- Thread starter
- #481
Another good idea! Thanks old Smokey!
Boo’s Perpetual Grow Journal
- Thread starter BooWho2
- Start date
lol, OK well I missed the tent part!! I was more concerned about the box.
As long as the plants are off the floor, by means of a lifter or even 2x4's then the temps should be fine. The lights typically will generate enough heat but a quick check will confirm that. Plants also like a temperature swing between night and day so that's nothing to worry about either during the lights off period.
As long as you can keep the plants above 65º during lights off you should be fine.
Love the closet Boo! So bright and tidy.
Just out of curiosity, how far off the ground is your playhouse and is it open or enclosed around the bottom?
Sorry if I missed that.
Just out of curiosity, how far off the ground is your playhouse and is it open or enclosed around the bottom?
Sorry if I missed that.
- Thread starter
- #485
Thanks VG. Id have to go go out and measure to be exact, but the front portion is ground level and the ground immediately slopes to about 3 feet off the ground. I’ll grab a pic to show you.
- Thread starter
- #486
Here are pics of the outer perimeter. None of the building is on the ground. Where the tent and cabinet are located is the closest section to the ground (hopefully that makes sense). The highest part is about 3 1/2 feet off the ground.
You could close that in with some plywood.
- Thread starter
- #488
I could, but around here every building that has a surround around it has at least one groundhog living under it. They are nuisance animals and can be “disposed” of, but I don’t wanna do that. And I don’t want them living under my building!
Around here it's skunks I have to trap one or two a year.
- Thread starter
- #490
Ah September. The month when the brutal summer begins to fade and there are cooler temps and lower humidity. My favorite part of the year is coming, and hopefully Mother Nature will bless us with some glorious, extended Fall color this year! Let's do an update. First, the Dreamberry. I believe she is a typical healthy sized auto and she is stanky (dank and stinky). I potted her and the Ultra Lemon Haze in ProMix HP with silica (aka sand) mixed into it and have also been giving them Protekt with every feeding. It really shows, I believe, in her. Her stalk is thick and the leaf stems are fat and really healthy looking.
The ULH not so much. I found a couple of black spots on her stem that I tried to take off and they desintograted. Hoping they were some sort of bad bug that the SNS worked on? Shes also got some sort of nutrient issue starting too - based on the bright yellow color starting (she is normally a bright green according to her description) Regardless, I'm disappointed to have another weirdo - and this one is taking half my tent. She smells good and is sticky on the stem, leaves, etc. But I'm not sure I want to spend the next 6 weeks dragging something across the finish line that I'm disappointed in. I'd like to cross that finish line gracefully for a change. Hopefully that doesn't sound terribly harsh.
Maybe I'll just put her outside.
Or maybe I can add her to Big Momma. I've spent a little more than 6 hours trimming the momma beast over the last two days - which fortunately have been gloriously cool and dry. I do plan to make a topical with her but am still researching methods. That Magical Butter thing looks pretty helpful, but I have lots of pots and pans, an immersion blender, etc. So I think I could follow any recipe. I just need to take the time to sit down and write it out for myself. I will definitely be back with questions when that time comes. BUT, I think whatever I decide to do I need to harvest and dry this gal, right? I will chop, re-trim, wash, and begin the dry on her tomorrow.
I think that's it for now!
The ULH not so much. I found a couple of black spots on her stem that I tried to take off and they desintograted. Hoping they were some sort of bad bug that the SNS worked on? Shes also got some sort of nutrient issue starting too - based on the bright yellow color starting (she is normally a bright green according to her description) Regardless, I'm disappointed to have another weirdo - and this one is taking half my tent. She smells good and is sticky on the stem, leaves, etc. But I'm not sure I want to spend the next 6 weeks dragging something across the finish line that I'm disappointed in. I'd like to cross that finish line gracefully for a change. Hopefully that doesn't sound terribly harsh.
Maybe I'll just put her outside.
Or maybe I can add her to Big Momma. I've spent a little more than 6 hours trimming the momma beast over the last two days - which fortunately have been gloriously cool and dry. I do plan to make a topical with her but am still researching methods. That Magical Butter thing looks pretty helpful, but I have lots of pots and pans, an immersion blender, etc. So I think I could follow any recipe. I just need to take the time to sit down and write it out for myself. I will definitely be back with questions when that time comes. BUT, I think whatever I decide to do I need to harvest and dry this gal, right? I will chop, re-trim, wash, and begin the dry on her tomorrow.
I think that's it for now!
Wow what a season and your updates can be an emotional roller coaster.
UP
UP
DOWN
UP
DOWN
UP
Phew... I didn't want to come down. I've never done topicals and really never pay much attention to the process so Shed is probably your goto on that.
- Thread starter
- #492
I think you have a “Down” on that second quote there which, based on your quote capture, probably could have been broken into an UP and a DOWN. UP = SNS working?; DOWN = she has lemon colored leaves. It could have been one more upward hill towards the eventual emotional Downhill drop.
I will try to be more monotonous.
No, no, no! Those are called whoopies and not really classified as an up or a down. You know when you drive fast and hit those little hills where your stomach comes out your mouth a bit? That's a whoopie.
- Thread starter
- #494
right, right, right! I think they sell those in pie form at the farmers market on Saturday, no?
Geez my dog is snoring. Thought it was the hubby!
- Thread starter
- #495
I quote myself...and Zach Galifianakis jumps into my head - I’m a weirdo, with a healthy sense of humor!
ANYWAY - I want to grow a plant (or a couple or twelve) that is pretty and green and lush and has great buds and is beautiful and easy for 10 weeks or so. I feel like I’ve been flying by the seat of my pants since February with this first grow and I’ve just been putting Band Aids on everything to make it work. It has been working to a certain point, but it’s not the way I’m used to doing things. I love growing and my kids are thrilled and even though my hubby was saying a week or so ago that maybe I should stop for a while because I harvested so much, when I mentioned trashing Big Momma, he said “there’s a lot of bud on that plant, you can’t just throw it away”. LOL. Sold!
- Thread starter
- #496
I think he kicked the training wheels off my Little bike. so, I’m gonna figure it out and maybe if you decide to do topicals you can lurn from us.
And there's a Popstar song for you! It's a great movie.
I did what? Not sure how you got that from "It's easy peasy. Bud, oil, heat, stir, strain. Details when you get to that point."
Let me know when you're ready and I'll walk you through the whole process. Topicals is my thing (as MrS suggested).
In terms of your growing troubles, you did pick a long flowering sativa in the C99's, so not the easiest plant to grow outside. And you never know what you're going to get with an auto, so they just have to roll off your back like they never happened. I think with some different strains you might have a much better chance at an easy ride.
I am not sure of the best way to infuse oils for edibles and topicals. I do think the easiest way is using a intapot.
@InTheShed do you have any tutorials on making topicals? I use sweet sues pretty basic just infused oil mixed with soy wax. It works just curious of your technique.
@InTheShed do you have any tutorials on making topicals? I use sweet sues pretty basic just infused oil mixed with soy wax. It works just curious of your technique.
- Thread starter
- #499
He does. I have it bookmarked. Let me see if I can paste it here. Stand by.
- Thread starter
- #500
@InTheShed s recipe for topicals:
Let me start by telling you about the two different types of topicals I make.
The first is my pain oil. It's made from actual dried bud, as I want the oil to be at least 15mg THC/ml oil. That's the number I have found to be the minimum for pain relief. I make it with a 50/50 blend of grapeseed and pumpkin seed oils, and it's done in the MB machine since it's easy to fit the decarbed bud and oil in there as the machine grinds it for you as it goes. The resulting oil goes in a bottle in my nightstand, small roller bottles for pocket/purse/desk, and the rest goes in the fridge. I'm sure you've seen tutorials on that, but if not I can point you to a few.
The second is what I call my skin salve. It is not high in THC because it's made from the rest of the plant after drying. @SweetSue found information in Roger Pertwee’s Handbook of Cannabis that quoted historical documents where the hemp plant in oil is recommended for burns.
Before I even read that, I had made some a few years ago with the roots, and I found it excellent for hives, itching, bites, and abrasions. This time I decided to save every bit of the plants I was taking down, let them dry, and make a big batch in a crock pot.
As I harvested the plant I would cut the stems into about 1" pieces and leave them in a bucket to dry. I also rinsed the roots, let them dry, and cut them with a scissors into the bucket. I also dried the fans and put them in the bucket after they were dry (to keep them from molding).
I ended up with two boxes that looked like this:
20190427_115102.jpg
That was way more than would fit in the 5qt crockpot, so I have loads left over for the next batch:
20190427_115646.jpg
I had three 14oz bottles of organic unrefined coconut oil that I put in the microwave to liquefy, so I could pour it in the pot:
20190427_120230.jpg
It did not come close to covering the material!
20190427_120343.jpg
So I went back to the store and bought another 3 jars, liquefied them, and added that to the mix. That's 84 liquid ounces of coconut oil:
20190427_134759.jpg
You can see that the plant material is not completely covered, but every bit is touching oil.
I put the crockpot on low cook, as I wanted it to be around 180º. It was never exact so sometimes I would turn it up and when it started to bubble I would turn it down again. Whenever I walked past I would take a slotted spoon and mix it up and push it back under the oil.
After 48 hours, the oil had been absorbed into all the material, so it now looked like this:
20190428_204651.jpg
I continued the infusion process for 4 days to make sure that all the goodness from inside the stems and roots had a chance to get into the oil. Drying the stems eliminates all the water from the material but also makes it take longer to re-oildrate them.
At the end of the process, I used a straining spoon and removed most of the plant from the crock pot.
20190501_225531.jpg
And put it in a metal pot:
20190501_225516.jpg
I poured the crock pot oil into another pot and used a strainer to catch what the straining spoon did not. Then I scooped out the plant material and pressed it into the strainer to get out what I could.
20190501_232630.jpg
I tossed out the leftover plant material and it was time to add the beeswax. I went with beeswax over soy wax because beeswax is supposed to have anti-inflammatory properties, which is a good thing to have in a skin salve!
Beeswax is harder to clean up, so I created a throw-away double boiler out of tin foil:
20171001_092447.jpg
And I did all my mixing of oil and beeswax in large pyrex measuring cups because I find them easier to clean than metal pots.
Figuring out how many grams of beeswax to use per cup of oil took a long time, but here is my final recipe. I ended up with 25g beeswax/cup of oil, but I might go with 30g/cup for slightly stiffer product at room temperatures.
I had ordered what I thought were push-up dispensers from Amazon, but they turned out to be twist up like deodorant and much bigger than I thought. Still, they work fine:
20190520_000132.jpg
I filled 12 of them and still had a jar and a half left over. I left them to cool on the counter over night and put them in the fridge in the morning. They're okay on the counter but don't leave them in a hot car or leaning on their side in warm weather. Even beeswax will melt as the temps rise. And for longer term storage, the fridge is best as coconut oil won't keep forever with all that organic material in it.
Oh, and it works. I got bitten by a mosquito last night right between my first and middle finger and it was driving me nuts. I rubbed this on and it didn't itch again until after my shower this morning!
I hope this helps.
Let me start by telling you about the two different types of topicals I make.
The first is my pain oil. It's made from actual dried bud, as I want the oil to be at least 15mg THC/ml oil. That's the number I have found to be the minimum for pain relief. I make it with a 50/50 blend of grapeseed and pumpkin seed oils, and it's done in the MB machine since it's easy to fit the decarbed bud and oil in there as the machine grinds it for you as it goes. The resulting oil goes in a bottle in my nightstand, small roller bottles for pocket/purse/desk, and the rest goes in the fridge. I'm sure you've seen tutorials on that, but if not I can point you to a few.
The second is what I call my skin salve. It is not high in THC because it's made from the rest of the plant after drying. @SweetSue found information in Roger Pertwee’s Handbook of Cannabis that quoted historical documents where the hemp plant in oil is recommended for burns.
Before I even read that, I had made some a few years ago with the roots, and I found it excellent for hives, itching, bites, and abrasions. This time I decided to save every bit of the plants I was taking down, let them dry, and make a big batch in a crock pot.
As I harvested the plant I would cut the stems into about 1" pieces and leave them in a bucket to dry. I also rinsed the roots, let them dry, and cut them with a scissors into the bucket. I also dried the fans and put them in the bucket after they were dry (to keep them from molding).
I ended up with two boxes that looked like this:
20190427_115102.jpg
- InTheShed
- May 24, 2019
That was way more than would fit in the 5qt crockpot, so I have loads left over for the next batch:
20190427_115646.jpg
- InTheShed
- May 24, 2019
I had three 14oz bottles of organic unrefined coconut oil that I put in the microwave to liquefy, so I could pour it in the pot:
20190427_120230.jpg
- InTheShed
- May 24, 2019
It did not come close to covering the material!
20190427_120343.jpg
- InTheShed
- May 24, 2019
So I went back to the store and bought another 3 jars, liquefied them, and added that to the mix. That's 84 liquid ounces of coconut oil:
20190427_134759.jpg
- InTheShed
- May 24, 2019
You can see that the plant material is not completely covered, but every bit is touching oil.
I put the crockpot on low cook, as I wanted it to be around 180º. It was never exact so sometimes I would turn it up and when it started to bubble I would turn it down again. Whenever I walked past I would take a slotted spoon and mix it up and push it back under the oil.
After 48 hours, the oil had been absorbed into all the material, so it now looked like this:
20190428_204651.jpg
- InTheShed
- May 24, 2019
I continued the infusion process for 4 days to make sure that all the goodness from inside the stems and roots had a chance to get into the oil. Drying the stems eliminates all the water from the material but also makes it take longer to re-oildrate them.
At the end of the process, I used a straining spoon and removed most of the plant from the crock pot.
20190501_225531.jpg
- InTheShed
- May 24, 2019
And put it in a metal pot:
20190501_225516.jpg
- InTheShed
- May 24, 2019
I poured the crock pot oil into another pot and used a strainer to catch what the straining spoon did not. Then I scooped out the plant material and pressed it into the strainer to get out what I could.
20190501_232630.jpg
- InTheShed
- May 24, 2019
I tossed out the leftover plant material and it was time to add the beeswax. I went with beeswax over soy wax because beeswax is supposed to have anti-inflammatory properties, which is a good thing to have in a skin salve!
Beeswax is harder to clean up, so I created a throw-away double boiler out of tin foil:
20171001_092447.jpg
- InTheShed
- May 24, 2019
And I did all my mixing of oil and beeswax in large pyrex measuring cups because I find them easier to clean than metal pots.
Figuring out how many grams of beeswax to use per cup of oil took a long time, but here is my final recipe. I ended up with 25g beeswax/cup of oil, but I might go with 30g/cup for slightly stiffer product at room temperatures.
I had ordered what I thought were push-up dispensers from Amazon, but they turned out to be twist up like deodorant and much bigger than I thought. Still, they work fine:
20190520_000132.jpg
- InTheShed
- May 24, 2019
I filled 12 of them and still had a jar and a half left over. I left them to cool on the counter over night and put them in the fridge in the morning. They're okay on the counter but don't leave them in a hot car or leaning on their side in warm weather. Even beeswax will melt as the temps rise. And for longer term storage, the fridge is best as coconut oil won't keep forever with all that organic material in it.
Oh, and it works. I got bitten by a mosquito last night right between my first and middle finger and it was driving me nuts. I rubbed this on and it didn't itch again until after my shower this morning!
I hope this helps
.