This is my first real grow!

[mstrpkl]

As you can see I chop and hang the entire plant. Because I want low and slow the water content in the main stem and branches allows me the control to be able to not overdry. You don't want to go too long and keep them wet because mold but the moisture in the branches and leaves will allow a nice slow even dry and help you to not overdry which is very easy to do especially the first few times. Once you get a feel for it it's pretty easy but it takes a second to get the hang of it.
If you're going to do it like the picture I would think the easiest way would be for you to chop the main stem. Remove the pot. Unhook your net and turn the whole plant over and hook it to a rope ratchet you already setup on one of your roof bars. Re hook your net hooks to your poles and adjust it accordingly. Never have to remove the net.

You can also harvest by removing all the flowers immediately, wet trimming and putting them out on a dry net. I've done it that way too. It's a good way to get your bud to dry fast but not so fast it turns into hay. You have to stay on top of them because they'll dry fairly quickly so you have to catch them when they are at the right level. My only other issue is they don't seem to cure as well. Dry parts fine. Not sure why but when I do whole plant hang dry I get a more flavorful cure. No science to tell me why or if I'm just imagining things but that is what I observe.

You want your meter to hit anywhere from 8% - 11%. You could probably jar the flowers a little higher and do multiple burps a day but that's kind of a hassle.

O shit ok so i should let the buds get down to 8%-11% using that meter before i put them in the grove bags? Thats really good to know lol i can control the humidity in my tent just fine, the temps wont stay steady at 60° but thatl be fine. I plan on chopping the entire plant and hanging, exactly like you have haha but i have to leave the humidifier going to keep the humidity level.

Ok sweet im glad you said that, thank you haha

 

[PooToe]

OH...BTW....I would give her another week or two. Keep an eye on the trichomes to see now much ambering spreads through the flowers. If it spreads fairly quickly up to your day off then chop it but if not I would let her get a little fatter this next week. Has her water uptake slowed at all? When's your next day off from your next day off? Plan on harvesting on that day.

You don't have to follow my advice and you can harvest monday but week 9 seems really fast for ripeness. Your grow is really nice and I would hate to harvest a little too early. Those last few weeks do some wonderful things to flowers. The trichs tell the story but let's see what they look like before you harvest on monday.

I was going to harvest this a couple weeks too early but I decided to let them go longer and they ripened beautifully putting on a color show with their leaves!

 

[Eledin]

They are coming along beatifully! Most amber I see is on the leaves, around the calyxes seems to be more milky and some clear. There are a couple things Id like to mention since you asked and something got me confused from @PooToe

1. "You want your meter to hit anywhere from 8% - 11%. You could probably jar the flowers a little higher and do multiple burps a day but that's kind of a hassle."
I think I didnt uderstand something here, 8-11% humidity? That completely kills the curing process, lower Id go for curing is 55%. Im pretty sure Im not understanding something here but same as me the OP might be confusing it.

2. The drying method I use varies depending on the season. In summer if I chop it, it dries too quick, in winter if I dont chop it, it takes forever and could get mold. What you want is for them to take 1-2 weeks of drying before curing, so you need to addapt to your climate so they dont dry too quick or take forever.

3. Yes you are right! They do send suggars and other chemicals to the roots at night. Never heard about giving them a lot of light before harvest so I cant comment on that but if you do yes, then give them 1 full day of darkness so the terpenes evaporated by the light can regenerate.

4. 9 weeks doesnt necessarily have to be too early, that depends on the strain, some take as little as 8 weeks but yes I do admit that I sometimes give them 2-3 more weeks than recomended because theyre still not fully ripen. Another thing is at some point youre sacrificing flavour for weight. Sometimes you will see that they dont stop fatening (specially true if you dont dimm the lights towards the end) and they keep putting new growth but if you let the old growth over ripe your bud will lose potency and flavor. THC is converted to CBN inside the amber trichomes so it will also give you more of a couch lock high since CBN has similar effects to CBD and thats what happens when you combine THC with CBD. So yeah always rely on the trichomes.

 

[mstrpkl]

OH...BTW....I would give her another week or two. Keep an eye on the trichomes to see now much ambering spreads through the flowers. If it spreads fairly quickly up to your day off then chop it but if not I would let her get a little fatter this next week. Has her water uptake slowed at all? When's your next day off from your next day off? Plan on harvesting on that day.

You don't have to follow my advice and you can harvest monday but week 9 seems really fast for ripeness. Your grow is really nice and I would hate to harvest a little too early. Those last few weeks do some wonderful things to flowers. The trichs tell the story but let's see what they look like before you harvest on monday.

I was going to harvest this a couple weeks too early but I decided to let them go longer and they ripened beautifully putting on a color show with their leaves!

View attachment 2306086

Hmmmmmm ok maybe il have to wait until next monday.... either way, i can harvest earlier if i need to, but im gonna be patient and wait it out. I want the best i can grow! And i really want those colors to come out too. I think youre probably right, and I think @Eledin is right about the trichomes, the amber ones are on the leaves coming from the buds but not directly on the buds themselves usually. This is gonna be a touch week for me

They are coming along beatifully! Most amber I see is on the leaves, around the calyxes seems to be more milky and some clear. There are a couple things Id like to mention since you asked and something got me confused from @PooToe

1. "You want your meter to hit anywhere from 8% - 11%. You could probably jar the flowers a little higher and do multiple burps a day but that's kind of a hassle."
I think I didnt uderstand something here, 8-11% humidity? That completely kills the curing process, lower Id go for curing is 55%. Im pretty sure Im not understanding something here but same as me the OP might be confusing it.

2. The drying method I use varies depending on the season. In summer if I chop it, it dries too quick, in winter if I dont chop it, it takes forever and could get mold. What you want is for them to take 1-2 weeks of drying before curing, so you need to addapt to your climate so they dont dry too quick or take forever.

3. Yes you are right! They do send suggars and other chemicals to the roots at night. Never heard about giving them a lot of light before harvest so I cant comment on that but if you do yes, then give them 1 full day of darkness so the terpenes evaporated by the light can regenerate.

4. 9 weeks doesnt necessarily have to be too early, that depends on the strain, some take as little as 8 weeks but yes I do admit that I sometimes give them 2-3 more weeks than recomended because theyre still not fully ripen. Another thing is at some point youre sacrificing flavour for weight. Sometimes you will see that they dont stop fatening (specially true if you dont dimm the lights towards the end) and they keep putting new growth but if you let the old growth over ripe your bud will lose potency and flavor. THC is converted to CBN inside the amber trichomes so it will also give you more of a couch lock high since CBN has similar effects to CBD and thats what happens when you combine THC with CBD. So yeah always rely on the trichomes.

I think the 8-11% we were talking about is just for this special moisture reader i bought haha its got a couple prongs you stick into the buds to measure the moisture so those numbers probably only make sense because its essentially reading the moisture from the inside of the bud lol i was pretty confused at first too but i think i understand it meow

Definitely appreciate the advice! Getting good ideas here :)

As for the trichomes, im not experiencing this but have you guys ever seen purple trichomes? Sometimes they can just be different shades of purple and make your life super hard hahaha random thing i learned last night

 

[Eledin]

"I think the 8-11% we were talking about is just for this special moisture reader i bought haha its got a couple prongs you stick into the buds to measure the moisture so those numbers probably only make sense because its essentially reading the moisture from the inside of the bud lol i was pretty confused at first too but i think i understand it meow"

Ooh okay, gotcha, steems seems pretty low but Ive never done that so I dont know hahaha.

"As for the trichomes, im not experiencing this but have you guys ever seen purple trichomes? Sometimes they can just be different shades of purple and make your life super hard hahaha random thing i learned last night"

Never seen them in my plants but I heard of them, cant remember any strain that had them that was mentioned but I know there's a few that have them and you have to rely on the time the breeder tells you mostly. Pistils also help, when most of them are already orange and curled in the bud its a good indicator.

 

[PooToe]

They are coming along beatifully! Most amber I see is on the leaves, around the calyxes seems to be more milky and some clear. There are a couple things Id like to mention since you asked and something got me confused from @PooToe

1. "You want your meter to hit anywhere from 8% - 11%. You could probably jar the flowers a little higher and do multiple burps a day but that's kind of a hassle."
I think I didnt uderstand something here, 8-11% humidity? That completely kills the curing process, lower Id go for curing is 55%. Im pretty sure Im not understanding something here but same as me the OP might be confusing it.

Guide to Ideal Temperature and Humidity for Drying Weed

Learn the ideal temperature and humidity for drying weed & discover how to dry weed for turnaround times as low as 24 hours.

www.theoriginalresinator.com

"The ideal parameters for drying cannabis flowers, according to a systematic review published in Molecules in 2022, is a temperature of 18 to 21 °C (approximately 65 to 70 °F) and 50 to 55% relative humidity. Once the moisture content of the buds reaches 8 to 10%, you can jar them for curing."

He's using a two pin wood moisture meter to measure the amount of moisture still left in the flower. Check around and see if I'm right. I could be wrong but that is the moisture level I've seen used as the point they are dry enough to jar. I think you're thinking of the relative air humidity.

 

[Organic13]

Need to get one of those meters. 7 days seems to be too long for some of my batches. I'd rather know the moisture level instead of going by days. Some of my batches drop to 50% humidity once jarred up. The boveda packs help. I prefer not relying on those types of things though.

 

[Eledin]

Guide to Ideal Temperature and Humidity for Drying Weed

Learn the ideal temperature and humidity for drying weed & discover how to dry weed for turnaround times as low as 24 hours.

www.theoriginalresinator.com

"The ideal parameters for drying cannabis flowers, according to a systematic review published in Molecules in 2022, is a temperature of 18 to 21 °C (approximately 65 to 70 °F) and 50 to 55% relative humidity. Once the moisture content of the buds reaches 8 to 10%, you can jar them for curing."

He's using a two pin wood moisture meter to measure the amount of moisture still left in the flower. Check around and see if I'm right. I could be wrong but that is the moisture level I've seen used as the point they are dry enough to jar. I think you're thinking of the relative air humidity.

Yes I was thinking about the RH but I thought that it would be similar inside the buds, apparently not hahaha new thing I learned today.

 

[mstrpkl]

Ladies and gentlement wer gettin REAL close to harvest! The colors are comin in beautifully and all the extra leaves are yellowing out, probably dying off in the final stage here. Lots of amber trichomes on the leaves stickin out from the buds, but the buds still have a ton of clear too. So im thinking this coming monday should be harvest day. Possibly. Thoughts?

 

[BudRanger1919]

HOLY crap those are some chunkers! Those top shots are amazing. Totally filled that space with buds, very good!

 

[PooToe]

Ladies and gentlement wer gettin REAL close to harvest! The colors are comin in beautifully and all the extra leaves are yellowing out, probably dying off in the final stage here. Lots of amber trichomes on the leaves stickin out from the buds, but the buds still have a ton of clear too. So im thinking this coming monday should be harvest day. Possibly. Thoughts?

Nice litle forest ya got there......flowers are coloring up beautifully. If trichs are ambering then, yeah, time to chop.

 

[mstrpkl]

Yyyoooooo the colors are gettin crazy! Shes just about done :) tomorrows the big day! Shes had lights on for about 2 days, il be shutting the lights off tonight for the final night period and harvest tomorrow sometime in the afternoon. Il post some pictures of her drying and conditions shes in :)

Quick question. Should i defoliate right after i chop? Or before? Or should i wait until she dries for a couple days? I feel like defoliating right after i chop is probably best, since im gonna chop before lights on and would definitely need light to properly defoliate lol what are your thoughts and experiences?

One more question. Im noticing some spots showing up on a couple leaves, specifically the ones towards the back of the tent close to the humidifier. I have a couple pictures of it in this post. Does anyone know whats goin on with that? Its not a sign of a problem i hope!

Thanks to everyone for followin me through this crazy ride! Its been an absolute blast :) the next plant will be a sativa called silver summit, il make sure to keep you all updated on this planta dryinf/curing and that plants growth

 

[Eledin]

They look beatiful! Good job man!
"Quick question. Should i defoliate right after i chop? Or before? Or should i wait until she dries for a couple days? I feel like defoliating right after i chop is probably best, since im gonna chop before lights on and would definitely need light to properly defoliate lol what are your thoughts and experiences?"

Honestly that depends on your enviroment. You want them to take at the very least 1 week drying before transfering to jars or wherever youre gonna cure them. In summer, I try to hang as much vegetal material as possible without it touching because they dry very fast otherwise. In winter however, I chop in small branches and get rid of all the major leaves. Here is very cold in winter but very hot in summer.

One more question. Im noticing some spots showing up on a couple leaves, specifically the ones towards the back of the tent close to the humidifier. I have a couple pictures of it in this post. Does anyone know whats goin on with that? Its not a sign of a problem i hope!

You mean the yellow dots? Check under the leaves that have those spots with a magnifying glass and see if you can spot anything under the leaf, I had micro mites and theyre very tiny but you can see them bunched up on the back side of the leaf easily with a magnifying glass. If its not that then dont worry too much, I had it happen without bugs involved aswell very close to harvest. Sometimes I also have a small micronutrient deficiency show right before harvest but I assume thats just because sometimes I flush them for 1 week.

 

[PooToe]

They look beatiful! Good job man!
"Quick question. Should i defoliate right after i chop? Or before? Or should i wait until she dries for a couple days? I feel like defoliating right after i chop is probably best, since im gonna chop before lights on and would definitely need light to properly defoliate lol what are your thoughts and experiences?"

Honestly that depends on your enviroment. You want them to take at the very least 1 week drying before transfering to jars or wherever youre gonna cure them. In summer, I try to hang as much vegetal material as possible without it touching because they dry very fast otherwise. In winter however, I chop in small branches and get rid of all the major leaves. Here is very cold in winter but very hot in summer.

One more question. Im noticing some spots showing up on a couple leaves, specifically the ones towards the back of the tent close to the humidifier. I have a couple pictures of it in this post. Does anyone know whats goin on with that? Its not a sign of a problem i hope!

You mean the yellow dots? Check under the leaves that have those spots with a magnifying glass and see if you can spot anything under the leaf, I had micro mites and theyre very tiny but you can see them bunched up on the back side of the leaf easily with a magnifying glass. If its not that then dont worry too much, I had it happen without bugs involved aswell very close to harvest. Sometimes I also have a small micronutrient deficiency show right before harvest but I assume thats just because sometimes I flush them for 1 week.

Yup! Agree......

Since you're in the AZ, your climate is going to be on the dry side so I would try and preserve as much plant material as @Eledin mentioned. Chop and hang the entire plant like we discussed earlier. As far as when to start trimming leaves and things I would wait until you've got a few days of drying under your belt. This will slow down the dry so that you don't overdry which is VERY easy to do if you are unfamiliar with the process.

I usually wait around 3 or 4 days before trimming ANYTHING off. After day 3, or 4 if they aren't dry enough to my satisfaction, I'll trim off just the fan leaves. Day 6 -7 I'll start to separate the branches from the main stem and hang them individually. After a few more days, I'll check each branch to see how the flowers feel and decide which are ready to have the flowers bucked off them. I'll do a rough trim and jar them.

 

[mstrpkl]

Yup! Agree......

Since you're in the AZ, your climate is going to be on the dry side so I would try and preserve as much plant material as @Eledin mentioned. Chop and hang the entire plant like we discussed earlier. As far as when to start trimming leaves and things I would wait until you've got a few days of drying under your belt. This will slow down the dry so that you don't overdry which is VERY easy to do if you are unfamiliar with the process.

I usually wait around 3 or 4 days before trimming ANYTHING off. After day 3, or 4 if they aren't dry enough to my satisfaction, I'll trim off just the fan leaves. Day 6 -7 I'll start to separate the branches from the main stem and hang them individually. After a few more days, I'll check each branch to see how the flowers feel and decide which are ready to have the flowers bucked off them. I'll do a rough trim and jar them.

View attachment 2311775

Im gonna have my humidifier running to keep 60% RH so il should have the dryness under control, and il still have my ventilation and oscilating fan running so the air should never get stagnant. But im definitely gonna follow your advice on that! Il just pull the dead dry leaves out so theres no debris for spores to grow on and hang her upside down.

Coincidentally, my watering routine ended in a place where my plant wont be getting any water for 4 full days before harvest. Iv seen mixed ideas on controlled drought stress at the end of flowering, and it just happened to end up that way for my plant, but im curious if anyone else does this and if it makes any difference for them?

 

[mstrpkl]

The deed is done :) now to dry for a couple days! Have the humidifier directly under in the middle set at 60% and medium mist level, oscilating fan set to level 5 under the hanging plant and the mini fan set up above the plant. The buds feel nice and dense, this is the first time iv ever actually touched any of them lol didnt touch because i work processing at a pot shop, really didnt wanna accidentally transfer some pollen to my plant. Unlikely but still possible.

Was really hard to take the trellis out of the madness without ripping everything up, but i managed to get it out mostly unscathed lol popped one of the main branches halfway off the main stalk but its still attached so everything should be fine.

My lady says it smells like cat piss.... i strongly disagree but i guess wel see when its done drying and curing, the smells will be more noticeable.

Im gonna ammend my soil and start up a new plant soon!

 

[mstrpkl]

Has anyone ever heard of "clackamas coots" soil mix? I might try to make it for my next grow and see how it goes. Gonna use black swallow amendments if i can. Let me know what you think about this mix!

 

[mstrpkl]

@PooToe when youre using the wood moisture meter, where do you usually stick the prongs? In the bud or into a steam near the bud?

 

[PooToe]

@PooToe when youre using the wood moisture meter, where do you usually stick the prongs? In the bud or into a steam near the bud?

You're measuring the flower moisture so the flower itself.

 

[mstrpkl]

You're measuring the flower moisture so the flower itself.

Hell yea i thought so but wanted to make sure lol thanks man!