First Grow - Indoor Now - Outside & Inside Later

I am putting my money on THC Bomb 1 in the pictures, she seems to be the farthest ahead with fewer new white hairs appearing but one of the Cherry girls seems to be right there with her even though she should be a week behind.

I am chomping at the bit to try them both LOL
 
When the hairs begin to darken up and recede a bit that means she's getting close.
Patience is a virtue my friend. Don't pull the trigger before the time is right and you'll be glad that you waited. As little as 5 to 7 days can mean the difference between good MJ and connoisseur quality MJ.
:yummy:

I assume that you've got a game plan together for dry and cure right?
 
Flying by the seat of my pants as always LOL but trying to absorb as much info on drying and curing as I can now that things are getting close.

I am trying to decide whether its better to dry and then trim or trim first. I am unable to find much REAL evidence one way or the other. At present it seems to be a matter of preference. Having never grown before and never having been much for smoking weed (I've smoked more of it in the past few months than the previous 45 years LOL) I really don't know which is better or if either way is better.

I have an experiment I want to try for drying and curing for my own use, but it will have to wait till after the next indoor grow when I have more money to try it.

I will have to rely on others to be my guinea pigs as far as quality goes, I just don't have enough experience to determine the difference between high quality and run of the mill weed LOL

I appreciate any input/tips you more experienced growers and users can provide me in this :)
 
There are several ways to squeeze a lemon but I would recommend trimming before drying.

Trimming before instead of after drying has 2 main benefits:
1. The leaves are much easier to trim when green.
2. As the buds dry most of the small sugar leaves that were trimmed off but still exposed will recede into the bud leaving very little work during final trim after drying.

A final manicure trim will be needed once drying is complete but you'll make quick work of it since the majority of the trimming has already been done.

I've tried different ways and in my humble opinion this way works best.

Whatever you do, DO NOT try to leave the fan leaves on while drying.
I tried this once thinking that it would slow the drying process thus making the end product better somehow. End product was the same but I had to work my butt off trying to trim off all of the fan leaves which were like soggy rubber. 3 times the work for zero benefit. I'll never do that again.

If you don't have one already you should look into getting yourself a Trim Bin (available on Amazon for about $30 or so). They are well worth the price.
 
Gardening is fun. Can't say the same about trimming though.
I guess that's why the big timers farm out the trim work to hired hands. :)
 
Thanks for the input UncleC

I was leaning towards trimming green for ease but had read that flavor was enhanced by waiting till dry. Hearing from someone that grows their own that there is little difference sways me towards trimming green.

As for drying, I am considering drying in my grow area. There is lots of room above the light and good air circulation. During lights on the temps are a little high above the light (90 or so) but humidity runs about 45%. During lights out, temps drop to 70s and RH goes up to about 70%. Not sure if this cycling is a bad thing or not.

The Trim Bin looks like a good idea but like many things it will have to wait till another time when funds are less restricted LOL I just ordered a 2Kg scale with a precision of 0.1g from Amazon. Other than some steel rod, that's likely to be my last purchase for my gardening project for awhile.
 
What is all this talk of porn and bondage in here? I'm in! :thumb:
 
UncleCannabis said:
Gardening is fun. Can't say the same about trimming though.
I guess that's why the big timers farm out the trim work to hired hands. :)
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I second that on the trim bin

I love my trim bin. Well worth it. And the kief collection,,, is a great bonus. Here is a short video review I did of it,, might make you think twice.....
 
Welcome Kraize and Mass

Harvest is coming soon for the indoor Bomb Girls, you arrived with time to spare LOL

As much as I like the Trim Bin and would love to have one, its gonna have to wait a bit. I just ordered a set of scales and as much as the wife is excited about the up coming harvest, she'll likely hang me if I order anything else right away LOL

If I can swing it, I would like to have 2 or 3 of them before the outdoor girls are ready. Both my wife and my father have offered to help trim those girls ;)
 
TheCelt said:
Thanks for the input UncleC

I was leaning towards trimming green for ease but had read that flavor was enhanced by waiting till dry. Hearing from someone that grows their own that there is little difference sways me towards trimming green.

As for drying, I am considering drying in my grow area. There is lots of room above the light and good air circulation. During lights on the temps are a little high above the light (90 or so) but humidity runs about 45%. During lights out, temps drop to 70s and RH goes up to about 70%. Not sure if this cycling is a bad thing or not.

The Trim Bin looks like a good idea but like many things it will have to wait till another time when funds are less restricted LOL I just ordered a 2Kg scale with a precision of 0.1g from Amazon. Other than some steel rod, that's likely to be my last purchase for my gardening project for awhile.
Click to expand...

The environmental conditions that you mentioned during the lights off scenario would be almost ideal. RH would be a little on the high end but this should be ok as long as you have some light air circulation in the room and don't crowd the buds while they are drying.
But during lights on it would be way too hot. The buds will dry too fast and you'll end up with a harsh smoke that taste like hay. In addition, you want to dry in a location that will not be exposed to bright lights which degrade THC.

I can't stress enough the importance of a proper dry and cure.
 
The value of the keif that you'd collect in that Trim Bin while manicuring your first harvest would be worth at least 4 or more times the cost paid for the Trim Bin. Maybe this would help to convince the wife. Bubble bags should also be on your shopping list as well.
Cost to benefit ratio for both of these product purchases would make wise economic sense.

I just love spending other peoples money. :)
 
LOL Bubble bags are DEFINATELY on the list of things to have LOL For this harvest I will be trimming over one of the containers I use for cloning that have lockable lids. All my useful trim will be kept in these containers and froze until I can get the bubble bags ;)

I must check the daytime temps in the outer room where I took the pictures this morning, they may be lower and it has good air circulation. Might be a good place to dry the bud.
 
I know you'll have a good game plan in hand by the time harvest day rolls around. :goodluck::blunt:
 
Well we have had pretty crappy weather here the past 9 days or so, rain, overcast, drizzle etc. Driving me foolish cooped up in the house and not really able to do much with my outside gardens.

Now, the Weather Network is predicting we may get some sun tomorrow. Hopefully they are right and I can get some pictures and do an update on the outdoor girls tomorrow :)
 
Some days my wife never ceases to amaze me. She knows harvest is getting close and asked me this morning whether I had decided to trim green or dry first. So I decided to let her read the conversation between UncleC and I yesterday.

She asked what a Trim Bin was and I told her to read on that MassMedMan had posted a video of it. After watching the video she turned, looked at me and she "you best be getting one of those". She also asked about Bubble Bags and again said I should have them.

All I could do is shake my head and laugh ;)
 
You know how to pick em' Celt!! :goodjob:
 
Not getting the wife a Trim Bin so that she can trim in relative comfort would be like spousal abuse.
Show her some love and get her a Trim Bin brother. :circle-of-love:
 
Morning Celt. I wanted to share another perspective on trimming. SoilGirl dropped this post on one of my threads the other day. It's good for some laughs as well, but I really liked her enthuisium for the job. It was in answer to a question by Shawnee, which I left in for context.

SoilGirl said:
Shawnee said:
Wow, SG, just listened to Bucket Head....you're dang right, what an awesome trimming place to be....may I ask you.....how do you approach trimming a branch...what goes thru your head, what are your first steps, and the aim of how the buds will turn out...

Do you consider yourself a good trimmer....are you fast...do you like it...

And lastly...do you trim alone....what is the most plants you have chopped and harvested all at once...

I thought a lot about these things during my last harvest...alone, 12 plants over 5-6 days, my method of approaching a branch and whether it was any good or not...and I'm not fast....trying to be one with the trimming...
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Damn how did I miss this? Sorry Shawnee! So glad you liked the song. I actually do consider myself a pretty good, fast trimmer. My approach to trimming is a mix of brutality and finesse. I go quick and remove as many non-sugar leaves as I can in a 'brutal' first-over. I want that first over to feel like a hurricane of blades chopping lol, fast paced and just under control. If you have a lot to trim you really can't be super careful, every now and then you'll clip something you don't want clipped, just move on and don't obsess.

Then I go in with the fine tip trimmers and remove stems and leaves as close to the base as possible, working more carefully, leaving a few of the more sugary leaves. Lately I've been too obsessive and have removed way too much sugar. I think PeeJay is an excellent trimmer, so is Lester Freeman, though he leaves a lot of sugar on. You should look at their final products.

Most I've chopped at once is 7 plants a couple years ago. I can only imagine like 15 or 20+. I used to take tons of time trimming, but I've evolved to appreciate speed haha. Chill music helps me not go too crazy, and helps me forgive myself if I mess up. In the end your buds will be ground up and turned to ash or vape waste or be cooked into butter or oil, made into hash, whatever. gotta keep it in mind they aren't around to be an art piece. I've found one-ness with the fact that trimming is a chore, but doesn't have to be something to get psyched out by. Doesn't have to be perfect, just has to be done. I try to enjoy it but sometimes I let it psych me out, and sometimes I allow my obsessive side too much free reign.

Hope that helps haha! :)
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I personally take off all fan leaves and quickly trim off anything that doesn't have any sugar on it. The trichomes on the sugar leaves are often more potent than what's on the buds, or so I've been told more than once by Doc Bud, who should know, so I try to leave all of that on. I'm not concerned with pretty, I want potent, so mine look a little sloppier than others. When I smoke I always try to get both sugar leaf and bud into the bowl. It works for me.

I'm excited. Your first harvest. :yahoo:

Gotta get one of those trim bins.
 
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