hard to tell just from pic's.
Funny, my 60X magnification looks as close, or closer than your 200X.

Thanks Major, from the trichomes it looks that way to me too - at least to my untrained eye. Really appreciate your input!

The thing that is confusing me a bit is that I was under the impression that all of the pistils are supposed to turn from white to amber or brown before it's ready to harvest, but on many of the buds, there are still white pistils present. Am I misunderstanding things with regard to pistil color and readiness to harvest?

I will say that I checked out a few journals of people who had grown these strains, and the pistils all seemed to be amber/brownish when they harvested, so that's a big part of the uncertainty for me because it seems sort of out of sync with the trichomes for my plants.

 

[Major PITA]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

Some of the grows I've been watching have buds with new pistil growth right up to the end. It can be a balance between new added growth and deterioration of the older growth. You can always chop selectively - one bud or branch at a time. No matter what you do, chances are some of your smoke may be a little more "up" and some a little more couch lock. It all good!

 

[snack420]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

Some of the grows I've been watching have buds with new pistil growth right up to the end. It can be a balance between new added growth and deterioration of the older growth. You can always chop selectively - one bud or branch at a time. No matter what you do, chances are some of your smoke may be a little more "up" and some a little more couch lock. It all good!

Ah, I didn't realize that. It seems there is more variation and subtlety to using the pistils as an indicator of readiness than I had thought. It is day 67 now since I changed the lighting to HPS and also changed the light cycle, so going by the breeder's estimates for flowering time, they should be ready.

Also, I think you're right about the magnification. It doesn't look much more magnified than the 60x lighted loupe I have, though this one lets me snap pictures onto the computer, which I do like.

Here are some pics of the buds last evening. I'm going to give them 24-48 hours of darkness leading up to the harvest, which should happen very soon.

First, the whole gang

And the bud themselves, where many still have a number of white pistils

And a dried bud I plucked off last week

 

[Major PITA]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

Maybe Graytail will give you his thoughts. I'd listen to him over me any day. IMO, he's one of the best growers currently on 420.

 

[Graytail]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

Maybe Graytail will give you his thoughts. I'd listen to him over me any day. IMO, he's one of the best growers currently on 420.

LOL, how can I jus' let that post sit there without a response?!

Thanks for the compliments (and even an old guy needs compliments :: ), but just yesterday I was thinking that the best thing about my journals is that they show how a guy can grow some really fine produce without really knowing what he's doing. It's mostly the kit.

But yeah, I did want to pipe up when I saw the talk about most or all the trichs going amber. I don't time my harvests according to trichs, but I've read enough on this site to understand the process. Amber trichs are "degraded" trichs - past their "prime". What this means is that amber trichs contain cannabinols that are more sedative. Some of the THC and other cannabinols associated with a buzzy high degrade to more sedative ones. I like a buzz and don't want any couchlock, so I'm not interested in having amber trichs. I still get them, but I harvest when the new calyx production stalls. New calyxes are fresh and those are the ones I want. When the plants and the soil are very healthy, the plants will build calyxes in waves, so I look for the end of a wave.

Trichs also will go milky/cloudy before they turn amber, and this is a point a lot of people use to time a harvest. If you want to avoid couchy, you chop when they're milky but not amber. If you want the couchy buzz, you watch them turn amber.

You're timing for a solid couchlock buzz, if that's what you want.

 

[snack420]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

LOL, how can I jus' let that post sit there without a response?!

Thanks for the compliments (and even an old guy needs compliments :: ), but just yesterday I was thinking that the best thing about my journals is that they show how a guy can grow some really fine produce without really knowing what he's doing. It's mostly the kit.

But yeah, I did want to pipe up when I saw the talk about most or all the trichs going amber. I don't time my harvests according to trichs, but I've read enough on this site to understand the process. Amber trichs are "degraded" trichs - past their "prime". What this means is that amber trichs contain cannabinols that are more sedative. Some of the THC and other cannabinols associated with a buzzy high degrade to more sedative ones. I like a buzz and don't want any couchlock, so I'm not interested in having amber trichs. I still get them, but I harvest when the new calyx production stalls. New calyxes are fresh and those are the ones I want. When the plants and the soil are very healthy, the plants will build calyxes in waves, so I look for the end of a wave.

Trichs also will go milky/cloudy before they turn amber, and this is a point a lot of people use to time a harvest. If you want to avoid couchy, you chop when they're milky but not amber. If you want the couchy buzz, you watch them turn amber.

You're timing for a solid couchlock buzz, if that's what you want.

Cool, thanks for sharing how you time your harvest Graytail. I'm going to try and see if I can see the calyx(s?) - haven't really been looking for those specifically up to this point. My understanding from a quick search is that they should be visible under the sugar leaves. Does that sound right?

I initially wanted more of a buzzy non-couchlock high, but I was convinced to harvest toward the later end so I'll go with couchlock this time around. Unless it turns out that I really love couchlock more than I think I will, then I'll shoot for an earlier harvest next time to get a more buzzy result, because I suspect that's really what I want. I know when we tried the earlier picked bud the other day, she was like "yeah, this earlier harvested stuff is what I like!"

Even though I've used a ton of herb over the years, I generally never knew whether it was sativa or indica dominant and never knew if it was harvested earlier or later, so I had no way to really correlate all the info until I started growing myself.

Question for your Graytail. Since you prefer the buzzy type effect, does that mean that you only grow sativa dominant strains and that indica dominant strains would not provide what you're going for? Or, can an indica dominant strain also be harvested earlier to get a more buzzy effect? Everything I've read seems to suggest that sativa dominant strains generally provide the more buzzy high and the indica dominant strains provide a more sedative effect. Is that your experience?

Maybe this means sativas should be harvested earlier and indicas later to maximize their genetic traits? I'm just trying to understand (for my next grow) what the relationship between harvest time and strain type (sativa/indica) is, so I can try to really laser focus on the right combination for our needs.

&

 

[CCOiler]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

{(This one from Sadie seems to have a lost of amberish looking triches - I'd estimate maybe as much as 65-80%. This is supposedly 200x magnification and I want to get a magnifier that will show something like 800x for seeing more detail.

})

If I get this link right........This might help. Pictures on When to Harvest - Trichome colours - Blogs - 420 Magazine ®

IT WORKED!!!!!!!....Hope this helps.

 

[snack420]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

{(This one from Sadie seems to have a lost of amberish looking triches - I'd estimate maybe as much as 65-80%. This is supposedly 200x magnification and I want to get a magnifier that will show something like 800x for seeing more detail.

})

If I get this link right........This might help. Pictures on When to Harvest - Trichome colours - Blogs - 420 Magazine ®

IT WORKED!!!!!!!....Hope this helps.

Thanks RSOiler! I've actually seen that link before and it is helpful. I think there must be a fair amount of variation in how the trichomes look amongst different strains and maybe even different plants because the amber in mine is less strong than shown in that blog. It would help if I had more magnification too! One funny thing about that blog is in the picture where it says "when the trichomes are clear it is too early to harvest", the trichome head shown looks black to me, though the stalk does look clear. Also, the amber is extremely subtle in the picture that shows them 50/50 cloudy/amber, so it's becoming "clearer" to me that this sort of identification of trichome states requires a fair bit of experience. But, that means it's a learning opportunity for me

Also, there are purple looking bits in the stocks of some of my trichomes. I'm guessing that's also THC degradation, but not sure on that one. Looks different than the amber color in the heads of some of the trichomes.

 

[Graytail]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

Nope, the purple is pigmentation and I'm not sure if it signifies anything. I've seen it before on some plants that another member (Shottafire?) grew - little dots of purple in the clear resin. His had them in the bulbs too. It was some stellar weed.

 

[Major PITA]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

Chop 'em ASAP and enjoy!

 

[snack420]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

Nope, the purple is pigmentation and I'm not sure if it signifies anything. I've seen it before on some plants that another member (Shottafire?) grew - little dots of purple in the clear resin. His had them in the bulbs too. It was some stellar weed.

Nice!

I suspected the purple was different than the amber and glad to get some more data on that, so

Hoping my herb is pretty stellar as well

 

[snack420]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

Chop 'em ASAP and enjoy!

Absolutely sir!

The plan is to chop tomorrow. They are now in darkness until then. I flushed last night and mixed up some more of a flush mix (water, FloraKleen & Molasses) but was thinking it might be better to let them dry out today and tomorrow leading up to the chop. I vaguely recall reading that suggestion somewhere. Any opinions on that?

In retrospect, I realize I probably made a couple of mistakes here with regard to the medium and flushing.

One, I don't believe I adequately prepped the coco initially by cleaning it because I didn't realize that was necessary, so that probably affected the pH and composition enough to inhibit the best possible environment for the roots to flourish. Two, when I've been flushing, I've only been feeding the normal amount they use to feed, but not flushing additional amounts because suctioning the runoff water is a time consuming nuisance, especially for the rear plants. My plan for my next grow will solve both of these problems, but figured I'd mention them for my own record keeping. Plus, I suspect my buds would've been bigger if my root system was more healthy and that was partially a function of the coco not being prepared and growing in plastic pots. It will be smart pots next time for sure!

Also, I'm planning to post a comprehensive summary of my mistakes, lesson learned, and ways to optimize for next time after harvesting.

 

[Major PITA]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

Wish I could help, but I don't do coco nor do I flush. I like my babies well-fed and as healthy as possible right to the end.
No matter what, it looks like you'll have some killer smoke.

 

[snack420]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

Wish I could help, but I don't do coco nor do I flush. I like my babies well-fed and as healthy as possible right to the end.
No matter what, it looks like you'll have some killer smoke.

You've already helped quite a bit Major

I did peek in on them last night and those babies are looking so tasty. Can't wait to pluck them, give them a wash, and get them on the drying rack!

 

[snack420]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

So, the harvest happened.

I cut off each branch and all of the remaining fan leaves and any smaller leaves that didn't have crystals on them, making a separate pile of branches for each plant. Bud washing then commenced using 4 buckets,

bucket 1 - room temp h2o and h2o2 (1 pint per 5 gallons of water)
bucket 2 - room temp h2o with 1 cup lemon juice and 1 cup baking soda
bucket 3 - hottest h2o from the tap
bucket 4 - coldest h2o from the tap

I then let each pile dry for a little while as I setup the drying rack in the tent after removing the light to make room for it, because the diameter takes up roughly 75% of the 4x4 tent space. Fortunately, the drying rack has 6 "shelves", so I used one shelf for each plant, but because Vera was so fruitful, I had to use a second shelf for her.

Although I'm quite convinced from the bud washing thread that it should definitely improve the smoothness and purity of the buds, I decided to exclude around 20% of the branches from each plant from washing, just so I can do a side-by-side comparison, as I thought it would be interesting to see any differences.

On the bottom shelf lies all of the leaves that got trimmed. I'll probably use that to make butter and see how it goes.

Currently the humidity in the drying/tent room is 51% and the temp is 68F. I'm hoping that over the next few hours the RH will rise closer to 60% for a slightly slower dry cycle. The ambient RH (at least according to one hygrometer I had out of the room for the last few weeks) has been around 60%, so hopefully the drying room will get to that point as I don't want the buds drying too fast. For air movement I just have the outtake fan running on low, which pulls air out through the carbon filter and into the next room.

More info and pictures in the next day or two...

 

[Major PITA]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

Congrat's on your harvest!
Looking forward to the full report.

 

[CCOiler]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

You did it snacks Congratulations on your harvest. We'll be waiting for you dry weight & smoke report.

 

[snack420]

Re: Snacks - DWC Bucket - 600W MH/HPS Grow Journal - Strawberry Diesel & Super Lemon

Hey guys, a ton!

The buds are drying nicely and I'm monitoring to try and keep them in the 50-55% RH range. I read that the ideal range is 45-55% and I'd like to keep them toward the top end of that range to encourage a slower dry time which is supposed to help. Of course, my 3 hygrometers are slightly off from each other, but at least I have multiple data points to consider. I also read the ideal temps when drying are 65-75F. My temps are going down to the mid 50s at times, but I'm thinking that probably shouldn't warrant too much concern. I think that just means they may dry a bit slower.

All in all, pretty stoked about the harvest though. It looks and smells amazing, and there are heavy amounts of trichomes on most of the buds.

Here are a few pics from the harvesting session.

I should have the dry weight in about a week to ten days. Does the weight continue to decrease during curing?