omg my flowers are turning dark :(

[mannitu68]

good day everybody,
i just opened my tent and did a close up inspection, every couple of days i pull the plants out to look at parts i usually cant see. Ive discovered that on one of my plants, theres a dark, deepbrown or black discolouration of the flowers/buds. Some segments are still green, some are dark. The smaller buds, deep inside, seem more affected than the good, thick buds on top. Ive experienced all kinds of leave-discolouration over the last weeks, but i thought its normal, im 9 1/2 weeks in flower now. What shall i do now? Harvest right now, before it affects the big buds? Does anybody know what this is? Humidity has always been under 60% in the last weeks. Its amnesia strain and ive read the flowering time is 10-12 weeks.

 

[josefrahl]

Just looks like a purple pheno to me.

 

[mannitu68]

yeah i tried to look that up, but i couldnt find any Amnesia with this colour. Or the pics arent close enough. 1 thing i forget to mention, the leaves on the affected buds also have that black/blue/darkred discolouration. It began at the upper leaves, turned over to the very thin leaves around the buds and now the very small leaves "inside the buds" also are discoloured. That tells me it isnt budrot. Budrot just wouldnt made sense, ive strictly controlled humidity and airflow is on 100%.

 

[NorthernOrganics]

Try pulling at the small single blade sugar leaves in the buds if they are discolored. If they pull out easily, then check that spot for bud rot in the middle of the bud. You won't see bud rot until it's really bad, it hangs out in the center of the bud. The sugar leaves will tell you if something is going on deep in there.

Looks like the plants are eating themselves, ripening up. What are your temperatures when the lights are off? The bud tops darkening looks to be anthocyanins which could be strain or environment dependant.

 

[N1ghtL1ght]

The fact that many of the top fanleaves just wilt in dry necrosis and die and your buds are quite leafy may be a hint something isnt properly dialed in like nute mix or light strength or VPD (it can affect the other)
Just a wild guess but usually the fans below should be the first to go, if at all

 

[mannitu68]

temps 19-25 c at day and 16-19c at night. We had a couple f warm days were the went a few degree higher. ill cut of one of the "affected" buds and examine it. What i need to know is, shall i harvest? I only got maybe 10% amber trichomes so far.

 

[mysticepipedon]

OMG!

You know those movie trailers, where the main character walks toward the camera and throws a lit lighter behind him, and everything in the background blows up into a fiery hell? That's what you are going to have to do with your grow. I hope you're insured.

Wait. Hold off on that. Now that I took a close look, those buds look perfectly normal. Sorry if you already blew the place up.

 

[Heywood]

What i need to know is, shall i harvest? I only got maybe 10% amber trichomes so far.

If you're seeing 10% amber... you could harvest at any time... depends on the type of high that you want.
The stage they are at now would lean more towards a cerebral/energetic high.
With a higher percentage of amber, the more of a body/relaxing high you'll have.

I am not particularly fond of couch-lock, so I would have no issues harvesting at 10% amber.
Just my opinion.

 

[mannitu68]

well maybe i shitted myself a little bit early. I found quite a few pictures where they look exactly like this...at bright daylight under the magnifying glass i realized its a a dark red, like red-wine. I cut few of them open, they look and smell like the other ones that are 100% green. I dont like the stench in this stadium though, i guess its chlorophyl? Almost chemical. I also discovered some buds have more amber thans other, 1 plant seems to be further than the other so i deceided to harvest. So total flowering time was 66 days now.


by the way, how much of the small leaves, that grow out of the bud, do you cut away? Ive seen people cut out everything. I only cut of the part of the leaves where i can see its not full of trichomes. Where i see the leave is as full as the rest with trichomes, i let it stay.

this was after cutting of and removing the large leaves

and then after fine-trimming the stack shrinked down quite a bit.

 

[Heywood]

For a personal stash, those look nicely trimmed to me.

Curious though, did you not hang the entire plant after chopping it... and let it slowly dry for several days?

 

[mannitu68]

why, you think it will take longer for them to dry, just because there are hanging on a long stem? It will take a couple days this way. Exhaustfan is turned to a minimum in the tent.

 

[GNick55]

why, you think it will take longer for them to dry, just because there are hanging on a long stem? It will take a couple days this way. Exhaustfan is turned to a minimum in the tent.

you don’t know about drying and curing?
that will be like hay, unless you can put those on a screen in a pitch black room with some fresh airflow and a constant temp of 60 and humidity of 65% in your situation

 

[Heywood]

I'm sure there is science behind it that someone else smarter than I can explain... But I have always learned to dry it slowly at a controlled rate with temp and RH... Using the stems as an indicator of how close you are to the target dryness.

Maybe your way is perfectly fine, but I know the object is not to dry it as fast as possible.

Maybe @N1ghtL1ght or @Moe.Red or @Aqua Man or @Ponky ... Or a slew of the other guys can explain the science.

EDIT: ... Or @GNick55 ... he's on scene already. :)

 

[mysticepipedon]

I think the problem with drying too fast is that you can easily dry it too much, beyond the point where you can remoisten it to cure.

My guess is that since curing is carried out by aerobic bacteria, if it dries past the point of no return, those bacteria die and it is difficult or impossible to re-establish them in the buds.

I don't think it matters whether you cut the buds off the stem first, as long as you don't dry to the point of no return. I've dried it on the stem and in racks and it doesn't affect the cure. I just don't use my drying rack anymore because it just adds an extra step for no good reason.

 

[Aqua Man]

I'm sure there is science behind it that someone else smarter than I can explain... But I have always learned to dry it slowly at a controlled rate with temp and RH... Using the stems as an indicator of how close you are to the target dryness.

Maybe your way is perfectly fine, but I know the object is not to dry it as fast as possible.

Maybe @N1ghtL1ght or @Moe.Red or @Aqua Man or @Ponky ... Or a slew of the other guys can explain the science.

EDIT: ... Or @GNick55 ... he's on scene already. :)

It has to do with oxidization, microbes and the breakdown and chemical conversion of compounds.

A fast dry will stop that action from happening.

Bud to wet is at risk of mold.

Its all about slowing the dry to allow those processes to happen naturally and continue through the cure by controlling moisture content and water movement through the plant by manipulating temo and humidity.

A good dry has as much if not more inpact on the end product than the cure.

 

[Aqua Man]

I think the problem with drying too fast is that you can easily dry it too much, beyond the point where you can remoisten it to cure.

My guess is that since curing is carried out by aerobic bacteria, if it dries past the point of no return, those bacteria die and it is difficult or impossible to re-establish them in the buds.

I don't think it matters whether you cut the buds off the stem first, as long as you don't dry to the point of no return. I've dried it on the stem and in racks and it doesn't affect the cure. I just don't use my drying rack anymore because it just adds an extra step for no good reason.

Never ever re moisten bud… thats how you get mold. Think of it this way. Water going into a plant can bring pathogens in with it and going out of the plant does not… this is why many fast dry around 70-75 with RH around 50%. To slightly dry the outside fast then the inside. Then drop temps and raise humidity so it pulling the moisture from the middle of the bud out

 

[josefrahl]

Never ever re moisten bud… thats how you get mold. Think of it this way. Water going into a plant can bring pathogens in with it and going out of the plant does not… this is why many fast dry around 70-75 with RH around 50%. To slightly dry the outside fast then the inside. Then drop temps and raise humidity so it pulling the moisture from the middle of the bud out

I think he was referring to the process you laid out at the end. For me, I have to fast dry, living AZ. I dry 3 days, jar for 4-5 hours to remoisten, dry a few hours, and repeat with jar time getting longer, dry time shorter. Takes about a week to be ready for cure. The alternative is to spend an extra $300 on electricity whenever I harvest.

 

[Aqua Man]

I think he was referring to the process you laid out at the end. For me, I have to fast dry, living AZ. I dry 3 days, jar for 4-5 hours to remoisten, dry a few hours, and repeat with jar time getting longer, dry time shorter. Takes about a week to be ready for cure. The alternative is to spend an extra $300 on electricity whenever I harvest.

Yeah many ways to skin a cat per se. Sounds like you have a good process for your needs

 

[mannitu68]

. Right now theyre losing weight very slowly, they only lost about 10% of their weight since i started, about 30 hours ago. I have 2 buds that i put on the scale.

The 2 glasses i planned to use for the next step are not big enough, so i have to use a big plastic-lunchbox. At least its got a good seal and i can drill a small hole in it, that way i can insert the probe from a humidity-meter and dont have to lay the complete device in it. Whats the best way to package it for a long time? Vacuum bags? Or can you store it in the freezer?

 

[josefrahl]

Yeah many ways to skin a cat per se. Sounds like you have a good process for your needs

And a lot of extra time on my hands to do it that way