Hawk's Outdoor Granddaddy Purple & THC Bomb Grow Journal - 2023

[Hawk518]

10/29/23 - Disaster Strikes!! This is easily the scariest thing I could have seen for Halloween!

Watered them. Trichomes still don’t look the right color for harvest. I should be very close though.

Noticed a lot of leaves with issues. Trimmed them all off. While trimming I saw what must be spider mites on the top of one of the top colas. WTH?! Spider mites in my garage just before harvest? Unreal.

Please give me advice on what my next steps are. I’ve now read everything from:

• it’s no big deal if you’re close to harvest (which I am)
• it will be ok if you wash the buds
• OMG! Your harvest is destroyed. The End is nigh. Give up now.

 

[Hawk518]

10/29/23 #2 - Looking back at pictures, I should have noticed the damned mites on a bud back on 10/25! Was too focused on the trichomes and never even noticed the spider mites. Yet another rookie mistake!

Curious about advice for future grows, but I’ve already moved past the spider mites infestation issues on this grow. Story coming soon.

 

[Hawk518]

10/31/23 - Noticed quite a few more spider mites on both plants. Used a sticky to wipe away all the visible spiders and webbing. Started to trim the hell out of them both. Noticed a few branches where the buds had really started to dry up – so dying off. Will wait til tomorrow (to hopefully get advice from Forums) before chopping them both.

Game Plan: chop them down; bud wash and then start to dry them in the tent. Hopefully, I’ll finish off with SOMETHING after all this time and effort! Put the big fan on them.

PS. there is NOT a huge ring of spider mites behind the right cola in first picture! That's a wreath on the wall.

 

[Hawk518]

11/2/23 - Chopped both plants and trimmed as many leaves as I could. Then did a bud wash. Three 5 gallon buckets of water with: 1. Hydrogen Peroxide; 2. Lemon Juice & Baking Soda; 3. Plain water. Think I’ve lost at least 90% of the THC Bomb to the damn spider mites. Hung the bud stems to dry w. a strong fan on them. Will start a proper dry tomorrow.

 

[Hawk518]

11/3/23 - Started the Drying process. Put the hanging flower stems in a tent w. fans in it. Fans Not blowing directly on them. Covered the tent so it was dark inside. Will check daily and hope I can Cure these in 1-2 weeks!

Place loose buds on a drying rack inside the tent. Debated putting them in a food dehydrator, but no idea if that is insane, so held off!

 

[PlainOldGuy]

11/3/23 - Started the Drying process. Put the hanging flower stems in a tent w. fans in it. Fans Not blowing directly on them. Covered the tent so it was dark inside. Will check daily and hope I can Cure these in 1-2 weeks!

Place loose buds on a drying rack inside the tent. Debated putting them in a food dehydrator, but no idea if that is insane, so held off!

Congratulations Sir! You have successfully grown marijuana. It always goes like this, Your waiting for the trichomes to turn whiskey colored, and unexpected crazy shit happens, and you end up chopping it. It's just how it goes, but in reality you did exceptional. You gotta be sure to check them everyday when drying. WATCH THEM.

 

[Hawk518]

but in reality you did exceptional.

Thanks! Started growing in April only cause my wife was setting up a veggie garden and I thought it might be fun. Never thought I'd become obsessed with this, but I have!

You gotta be sure to check them everyday when drying. WATCH THEM.

What should I be looking for??

 

[Melville Hobbes]

Thanks! Started growing in April only cause my wife was setting up a veggie garden and I thought it might be fun. Never thought I'd become obsessed with this, but I have!


What should I be looking for??

Mould and/or fungus, and making sure they don't get too dry too fast before the cure.

 

[PlainOldGuy]

Thanks! Started growing in April only cause my wife was setting up a veggie garden and I thought it might be fun. Never thought I'd become obsessed with this, but I have!


What should I be looking for??

Watch for mold. Make sure the mites don't come back. Make sure it has good airflow.

 

[Hawk518]

Watch for mold. Make sure the mites don't come back. Make sure it has good airflow.

The spider mites could return to cut stems/buds?? I'd hoped the bud wash would have killed anything that was on them! Airflow should be fine w. a couple fans in the tent. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can salvage something from my first grow!

 

[PlainOldGuy]

The spider mites could return to cut stems/buds?? I'd hoped the bud wash would have killed anything that was on them! Airflow should be fine w. a couple fans in the tent. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can salvage something from my first grow!

Mostly watch for mold. Try to space your branches out more. Give them more room between each other. Your not in bad shape I wouldn't think. I'm waiting for a smoke report on your crop Hawk.

 

[Hawk518]

11/4/23 - 3 fans inside tent. None blowing on the hanging buds. The garage smells very strongly of pot. When I opened the tent – damn, it Reeks in there! Strange that it wasn’t a pot smell, but a cut grass stench.

 

[Hawk518]

11/10/23 - This is one week of drying. Did the stem test and got a very strong cracking. Might have over dried the THC Bomb? Started to trim the THC Bomb. Gotta admit, I don’t find trimming as hellish as described, but I still had an extremely difficult time doing it. First time attempting to trim wasn’t easy just cause even w. glasses on, very difficult to see what exactly I should be trimming off! Stopped after two hours. Had more than enough buds to place in a mason jar to start the curing process. Will try to trim all the rest tomorrow.

 

[Hawk518]

11/10/23 - Trimming

 

[Hawk518]

Spent the day in trim hell. About 6 hours! Need to find a light w. a magnifying glass so I can see what to cut better! Filled 3 large mason jars w. a Boveda 62% pack and a cheap hygrometer w. the THC Bomb and 2 of the Granddaddy Purple. Still a lot more GDP to trim. Trying to get the Humidity to 62%. What should I try to get for the temp? Put the jars in a dark cupboard.

Will have to weigh when done. Curious how much I’ll get out of this.

How do these buds look? Did I do an acceptable job? Is there anything that I should I do differently?

 

[Hawk518]

11/12/23 - Finished trimming the Granddaddy Purple. Put buds into mason jars w. Boveda 62% pack.

Burped the mason jars for 20 minutes. Humidity went from low 40s yesterday to 50% today.

 

[Hawk518]

11/13/23 - Burped the mason jars for 20 minutes. I’ll do this twice today. How long should I burp the jars? I’ve now seen anything from 20 seconds to over an hour! Humidity in low 50s. Smell is still pretty horrible to me. Don’t think the stench is from mold. Any ideas??

 

[Melville Hobbes]

11/13/23 - Burped the mason jars for 20 minutes. I’ll do this twice today. How long should I burp the jars? I’ve now seen anything from 20 seconds to over an hour! Humidity in low 50s. Smell is still pretty horrible to me. Don’t think the stench is from mold. Any ideas??

I burp for 10 minutes at a time.
How long you should burp is one of those questions where there's no one right answer.
Can you describe the smell?

 

[Hawk518]

Can you describe the smell?

It still smells like when I had it drying. But there was a definite snap when I checked the stems before trimming. So, don't think it was too wet to start the trim. If anything, I thought I might be a bit late and it was too dry.

The stench is Extremely strong. Don't think it stinks of ammonia or mold. Sorry, not a very good description.

 

[Hawk518]

I burp for 10 minutes at a time.
How long you should burp is one of those questions where there's no one right answer.

Thanks again! How many times a day do you burp the jars during the first couple weeks? Again, I've seen descriptions all over the place...