It's so cold now, 29 this am. I covered the girls with tarp and a frame. They seem okay. I'm having trouble deciding when to harvest. I only have a 5 power loupe and can't see any colored tricomes, but they are all milkey. To harvest or not? It's supposed to continue to be cold so I have left the tarp and frame over them. Now what? Harvest or wait?
I'm curious to see the correct answer but if I had to guess, I say harvest them now or risk losing them. This is an UNeducated guess.
I'm growing indoors now with a grow tent for the flowering stage. They still have a few weeks left in the growth stage before they get moved to the tent. One thing I recently learned is when they are in their 12 on 12 off flowering stage, it's extremely important that the 12 hours of darkness is totally dark the whole 12 hours. No light at all, not even a pinhole ! The new tents are made with this in mind. The older ones you could see light entering in the pin holes where it was sewn. I'll have some great insight come harvest time near Christmas. They will need to cure for 5 weeks, so I wont be able to smoke any until February :( 6 weeks growth, 9 weeks flowering and 5 more for curing. Soon I'll be yielding over 1/2 lb per month.
I'm using this fertilizer that is remarkable. Sunkist uses is for their orange trees. The first year they doubled their yield. So they used even more the next year and tripled their yield. They had to back off because the weight of the oranges was to much for the trees to handle. The CO2 should double that yield also. I don't know the name of it off the top of my head, I'll let you know soon.
Thanks. I cut them down, all except one that looks young. She is still tented, the others are trimmed and hanging in our garden shed with some heat and a fan. I'm such a novice that I am learning it all at once. I used to just buy and smoke. It has become so pricey that I decided to give it a go. Now I'm looking forward to enjoying the fruits of my labors. I just don't have a indoor space. Are you using hydroponics?
Thanks again, and your opinion is not uneducated, that realm is temporarily mine.
No hydro. I know you need to cure them for 5 weeks. I'll figure out the details and let you know. The curing stage is VERY important to eliminate the chlorophyll - the stuff that makes plants green. It takes 5 weeks for it to 'evaporate'. I'm not sure about the heat and the fan. My understanding was you did it in a well ventilated closet. I'll let you know the details when I find out this afternoon.
The five-week curing is total news to me. Been smokin it as soon as it was dry enuf to light for years - no complaints from anyone. Also, I can't tell any difference between what I grow and what I buy at the pot store. Tell me more.
When you cure it, it tastes much better. It doesn't affect the buzz, just the taste. It's definitely noticeable, it's much smoother. Since you cough less, you take bigger hits - and get higher accordingly. It is really hard to wait the 5 weeks unless you have a constant crop growing. Not to wet or you'll get mold and not to dry or you'll get crumbs. A lot of people say they use mason jars for storage after it cured. Got to watch them, they are not quite done 'curing' so open them every week and take a good sniff to make sure they are OK. A few people even said they emptied the jars, somewhat sorted them, and then refilled them. The only complaint I've ever heard was with shitty Mexican pot. It was justifiable. If have have the time and bud to spare, give it a try - you've got nothing to lose.
Found a great site. Grasscity. Has all kinds of ideas on how to grow, harvest and cure. Everyone has a slightly different version and are sure that they're the best. Great to read and learn.
I've got a horrible cold with a racking cough and a throat that's on fire. Also can talk only in a whisper. Can't smoke, can't use milk products and might hack my self into small pieces. Have an MRI on my brain today where I have to lay still for 45 minutes. I went to doc yesterday and got cough medicine so I won't screw up the test. My husband tells me they won't find anything. HA. Be glad to get well, am staying away from friends and family. Hope hubby won't catch it. After the test will go eat fresh rolls at my favorite place. Then go home and eat a powerful brownie. There's always a way.
Hey, I made some darn fine tincture that would really work for your situation: Two handfuls of mixed bud and leaf in a mason jar; fill with any clear, strong liquor (I use 100 proof vodka.), put a lid on and put it in a dark place for a month. I use it to help me sleep when pain keeps me awake.
Hey seagazer, that sounds really cool. I'm going to try that one.
Oh, I asked my neighbor about the curing process and he said you can dry the buds for 2 weeks in a brown paper grocery bag (just don't close it all the way up so it can breath) in a closet or somewhere dark then put it into mason jars. You MUST open the jars EVERY day to let them breath so they wont get mold. That way it slowly dehydrates and releases the chlorophyll slowly - which takes 3 weeks more, besides the first 2, to get rid of. If you dry it to fast, the chlorophyll stays in there and never gets released. If you don't cure it fast enough then it can get moldy - at which point there is no recovery.
He said we'll gladly smoke the un-fully cured stuff at first....until we don't have to anymore :) Good, that brings it back to mid January for the first buzz. He really knows his stuff about seeds and growing. He's sort of a conisuir. He's paid $100 for 10 seeds and has lots of different varieties. We're growing several different varieties. He has some really killer seeds. He knows how long it takes for each stage of growth for each variety.
Some will be a mind numbing buzz that will leave you almost helpless, some will 'fry' you to sleep, some will just be a better than average buzz. His friend sells that stuff by the 1/8 or 1/4 oz. It comes to $450/oz. and that's not even the 'killer' stuff. Apparently, you don't need very much.
Come next summer, we'll be growing from clones exclusively - no more germinating seeds. We will setup a separate tent so we can seed some females to produce seeds (to give away, sell, trade or keep (just in case)). With the filters he has, I'm not worried about 'infecting' the production crops. In a year or so, he'll let me play around with grafting if I still think I can improve on what we already have. He says it's very doubtful :) I'll probably be to stoned to do it successfully. That's the kind of defeat I can live with :)
Oh, he said curing can affect the buzz and make it a little stronger (or weaker). My contention is that since it's smoother you take a bigger hit and consequently get higher.
Wow, a tincture using alcohol. Great idea. Only problem is waiting a month. I will set up some but will eat my favorite brownies.
I read that curing smoothes out the taste. Haven't read anything about stronger. Right now I'm drying in the shed with heat and a fan. Buds are hanging upside down from wires. When they are dry enough, I plan to cut off the big stems and put the buds in jars. What do I do with the good quality trim? I'm drying the trim in a paper bag with the hanging buds.
