Schwer's First Grow Evah! Planning, Prep and Grow

[Lilolme]

Ha nice! And fear not, I won't go cutting too soon. I'll error on the side of letting them go a little longer than I might want, but not too much longer!

Cut a bud and play with it

 

[SativaBob]

Thorough post, bro! The girls are looking fantastic. These final weeks feel like months!

 

[Mothman]

Those tops are beautiful. The colors, the texture…. But I knew Lilolme would advocate patience. And he’s right, you know. I only saw maybe one photo (ok, maybe 2) that made me feel like you have mature trichs. TONS of trichs, just not there yet.

If they were mine, of course, I’d be on the verge of cutting!

 

[Lilolme]

I harvested my last plant in stages, tops first then let the lower stuff go a while then chop that then let stuff under that go a while. By the time I got to the fourth round of choppin even though it was lower and larfy it was much more potent than the first round. Meaning the ugly lower stuff that had a couple or three more weeks was much better than the perty stuff up top. I marked the jars so I would know what was what. I think that the couple of weeks preflower eliminated from the equation is a huge step towards sucess, the mental toll at this point is horrible but the “not knowing” isn’t as bad when the time frame is much closer to the seed sellers “estimates”. Keep this in mind, if I was giving questionable advise an admin would most likely step in and straighten me out

 

[Schwer]

@Lilolme - I joke a lot but I'm not doubting your advice (except for that living soil flush ). You'd already sold me on the seller's "estimates" being short on average, and on not focusing on the top buds, hence all the bottom and dark flower pics.

I'm trying to focus on the trichomes alone, but I think I need to look at more pics of the cloudy vs clear. The amber trichomes are obvious and that's why I was thinking that my BBK #3 is relatively close - I saw a decent amount of amber on both the top and the bottom buds. I'll probably be watering today so maybe I'll skip the pics but get a good look all over that BBK with the loupe just to see what I see.

 

[Growinginil]

Good luck on your grow! The 6 inch fan will be perfect and that’s a nice one you are looking at. I would get a plan for a pms. Will keep your pests away before they start and keep powdery mildew away also. I love to scrog but I don’t use a net. I run a few strings on the edges and middle to tuck my branches. But like someone mentioned before that it does limit you to moving plants once scrogged

 

[Schwer]

When are you harvesting? I’m gonna die of old age before you do. Remember you promised to e-mail me a few grams!

Okay, but I've heard that tends to gum up your spam filter.

As for the harvest, when they're ready I guess? I'm not at all impatient for the chop. In fact, here's a nice chill pic of my entering the grow room this morning...

 

[Schwer]

Good luck on your grow! The 6 inch fan will be perfect and that’s a nice one you are looking at. I would get a plan for a pms. Will keep your pests away before they start and keep powdery mildew away also. I love to scrog but I don’t use a net. I run a few strings on the edges and middle to tuck my branches. But like someone mentioned before that it does limit you to moving plants once scrogged

Thanks man! Appreciate that advice. My first grow is almost done, but I have thought about using strings for a scrog instead of a net like you mentioned. I've seen some other folks do that and it makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[Growinginil]

I don’t get too crazy on the scrog until I flip the switch on my photos. Depends on the cultivar, but all will bend so easy until about the third week of flower and then they harden up. I like to prune during the first three weeks of flower as I get them in their final flower position so I can relieve blocking older big leaves.

 

[Goblinkiller]

Looks solid!

 

[Schwer]

Day 107 - Start of week 10 since flip - Start of weeks 8-9 of flower

I meant to post an update yesterday with some pics but I'm puppy-sitting a 17 week old golden and she's insane; cute as hell but absolutely certifiable.

I spent a lot of time looking at videos and reading articles about the right time to harvest. After seeing so many great trichome comparison pics I'm feeling a lot more comfortable about knowing when to harvest my own crop. They still didn't look ready when I was in there for a watering yesterday, but tomorrow I can set aside a decent chunk of time to open the tent for inspection. I also have one of those little digital microscopes coming today that you can attach to your phone. I don't know if that will make it any easier to take pics but I guess I'll find out.

And holy hell do my plants look like they're at the end of their life. I'll post some pics tomorrow but I'm pretty sure they're running out of available nutrients faster than I'd like. I'd probably attribute that to doing all of my timed top-dressings too early because I was basing my flowering weeks on flip date. Between that and the Recharge I bet I burned by plants a bit during early flower now they're running low early. No big deal though, just something to keep in mind for next time.

 

[Lilolme]

Day 107 - Start of week 10 since flip - Start of weeks 8-9 of flower

I meant to post an update yesterday with some pics but I'm puppy-sitting a 17 week old golden and she's insane; cute as hell but absolutely certifiable.

I spent a lot of time looking at videos and reading articles about the right time to harvest. After seeing so many great trichome comparison pics I'm feeling a lot more comfortable about knowing when to harvest my own crop. They still didn't look ready when I was in there for a watering yesterday, but tomorrow I can set aside a decent chunk of time to open the tent for inspection. I also have one of those little digital microscopes coming today that you can attach to your phone. I don't know if that will make it any easier to take pics but I guess I'll find out.

And holy hell do my plants look like they're at the end of their life. I'll post some pics tomorrow but I'm pretty sure they're running out of available nutrients faster than I'd like. I'd probably attribute that to doing all of my timed top-dressings too early because I was basing my flowering weeks on flip date. Between that and the Recharge I bet I burned by plants a bit during early flower now they're running low early. No big deal though, just something to keep in mind for next time.

I have seen pics of plants that looked like pure death and still hadn’t been chopped. If you got any leaves startin to yellow or dry out you can cut em off, any trimmin you can do ahead of time at a leisurely pace you will appreciate when you harvest. I started at 8 this mornin, I know a day early, and quit at 2:30 still not finished and kinda half assed it, I still have 1 plant to go, got a nice gob of hash off of the trimmers I am wrecked

 

[Schwer]

Oh yes, I've been pulling dried, yellow and downright ugly leaves off my plants for a couple of weeks. I just pulled two completely dried out sugar leaves from one flower, wtf? Flower still looks great though.

And yeah, that sounds like a lot of work man! Can't wait to see the results though.

 

[GalaxysEdge]

Day 107 - Start of week 10 since flip - Start of weeks 8-9 of flower

I meant to post an update yesterday with some pics but I'm puppy-sitting a 17 week old golden and she's insane; cute as hell but absolutely certifiable.

I spent a lot of time looking at videos and reading articles about the right time to harvest. After seeing so many great trichome comparison pics I'm feeling a lot more comfortable about knowing when to harvest my own crop. They still didn't look ready when I was in there for a watering yesterday, but tomorrow I can set aside a decent chunk of time to open the tent for inspection. I also have one of those little digital microscopes coming today that you can attach to your phone. I don't know if that will make it any easier to take pics but I guess I'll find out.

And holy hell do my plants look like they're at the end of their life. I'll post some pics tomorrow but I'm pretty sure they're running out of available nutrients faster than I'd like. I'd probably attribute that to doing all of my timed top-dressings too early because I was basing my flowering weeks on flip date. Between that and the Recharge I bet I burned by plants a bit during early flower now they're running low early. No big deal though, just something to keep in mind for next time.

Let me know your thoughts on the digital microscope. I was also planning to get one when I approach harvest.

 

[Schwer]

The little usb microscope arrived yesterday and its fricken awesome.

I feel I have steady hands but getting a clear, focused image of trichomes from plants in the tent was still a challenge with the microscope. I ended up taking extra pics because only 1 in 4 was usable if I was freehanding. When a flower was close enough to a tent pole that I could use it for support I was able to get a good image every time. What I really loved was pairing this thing with my phone (via wifi) and using it as a video camera to inspect flowers. Not only was I able to inspect flowers in areas my giant head would never fit with a loupe, but I was able to do it quickly and therefore inspect far more flowers than usual. Anyway, for $40 bucks or whatever I'm happy to have it in the tool box.

_________________________________________________________

So remember that stuff I said yesterday about feeling more confident about knowing the right time to harvest? Forget all that...

Here's a quote from Ed Rosenthal's guide on when cannabis is ready for harvest. The emphasis on the word begin is mine.

Your Essential Guide to When Cannabis Buds Are Ready to Harvest — Ed Rosenthal

Here’s all the details you need to know about the best way to determine the picking time of your marijuana buds: Ripening facts, trichomes and more.

www.edrosenthal.com

"Under magnification, you can see individual glands turning from clear to amber or a cloudy white. These colors indicate that THC is beginning to degrade into two other cannabinoids, cannabicyclol (CBL) and cannabinol (CBN), which are not nearly as psychotropic as THC.

When the trichomes begin to change from clear to amber or cloudy white, the buds should be harvested—this is the peak moment."

Okay, the word "begin" kinda worries me in that sentence, because the very last thing in the entire world I want to do with these indicas is create a bunch of fricken sleep medicine. Here are a smattering of trichome pics I took this morning with the new microscope.

 

[Lilolme]

The little usb microscope arrived yesterday and its fricken awesome.

I feel I have steady hands but getting a clear, focused image of trichomes from plants in the tent was still a challenge with the microscope. I ended up taking extra pics because only 1 in 4 was usable if I was freehanding. When a flower was close enough to a tent pole that I could use it for support I was able to get a good image every time. What I really loved was pairing this thing with my phone (via wifi) and using it as a video camera to inspect flowers. Not only was I able to inspect flowers in areas my giant head would never fit with a loupe, but I was able to do it quickly and therefore inspect far more flowers than usual. Anyway, for $40 bucks or whatever I'm happy to have it in the tool box.

_________________________________________________________

So remember that stuff I said yesterday about feeling more confident about knowing the right time to harvest? Forget all that...

Here's a quote from Ed Rosenthal's guide on when cannabis is ready for harvest. The emphasis on the word begin is mine.

Your Essential Guide to When Cannabis Buds Are Ready to Harvest — Ed Rosenthal

Here’s all the details you need to know about the best way to determine the picking time of your marijuana buds: Ripening facts, trichomes and more.

www.edrosenthal.com

"Under magnification, you can see individual glands turning from clear to amber or a cloudy white. These colors indicate that THC is beginning to degrade into two other cannabinoids, cannabicyclol (CBL) and cannabinol (CBN), which are not nearly as psychotropic as THC.

When the trichomes begin to change from clear to amber or cloudy white, the buds should be harvested—this is the peak moment."

Okay, the word "begin" kinda worries me in that sentence, because the very last thing in the entire world I want to do with these indicas is create a bunch of fricken sleep medicine. Here are a smattering of trichome pics I took this morning with the new microscope.

View attachment 1176947
View attachment 1176948
View attachment 1176949
View attachment 1176950
View attachment 1176951

Is that on the surface? You may want to snip out a piece from inside a bud and have a look

 

[SativaBob]

Awesome pics, man. The plant I just cut down looked like your pics. Mostly cloudy with some white or clear ones then a nice dose of amber here and there.

 

[FourPlants]

Getting close fa sho!

 

[ajgrows]

Those microscopes are worth their weight in gold. I use mine to check for pets religiously now.

 

[Schwer]

Is that on the surface? You may want to snip out a piece from inside a bud and have a look

I have not, but that will be my next step. Unfortunately, due some personally infuriating issues unrelated to the grow I totally spaced that today was a watering day, and now I get to decide whether to water about an hour before lights out or wait until morning.

Also, I just took a shit load trichome pics and kept track of which plant was which to help me keep track of this stuff. I'll post those a little later, an I'll snip an inside piece as well and add it to the pics.

Those microscopes are worth their weight in gold. I use mine to check for pets religiously now.

You must have some small pets. I've only locked my cat in the grow room once and didn't even need a microscope to find him.