Amy Gardner Of Eden: Forest Adventures With Doc Bud’s HBB

[Amy Gardner]

Hey @seedlingmtl - glad that was helpful to you and that you found it! Welcome to my journal the outdoor growing season is finished for me now and I have a little hiatus between that and doing a small run indoors. So there’s not a lot of growing action going on at the moment.


I may make a new journal for the indoor grow or I may just keep it all here - I haven’t decided yet. I’ll know what I’ve decided when it happens

 

[Seedlingmtl]

Hey @seedlingmtl - glad that was helpful to you and that you found it! Welcome to my journal the outdoor growing season is finished for me now and I have a little hiatus between that and doing a small run indoors. So there’s not a lot of growing action going on at the moment.


I may make a new journal for the indoor grow or I may just keep it all here - I haven’t decided yet. I’ll know when it happens

No worries....I'm sure I would find it. Your name pops up a lot around here. Keep it up.

 

[Agemon]

Another great write up Amy! Does your oil usually come out really dark green / black? I ordered some cheese cloth, but I have a fine mesh screen that may work better for filtering the oil. I usually just make 1 oz to 1 cup for oils. That's what I usually do for my edibles. I've never really tried topicals before, I found the grape seed oil scent reminds me of asian cooking, may have to drip some on my ribs next bbq.

EDIT: You mentioned those Cherry Bomb Seeds you've got and I've got too. When are you gonna drop seeds again? A&A's International Cherry Bomb Grow?

 

[Amy Gardner]

Hey Age geez 1oz herb to 1cup of oil is pretty potent, by my reckoning.

But we’re all so different so I’m sure it works well for you & yours. I think that’s one of the coolest things about 21st Century cannabis consciousness is the mad variety in ways of using it and options for strength and type an all.

My oils tend to vary a bit. The more leaf matter, the more green. The topical is really dark because the grapeseed oil is dark. It also comes out darker when done in the MB2, I think because the machine chops up the ‘erb so much - I don’t really know tho. It’s not ever really been black.

I’m due to drop seeds in about 5 weeks, next new moon in cancer i think, and due to certain outcomes with the outdoor crop I am in the process of completely changing my plans about what those seeds will be. More on that when i do the final ‘state of the garden report’ to wrap this one up, which I’m still thinking about. So... I quite like the idea, “A&A's International Cherry Bomb Grow” Has a nice ring for sure - let me evaluate my needs a bit more before I decide.

 

[Archiweedies]

Hey AG first of all I apologize for getting distracted and losing your thread this week. I’m all caught up and I bookmarked the oil making thread for when I see questions arise I can point them to your post.

You should copy that and create a journal for it. I know thst took some time! Nice write up!

Perhaps copy just the link to your two posts on Oil-making/topicals and put them in your sig?

My method is no where near as detailed, 4 steps done. You’re is next level! Times and temperatures, waiting for molecules to...
Molecule!

You mean waiting for them to combobulate lol!

Nice oil tutorial Amy! Saved and !!!

IKR! I saved it too HH

lard

Lard?! Haha

Hey so, your cutting board caught my eye AG. Looks like walnut and maple. I’ve made several of the checkerboard cutting boards like that.

Question: When you say “8g decarbed bud,” does that mean after you decarbed it weighs eight grams? Or is that the starting weight?

I made an infusion of EVOO lately and tried my best to squeeze 14g(prior to decathlon) into a 1/4 cup or so of oil. It was probably closer to 1/2 cup. Super strong! I didn’t let it ’combobulate’ in the fridge for 12 hours though. I’ll have to try that next time.

 

[Agemon]

Hey Age geez 1oz herb to 1cup of oil is pretty potent, by my reckoning.

But we’re all so different so I’m sure it works well for you & yours. I think that’s one of the coolest things about 21st Century cannabis consciousness is the mad variety in ways of using it and options for strength and type an all.

My oils tend to vary a bit. The more leaf matter, the more green. The topical is really dark because the grapeseed oil is dark. It also comes out darker when done in the MB2, I think because the machine chops up the ‘erb so much - I don’t really know tho. It’s not ever really been black.

I’m due to drop seeds in about 5 weeks, next new moon in cancer i think, and due to certain outcomes with the outdoor crop I am in the process of completely changing my plans about what those seeds will be. More on that when i do the final ‘state of the garden report’ to wrap this one up, which I’m still thinking about. So... I quite like the idea, “A&A's International Cherry Bomb Grow” Has a nice ring for sure - let me evaluate my needs a bit more before I decide.

I'm not sure I'll be ready to drop a CB in 5 weeks. Are you strictly regimented on your grows? Keep the plants with the same feeds so there's not a lot of extra mixing going on. The one tent I'm keeping operational for summer is already filling up and Cherry Bomb won't have a home unless I put her outside. She is a Sativa though. We'll figure something out. I've got a couple more Cherry Bomb Auto's too, so I could drop one of those for an indoor grower.

 

[BeezLuiz]

When you say “8g decarbed bud,” does that mean after you decarbed it weighs eight grams? Or is that the starting weight?

I've found that I lose about 10% weight during decarb, so I always weigh after decarb. I'm sure others do it prior, so it is indeed a good question to get clarification on.

 

[Amy Gardner]

does that mean after you decarbed it weighs eight grams? Or is that the starting weight?

Yes! So its an interesting question. If you look at lab reports for dried flower analysis, the quantity of acid cannbinoids in the pre-decarb’d sample nearly always corresponds very closely to the amount of converted cannbinoids in the decarb’d sample. As far as I’m concerned, decarbing doesn’t change the amount of cannbinoids in the herb, just reduces water in the pant matter, so if the breeder says its 18%, then its 18% when the flower is dried and that doesnt decrease or increase when you decarb it. If anything, taking the post decarb weight perhaps risks over estimating the concentration. But in any case that would be very slight. Our methods for calculating the estimated strength are by nature imprecise because we don’t have a lab in our kitchen so I’m not that fussed - and we cant really know. It’s all estimation and “thereabouts” in our kitchens and I’m comfortable with that. I hedge my bets a bit and always throw in a little bit extra

about 10%

That’s a pretty small margin then when you come down to an oil with 5-6mg/ml - would break down to .5mg difference for me. I’m still not convinced that the pre-decarb’ weight isn’t accurate tho’ - I believe it is. I can be convinced by science tho! But I also am not fussed as I dont think it makes a huge difference. YMMV

Perhaps copy just the link to your two posts on Oil-making/topicals and put them in your sig?

combobulate

the final product helps me to un-discombobulate too!

not sure I'll be ready to drop a CB in 5 weeks. Are you strictly regimented on your grows?

Fairly - i only do 2 cycles a year. Besides - I have one spot to decide on a plant for so cherry bomb might not make the cut. It’s on the short list tho

Lard?! Haha

Doh! LOL! I’ll ask the mods to edit it for me

Hope y’all are having a great Saturday. Sunday morning for me and the first wthout a wake n bake for a loooong time. I’m at the end of the sensitisation protocol tho so hang on... today I can aim for the “optimum therapeutic dose” ... that night have to be “feeling fully baked on a Sunday morning” - I have my new CBD oil on hand in case I over do it! Been an interesting week - 2 days canna-abstinence which had its challenges but went by pretty ok - then 3 days of microdosing (CBD day - THC night). So I now have many more cannbinoid receptors to play with... so I go forward towards the vaporiser with care...

 

[Archiweedies]

Excellent replies AG haha.
I suppose the only thing that matters is that we weigh the herb the same way every time in our own individual kitchens. Either decarbed or not.
I really need a ECS reset again. I have way over indulged with my most recent harvest lol

 

[BeezLuiz]

so if the breeder says its 18%, then its 18% when the flower is dried and that doesnt decrease or increase when you decarb it. If anything, taking the post decarb weight perhaps risks over estimating the concentration.

Your reasoning seems quite logical, and I agree that most of the weight loss is likely due to moisture in the plant material, resulting in a more concentrated material post decarb.

That’s a pretty small margin then when you come down to an oil with 5-6mg/ml - would break down to .5mg difference for me. I’m still not convinced that the pre-decarb’ weight isn’t accurate tho’ - I believe it is.

10% is indeed a pretty small difference and within the margin of error (+/- 15%) for a T-check device (if I had one - someday I hope). Since we are guess-timating at our flower potency, and our decarb & infusion methods have a lot of inherent variation, it probably doesn't matter which weight you use -- just be consistent as AW suggests.

I suppose the only thing that matters is that we weigh the herb the same way every time in our own individual kitchens.

Agreed. I always use the post decarb weight since often I will decarb my material several days ahead of time and enough for a couple different uses. So by the time I am ready to infuse it into oil, all I have is post values to go by. Which brings up another question: "Does the THC/CBD degrade faster after decarb." Should I be using the material as soon as it's decarbed?"

 

[Archiweedies]

Does the THC/CBD degrade faster after decarb

Great question. All I can say is that I do it like you, pre-decarb a couple days before the infusion. I’ve got a little toaster oven I use outside on my patio

By the way, @Amy Gardner , I have the Magic Butter Decarb box and it’s not 100% necessary. I usually decarb on just a baking sheet and can’t really tell a difference. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one though! I did find the thermometer handy, but I find an in-oven thermometer to be just as good. Cheers!

 

[Amy Gardner]

Update: State of the Garden

This one is just about tied up. Helper is coming on Tuesday to throw all my old rootballs together, smash them up with some worm castings and DBHBB ammendment, and mix the second run batch of soil with me. Then it will cook for a month while I take a break. Some of it has been sitting a while so I hope it’s still all ok. I guess i’ll find out

Thanks to all who joined in for the journey - it was a bit fraught at times compared to last year which I’ll just chalk up to teething problems related to introducing a new grow style to the outdoor garden and trying a few other new things as well. I couldn’t be doing any of this without the gang of buddies I have here cheering along and enjoying the wilderness with me. Special thank yous to a couple of folks for gently and humorously peeling me off the ceiling when I ended up there for a second, you know who you are

Onwards!

Things to remember for next year:
For a 16sq ft (4’x4’) raised bed ammended for Doc Bud’s High Brix kit, the correct drench amount is 15-45ml (.5 -1.5oz) - where 15ml would be the minimum and 45 would be quite strong. I remember that early on I was feeding at about 25 or so and that seemed great so that’s probably the starting point and then adjust up or down as needed. If I ever scratch my head about that again, someone please wave this post in my face

When growing more than one plant in the raised bed, choose plants that will likely have a similar flowering start and duration because CAT Drenches apply to all plants in the bed.

Reviewing the line-up:

Candida CD-1 is a beautiful plant to grow.

It is lovely to look at all the way through, seed to harvest, except when dropsy-ing in the fully intense Australian sun, remember?

I eventually worked out that it was absolutely the intensity of light which was responsible for this phenomenon.

In very slightly filtered sun and super happy (very light cloud cover):

And then same environmental conditions - and same amount of moisture in the soil - but with no cloud cover:

Didn’t matter if it was hot or cold, wet or dry - although getting very dry in veg seemed to make it a bit more pronounced. Light parch-soak cycles for this one. Things improved as it entered flower but the phenomenon was still observable until I put the light diffusing rain cover on - then the Candida really shone!

Even with a cover I don’t think I’ll grow it outside again. It seemed sensitive to swings in the environment and it’s a very important part of the medicinal garden. It yielded a bit over 3 ounces of beautiful sativa buds. I think I need more than that to get us through.

The upshot this is that Candida has to get cycled into the indoor run, which significantly changes how I’m planning for that.

Other things are changing that plan as well. Two things actually.

The first is that both White Widow and Critical Mass buds are going to need a serious quality control inspection for signs of rot /mold. SweetSue posted some images yesterday of what brixnewb had identified on a small amount of her dried Carnival buds as rot setting in. In the pictures it looked nothing more than a slight browning on the stems and some of that appeared of both WW and CM in the period after the budwash that had me furrowing my brow a little at the time of trimming and jarring - but none of it was the budrot I have seen in the past so i let it go. Maybe that was a mistake. I need to inspect.

Second thing is that I think I am a little underwhelmed by the White Widow as a toke. It’s potent enough, dont get me wrong. I’m just not sure it’s right for me tonally, i that makes sense. It’s edgier than I like and the balanced head-body effect isn’t quite right. I think I may like things a bit leaning a bit more strongly one way or the other. It’s also very piney and tends to make my heart race. This one was intended to fulfill the role of my regular go to toke, so some re think needed there.

Grow-wise it was a treat to grow - all the way through. ANd it had some great friends...

And beautiful structures.

It gets super thick and juicy, leafy buds which is not ideal here though. So a great audition, beautiful and vigorous plant but perhaps not the atmosphere we’re looking for in the final product. Nothing personal - purely preference based. NEXT!

Critical Mass may also suffer some loss during the QC inspection. I’ll get a buddy to help me out who has seen a lotta buds in his time and I’m sure well work it out. It’s not exactly my kind of toke either but I knew that already & that’s not why i grew it. I grew it for topical oil and smoke for some buddies (working fellas who like a heavy hit at the end of a day). So we’ll see how it fares. The first batch of topical from it is a success so I’m happy about that. It was also to be the source of some pain relief/sleep aid dosing oil for me. How well that goes will depend on the QC inspection. It’s not very rot resistant at all and I let it go way too long - I may pay for that. All that said it is one I will grow again - just under different circumstances as I still think its an excellent option for topicals - it grows super vigorously, stretches like a sativa and flowers like an indica wth very few leaves and it is high yielding and potent

So, also a strong first audition, will probably get a callback sometime

I feel very well prepared to move into next outdoor season with a bit more experience under my belt on the High Brix kit growing.

The choice of strains for next year will change a lot. I’d been thinking that the tent was gong to be for longer flowering sativas and other things that take a little longer and may be rot sensitive. Ironically the only plant that shows not signs of that this is the Candida which went the longest and latest, go figure.

In any case I have some Delicatessen Lily for out there next year which I’m super excited about, along with some DDA x Northern Lights crosses from beez0404 which I think might go well. It’s a long time between now and then tho’ so we’ll see what the year and an indoor grow bring me.

I have a lot going on in my head about what I might grow in the tent alongside the Candida so while we say goodbye here to another summer in Amy’s Garden of Eden I may open another thread to canvass some experience and knowledge from all of you to help me decide. I have a lot to choose from so it’s going to be a question of assessing my needs and likes and picking something appropriate.

I’m a long way now from where I stared this post - wrapping up the summer grow - and am fully into planning for the next adventure in the tent! Looking forward to the next great adventure.

Thanks again for following along all my 420 friends and family. It keeps me buoyant and inspired having you all to grow alongside and I can’t express my gratitude enough... except by taking as much eye candy as I can for ya’ll

And speaking of yummy and critters that would like to eat your plants I ahve to sign off with a memorial. We are now certain that our resident old man swamp wallaby has passed on. He has been an almost daily visitor for years and we ahve now not seen him since January. There are plants in the garden starting to flourish that we know he used to eat, it’s a strong sign. Wherever he is, I hope he has an endless supply of banana peel - his cannabis we always thought.

Bye bye little buddy - we have loved having you here all these years

Stay uplifted my friends!

 

[Reave]

Great journal. Thanks for the ride.

 

[Heavenly Hybrid]

To your wallaby buddy

Beautiful wrap up Amy and a fantastic summer grow. Hopefully that WW will mellow out for you a little more. We shall see! Enjoy your break and I look forward to seeing the indoor grow and seeing what you think of that cloudline when it arrives.

 

[InTheShed]

Wonderful journal for a wonderful journey. It's been a pleasure to read, view, and follow along.

Mr Wallaby.

I've found that I lose about 10% weight during decarb, so I always weigh after decarb. I'm sure others do it prior, so it is indeed a good question to get clarification on.

I weigh after decarb so when I put that number into the spreadsheet it's one less uncertain variable, since the THC/CBD percentages are a guess along with the efficiency percentage.

 

[Amy Gardner]

seeing what you think of that cloudline when it arrives.

Thanks HH! It’s been great to have you along sharing the ride with me

The Cloudline arrived already! I haven’t installed it yet, but it’s beautiful and it’s quiet and uses very low power I’m pretty sure the lowest setting is going to be perfect for my 3x3tent.

 

[Amy Gardner]

Wonderful journal for a wonderful journey. It's been a pleasure to read, view, and follow along.

Mr Wallaby

Cycle of life

Thanks buddy - smoother sailing ahead I’m sure!

 

[Amy Gardner]

Wow - there’s nothing like a decent toke to set the mind straight, so to speak

I’ve hardly vaped for a week and I just enjoyed some lovely Kush auto (sucker punch). I now know that having to cycle a Candida CD1 in to the tent grow doesn’t have to change anything. There are ways. I’m gonna be sticking with the Ace line up I’ve been planning for... all is well


Mmmmm ... kush

 

[Amy Gardner]

Great journal. Thanks for the ride.

thanks for joining me Reave. I appreciate all your kindness and generosity of spirit!

 

[Neiko]

Excellent wrap up Amy. That WW will change with the cure, you may like it better then. I've had a few strains I didn't care for until cured. I look forward to next year's crop.