First tentative step

[Amy Gardner]

Ahhh-HAAAAH! So that's what the 'reply with quote is'?!? You're a star, Amy Gardner.

I've decided to ask Santa (and she will comply) for the Arizer II. It's super expensive over here, nearly $270, but I have the feeling it's going to be good. I'd like to know:
1. How easy it is to clean?
2. How often you have to clean it (I leave my wooden pipes far too long)?
3. What tools you use (doesn't look like a pipe cleaner will do the trick)?
4. Am I correct that you can use oil as well as herb?
5. I'm hoping it will not make me cough so much. Has it been your experience that it's less harsh?

Thanks again for the tip
OTR

"people forget what you say or do; they never forget how you make them feel"
Maya Angelou

Hi - so it's the Solo II, yes?

It'll be awesome and well worth the spend. I have the original Solo, so I'm slightly envious - the II has degree specific temp adjustment so much more precise for medicinal options. Next Christmas I'm upgrading!!

It's super easy to clean the stems and I only have to do it seriously about once a week, if that. I do a quick brush out with a pipe cleaner (I round the end off a bit) more often but about once a week or 2 I clean using salt and isopropyl alcohol. Block off one end put some salt crystals in, put a little iso in, block of the other end and give it a good shake. Rinse & repeat if necessary. Actually now that I think about it, I haven't done it for ages and they're still fine. I'm experimenting with using the mesh screens and that could be helping. So, it's only the stems that need cleaning, the device doesn't at all.

You already noted it's dry herb only - I have my eye on the Eleven pen for concentrates... maybe a birthday aim .

And yes - it is totally less harsh. I hardly notice a thing, unless I'm having a big day with it and vaping at higher temps. And then it's a very slight heat - not even close to making me cough. Better than that, it's smooth and it tastes delicious - with different flavours at different temperatures.

I really recommend some of the Solo & Solo II reviews and instructional vids on YouTube. They helped me a lot. I read and watched everything I could find about it. . Get a grinder as well - a nice grind makes a big difference.

And I recently bought some extra stems - they're glass, they will break if you drop them!

Hope Santa heeds your wishes .

.

 

[OffTheRadar]

Hi - so itÂ's the Solo II, yes?

ItÂ'll be awesome and well worth the spend. I have the original Solo, so IÂ'm slightly envious - the II has degree specific temp adjustment so much more precise for medicinal options. Next Christmas IÂ'm upgrading!!

ItÂ's super easy to clean the stems and I only have to do it seriously about once a week, if that. I do a quick brush out with a pipe cleaner (I round the end off a bit) more often but about once a week or 2 I clean using salt and isopropyl alcohol. Block off one end put some salt crystals in, put a little iso in, block of the other end and give it a good shake. Rinse & repeat if necessary. Actually now that I think about it, I havenÂ't done it for ages and theyÂ're still fine. IÂ'm experimenting with using the mesh screens and that could be helping. So, itÂ's only the stems that need cleaning, the device doesnÂ't at all.

You already noted itÂ's dry herb only - I have my eye on the Eleven pen for concentrates... maybe a birthday aim .

And yes - it is totally less harsh. I hardly notice a thing, unless IÂ'm having a big day with it and vaping at higher temps. And then itÂ's a very slight heat - not even close to making me cough. Better than that, itÂ's smooth and it tastes delicious - with different flavours at different temperatures.

I really recommend some of the Solo & Solo II reviews and instructional vids on YouTube. They helped me a lot. I read and watched everything I could find about it. . Get a grinder as well - a nice grind makes a big difference.

And I recently bought some extra stems - theyÂ're glass, they will break if you drop them!

Hope Santa heeds your wishes .

.

Yes, Solo II (in blue). This was super helpful, especially the salt/iso cleaning and rounding the end of a pipe cleaner tips. Never heard of that (but I've never had the luxury of discussing this with anyone). I like that the stems are glass. Prefer glass to plastic.

Also hugely helpful info that temp choices (which all reviews applauded) can help with medicinal options. That's another new thing to have learned today. Does it have recommended settings for CBD or THC? I'll check out YT for some video clips.

Despite growing all these years, being underground meant I wasn't able to move forward. When I first discovered what's happening in today's world, I realised I'm on Planet Zero. It became quickly apparent that I'm on Planet SUB-Zero! But once I find my feet, the learning journey is going to be a blast. It's just a tad overwhelming at the moment and the coughing problem is driving the search for an alternative so I can't take it as slowly as I'd like. I've decided to stop smoking all together until Santa comes.

I'm trawling the internet to see if there's a 'hitchhiker's guide' to this new galaxy that will explain what everything is (dabs, shatter, waxÂ...huh??) and especially how to dose with it. My couch-lock days are long gone. I want to regulate the effect as I do now so I stay productive at the same time.

Sorry to ask yet another dim-witted question, but how do you define a good grinder? I've a nice metal one that I got because it seemed like a good idea (and it was). But it's struggling now as it's in dire need of being cleaned. Perhaps I'll try to salt/iso with a toothbrush. I see the Cosmic Case Grinder at vapebrothers (checked out the Eleven Pen) at 90 bucks. What justifies that price? The one I have, a tenth of the price, looks identical except for colour and it seems to do the job.

Today, I've decided I'm going to make some canna butter. Call me old fashioned, but it still works. :0) Just gotta find my cookbook which I kept so successfully hidden, I now can't find it! Prohibition sucks. I'll also try my hand at some oil. It's time to leave research and jump in.

On a side issue, have you any experience using CBD oil? It's legal here but I'm not yet able to find reliable dosing info. Or am I pushing my luck asking so many questions?

And here's another one. That Eleven Pen looks a very interesting addition. If it's a present under your birthday-tree, will you let me know what you think of it?

Thanks again for your input, Amy. You've given me a real spiritual boost as I was getting a bit lost in the maze. It's good to finally have a starting point and a goal.
Namaste

 

[FeloniousPunk]

Hi OffTheRadar,

One of the vaping experiences we have encountered is that the byproduct of vaping is useful in baking, oil making or ingesting straight up. Unlike burning, vaping doesn't leave you with ash. So don't throw the vaped cannabis away! Get a jar and throw it in there until you are ready to use it.

I know privacy is important, but I'll ask this anyway. Where are you located?

You don't have to answer, but I've found that giving the 420 Community an idea of your location can help them guide you, sharing experiences that others from different countries might not have. We have made friends here in Canada because they are in Canada and our legal standing is the same. Things are very easygoing here. So almost anything goes as long as it stays in Canada.

Peace.

 

[OffTheRadar]

Hi OffTheRadar,

One of the vaping experiences we have encountered is that the byproduct of vaping is useful in baking, oil making or ingesting straight up. Unlike burning, vaping doesn't leave you with ash. So don't throw the vaped cannabis away! Get a jar and throw it in there until you are ready to use it.

I know privacy is important, but I'll ask this anyway. Where are you located?

You don't have to answer, but I've found that giving the 420 Community an idea of your location can help them guide you, sharing experiences that others from different countries might not have. We have made friends here in Canada because they are in Canada and our legal standing is the same. Things are very easygoing here. So almost anything goes as long as it stays in Canada.

Peace.

Hi F-Punk,

Thanks for this very interesting info. Just yesterday, I was wondering about this very subject while viewing video reviews of the Arizer vapes and it was another puzzle piece I added to my list of WTF's. This sound incredible. In the video clip, they showed the 'used' material and I could see it wasn't ash. I've plenty of mason jars so no trouble to save that. I'll soon be making some oil. Just have to find a day where I can devote myself to it as it clearly takes considerable time. I've discovered BadKitty and plan to follow her approach, as her recipe mentions using dry herb and only a small amount (which is perfect for my first try). But it's a very long process involving freezing, so have to plan the day carefully.

I'm finally more comfortable with navigating this site, so not as frustrating. It's now starting to get exciting. One thing I will be interested to see is if decarbing my existing dried herb will bring out more of the potency. Despite having produced top quality smoke for so many years and despite my last harvest having the fattest, stickiest buds ever, it's stupidly mild. I chose White Rhino for medicinal purposes and Super Lemon Haze because it's an old favourite and quite inspiring. So far, neither is neither. But I'm still so underground-old-school, I used ye oldie hang-and-dry method (makes me wonder what my stash in the past would have been if I'd decarbed!). Anyway, it will merely be interesting to see if there's any improvement in the potency. The real objective is to not have to smoke all the time. The potency issue is just a chin-rubbing ponder. Using BadKitty's freezing approach, it could squeeze a bit more out. We'll see. But no matter the results, it's freakin' exciting to be on this unexpected path out of my underground darkness.

As for where I am in the Universe, I live in the grip of 'loose lips sink ships'. Don't think I'll ever be free of that. This is a total prohibition country and the laws are harsh. Too much at stake. To further protect myself, I've never even shared with anyone else. No one knows I partake. So if I ever got busted, it could only be for personal use. Small consolation, but better than the penalty for sale/distribution. Sad state of affairs. Unfortunately, I see nothing on the horizon that suggests change in my lifetime.

Thanks to Amy Gardener, I've plucked up the courage and soon, I'll be learning to vape. Just waiting on Santa now.

Thanks again for your input.
Peace and contentment, OTR

 

[OffTheRadar]

Hi - so it’s the Solo II, yes?

It’ll be awesome and well worth the spend. I have the original Solo, so I’m slightly envious - the II has degree specific temp adjustment so much more precise for medicinal options. Next Christmas I’m upgrading!!

It’s super easy to clean the stems and I only have to do it seriously about once a week, if that. I do a quick brush out with a pipe cleaner (I round the end off a bit) more often but about once a week or 2 I clean using salt and isopropyl alcohol. Block off one end put some salt crystals in, put a little iso in, block of the other end and give it a good shake. Rinse & repeat if necessary. Actually now that I think about it, I haven’t done it for ages and they’re still fine. I’m experimenting with using the mesh screens and that could be helping. So, it’s only the stems that need cleaning, the device doesn’t at all.

You already noted it’s dry herb only - I have my eye on the Eleven pen for concentrates... maybe a birthday aim .

And yes - it is totally less harsh. I hardly notice a thing, unless I’m having a big day with it and vaping at higher temps. And then it’s a very slight heat - not even close to making me cough. Better than that, it’s smooth and it tastes delicious - with different flavours at different temperatures.

I really recommend some of the Solo & Solo II reviews and instructional vids on YouTube. They helped me a lot. I read and watched everything I could find about it. . Get a grinder as well - a nice grind makes a big difference.

And I recently bought some extra stems - they’re glass, they will break if you drop them!

Hope Santa heeds your wishes .

.

Hi Amy,

I took your advice and checked out some video reviews. Alas... I came upon the Arizer Air II. It was a great review comparing the two vapes and it hedged only slightly in favour of the Air II mainly because the bowl was a bit different (with more air?) and I think it heats up a bit more quickly. I liked it because it looked like it would fit in the hand a little better. Not sure, but felt it was the right choice. It remains to be seen if the coughing improves. I've given up smoking altogether until the vape gets here.

So, I sent my letter to the North Pole yesterday. And I thought I was too old to get excited about Xmas

Cheers, Amy
Namaste

 

[FeloniousPunk]

Good Morning OTR,

Sad that there are still so many places where cannabis is demonized. I hope one day that it will be accepted everywhere.

What kind of oil are you planning to make? Smokable hash oil or an eatable oil?

Old school hang and dry is cool. Are you curing after drying? Are you letting the trichomes turn colour before harvesting? Too early or too late a harvest will affect the THC.

Do you need to decarb?

I'm not sure if you know what decarbing does. Using heat decarbing changes the THCa and CBDa into THC and CBD. The heat activates the carboxylic acid and results in the release of a carbon atom. This gives you the THC high. This is why you can eat lots of raw cannabis and not get high.

THCa and CBDa are useful as medicines but I don't know enough about it yet to explain the difference between the raw and decarbed effects, outside of the obvious "high" THC gives you.

We use decarbing for anything not vaped or burned. These activities decarb the cannabis as you go.

Be aware that decarbing will smell. It will be at its worst when you are done and remove the decarbed cannabis from the oven, but the smell is noticeable once the cannabis heats up. Don't forget to leave the oven door open so you air the oven out when you're done. Otherwise the oven will smell of decarbed cannabis the next time you use it. If you are concerned about neighbours, you might want to cook something aromatic on the stove while you decarb in the oven. Fried onions and garlic?

The family of a friend of my wife has been smuggling RSO into Serbia for a family member with cancer for years now. He has outlived the doctors estimate of 3 months to live by at least 5 years (I believe it is over 7 years now). This is how cannabis will be accepted, through its medical benefits. As science verifies cannabis' usefulness as a medicine, the walls will come down. People will demand medicinal access and laws will change.

Hope this helps,

Peace.

 

[Amy Gardner]

Hi Amy,

I took your advice and checked out some video reviews. Alas... I came upon the Arizer Air II. It was a great review comparing the two vapes and it hedged only slightly in favour of the Air II mainly because the bowl was a bit different (with more air?) and I think it heats up a bit more quickly. I liked it because it looked like it would fit in the hand a little better. Not sure, but felt it was the right choice. It remains to be seen if the coughing improves. I've given up smoking altogether until the vape gets here.

So, I sent my letter to the North Pole yesterday. And I thought I was too old to get excited about Xmas

Cheers, Amy
Namaste

No sadness at all! The air will be super too! Pretty sure it has the 'clean' vapour pathway as well (only glass and stainless steel). My guess is the lack of harshness would be similar in either.

I'll get back to some of the other questions you asked above. I've just had a bit going on and wanted to give a considered response. Felonious covered some of it above too.

Hope Santa got your message!

.

 

[FeloniousPunk]

Hi All,

I asked HashGirl and she says decarbing is 240 degrees F for 110 minutes (1 hour 50 minutes).

Grinding before decarbing helps the process. A high quality grinder will have a place in the bottom to catch any wayward trichomes, but any grinder will do.

Peace.

 

[OffTheRadar]

Hi All,

I asked HashGirl and she says decarbing is 240 degrees F for 110 minutes (1 hour 50 minutes).

Grinding before decarbing helps the process. A high quality grinder will have a place in the bottom to catch any wayward trichomes, but any grinder will do.

Peace.

Hey F-Punk, did HashGirl say that temp was for fresh (undried) or for previously dried herb?

 

[FeloniousPunk]

Hello OTR,

HG says it is the same temperature for decarbing wet or dry cannabis, 240°F for 110 minutes. Anything higher and you start to effect the cannabinoids.

If you can, use an oven thermometer to see what the ACTUAL temperature is inside your oven. Be sure to place it on the rack where you are going to decarb.

Peace.

 

[OffTheRadar]

Good Morning OTR,

Sad that there are still so many places where cannabis is demonized. I hope one day that it will be accepted everywhere.

What kind of oil are you planning to make? Smokable hash oil or an eatable oil?

Old school hang and dry is cool. Are you curing after drying? Are you letting the trichomes turn colour before harvesting? Too early or too late a harvest will affect the THC.

Do you need to decarb?

I'm not sure if you know what decarbing does. Using heat decarbing changes the THCa and CBDa into THC and CBD. The heat activates the carboxylic acid and results in the release of a carbon atom. This gives you the THC high. This is why you can eat lots of raw cannabis and not get high.

THCa and CBDa are useful as medicines but I don't know enough about it yet to explain the difference between the raw and decarbed effects, outside of the obvious "high" THC gives you.

We use decarbing for anything not vaped or burned. These activities decarb the cannabis as you go.

Be aware that decarbing will smell. It will be at its worst when you are done and remove the decarbed cannabis from the oven, but the smell is noticeable once the cannabis heats up. Don't forget to leave the oven door open so you air the oven out when you're done. Otherwise the oven will smell of decarbed cannabis the next time you use it. If you are concerned about neighbours, you might want to cook something aromatic on the stove while you decarb in the oven. Fried onions and garlic?

The family of a friend of my wife has been smuggling RSO into Serbia for a family member with cancer for years now. He has outlived the doctors estimate of 3 months to live by at least 5 years (I believe it is over 7 years now). This is how cannabis will be accepted, through its medical benefits. As science verifies cannabis' usefulness as a medicine, the walls will come down. People will demand medicinal access and laws will change.

Hope this helps,

Peace.

It is sad, F-Punk. And it's a dark cloud to live under.

Do I 'need' to decarb? Yes. To learn the process and move forward if for no other reason. I won't say I understand it yet, but I've researched THCa and CBDa, etc. so am slowly grasping the concept of chemical processes. I do rue my decision to not take chemistry in high school though. Still, it's explained so well by forum members that I feel like my hand is held and it spurs me on to try new things.

During the latter stages of flowering, I always examine the trichs several times daily with a couple of microscopes as the girls approach their peak. I get a real kick out of that. In the early days, I harvested way too soon but surprisingly still had seriously potent stuff. In fact,the best stuff I ever grew has a very funny story (for another time) but I did everything wrong. The Canna Faeries were clearly watching over me.

For now, I've 1 oz I can decarb; 1.5 oz to vape. BadKitty suggests a conservative approach to start. Thanks for input on odour. I live in the middle of nowhere so no problems in that respect as the chickens, cows and horses pay no mind. But I don't like the risk of having the gas meter person or friends/family suddenly appear. However, I stumbled upon TopCola who has a most inventive decarb method to make his 'Moon Juice'. He says his decarb method virtually has no odour. So this is going to be my first try, just for the heck of it.

I appreciate your comment to my query in 'to oil or not to oil' about dry v. fresh as that was a mind-ffff for me at first. I'm a crap cook so I have to follow any recipe to the nth degree. Your recommendation to use 7g is exactly what BadKitty's recipe calls for, so appreciate your extra support on that. I heaved a joyous sigh of relief to know I could try 4 different techniques. So I will decarb using TopCola's technique and then I'll make oil following BadKitty's approach because I'm interested in the freezing process. My second oil making will be SweetSue's recipe as I really like olive oil. I'd planned to make some butter at the weekend just because it's familiar territory, but we had some surprise visitors so had to abort the mission. I love edibles, but have always found them a little difficult to control because food is a temptation all in itself and carries its own risk (I ate 2 cookies when I only needed 1/2). So prefer to stick with sub lingual, capsules and vaping (if lungs permit). I've discovered that a sublingual application of a tincture burns like hell so not sure I'll go down that avenue as originally planned. But plenty of alternate choices overall.

Peace and contentment,
OTR

 

[Amy Gardner]

Hi OTR,

apologies for not replying for a few days - I'm here now!

You asked me above about a couple of things a haven't answered yet and haven't been covered by the other folk who've checked in with you so ...

A good grinder: likely the one you have is fine. Honestly I use one that came free when I bought the vape. It works ok but I'm thinking of making my Xmas press to myself a nicer one on stainless steel. They can get expensive, I'm just researching myself. Mostly I was aiming at the fact that you want a nice even grind for good vaping and I think the fineness of the grind is dependent on the vape so you'll need to check out the recommendations for the Air. I actually read that I can put a whole bud in and vape that but it really didn't work! A nice small grind but not too fine works best.

On the CBD therapy. I did use Elixinol for a while intending to treat aspects of an inflammatory condition, including pain. Elixinol is derived from industrial hemp, you likely know about it if CBD is legal there. It was fairly effective for pain but very expensive. Then they changed the laws here and I can't get it anymore. I'm now learning to make my own oil and growing some high CBD plants to do it myself. Regarding dosing, it really requires some experimenting and depends on the potency of the oil. I'm fairly new to all this as well. SweetSue has a dosing thread full of great info, it'll be long with lots of tangents as she helps out people with specific questions but there's plenty in there. You can always just jump into the thread and ask your specific questions. Sue actually likes people to do that rather than bust themselves trawling the thread. Sue is a great resource. For that matter, Felonius Punk and Hash Girl are 2 of the excellent resources around here as well. Dosing is super individual and requires you to experiment to find your optimums. But there'll be guidance available I'm sure.

My Eleven Pen will be a way off - my birthday is around mid year. And I won't have any hash until I make some from my current grow which won't be done until March next year anyway (outdoor, southern hemisphere) so no need till then anyway. I'll be sure to write about it when I get it!

I hope your finding your way round ok. I'm new to it all as well and have learnt heaps on this forum and the tangents it's sent me on. Still so much to go.

Blessings to your garden!

.

 

[FeloniousPunk]

Good Morning OTR et al,

We'd love to hear your funny story when you have the time to share.

I'm sending this note before I forget.

When choosing oils consider shelf life and flexibility. Using butter has limitations in that it MUST be refrigerated or frozen. In the fridge it should last a month past the expiry date. It will last longer in the freezer. If you have a really cold freezer (0°F, -17.7C) it might last forever (ish) and not spoil.

The bioavailability of some oils are better than others, a bigger consideration when we are talking about topical creams or salves.

Peace.

It is sad, F-Punk. And it's a dark cloud to live under.

Do I 'need' to decarb? Yes. To learn the process and move forward if for no other reason. I won't say I understand it yet, but I've researched THCa and CBDa, etc. so am slowly grasping the concept of chemical processes. I do rue my decision to not take chemistry in high school though. Still, it's explained so well by forum members that I feel like my hand is held and it spurs me on to try new things.

During the latter stages of flowering, I always examine the trichs several times daily with a couple of microscopes as the girls approach their peak. I get a real kick out of that. In the early days, I harvested way too soon but surprisingly still had seriously potent stuff. In fact,the best stuff I ever grew has a very funny story (for another time) but I did everything wrong. The Canna Faeries were clearly watching over me.

For now, I've 1 oz I can decarb; 1.5 oz to vape. BadKitty suggests a conservative approach to start. Thanks for input on odour. I live in the middle of nowhere so no problems in that respect as the chickens, cows and horses pay no mind. But I don't like the risk of having the gas meter person or friends/family suddenly appear. However, I stumbled upon TopCola who has a most inventive decarb method to make his 'Moon Juice'. He says his decarb method virtually has no odour. So this is going to be my first try, just for the heck of it.

I appreciate your comment to my query in 'to oil or not to oil' about dry v. fresh as that was a mind-ffff for me at first. I'm a crap cook so I have to follow any recipe to the nth degree. Your recommendation to use 7g is exactly what BadKitty's recipe calls for, so appreciate your extra support on that. I heaved a joyous sigh of relief to know I could try 4 different techniques. So I will decarb using TopCola's technique and then I'll make oil following BadKitty's approach because I'm interested in the freezing process. My second oil making will be SweetSue's recipe as I really like olive oil. I'd planned to make some butter at the weekend just because it's familiar territory, but we had some surprise visitors so had to abort the mission. I love edibles, but have always found them a little difficult to control because food is a temptation all in itself and carries its own risk (I ate 2 cookies when I only needed 1/2). So prefer to stick with sub lingual, capsules and vaping (if lungs permit). I've discovered that a sublingual application of a tincture burns like hell so not sure I'll go down that avenue as originally planned. But plenty of alternate choices overall.

Peace and contentment,
OTR

 

[HashGirl]

Welcome OffTheRadar.

Re what FP says about the smell of your decarb, SweetSue (If you don't know who that is, you will soon enough if you stick around 420. She's our Jedi Master. ). Anyways as I was saying, she has suggested using one of those oven roasting bags that you would use for a turkey or a chicken to keep the smell down.

Other suggestions include cooking something with a strong smell on top of the stove while you're decarbing.

Good Morning OTR,

Do you need to decarb?

I'm not sure if you know what decarbing does. Using heat decarbing changes the THCa and CBDa into THC and CBD. The heat activates the carboxylic acid and results in the release of a carbon atom. This gives you the THC high. This is why you can eat lots of raw cannabis and not get high.

THCa and CBDa are useful as medicines but I don't know enough about it yet to explain the difference between the raw and decarbed effects, outside of the obvious "high" THC gives you.

We use decarbing for anything not vaped or burned. These activities decarb the cannabis as you go.

Be aware that decarbing will smell. It will be at its worst when you are done and remove the decarbed cannabis from the oven, but the smell is noticeable once the cannabis heats up. Don't forget to leave the oven door open so you air the oven out when you're done. Otherwise the oven will smell of decarbed cannabis the next time you use it. If you are concerned about neighbours, you might want to cook something aromatic on the stove while you decarb in the oven. Fried onions and garlic?

The family of a friend of my wife has been smuggling RSO into Serbia for a family member with cancer for years now. He has outlived the doctors estimate of 3 months to live by at least 5 years (I believe it is over 7 years now). This is how cannabis will be accepted, through its medical benefits. As science verifies cannabis' usefulness as a medicine, the walls will come down. People will demand medicinal access and laws will change.

Hope this helps,

Peace.

Hi All,

I asked HashGirl and she says decarbing is 240 degrees F for 110 minutes (1 hour 50 minutes).

Grinding before decarbing helps the process. A high quality grinder will have a place in the bottom to catch any wayward trichomes, but any grinder will do.

Peace.

And, as for a grinder, I bought a mini-food processor to grind my meds before decarbing. Here's the one I bought:

Black & Decker EHC750BD 3-Cup Ergo Chopper, Black: Amazon.ca: Home & Kitchen

If you're planning on decarbing regularly, you might want to invest in something like it.

If you're planning on making cannabis-infused oil to take orally, another good investment is a mini crockpot. Here's the one I bought (I actually bought 3 -- 1 for oils, 1 for topicals and one for my work lunches. ):

Crock-Pot 16-Ounce Little Dipper, Chrome: Amazon.ca: Home & Kitchen

If you need any help, let me know. I've made infused oil lots of times now and I'm made pain cream twice.

 

[HashGirl]

Never mind. I see you've already come across SweetSue.

One other thing that you might want to know is that although I don't have the Arizer Solo II, I have the Mighty, which also allows you to set the temperature and I find that the most effective temperature for vaping without coughing is between 365 and 370F.

I can't smoke cannabis at all because I find it so irritating to my throat.

I appreciate your comment to my query in 'to oil or not to oil' about dry v. fresh as that was a mind-ffff for me at first. I'm a crap cook so I have to follow any recipe to the nth degree. Your recommendation to use 7g is exactly what BadKitty's recipe calls for, so appreciate your extra support on that. I heaved a joyous sigh of relief to know I could try 4 different techniques. So I will decarb using TopCola's technique and then I'll make oil following BadKitty's approach because I'm interested in the freezing process. My second oil making will be SweetSue's recipe as I really like olive oil. I'd planned to make some butter at the weekend just because it's familiar territory, but we had some surprise visitors so had to abort the mission. I love edibles, but have always found them a little difficult to control because food is a temptation all in itself and carries its own risk (I ate 2 cookies when I only needed 1/2). So prefer to stick with sub lingual, capsules and vaping (if lungs permit). I've discovered that a sublingual application of a tincture burns like hell so not sure I'll go down that avenue as originally planned. But plenty of alternate choices overall.

Peace and contentment,
OTR

 

[HashGirl]

Thanks for the shout-out, Amy. You're pretty awesome yourself.

On the CBD therapy. I did use Elixinol for a while intending to treat aspects of an inflammatory condition, including pain. Elixinol is derived from industrial hemp, you likely know about it if CBD is legal there. It was fairly effective for pain but very expensive. Then they changed the laws here and I can’t get it anymore. I’m now learning to make my own oil and growing some high CBD plants to do it myself. Regarding dosing, it really requires some experimenting and depends on the potency of the oil. I’m fairly new to all this as well. SweetSue has a dosing thread full of great info, it’ll be long with lots of tangents as she helps out people with specific questions but there’s plenty in there. You can always just jump into the thread and ask your specific questions. Sue actually likes people to do that rather than bust themselves trawling the thread. Sue is a great resource. For that matter, Felonius Punk and Hash Girl are 2 of the excellent resources around here as well. Dosing is super individual and requires you to experiment to find your optimums. But there’ll be guidance available I’m sure.

My Eleven Pen will be a way off - my birthday is around mid year. And I won’t have any hash until I make some from my current grow which won’t be done until March next year anyway (outdoor, southern hemisphere) so no need till then anyway. I’ll be sure to write about it when I get it!

I hope your finding your way round ok. I’m new to it all as well and have learnt heaps on this forum and the tangents it’s sent me on. Still so much to go.

Blessings to your garden!

.

 

[FeloniousPunk]

This is going to sound lame after HG, but I think Amy is pretty awesome too.

HG is amazing. And I don't just mean how great she is at documenting, sharing and supporting everyone here on 420. Look at her last posts, she highlighted the important points AND her name in bold blue! I could never figure out how to do that. I didn't even know it was possible. Maybe I should have chosen the 420 name LudditePunk. LoL

You are in good hands OTR!

Peace.

 

[HashGirl]

Thanks, Hon.

This is going to sound lame after HG, but I think Amy is pretty awesome too.

HG is amazing. And I don't just mean how great she is at documenting, sharing and supporting everyone here on 420. Look at her last posts, she highlighted the important points AND her name in bold blue! I could never figure out how to do that. I didn't even know it was possible. Maybe I should have chosen the 420 name LudditePunk. LoL

You are in good hands OTR!

Peace.

 

[OffTheRadar]

Thank you LudditePunk, Amy and HashGirl for the fabulous input. I would like to reply to each of your comments and will do so in the next couple of weeks. They were very encouraging. Not quite got the time just now as I've had a few changes to deal with this past month plus a major challenge in the Garden of Eden. Firstly, Amy, I got the vape (Arizer Air II) which I love, and that was a very interesting and fun experience. It's nothing like smoking a doob so that was weird in itself (though I adjusted quickly). It was better for the cough but soon after I got some pretty bum news from the doc, so smoking in any fashion is now a thing of the past. It's not life-threatening news but it's a chronic thing I could have done without. The only thing I'll be 'vaping' is an inhaler. Still, it is what it is and I'll just have to move more quickly into my alternate plan for the oils.

As for the GofE, I'm in an ongoing feud with the family… Tetranychidae. Not sure which branch of the family it is but they're tenacious little buggars. I wish I didn't have them but I confess to a somewhat perverse pleasure in a game of 'gotcha'. Unfortunately, though, it works both ways and they threw me a 'back at ya' today. Luckily I've only 3 plants as each needs an hour's worth of my time. A plunge into some research has given me an 'ah-HAH!' moment for my next strategic manoeuvre, and I relish the showdown on Wed, as that's 1 day ahead of any left-behind eggs hatching.

I wish I had some kind of knowledge that I could contribute and was thinking about it whilst engaged in a skirmish with Tetranychidae today. The girls seem almost happy to suffer the invaders because I spend so much time with them. An hour after they're trimmed and treated, I swear I hear murmurings of joy. And then I remembered I do know one thing worthy of input. It's a Chinese proverb that says (paraphrasing) all the expensive fertilisers in the world – Fox Farm (which I use), BioGrow, Blah-de-Huge-Bud, etc. – cannot compare to the gardener's own shadow.

So I'll be back in a week or so and will have some other news to report using many of your suggestions. I'm chuffed as punch that I've already got a mini-food processor so that was a Hallelujah moment. Lots of fun experiments ahead. Can't thank you enough.

For now, I wanted to express my appreciation and wish you all a Happy New Year. It's time for some good things in the Universe.

Om.

Peace and contentment
OTR