Hyena's Never-Ending Adventures In Growing

[Hyena Merica]

Well, bigger models are a little more, but the small one does just fine. The trick is getting it just right on the drying part. I may run over to the parts store or something like that and get a small motor for mine. Not that cranking it is a big deal, but it would be nice to turn it on and do other things as it runs.

In some of the videos, Tom mentions something like a 5% internal RH of the bud is "optimum", but I need to do more digging on that. It has to mean something, or he has to mean something, other than what I'm thinking. My thoughts on hearing that initially were "dust", but that can't be right. Just to use it can't mean you need to kill off your cure. (Which made me think of another thing that I want to look into around curing and dry trimming.)

When I head down to the garden after bit, I'll try to remember to grab a few example nug shots. A few that worked, and a few that probably needed to be dried just a hair longer. I'm still learning it obviously, but I'll get it pretty quick. I'm tinkering with branch size and its effect on drying time/quality. I think most of the Blue Dream branches were just a tick big. So tried to go a hair less on the GDP I just cut yesterday. I also think that any pre-harvest crisping of leaves (right at the end) isn't a bad thing for this process either. More studying and experience will improve my use for sure.

I look forward to seeing the pics.

Drying/curing is a combo of humidity, temperature, time, and the size of the branch. Only four variables as I see it. Unless I had a more frequent presence in my grow house than once a week, I might be able to control the humidity better but not much...you kind of have to work with the time of year and what it brings.

I go up in the morning, my hang goes from last Wednesday through late Friday so a two-day spread...I hope to hit it tomorrow so I can buck and trim it all in 2 days and it will be relatively the same dryness...

I'll let ya know soon.

Peace, Hyena

 

[multiVortex]

I look forward to seeing the pics.

OK, it took a few days. But here are a few.

This is some GDP that I just moved from dry to cure last night. Bucked down, ran through the trimmer, and into a curing bucket.

Kept a tiny nug out to sample, and it’s going to be just fine.

There are a maybe a dozen or two buds in the run that I’ll need to pull a few crows feet from, but 98% of the buds look like the above. Cleaned up nice, but nothing is cutting away their shape or causing damage.

 

[Van Stank]

swinging through Hyena.....hope all is well with you brother. Enjoy your long weekend!!

 

[Hyena Merica]

Hello there!

Here's the next HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!

So, what's there to tell? Well, the final smoke and weight report among other things! But first a small bit about the task...

The amount of budzies in the drying rackmaster 5000 was prodigious to say the least.

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• Hyena Merica
• May 27, 2020

I expected (sort of) that it might all be crispy dry and ready for the final spin through the Trimbag but the teensy little problem was the humidity. Southern Michigan humidity for the week+ drying period never went below 60%, and stayed mostly between 60 and 70+ in the "drying" closet. Winter and early Spring (much lower humidity) made drying the last two harvests a breeze but this one was still not dry enough...it just sort of hit a wall no matter how much air circulation was applied.

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• Hyena Merica
• May 27, 2020

So I bucked it all anyway. figuring maybe an overnight additional dry session would get it there. Of course it was a day and a half to do it all and the initial spin through the Trimbag. Sooooo tedious to do all of it one branch at a time.

Here is the Chair of Pain:

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• Hyena Merica
• May 27, 2020

Since there was still dryness to achieve before the nugs would adequately lose the small leafage, I knew I wasn't looking at the ultimate haul but so far it was an amazing harvest...five pounds at this point.

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• Hyena Merica
• May 27, 2020

Because I can't simply live at the Grow House, I decided to take it all back home to create a dehumidifying chamber in the attic lab. There I can get it just right. Probably.

But before I left, a check on the tents...

Tent one is still adjusting to their newfound life, some clones further along than others because I took different size cuttings but everyone will make it.

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• Hyena Merica
• May 27, 2020

They will kick into gear now. So also time to clean and disinfect every single part of the cloner. I kept the final two alive just in case someone croaked.

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• Hyena Merica
• May 27, 2020

Always sad to throw away healthy plants. No room at the inn.

In tent #2 things are bloomin' blooming!

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• Hyena Merica
• May 27, 2020

The Indicas are coming into glorious flower. Getting succulent budding and frost all up and down...

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• Hyena Merica
• May 27, 2020

Very healthy and a little intimidating, I wanted to do a lower branch trim but already everything is too thick to get into. Oh well! Probably another 4-5 weeks until we do this whole craaaaazy harvest thing all over again! Of course the reward can be great but any reward is mightily earned. Earned this one. Very happy.

The final deliverable product will be a little over 4 pounds, plus another several pounds of trim and smaller buddage which will go to make hash. I feel I'm approaching the upper limit of what can be done with this space but when I look one last time into the blooming forest in Tent #2, I wonder if we can go even further...

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• Hyena Merica
• May 27, 2020

There's no doubt. See you next week!

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• Hyena Merica
• May 27, 2020

Giggity!

Peace, Hyena

 

[multiVortex]

I’m guessing the AC is coming on soon? Should help with the humidity in the house.

We’re not quite AC weather, although a couple days have been, so I turned it on anyway as it’s been humid AF here and in the low 80’s. Constant mid-80’s and the house gets stuffy, so on it went. Humidity has been good internally since, although the tent that’s just started flowering is running mid-upper 50’s for RH. Main room is good and in the mid 40’s though. Stretch should be over real soon and I’ll do another big defol which should get it down where it need to be.

 

[Van Stank]

Hot damn brother! Congrats on another stellar harvest! Next batch looks to be rolling along perfectly!!

 

[Bode]

All of it is Awesome!

 

[Hyena Merica]

Hey there!

Here's the next HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!

After a week of post-harvest rest and relaxation including smoking about 3 ounces of my latest buds (killer), I sobered up and ran back up to the GH. Things are as so:

First, the new clones are taking off. Just as expected, they look healthy and are all starting to branch.

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 2, 2020

So far so good. Cloning is the way, baby. I totally love the control and predictability of it. Plus, I avoid the main limitation of clones...the little friends that often come into your grow room with them. Since they come from a sanitized, pest-free environment and never leave it we can count on them.

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 2, 2020

So all good there. We turn to Tent #2, now in full blown flower power...

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 2, 2020

I'm extremely surprised this room is bursting to this degree. These colas are THICK and filling in everywhere with massive flowers.

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 2, 2020

These buds are going to be special

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 2, 2020

Betting this grow finishes sooner than I anticipated...plus you can see the total difference now between Delhi Friend and Incredible Bulk...though I'm not sure which is which...

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 2, 2020

I pulled about a hundred fan leaves and couldn't even see any difference, yes it's a nice thick canopy. The smell in here is like a skunk farm. But amazingly, the 80-pound can filters are doing a yeoman's job...I can't smell a thing outside! I actually went inside-outside several times and it's amazing that it can scrub so much air so thoroughly. It's some kind of miracle that I don't have every local stoner on my lawn. Thank you CAN FILTERS, yes, that's their rather unimaginative name.

Just wanted to show this picture one more time...

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• Hyena Merica
• May 27, 2020

I'm such a dick...you can say it.

So...5 pounds from one harvest. A milestone I didn't know could be reached without CO2 or even maybe with it. Plus another several pounds of high-grade trim and smaller lower-growth buds. That second part is the issue still to be sucessfully addressed. Lots of trichome-laden material, I have rolled joints from all of it and it's all great weed. So naturally I turned my thoughts to the growing problem(?) of having pounds of high-grade trim accumulating...it's a pressing issue. Get it?

Pressing weed for oil is one way, but it's the long way IMHO...awhile back I acquired a 10-ton electric press and did plenty of runs with various sizes and shapes of pucks, and various combinations of press time and temperature, and found the efforts less rewarding than I had hoped. Very dry sugar trim and dinky buds don't press as well as fresh flower it seems, and even though I got some decent rosin, it's still rosin...hard to smoke, strange aroma and flavor generally, and the buzz was heavy. A very messy substance which is hard to handle, hard to store, hard to use. There's got to be a better use for trim.

I didn't become a professional stoner to work any harder...just the opposite. So enter: The Washing Machine!

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• Hyena Merica
• May 30, 2020
• 4

This little invention looks like a miniature 5-gallon clothes washer and it probably is one just repurposed in a clever way for the task of separating yummy trichomes and tasty terpenes from ground plant material. I have seen some clever shit but this thing is the bomb!

The principle, for anyone unfamiliar with hash making, is to somehow separate and concentrate the trichomes. Butane is the common approach, requiring pressure, expensive and potentially explosive equipment, and consumptive use of solvents which leave some measurable residue no matter how well it is used. But the Washing Machine uses water and ice! I was skeptical, of course...the description sounded WAY too easy. But I gave a QP of Satellite (a really shitty lower end commercial strain, I couldn't even sell this weed so I had it sitting in a "for concentrates" box), ground it up and put it in the 120-micron bag with maybe a large pitchers-worth of ice...

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• Hyena Merica
• May 30, 2020

Then filled the machine 1/3 with water and another 7-8 pounds of ice...

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• Hyena Merica
• May 30, 2020

Set it for 15 minutes and hit the switch. This thing really is a washing machine! It aggressively agitates the mixture, one way, then the other, back and forth about 10 seconds each, and very effectively pounds those trichomes out of the plant material and into the water.

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• Hyena Merica
• May 30, 2020

By the end the water was pea green, then you simply use the attached drain hose to run the water right out into a series of stacked micron mesh filters on a 5-gallon bucket. I tried several combinations like 90-60-30 and just poured the water through. That was it! Then pulled the bags and squeezed out the remaining water, and with a spoon simply scraped up the bounty:

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• Hyena Merica
• May 30, 2020
• 1

An almost unbelievable 18 grams of real hash! From shit weed no less! You can see the slight difference in the color and consistency between the various micron bags but it was ALL good! I smoked plenty over the last 48 hours and it's the absolute real deal. The finest grade is as good as any Lebanese blonde I have ever smoked, that unique flavor of pure high-potency trichomes atomically smashed into a chunk of heaven. The tiny amount of work that it took compared to any other method blows my mind...no mess, no issues, just turn shitty pot into amazing hashish...magic!

Right now my next project is to run some of the high-quality trim, and I can't imagine how much better it might be...I shall report it all ere long so stay tuned!

Well that's about all for this week. Hope you are virus-free and getting back into life!

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• Hyena Merica
• Nov 26, 2019

We have never stopped!

Peace, Hyena

 

[multiVortex]

The finest grade is as good as any Lebanese blonde I have ever smoked,

I had trim run a couple weeks ago from my durban poison/strawberry lemonade trim, and I threw in a zip of fluffy lowers off my super lemon haze.

Ended up with 22 little blonde balls at a gram each, plus a chunk that’s 90microns or less. That chunk will probably go for use in canna oil, but 20 of those 22 balls will be set back and “forgotten” a out for a while.

 

[PGA Caddie]

That’s a heaping pile of buddage my friend.

 

[DonkeyDick]

Great updates, Hyena.
I am envious that your gardens support your lifestyle.
You’ve put in the work, alright. There is no denying.
Looking beautiful!

 

[Hyena Merica]

Thanks you all...

I appreciate you being along for this somewhat whimsical ride I call the life of a stoner...

And I appreciate your kind comments very much my friends. Means a lot.

Stay tuned!

Peace, Hyena

 

[Hyena Merica]

Blue Monday...or should I say Green?

Hyenas are never blue so here comes a HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!

And why would I ever...with a room of budzies like this...!

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 8, 2020

Oh baby, Tent #2 is bursting at the absolute seams with this canopy! The biomass has exploded. I thought last run there is nothing I can do to top this but here we go!

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 8, 2020

Massive colas forming everywhere

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 8, 2020

Intense frost...it's like Christmas

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 8, 2020

Thickness I have never even seen on some of these Incredible Bulk plants

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 8, 2020

Nice colors and the aroma of this tent is almost too much to believe. Brushing against anything at all gets you slimed with stickiness. So I'm in Indica land now and I'm liking it! This forest is literally 12 individuals, even though it's two strains. Both Delhi Friend and Incredible Bulk are delivering all they promised and more. Healthy, aggressive flowering is how I would describe it. By the look of things this grow might be only a few weeks from done. It's hard to tell since I've never run either strain before but I'll get out the microscope next visit and we will start the amber watch...

Almost in shock at the size of the plants, I turned to Tent #1 and the children of the monsters...

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 8, 2020

You can see they are really taking off now! Very healthy just like their mothers...or sisters...I still don't know what to call a clone.

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 8, 2020

I am very close to deciding to clone these as well and just keep this train rolling. I love the strains so far and they are easy to raise. I never measure my nutes, I just kind of know what they need and when but that doesn't always please every plant I have grown, some are just touchy, and sometimes you pick two strains that need different things and that's a hard grow to make work with a common hydroponic reservoir. I have had them all...and this grow is a piece of cake. I may keep this going a few more runs if the buds finish like they have started!

Dropped the scrog and topped the tallest three.

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 8, 2020

Next week we will begin to scrog some branches. They are growing very fast. Everything is. Time is even going fast...it seems like just yesterday I spent a week here chopping and trimming endless buds and now it's almost here again...I'm going to go craaazy!!

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 8, 2020

Crazi-er I should say. Accuracy matters.

Peace, Hyena

 

[Bode]

Highya HM,

What a beautiful sight!?! All that massive biomass. You certainly have those strains dialed in!! Another record grow, maybe?

Is it getting old yet? You doing alright, still? Maybe some time to reflect on future endeavors, and how to streamline more where you can? Sometimes in the business world, we need a reminder about such things, lol. Happy Smokin'

 

[Hyena Merica]

Highya HM,

What a beautiful sight!?! All that massive biomass. You certainly have those strains dialed in!! Another record grow, maybe?

Is it getting old yet? You doing alright, still? Maybe some time to reflect on future endeavors, and how to streamline more where you can? Sometimes in the business world, we need a reminder about such things, lol. Happy Smokin'

Thanks buddy I appreciate your kind comments, as always!

I think this is all right where I want it at this point...one day a week isn't too much to give for a fulfilling hobby. Of course, the week-long harvests make a man of ya but that's the price of frosty buds.

Now to just keep it going...forever.

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• Hyena Merica
• Apr 2, 2020

So far so good!

Peace, Hyena

 

[Hyena Merica]

Well hello dere!

I guess another HYENA'S GROW HOUSE UPDATE is in order!

Well, it's a busy time of year for the Hyena family...okay mostly just for me. I golf a lot in Summer, ride the jet skis, I run a pretty good size business, and I grow lots of tasty cannabis. So usually it's a Monday when I roll up for the day of GH maintenance. Sorry it took four days to get time to post an update but I'm busy!

But things there are very, very good.

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 18, 2020
• 1

Hard to believe but it's already about 8 weeks since the flip. The packaging said 8 weeks. I always know that means 9 1/2 to get the real poppers...but this time it might really be true. This canopy is spectacular and full of twelve perfect (and unique) individuals. The pride of the Cannabis Indica family. Let me share a few shots of this run...

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 18, 2020

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 18, 2020

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 18, 2020
• 1

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 18, 2020

Yes there's some really good buds in this canopy. In fact I can't see anything I don't like.

But the massive 3-day, sweaty, punishing grind that will be the initial harvest looms in my immediate future. This time it will be a monster chore. I estimate 30 hours of actual work to take it down, trim it for hanging, and recon the room. Over 3 days that's a lot of sweat equity. In a way I love it, okay in a lot of ways, but there's no doubt it's a big, big task for one person and so I will make the final call Monday.

I just spent last weekend in Las Vegas and that trip comes right before our week-long 4th of July trip to the far-Northern command. So, I must figure out if this bunch is ready (looks like they pretty much are) and if I can time my 3-day harvest session to coincide with that trip. That would mean holding off until Sunday the 28th, 9 more days from now. Wow, they will be fat and sassy by then!

So that's the plan for this hedge. But what will I replace them with? Shit! I don't have anything growing yet. Honestly I have already decided I will clone the clones and keep this party going another run. I have never grown such fatties and the next harvest will be the same so why change? The clones in tent #1 are ready to top and clone from. Perfect really. Next time the timing won't be there, so this looks like the final cloning I can do with this line and I'll have to use seeds again for the following run, there will simply be too big a time gap. So this is it, let's run this awesomely fragrant garden three times and see if we want a change then.

So Monday I'll go back up and use the microscope to ascertain the ripeness and clone the next run. That's a whole day's work but I think the following Sunday will be the day the scissors fly. Three days of harvest, then a nice 5 days vacation. Then back to the grow house to finish the buds.

It's a job.

Someone told me I'm very lucky to have stuff going this well. I was too polite to tell them the harder I bust my ever-lovin' ass...the luckier I get. No magic, baby. Just hard work and patience. I don't believe in luck, just randomness. I have always believed everything happens for no reason. We see luck, good and bad, in things because we seek a particular outcome. But there really isn't anything there but perception. Good Luck is what we call it when something random goes our way. Bad Luck is our name for something random that we don't like. But I think we ultimately confuse pure randomness with luck.

Except for...beating about a million other sperm cells to hit an egg. I take full credit for that one, baby.

Peace, Hyena

 

[Mars Hydro]

amazing!!! What beautiful buds

 

[Bode]

Highya HM,

I've noticed I've "been lucky" at times. And never afraid of any work. Love your analogy to that effect. Is that view becoming old hat? I can't imagine opening the zipper and seeing and smelling there wouldn't be a sense of awe!! Nothing wrong with another clone run!! Last one is fine!! Things always work out!! Happy Smokin'

 

[Hyena Merica]

Highya HM,

I've noticed I've "been lucky" at times. And never afraid of any work. Love your analogy to that effect. Is that view becoming old hat? I can't imagine opening the zipper and seeing and smelling there wouldn't be a sense of awe!! Nothing wrong with another clone run!! Last one is fine!! Things always work out!! Happy Smokin'

Thanks Bode, I appreciate it every time without exception!!

Live every day because there's only so many you get! That's always been my view. Because:

One never knows when one will become none. -Hyena

Profound if you're high. If not, well I'm high so I don't know.

Peace, Hyena

 

[Hyena Merica]

amazing!!! What beautiful buds

High Sara, thank you for stopping by!

I hope you and Mars Hydro are doing well!

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• Hyena Merica
• Jun 2, 2020

Peace, Hyena