Colorado High - Soilless - LED/CFL - Skunk Red Hair - 2014

[JakeWilde]

I am slowly getting around to reading a lot of the journals and I think I learn a bit from each one. These close-ups of the leaf inspection really help to be able to see how an experienced eye gauges the cloudiness. Thanks!

 

[David Bowman]

No problem JakeWilde, you're welcome!

 

[Mike Wright]

Love the trichome shots CH

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks Pantagruel!

 

[Mars Hydro]

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks SmokeSara!

 

[Pittbull72]

Seems like since i moved to the midwest (the land of unbearable humidity) I am having a problem with trichs maturing. Everything Iv grown so far will go 80-90% cloudy and then stop. WTF? Other than an amber here and there everything just stays cloudy...Extra dark before harvest, etc. nothing seems to help. I'm wondering if the humidity here is causing this? Buds are awesome tasting with a great high, so I cant complain....Its just impossible for me to harvest according to trichomes. Has me wondering, since I never had this problem when I was growing in Colorado. Now im starting to watch trichs on my photos, so Ill find out if its an autoflower thing or my environment.

 

[David Bowman]

I've read that auto-flowers don't necessarily turn amber like photo-period strains when they fully mature. I would think that's more likely the culprit than humidity.

 

[David Bowman]

Day 63 of flowering and the ladies are looking the worse for wear but since they are fast approaching harvest, that is of no real concern. I performed another trichome inspection and they are progressing very nicely. With both plants between 60%-70% cloudy, far fewer clear than before along with a few amber here and there, they are nearly to my ideal ratio of at least 80% cloudy, preferably closer to 90%, and no more than 20% amber, preferably closer to 10%.

Topsides & underside of sugar leaf from left lady @ ~200X on day 63 of flowering -

Topside & undersides of sugar leaf from right lady @ ~200X on day 63 of flowering -

The buds are sticky as hell and causing the branches to bend a little, additional bamboo has been employed to support the ladies where needed. I'm not watering them anymore and letting them dry out prior to harvest sometime within the next week to 10 days, although the way they are looking now, it may be sooner rather than later. I'm starting to get excited about this harvest as the aromas and textures that these ladies are exuding is most definitely peaking my interest. While this harvest may not break any quantity records, I'm anticipating a very high quality harvest. Hope all is green and well with you and yours.

 

[PeytonManning]

Fan-frickin-tastic man! Can't wait to see how harvest goes. I'm so jealous

 

[skunnymonster]

Great microscope shots buddy Harvest is just around the corner

 

[David Bowman]

Fan-frickin-tastic man! Can't wait to see how harvest goes. I'm so jealous

Thanks Peyton! I'm getting pretty excited myself!!

 

[David Bowman]

Great microscope shots buddy Harvest is just around the corner

Thanks skunny!

 

[stealthgrow]

Almost there.....

 

[Mars Hydro]

 

[David Bowman]

Day 69 of flowering and the ladies are quickly approaching harvest time. New pistil development is only on the very top of the buds and, outside of these new pistils, all of the pistils have dried out and changed color. The right lady is further along than the left lady but not by that much. While the left lady appears to have 70%-80% cloudy trichomes which are just starting to turn amber, the right lady also has 70%-80% cloudy trichomes but has a few that have already turned amber. They are so close to my ideal ratio of 85%-95% cloudy and 5%-15% amber that it won't be that much longer until they come down.

Topside and Underside of sugar leaf from left lady @ ~200X on day 69 of flowering -

Topside and Underside of sugar leaf from right lady @ ~200X on day 69 of flowering -

The buds are sticky as all get out, stickier than any of my previous grows that's for sure, and the aromas are quite intense and very fragrant, all without any supplemental UVB. All of the stems are bending under the weight of the buds, a first for me, which I believe is due to the use of LED lighting since the buds were never this dense under CFLs, larger yes, but not this dense. I hope that the final results are on par with what I'm seeing now this close to harvest. I expect to harvest these ladies sometime within the next 7-10 days. At that time I will take final photos of the ladies as well as the results of the harvest. I will also be starting my fourth grow, and corresponding journal, with the fourth and last strain of my current inventory of seeds, Dutch Dope.

 

[grannyT]

Thanks for those close ups. Very educational.

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks grannyT!

 

[David Bowman]

Day 79 of flowering and today is Harvest Day! The ladies have been drying out and losing all of their fan leaves over the last 2 weeks or so and are ready to be taken down.

Two shot of the ladies on day 79 of flowering -

Single shot of the left lady on day 79 of flowering -

Single shot of the right lady on day 79 of flowering -

Ladies right before harvest along with the 3-bucked bud washing setup -

Untrimmed buds of the left lady before washing -

Untrimmed buds of the right lady before washing -

Trimmed buds of the left lady before washing -

Trimmed buds of the right lady before washing -

Harvest hanging in grow box to dry -

The harvest will take ~1 week to dry before I place them into curing jars with Boveda 62% Humidipaks. Two weeks after that will be the first taste and subsequent taste report.

 

[skunnymonster]

Congrats on your harvest buddy