Usul's Grow 2.1: Red Cherry Berry, Indoor 250W MH/HPS, 2'x2' ScrOG in soil

[usul]

Thanks MJ - this is fun! Here's a bit more info on where I'm at... Turns out the drying cabinet is more efficient than I thought and the buds were drying too quickly. I had the fan on 100% power for 36 hours then dropped it to 50%, but it was too much and the buds got crispy after just 4 days. So, the bud is now in glass jars - which will get aired out frequently - to moisten back up and solidify a bit more.

Here's a bad picture of what's left of the canopy at, 105 days old, day 58 flower.

And here's a picture of the harvest from Pebbles hung in the drying cabinet.

Must say, other than drying too fast (which I will adjust for the next harvest) the cabinet's odor control is working really well. Even filled with stinky buds I can detect no smell whatsoever.

Looks like Betty will come down on Sunday, but I might wait a little longer... just going to play it a day at a time for now.

I harvested a small amount of dry hash from the screen process and it is now in the press, which turns out slighly-larger-than nickle sized wafers. Gonna let it sit overnight to let all the juices ferment a bit then we'll see what I've got tomorrow.

 

[mary_juana420]

Must say, other than drying too fast (which I will adjust for the next harvest) the cabinet's odor control is working really well. Even filled with stinky buds I can detect no smell whatsoever.

I harvested a small amount of dry hash from the screen process and it is now in the press, which turns out slighly-larger-than nickle sized wafers. Gonna let it sit overnight to let all the juices ferment a bit then we'll see what I've got tomorrow.

^^ So Jealous !

And the cabinet looking so good filled up !



I owe you some major + Rep
Looking Awesome !
MJ420

 

[lavendar]

a monster case of bud envy here...beautiful....when i get some that dry to fast....usually the sativas, when i jar them i put a leaf in with them...it will remoisturize them....works for me....but those are some awesome buds...lavendar

 

[Tiger Balm]

Even close to harvest, your plants look magnificent. Great photography, but great materiel to work with.

 

[ultrasonic]

Hope you're enjoying the harvest usul

Day 1 of flowering here!

 

[kailpot]

Nice work Ursul, enjoy!

 

[usul]

Hey all, thanks for the compliments and support! I am indeed enjoying the fruits of my labor, and now that I have some bud stocked up I'm a bit more patient about when to harvest the rest of the plants. While the smoke from early harvest is just fine I'd hardly call it remarkable, so I'm going to let things go a bit long and see if quality improves. We're one day away from 9 weeks of flowering and trichs are still more clear than cloudy. So we wait...

 

[ultrasonic]

how's the waiting?

 

[usul]

... still waiting ...

And it seems the calendar has caught up with me. I need to finish harvesting tomorrow so I can get the next grow going and finished before a mandatory August/September shutdown. So...

...over the last four days the hours of light have been gradually reduced to 10/14. The plants are now in a 36 hour dark period before the final harvest tomorrow. Hey... Friday night... Harvest party at my place!

I'll get some decent pics posted once the harvest is in. And I'll keep this journal going until I can post final weight and a smoke report comparing the early and late harvests (17 days apart). Should be interesting

More soon...

 

[ultrasonic]

Woohoo! Can't wait for some of your classic photography I'm really excited! *jig*

 

[usul]

Hi Folks - final harvest is in. Here's a pic of the buds from Wilma and Betty hanging in the drying cabinet:

Ahhh, the sweet smell of success

The look of the plants changed dramatically in the last five days - especially as I made the day/night temp spread wider, temperatures cooler overall, and gradually reduced the lights-on time to 10/14. All those extra efforts may have helped bring on a strong finish. Trichs were just barely cloudy before I started the finishing process but by the end we had many very milky trichs and a handful that had gone amber.

Here are some shots of the plants and buds right before harvest.

All the buds are trimmed and drying and everything else is separated into two bags: one for rough trim and one for fine trim. Once dry, the fine trim will be used for making hash and the rough trim for cannabutter (tailings from the hash refinery are added to the cannabutter vat as well).

My previous attempt at hash-making was less than stellar. Not bad, to be sure, but far from what I'd hoped. Perhaps this next batch will be better. Here is a pic of a couple of the best buds. Hardly Nug of the Month material but not half bad for my first grow.

The drying cabinet is performing admirably and having it set on 7.5V is giving me just about the perfect drying rate. But I'm getting a bit of odor in the closet. It's no big deal but something that requires a bit of tuning - tightening up some joints and seals should do it.

Drying is coming along nicely and I should be ready to jar-up the buds in three or four days. I'll also be able to post a final weight and a smoke report. Hash and Cannabutter reports will follow shortly thereafter then we'll call this journal a wrap.

In the meantime, I've been working on some upgrades to my operation and they're curently in testing. More about all that in the next journal

 

[Stealthy1]

Looking good usul nice to see you get some good smoke. Nice work cant wait to see what you got going next.

 

[ultrasonic]

Oh yeah, that's what I wanted!

Nice harvest usul glad that one of us made it to the finish, lol (it's not like i'm still sore about my last grow or anything... heh ) How does it smell? Can't wait to see it all dried out!!

I really notice the difference between the color of the top buds and lower buds... you can see where the penetration started to reduce after the first inch... Really frosty though: mmmmm.

fyi i'll be posting an update on Monday in my journal.... day 14. Hope to see you there brother.

+reps when I can till the end of time! ps- what nutes did you use for this? you mentioned before, but I forget...was it foxfarm?

 

[lavendar]

+reps, beautiful showing, beautiful grow.....congrats....lavendar

 

[Tiger Balm]

i have to spread the love, but want to say congratters on a job very well done. Enjoy your reward!

 

[NEchronic]

daaayum usul! nice colors on those naasty girls congrats!
how much do you think using <12 hours of light helped to fatten up the buds?

 

[lil stinker 420]

great grow i was seriously considering this strain do they have a cherry taste to them?

 

[usul]

Thanks so much everyone! It's a nice feeling to have a grow completed and several jars full of nugs.

Ultra - yes, I used the Fox Farm nutes. I think I'll stick with them until I run out then might try something else...

NEchronic - I think dropping the light period to 10/14 in the last 4 days really brought on a strong finish. It might just have been coincidence but I didn't see any amber trichs until after shortening the light period. After a few days amber trichs were easy to find.

So here's the final weight and smoke report:

Final dried and trimmed weight: 86.76 grams - just a bit more than 3 ounces. Grams/Watt came in at .38. Not great numbers but some bud is better than no bud. I hope to do better on my next grow.

Although the quantity isn't so great the quality of the finished product is quite good. Aroma and taste is, in a word, fruity! There are hints of lemon, pink grapefruit and canteloupe. And the smoke has an additonal hint of bamboo. It's a smooth and mellow experience. Can't say I can tell much difference in the effect between the early harvest and this final batch. The later-harvested plants had slightly fatter buds - the flavor is more mellow and complex - the buds are more potent and the effect is longer lasting. Looks like there's nothing to be gained by harvesting early.

Hash-making was okay but still not stellar. Perhaps I'll try the ice/blender method next time. The canna-butter is bubbling away as I type - I'll post a debrief on the brownies soon!

 

[Setting Sun]

Feels good don't it?

Great grow and great journal!


and

 

[mary_juana420]

Congratulations Usul !

The color is very nice.

Your final weight you said was around 86 g .

Was that including the one chopped earlier ?

+ Rep
MJ420