Jarhed's First Grow-Indoor-Come Visit My Garden - Opinions & Advice Welcomed

[grogreen]

Also remember curing in the dark is way more favorable then the light.

Duly noted Jimmy, lights will stay off from now on, I wonder how much affect a light could actually have on it.....is this a proven fact, or just what people say you should do? I'm not talking light on constant, but can I turn the lights on when I go in the room?

 

[Jimmycricket]

Oh no the light thing is a proven scientific fact.

Yes you can turn the lights on when you go into the room, its not a vampire . But when curing and storing it is better to have in darkness.

Here is a small excerpt from a test from the 70s. There have been others too with similar findings.

The stability of cannabis and its preparations on storage
Fairbairn JW, Liebmann JA, Rowan MG
J Pharm Pharmacol 1976 Jan;28(1):1-7

Abstract:
Solutions of pure cannabinoids, nine samples of herbal and two of resin cannabis (one freshly prepared) were stored in varying conditions for up to 2 years. Exposure to light (not direct sunlight) was shown to be the greatest single factor in loss of cannabinoids especially in solutions, which should therefore be protected from light during analytical and phytochemical operations. Previous claims that solutions in ethanol were stable have not been substantiated. The effect of temperature, up to 20 degrees, was insignificant but air oxidation did lead to significant losses. These could be reduced if care was taken to minimize damage to the glands which act as "well filled, well closed containers". Loss of tetrahydrocannabinol after exposure to light does not lead to an increase in cannabinol, but air oxidation in the dark does. It is concluded that carefully prepared herbal or resin cannabis or extracts are reasonably stable for 1 to 2 years if stored in the dark at room temperature.

 

[grogreen]

Wow that's very interesting, thanks for the read

 

[grogreen]

well Jimmy, I took your advice the buds are staying out of the jars for a while, for precautionary sake. Most of the buds are pretty dry but there's a couple that are questionable, and all it takes is a couple to spoil your whole batch, so onto Plan C, cardboard boxes, lol just till im comfortable that there isnt going to be any issues.....my space queen

and my jock popcorn buds

nestled nice and close below their bigger brothers and sisters

i hope it doesn't make my weed smell like cardboard, i would be thoroughly disappointed, as the scent of them in those jars was unreal, two very distinctly different smells

 

[donpaul.p]

if it was me id take them out the jars and hang them if possible or use paper if they cant be hung, they will take a couple of weeks at least to dry, im only saying this due to how easy it is to get bud rot, you wont notice it till its on the outside of the bud but it will start on the inside first,

as for the light and dark when drying bud well the buds will still grow if their is light, so this is why its placed in the dark, also in the dark they go into over drive till all the liquid in the buds has been used up, so in the dark they will force more trichs and produce better bud, in the light they can continue to develop as if they would if they was still on the plant, so bare that in mind,

so id take the buds out the jar and spread them out on some paper or if you have some old net curtains then stretch this across something and put the buds on it till dry, you want the buds dry to the touch and when you squash them they should give slightly then bounce back, if they are to wet then they will stick to your fingers and wont feel dry to the touch, also when squashed they wont bounce back and they will feel like gum so this tells you they are to wet,

hanging the buds upside down is the best option and makes them look better so hanging them upside down is what i do, i have rails in an old wardrobe and hang the buds on coat hangers, i also have a sock dryer that hangs up and has loads of clothes pegs on it, this holds loads of buds and is secure so i leave them on that till dry, you only put the buds in jars when the stems the buds are on become brittle, so if you can bend the branch and it dont snap then their is still to much mositure in the bud and till will rot within a few hours in a jar, so you need to leave the buds in a dark place and open the cupboard up 2 or 3 times a day to let the air out and fresh air in, this prevents rot also, but then make sure the buds are drying in the dark, this stops the chlorophyl from staying alive, in the dark it degrades and this is what you want as it stops the bud tasting harsh when smoked, so drying it in the light dont stop this process and the buds will be sort of growing until the moisture is gone so dark places are a must when drying buds,

when you place them in jars they will rot very quick, in less than 12 hours the buds will be starting to rot from the inside out, and any buds touching other buds will sweat like crazy and this will make them rot a whole lot quicker, this is why when we hang the buds we make sure they are all seperate and not resting on each other, so if they are placed in a jar when they are still wet then the humidity will rise and any buds touching other buds will start to rot within a few hours, so even opening the jars 3 or 4 times a day wont stop this happening, the buds need to be dry before going in jars else you will be throwing a lot of bud away withing a day or 2, i still dont take risks when i put it in jars so for the first week to 10 days i place a silicon humid pack in each jar, you know the stuff thats inside boxes with electronics or trainers, its like a small pouch about the size of a match box and a lot thinner and its full of silicon beads, these daw out any moisture into the crystals and away from anything in the jar, i kept all mine when i buy trainers as you always get one of these packs in the box with the trainers to draw any moisture away from the trainers, so i place one of these in each jar and leave it in the jar for at least 1 week, i open the jar several times a day and over night i sometimes leave the lid off if i think the inner part of the bud is still moist, because even though the outside is dry the inside will still be moist, but if you wait till the stems snap before putting them in jars then they should be dry all the way through, if you quick dry with some sort of heater then you will find this only dries the outside of the bud and the inside is still wet, you will find if you put quick dried buds into a jar they will feel wet again within a few hours as the mositure is drawn out the middle of the bud and onto the dry outer part of the bud, so its best to leave the buds attatched to their branch and hang the branch, now every few days bend the stem and if it bends without snapping then the bud is to wet to be curred, but if you bend the stem and you hear it snap or it breaks in half then this is when the buds are ready to be put in jars.

im only going over this in detail as i dont want you to end up with a load of bud you cant use, it dont take much moisture to rot the whole jar of bud, if they are moist they will start to rot within hours so this needs to be dry before it goes into jars, i placed some in jars to early and when i checked it a few hours later i felt the buds and they was wetter than when i put them in, but i caught them in time and took them back out and dried for a lot longer.

in the pics it looks like your buds are sticking together, this is a sign they are way to wet, the buds should be dry enough not to totally stick together, the sticky trichs will cause some sticking but after a gentle shake they will split and stay on their own,
so double check and make sure they are not wet, as you had them in the freezer before they was totally dry this would of caused them to get more moist due to the hot and cold conditions, so id place all the buds on card or paper and let dry longer, id turn them twice a day to stop any rot at the part thats touching the paper.

 

[grogreen]

thanks for the heads up DP, I appreciate your input and value your advice, I have since took them out and they will sit in the cardboard box until I find something better to use, unfortunately i can't hang them cuz i cut them all off the stalks since that is where most of the moisture is stored. Lucking this was basically a test run, all my big buds are still peacefully hanging out getting all nice and dry, these were all just pop corn buds and like i mentioned before, they weren't completely dry but my landlords stopped by for a visit so i had to take drastic measures to conceal the smelliest of the three plants, and succeeded! Couldn't smell a hint of fresh weed after i got rid of that one. So my big buds i assure you will be done properly, they are still very moist and will need a couple weeks minimum. Lesson learned, experience gained

 

[Jimmycricket]

Remember for the long slow cure in the jars they do need some moisture (hense the 10-15%) But more then that they will rot, less then that they can not cure.

 

[Snoogins1979]

Wow, you've done a realy good job here dude. Both with the grow, and the journal, from a colamity of errors, through to a nice big yield. I'm a tottal noob, and learnt some valuable things from this. thanks.

also just started my own journal, wont be as funny or as good as this one though.

Snoogins - Secret Jardin 120 - Unknown Seeds - In Soil - Noob Grow - 2012

 

[Snoogins1979]

I really should have spell checked that though

 

[grogreen]

Well the verdict is in, unfortunately I don't have scales yet, so these weights of my harvest are approximate, but here is what I've got minus two huge main colas that are going to need more time before they get jarred.....my guesstimate is 2.5-3 oz. of Jock, 2.5-3 oz. of Space Queen, and 3.5 oz. of White Widow, as you can see the buds look much fluffier and less like one big stuck together like previous jar pics, so at best I have 9.5 oz's, on the lower side I still have minimum 6 oz's, either way I'm very pleased for my first harvest.....

Stay tuned for next grow, already have momma plants peacefully growing 24/0 under t5's

Here is the two biggest buds of my harvest still need some time to dry out, these ones are going to be tasty

 

[GreeenFingers]

I hope they taste as good as they look

 

[donpaul.p]

some amazing buds mate, well done, nice yield as well, i need more yield with my plants so next time round ill be giving hydro a grow, i want to average around 4oz per plant and i only give them a 30day veg, but im giving glr a try but i still think soil tends to take longer to grow compared to hydro in the time given, but i wont know till i give it a try,
im thinking about the easiest hydro set up a bucket with an air stone in, so it will be a dwc hydro set up, basically ill have a normal size bucket and lid, put or make a net pot to go into the lid of the bucket, then put an air stone in the bottom of bucket and fill with water and nutrients, ill need to check the ph and ppm, i have got a ph tester but i need to get an ec tester to check the ppm levels, temps is also an issue so need to keep the res temps in check,

but i am going to give it a try, it would mean i could have less plants and get the same and if not more yield, im thinking of trying a 3ft by 3ft scrog with 1 or 2 plants or doing 4 buckets and 4 plants grown as normal, but ive got 4 plants in flower and several in veg so need to get them out the way then i can think about setting up a hydro grow.

 

[grogreen]

Thanks DP I appreciate the kind words, I'm excited to see you get away from cfl's and go big, all the time, electricity and nutes you waste on growing mediocre yielding plants, you could spend on one hydro plant, vegged with MH and flowered with HPS and maximize your yield 10 fold. I am by no means an expert but I know after yielding 20 grams here and 12 grams there, I'm looking forward to see you scrog one plant and yield 5+ oz's! You have a lot going on with having so many plants so I understand why you keep your plants small, but you have some great ideas with your DWC you should definitely give it a go and see what your capable of. Why settle for less when you can have this

I think I definitely hit my half pound goal

Keep me updated master Don, I want to see you with buds the size of your head. Also check out my submission for nug of the month, I figured what the hell, why not try, I used my two main colas from my widow plant, between the two branches they weighed 48 grams, not bad for my first time, I would love to win a nug jar, unfortunately I know I can't win all the other goodies because I'm Canadian but I would gladly give away the other prizes in return for somebody to send me the nug jar to Canada. Although Jandre2k3 has a lovely nug of his own on there, I'm hoping people will take into account this was my first grow and my buds weigh almost 2 oz's.

Anyways I'm well on my way with my horizontal scrog mother plants, I LST'd them again this morning to get them nearly horizontal, they are bushing up like crazy, I always thought LST was a waste of time and topping and fimming was the way to go, but I've quickly changed my tune after seeing the results of my plants. I'd say I have about 50 off shoots on each plant from it, the plant is about 3 feet tall and on a 160° angle, nearly parallel with the floor, well the main stalk at least, everything growing off the plant is growing up toward the light, I plan to pull those down at my new house with either little weights or string. I've got big plans DP, next yield goal, two pounds from two plants! We will see what happens.

 

[grogreen]

Now for some bud porn

 

[Fluffy Haze]

May I just congratulate you! I'm on my first ever grow and with results like this I realise I need to not worry so much. I love the fly by the seat of your pants feeling to some of this and it gives me faith that I might actually make it through to the end of mine with something worth smoking.

 

[shizznizzle]

Excellent jarhed! You should be proud my friend!
Hope it smokes as nice as it looks, I am certain they will!

 

[donpaul.p]

well done mate thats a great result, i dont think im going to get results like that growing in soil, or i probably would if i vegged them for 2 or 3 months, but why do that when i can go hydro and pull 5oz plus, so ill get these plants out the way then ill give the dwc scrog a go, im just not getting the results i want, im getting around 1oz per plant and my whole set up is running perfect, temps,rg,nutes,lights, etc etc is all spot on but im still only getting small yields per plant, if i vegged for 2 months then i could probably hit 2oz plus per plant, but i dont want to be having a long veg, hydro i can do a 30day veg and then flower and hit over 4oz using a scrog and possibly just one plant, so ill flower off what i got at the moment, got a couple of weeks of veg on some of the plants then they will all be flipped to flower, when they are nearly finished ill set up my hydro and get it all ready and get some seeds planted and give a dwc set up a try,

i should hit the yields im looking for using that and it would mean i could have lower plant numbers but still increase the yield,
so ill be giving it a try soon, just got to get the plants out the way that i got going now, i wont be taking any clones from these ill just get these out the way then set up a dwc and have a bash at that, then if i still dont get the results im looking for then their is clearly something wrong, but i think ill be hitting the yield i want, id be happy with 3oz per plant, it would mean less plants and that would make me feel a whole lot better,

ill check out your contest entry, good luck mate

 

[grogreen]

May I just congratulate you! I'm on my first ever grow and with results like this I realise I need to not worry so much. I love the fly by the seat of your pants feeling to some of this and it gives me faith that I might actually make it through to the end of mine with something worth smoking.

Hey buddy thanks for stopping by to check out my journal. Thanks for the congrats, just goes to show anyone can do this, I started this journey not knowing anything, now I feel im ready for the pros, ready to try and expand my horizons with growing. When I started this it was just to see if I could, I was bored and had a lot of spare time on my hands. Honestly man dont sweat the small things, its a plant and grows whether your sitting there watching it or whether your gone away a couple of days. Just let it do its thing and provide the right environment and there is big possibilities! So many people panic when they see a brown spot or yellowing leaf, honestly I had the attitude "whatever it will work itself out", adjusted my nutes accordingly. I can honestly say I didnt flush my plant once my entire grow up until the late flowering stages, switched from veg nutes to flower nutes no problems. I tried every technique out there just to familiarize myself with it, I topped, I fimmed, I LST'd, and I scrogged. All in all I am impressed with my overall result, and know that with a little time, patience and love you can achieve great smoke, that feels that much better to smoke just because you grew it. Ill be sure to sub your journal and help you out if you ever need it. There is lot of valuable info and knowledgeable people on this site, take full advantage of it, anything you cant find on google you will be sure the find the answer to here. Good luck and Happy Growing, cheers...... Grogr33n

 

[grogreen]

Excellent jarhed! You should be proud my friend!
Hope it smokes as nice as it looks, I am certain they will!

for the kind words shizz! I am very proud! For my first grow, to feel confident enough to put in a submission for "Nug of the Month" amoungst all of these veteran growers. I feel like I actually have a chance, my white widow colas were out of this world with a combined weight of 48 grams. The smoke is to die for, literally I felt like I was dying lol. Note to self: dont smoke fatties...........Stay tuned for next grow, will be called (horizontal scrog) it should be pretty interesting will start in October......thanks for stopping by, and happy growing.......Grogr33n

 

[grogreen]

well done mate thats a great result, i dont think im going to get results like that growing in soil, or i probably would if i vegged them for 2 or 3 months, but why do that when i can go hydro and pull 5oz plus, so ill get these plants out the way then ill give the dwc scrog a go, im just not getting the results i want, im getting around 1oz per plant and my whole set up is running perfect, temps,rg,nutes,lights, etc etc is all spot on but im still only getting small yields per plant, if i vegged for 2 months then i could probably hit 2oz plus per plant, but i dont want to be having a long veg, hydro i can do a 30day veg and then flower and hit over 4oz using a scrog and possibly just one plant, so ill flower off what i got at the moment, got a couple of weeks of veg on some of the plants then they will all be flipped to flower, when they are nearly finished ill set up my hydro and get it all ready and get some seeds planted and give a dwc set up a try,

i should hit the yields im looking for using that and it would mean i could have lower plant numbers but still increase the yield,
so ill be giving it a try soon, just got to get the plants out the way that i got going now, i wont be taking any clones from these ill just get these out the way then set up a dwc and have a bash at that, then if i still dont get the results im looking for then their is clearly something wrong, but i think ill be hitting the yield i want, id be happy with 3oz per plant, it would mean less plants and that would make me feel a whole lot better,

ill check out your contest entry, good luck mate

Great idea DP, honestly I think that will be the best route for you, I check out your journal on occasion and I seen you had like 12 different strains going or something like that and all I can can think is what is he doing?? You can yield off one big scrog plant what your getting off three of your smaller, mind you I did veg mine for around 5 weeks but look at what it gave me in return i wanna say close to 9 oz's between 3 plants of super high quality mary jane, all flowered in 3 gallon pots, imagine had i used 5 gallon buckets or better yet a garbage bag or pail?? I see your so proud and passionate for growing, and feel like you will achieve great things by limiting your plant numbers and focusing on a few of your best ones! Im looking forward to seeing how your grow progresses with the switch to the DWC method, I know youll never go back to old methods when your hauling in more than you could smoke in a year. Keep me in the loop! I will check in on your journal from time to time. Keep up the good work mate, things are looking great.......Happy Growing.....Grogr33n