Junk's Growing Log

[SmithsJunk]

:fire::fire::fire: Bet it's tasty..!!

Thanks. It actually is. It's tastier, smoother, and cleaner than BHO. With no solvents to strip the terps, you get a true to flower flavor. But you've got to cook it on low. People get greedy and press it with 50-100% more heat than I do. It gives a bigger yield. Up to twice as much, depending on the herb. I only heat it to 93c (199-200F) and I'm going to drop it to 150-175F on tonight's press. I bet that'll make my RNK taste real nice. This press is awesome! It's so nice to be able to make dabs on demand, with whatever herb I have laying around. I may do a 5-way mixed dab tonight (RNK, Orange Creamsicle, Dosi-do, Guerilla Glue, Forbidden Fruit). I'll hit my cousin up for some Chocolate Diesel and Blue Dream to make it seven.

I'm trying to figure out how to take a video of the press in action. It takes two hands to seat the bags in the proper position before bringing the press down completely. I need to use my Pentax, set up on it's tripod to do it. It will be tricky to keep my mug out of the shot. I need to set up a knob on the bottle-jack's relief valve so I don't have to keep switching the jack arm back and forth while making adjustments. If you don't stay on top of it, you won't pin the fold in the paper and it will blow out.

Tonight, I'll do a step-by-step in pictures. Cleaning and prepping the press, grinding the weed and packing the bags, how to fold the the parchment so that the rosin flows out the front, adjusting the package to avoid blowouts and recover an optimal amount, temps, 2 stage pressing, collection, and transfer to the containers.

If I wasn't trying to save for an HD van or truck, I'd buy the 7.5" press. You should check out the press I have on eBay. $350 for mine and $650 for the big one is really really worth it. I did my research and nothing comes close in the same price range (unless you build yourself and you'll miss out on the cool asthetics). You'd either have to buy a t-shirt press with much lower pressure and yields, or spend $700-$1500 for a NugSmasher. It's at least $900 for one with as much pressure and comperable plate sises. I couldn't find the perfect combination of components and pressure like mine until the $1500 range.

 

[Ceveres]

Hell yea it looks good from here brother! I've been dragging ass on getting the rest of the equipment I need to blast some BHO, but if I'm picking up what you're laying down, then it may be better for me to spend the $350-400 on a press. I'm looking at spending at least another $200 to get the right equipment so that's not too bad a price hike to side track myself for a bit.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Hell yea it looks good from here brother! I've been dragging ass on getting the rest of the equipment I need to blast some BHO, but if I'm picking up what you're laying down, then it may be better for me to spend the $350-400 on a press. I'm looking at spending at least another $200 to get the right equipment so that's not too bad a price hike to side track myself for a bit.

When it comes to making money, I don't know where BHO stands against rosin. But for personal use I think the rosin is superior. You can make 1g+ in just a few minutes with 10g of weed. It will change the way you pick your phenos. I'm looking for resin heavy plants to grow, like my RNK. I don't know the THC% compared to BHO but I bet it gives it a run for the money.

Link for the press, the big press has more artsy aluminum work but the little one still looks nice...



(Looks like the dude's presses got popular since I ordered. The 3.5" is $385 now and the 7" is out of stock. The 3.5" is still a great price.)

I was up all night making oil the night before last so I ended up crashing early and just woke up. Didn't do the process in pics yet but will start work on my camera setup here in a few minutes. Setting up the tripod will be tricky with so little space. I need to pair my remote with my Pentax, which I've never done before. I may not be able to do it with my current lenses. Never got around to getting a 50mm prime lens. I'll know here shortly. If I have to use my phone they won't be as good.

 

[SmithsJunk]

I just set up my camera, and while my 18-55mm zoom will work, I dont have room to see it's screen and through my viewfinder while in the 5th wheel. So I'll have to set it up outside, but I will get it done. It'll be both, a set of pictures and a video. Have to see what I need to do to post up the video. I'll start setting up when I get some daylight.

It costs me about $2.50 ea gram in parchment and squish bags to make rosin. You need to consider that when comparing costs vs BHO. I know if you do the BHO right then you'll probably need a gas extractor which runs about the same or a little more than the press. Butane is probably cheaper than squish bags but both processes use rolls of parchment. After some experimenting I found that cheap nylon bags are just as good or better than the expensive silk ones. They sell them in bulk on eBay for far less than I'm currently paying at my local smoke shop. I'll pick up a bulk pack next month but I'll keep buying from my local guy because he takes really good care of me on smokes and gives me the most excellent deals on bongs & misc smoking supplies. Plus, he's just f^ckin cool and I want to support his shop.

 

[Ceveres]

I just set up my camera, and while my 18-55mm zoom will work, I dont have room to see it's screen and through my viewfinder while in the 5th wheel. So I'll have to set it up outside, but I will get it done. It'll be both, a set of pictures and a video. Have to see what I need to do to post up the video. I'll start setting up when I get some daylight.

It costs me about $2.50 ea gram in parchment and squish bags to make rosin. You need to consider that when comparing costs vs BHO. I know if you do the BHO right then you'll probably need a gas extractor which runs about the same or a little more than the press. Butane is probably cheaper than squish bags but both processes use rolls of parchment. After some experimenting I found that cheap nylon bags are just as good or better than the expensive silk ones. They sell them in bulk on eBay for far less than I'm currently paying at my local smoke shop. I'll pick up a bulk pack next month but I'll keep buying from my local guy because he takes really good care of me on smokes and gives me the most excellent deals on bongs & misc smoking supplies. Plus, he's just f^ckin cool and I want to support his shop.

I always always prefer to support local businesses, hands down the way to go. And if I can't, then I'll at least try and support USA made products, if not just because the quality is usually better. I'm pumped to see this thing in action! My lady and I dab frequently and ever since my indoor has been popping, there hasn't been a shortage of fresh nugs So I can see one of those being handy. I follow a company on IG called Low temp Plates that looks cool but probably expensive.

 

[SmithsJunk]

I just set up my camera, and while my 18-55mm zoom will work, I dont have room to see it's screen and through my viewfinder while in the 5th wheel. So I'll have to set it up outside, but I will get it done. It'll be both, a set of pictures and a video. Have to see what I need to do to post up the video. I'll start setting up when I get some daylight.

It costs me about $2.50 ea gram in parchment and squish bags to make rosin. You need to consider that when comparing costs vs BHO. I know if you do the BHO right then you'll probably need a gas extractor which runs about the same or a little more than the press. Butane is probably cheaper than squish bags but both processes use rolls of parchment. After some experimenting I found that cheap nylon bags are just as good or better than the expensive silk ones. They sell them in bulk on eBay for far less than I'm currently paying at my local smoke shop. I'll pick up a bulk pack next month but I'll keep buying from my local guy because he takes really good care of me on smokes and gives me the most excellent deals on bongs & misc smoking supplies. Plus, he's just f^ckin cool and I want to support his shop.

F^ck!!! I can't do the outside shoot yet. It's going to start dumping rain in the next hour or so. Then it's going to snow for 2 days. My porch isn't weatherproof and I'm not going to risk my $1k camera out here. I'll try to figure out an inside setup but my dining nook table isn't strong enough to handle cranking on the bottle jack. Might be able to set my camera further back on top of some book shelves. I'll figure this sh*t out somehow.

 

[SmithsJunk]

I always always prefer to support local businesses, hands down the way to go. And if I can't, then I'll at least try and support USA made products, if not just because the quality is usually better. I'm pumped to see this thing in action! My lady and I dab frequently and ever since my indoor has been popping, there hasn't been a shortage of fresh nugs So I can see one of those being handy. I follow a company on IG called Low temp Plates that looks cool but probably expensive.

Sh*t!, LowTemp charges more for the plates than my whole press. Way, way, too expensive. They want $810 for the cage alone and it only has 4 return springs and no room for the controller.

Mine has everything for half the price of their cage and has 8 return springs, which are actually useful when you need to pull the package before it burns. Mine also looks better. These guys are taking advantage of the popularity of rosin to gouge their customers.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Sh*t!, LowTemp charges more for the plates than my whole press. Way, way, too expensive. They want $810 for the cage alone and it only has 4 return springs and no room for the controller.

View attachment 773299 View attachment 773300
Mine has everything for half the price of their cage and has 8 return springs, which are actually useful when you need to pull the package before it burns. Mine also looks better. These guys are taking advantage of the popularity of rosin to gouge their customers.
View attachment 773302

Oops. Had to change the pic. Accidentally posted one of the 7" press.

 

[Ceveres]

Sh*t!, LowTemp charges more for the plates than my whole press. Way, way, too expensive. They want $810 for the cage alone and it only has 4 return springs and no room for the controller.

View attachment 773299 View attachment 773300
Mine has everything for half the price of their cage and has 8 return springs, which are actually useful when you need to pull the package before it burns. Mine also looks better. These guys are taking advantage of the popularity of rosin to gouge their customers.
View attachment 773302

Wow I didn't realize they were taking people for all they're worth! Lol and this is exactly why I love the farm. I've avoided many costly mistakes because of this forum. And yours looks way more bad ass than theirs too, I agree completely!

 

[SmithsJunk]

I always always prefer to support local businesses, hands down the way to go. And if I can't, then I'll at least try and support USA made products, if not just because the quality is usually better. I'm pumped to see this thing in action! My lady and I dab frequently and ever since my indoor has been popping, there hasn't been a shortage of fresh nugs So I can see one of those being handy. I follow a company on IG called Low temp Plates that looks cool but probably expensive.

Yup yup. I support local business within the realm of reason. But as far as equipment goes, I believe in a free market and will buy quality if China can make it cheaper. I lucked out finding a press made in Cali for a good price and other USA based businesses need to at least be competitive if they want my money. The price gouging on pot processing equipment is ridiculous and a total d*ck move.

When/if you do buy a press, a lot of them advertise built in timers. Absolute waste of money. Each pull is different and all you have to do is watch for when the rosin stops bubbling out. Don't spend money on options you won't need. After a couple presses you'll know exactly what you're doing and if you're running at lower temps there's little risk of burning.

Another thing I noticed about the LowTemp press is the gap between plates when the springs are fully compressed. They did this to avoid blowouts but it's not necessary and actually counterproductive. You want your plates to touch with the back closing just a hair earlier than the front. The gap will limit your pressure and give you a lighter yield and you won't be able to do a second press after the squish bag is flat. Folding the parchment right will cause rosin to flow to the front of the plates. You can see this in the pictures I've already posted. You'll also want to use a big 12" roll of RAW parchment.

Being able select the sise and fold it over will make folding easier and reduce blowouts. The dual coated silicon is a must too if you want any chance of a clean removal of the rosin. I started out with the little 5x5 squares. They were a pain in the a$$ to fold and I had constant blowouts. If you're extracting from 10g of flower, blowouts WILL happen but they're usually very small and most of the time less that a tiny dab hit. If you have small blowouts, don't worry about cleaning the plates in between while your running a series of extractions because the heat will shellac the rosin and most of it will grab on to the next piece of parchment. I've actually recovered a lot off the outside of packages that picked it up from previous blowouts. Recovering it directly from a warm plate is an exercise in futility. It'll only spread out. Once the plates are cool enough, a paper towel with a little 90% rubbing alcohol will clean the plates in seconds. One more thing, don't try to recover rosin from the center of the package where the bag was pressed. There's very little and the silicon will be damaged from the pressure. You'll lose more rosin off the tool than you're trying to pick up. The loss is negligible.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Go f^ckin figure, I try to do an instructional set of pics and I get the worst blowout I've ever had. Two reasons, I forgot it was a silk bag and I was so busy trying to get pics of the rosin bubbling that I pressed the package too quickly (for silk, nylon would have been no problem). I have nylon bags but they're some new, larger ones, and I haven't tried them yet. So I went with the a leftover silk bag in the sise I normally use. I get blowouts from silk bags about 50% of the time. Never had a nylon bag blowout, only the parchment package.

I'll just show the pics of the blowout and resulting contaminated rosin this time and do a new set for an instructional.

A sure sign of a blowout is when your rosin bubbles out frothy.

This thing just f^ckin popped. I bet a t-shirt press can't do this.

The parchment from the first and second presses.

2g from 10g of flower, 20% extracted. Nothing else gives me yields like the Royal Nepal Kush.

It'll dab just fine but I won't sell it because I don't want to tarnish my rep.

Okay, cleaning up the press and setting up for the next, non-f^cked up extraction with the step by step pics.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Got the green light to do an outdoor grow this year. Same garden and 200gal smartpots as last year. Just ordered three types of beans from right here on TF. Last year was my first year so I made a lot of mistakes. The first was spending way too much money on fertilisers and overfeeding my girls. The second was not properly training them. The third, and worst mistake was not knowing enough about pests and their control.

What happened to work out very well was the sun screen. Saved them from overheating as well as severe rain, wind, and storm debris. Will be setting up the planters for better sun this year and rebuild the solar shade (the last few feet of snow destroyed it). Going to amend right after this storm with the hot bat crap I bought last year and throw in a little fresh soil. It already has enough bark, pearlite, and red clay pellets. This should give it enough time to cool before planting. Maybe there are some grass or sprouts I can throw in there to help the process along. I'll check it out.

Growing two each of these girls...

...to scratch my itch for a landrace Sativa...

...for the hardcore stone...

...because it sounds just f^ckin delicious.

I'm super happy about getting to do an outdoor grow again. For a while there it didn't look like it was gonna happen.

Thank you all for checking out my growing log. Part II

 

[Ceveres]

Hell yea man glad to know you got the go ahead on this year's outdoor extravaganza !! I'll definitely keep popping in to see this one through. That Banana Ice Cream sounds dank! You gonna be running Fox farm (was it?) Again? For how nice your last grow went, this ones going to knock it out of the park I bet.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Hell yea man glad to know you got the go ahead on this year's outdoor extravaganza !! I'll definitely keep popping in to see this one through. That Banana Ice Cream sounds dank! You gonna be running Fox farm (was it?) Again? For how nice your last grow went, this ones going to knock it out of the park I bet.

Thanks.

Yup, I'll be feedin em Fox Farm again this year but a lot less of it. Gotta grow cheap this time. The crazy new Cali market screwed me so I'm really only growing for me and my tiny co-op. Have about a lb each of the Creamsicle and Royal Nepal left. Plenty enough to smoke and trade till harvest. Hopefully, an early start will more than make up for less nutes. I'm also going stagger the pots and try to lollipop them for better light penetration.

I'll come over and check out your threads again soon. Had to take a break for a while. Haven't been doing too hot lately but the Spring weather is making me feel better.

 

[Rcubed]

Thanks.

Yup, I'll be feedin em Fox Farm again this year but a lot less of it. Gotta grow cheap this time. The crazy new Cali market screwed me so I'm really only growing for me and my tiny co-op. Have about a lb each of the Creamsicle and Royal Nepal left. Plenty enough to smoke and trade till harvest. Hopefully, an early start will more than make up for less nutes. I'm also going stagger the pots and try to lollipop them for better light penetration.

I'll come over and check out your threads again soon. Had to take a break for a while. Haven't been doing too hot lately but the Spring weather is making me feel better.

Glad to hear you're feeling better. I'm in for following your next grow.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Glad to hear you're feeling better. I'm in for following your next grow.

Thanks. Should be much easier this year.

I thought I knew something about weed when I started growing last year. LOL, I didn't know sh*t. It was a great learning experience. Hopefully, starting from seed will give me stronger, pest free, plants this year.

Had to put my indoor grow on hold. Looking for a good class C motor home, plus my sales guy bolted with a few grand of mine. That set me back a bit. At least he could of had the decency to leave me his connects so I could recover but I don't think I was the only one he ripped off. Oh well, it's only money, and it could have been worse. I'll focus on my little co-op and ask my people to reach out for new members. I'll be straight by summer.

Until then, life's actually pretty good.
...and, I don't have to drop over a grand on harvest and processing equipment again this year. So, yaay!

 

[Rcubed]

Thanks. Should be much easier this year.

I thought I knew something about weed when I started growing last year. LOL, I didn't know sh*t. It was a great learning experience. Hopefully, starting from seed will give me stronger, pest free, plants this year.

Had to put my indoor grow on hold. Looking for a good class C motor home, plus my sales guy bolted with a few grand of mine. That set me back a bit. At least he could of had the decency to leave me his connects so I could recover but I don't think I was the only one he ripped off. Oh well, it's only money, and it could have been worse. I'll focus on my little co-op and ask my people to reach out for new members. I'll be straight by summer.

Until then, life's actually pretty good.
...and, I don't have to drop over a grand on harvest and processing equipment again this year. So, yaay!

Too bad about that a-hole screwing you. Yeah, we're always learning. I learned a lot about pest management as well. I might put up some netting to keep the cabbage loopers off this year. Also, I feel I was hanging on to the old standbys that I smoked 30 years ago so I'm going to venture into some new strains. I'm getting set up for my next outdoor grow. I dropped some Berry Bomb, OG Kush, Gorrilla Glue4, and some White Widow to go along with my faves from last fall that I cloned.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Too bad about that a-hole screwing you. Yeah, we're always learning. I learned a lot about pest management as well. I might put up some netting to keep the cabbage loopers off this year. Also, I feel I was hanging on to the old standbys that I smoked 30 years ago so I'm going to venture into some new strains. I'm getting set up for my next outdoor grow. I dropped some Berry Bomb, OG Kush, Gorrilla Glue4, and some White Widow to go along with my faves from last fall that I cloned.

The shade cloth kept the budworms off my girls while they ravaged my cousin's uncovered plants a few feet away from them.

Man, it seems like I'm the only one with any imagination where I live. Everybody around here just wants to grow GG, Trainwreck, Blue Dream, and Sour D (or one of these X'd). They're great and all, but after a decade of smoking pretty much the same four strains, I had to try some new sh*t. Until two years ago I was at the mercy of the market, then I got my scrip.

Oh sh*t, I was spoilt from the moment I first stepped into a dispensary. Now, I absolutely refuse to keep smoking that same old sh*t and I get called a weed snob for it. But I don't hear them complaining when they're puffin on some fine exotic doje I've rolled up. Way to commit to your cause motherf^ckers,, ROFL!

...I usually buy no more than a half oz of each strain. Much more than that and it starts to get tedious. I have had one exception, that Royal Nepal Kush I grew last year. It's still my daily driver, and it's only gotten better as it cures. The rosin from it is outstanding as well and it completely lays out anyone who doesn't smoke it every day like my cousin and myself. Excellent med for his chemo side effects. I hope at least one of the new ones work out like that this year. If they do, then I'll have a few more beans to create mothers when I eventually get my indoor going.

 

[SmithsJunk]

After careful scrutiny my lack of scrill has reignited my resourceful nature to kick back in. Was just pricing out bulk fish+seaweed fertilisers and decided to just make it myself. Last year I was forced into buying premade nutes due to my ignorance and lack of time. This year I have plenty of time and a little less ignorance. I'll go to my local fish-monger and buy me some tail, fins, guts, and bones, then find some cheap unsalted seaweed. I already have the blackstrap molasses (my autocorrect tried to change it to jockstrap, he he) and mulch I can get for free.

This will save me about $125-$150 per fiver for a total of $375-$450 for the season. Sorry all you nute sellers, necessity is the father of invention and often the mother of a successful business model, but mostly I'm just f^ckin cheap and I know better this year.

I'll post updates on the brewing process.

Another thing to do this month will be to add earthworms to my soil once it's amended and hand turned. I'll put some munchible biomatter in to get the party started. I can throw in some clover seed as well to hand turn before planting.

For Cali growers, everything has changed. So we need to stop whining, put our backs into it, and let our sunshine do the rest. Our state is filled with brilliant growers who got lazy. I mean, who can blame us? Why bust our a$$es if we didn't have too? But the gold rush created a generation of people who pop the top, and pour it in. Now it's time to get back to our roots (No phun intended). I wager my girls 'l produce at least half again what I did last year (barring any genetic limitations of my new plants, if any).

My reasoning behind this change...

When I was a kid my dad took us fishing all the time and when we got home from our outings we would often have lots of leftover frozen sardines. My mom would bury them in the planter next to the driveway instead of letting them stink up the garbage. The annuals from the years before had dropped seed and within weeks of my mom disposing the fish a rigorous green belt had formed. Within a couple months it looked like something from a Disneyland garden. The baby's breath was so thick and full it looked like cumulous clouds, and not one of the flowers had wilted from the extreme Orange County heat.

Yup, that's what I'm gonna do. Yup, yup.

 

[SmithsJunk]

When I was sprouting bag beans from Mexican bammer 25 yrs ago I didn't give a sh*t if some wouldn't pop. But at ten $$$ ea for fems, only gonna germ what I plan on using. I need a 100% success rate. No fails, no males. And regardless of being called feminised, I've read there's still the slightest chance for males.

To make sure I get it right I bought an incubator setup. It's a cheapie rig (under $50) and I saved $10 shopping around and buying a separate heating pad. The little 17w t5 appears to be proprietary and no one can find replacement tubes but reviewers say it still worked well and was worth it. I'm only going to use it 1-3 mo yr so it should last me a while.