Volksball's First Grow: White Widow Feminized Grow Journal 2018

[volksball]

I see enough clear that I wouldn't consider taking it down yet.

Yep, I'm with you. I'll have a much better look this eve, but if it confirms what we think, then we wait....

 

[volksball]

Alright, I think I've got a hold of the story...

The one pic that I posted yesterday and again here, the one with the amber/red trichomes, came from one of the plants. It's true. The rest of the pics you'll see, taken today under white lights, are from the other two girls. Sorry if they're not great, but man, is it ever hard to stay still under 30x then the effects of zoom.

What you might be able to tell and what I've confirmed about the other two plants is they're around 30-40% foggy trichomes. None amber. Maybe someone can confirm or correct that estimate.

What I'm guessing is my timelines are pretty good. 14 days of flush will end on Saturday and on guessing the last two will ripen by then. You think?


day 149/74F

Thanks guys.

 

[Pennywise]

I'd say 2 weeks will be plenty.

 

[volksball]

Thanks! That makes for a Sunday harvest!

 

[volksball]

Hey guys,

I've read alot about the actual harvest day and how it should look, but like everything in this hobby, there are generally two strong arguements. For example, to trim at harvest, or to hang with everything, but the fan leaves? Some say hang branches upside down and RH at 58%... or the whole plant at 65%.

On and on...

Does anyone have a tried and tested method for harvest, drying and curing that I might use Sunday morning? I'll be removing the light out of my tent and using the bars that the light hung from for hangers and clothes pins. That's as far as my plan got. As for cutting, trimming and drying/curing times, I'm stuck between opinions, as usual.

I did learn, however, that I'll want to chop 'em down during lights out to have lower levels of clorophyll in my buds/leaves. How long after lights out? There's another question.

Thanks.

 

[Reave]

Go check out the last couple pages of my pete bark and spahgnum journal. Should answer your questions since I just asked most of them myself.

 

[volksball]

Go check out the last couple pages of my pete bark and spahgnum journal. Should answer your questions since I just asked most of them myself.

Thanks!

 

[volksball]

Go check out the last couple pages of my pete bark and spahgnum journal. Should answer your questions since I just asked most of them myself.

So, I see that you dry in a cardboard box. I'm not sure that'll be an option for me now, but I hope to be able to create the same environment in my tent.

Based on your journal, I plan to cut them down by the branch, trim off fans, hang from the top of my tent using hangers and clothes pins.

I should have an oscillating fan at the bottom of the tent on low circulating air, but not blowing on the buds.

Your numbers and advice that came in to you, suggests that I should keep my tent around 20c and 62% RH and dark.

7-10 days of that, then trim off leaves to the buds, jar 1.5oz in each with 62% humidi-packs and burp three times a day for 2 weeks.

Then...

Smoke my brains out. Ha.

If someone sees possible issues with this plan, please chime in.

Thanks!

 

[Reave]

Sounds good to me man. If you can control the humidity to 62% you will not over dry. When you burp burp in 62% humidity if you can too. Sounds like you got it figured. I was going to use a tent too but I have other stuff growing in it. The smell from the box stinks up the whole house but my family doesn’t care and it is legal here so everyone else can pound sand.

 

[Emilya Green]

I like it all except for the fan in the drying room. The goal is slow dry... the fan's goal is to not let that happen. I get an extra two days out of my slow dry without a fan in the tent and with air exchange turned off.

With slow dry in mind, I no longer trim extensively going into drying. I trim off all of the lower fan leaves from each bud, but that is it. If the sun leaves are extraordinarily long, I will chop them right up to where trichomes are showing up, and if anything got crispy in the fade, that gets trimmed too. Other than that, everything gets hung in the drying room with a minimal trim. Harvest times have gone from being multiple hour torture sessions to a quick streamlined process that takes much less time and produces much less mess. At the end of the process, my buds have a less manicured look to them, but I believe that adding this extra wrap to the bud adds flavor and keeps them moist much longer.

 

[volksball]

Sounds good to me man. If you can control the humidity to 62% you will not over dry. When you burp burp in 62% humidity if you can too. Sounds like you got it figured. I was going to use a tent too but I have other stuff growing in it. The smell from the box stinks up the whole house but my family doesn’t care and it is legal here so everyone else can pound sand.

Perfect. Thanks for the helpful tips!

 

[volksball]

I like it all except for the fan in the drying room. The goal is slow dry... the fan's goal is to not let that happen. I get an extra two days out of my slow dry without a fan in the tent and with air exchange turned off.

With slow dry in mind, I no longer trim extensively going into drying. I trim off all of the lower fan leaves from each bud, but that is it. If the sun leaves are extraordinarily long, I will chop them right up to where trichomes are showing up, and if anything got crispy in the fade, that gets trimmed too. Other than that, everything gets hung in the drying room with a minimal trim. Harvest times have gone from being multiple hour torture sessions to a quick streamlined process that takes much less time and produces much less mess. At the end of the process, my buds have a less manicured look to them, but I believe that adding this extra wrap to the bud adds flavor and keeps them moist much longer.

And that's a pretty nice looking bud! Ill take your advice re the fan. Thanks. So then you dont trim after being hung and before jarring? I like the idea of fewer hours of harvesting. I thought trimming was a given, just some do it before hanging and other do it before jarring. Is it simply a matter of aesthetics? I do understand why you dont do it, but then others I guess choose to trim just for pretty buds?

 

[Emilya Green]

And that's a pretty nice looking bud! Ill take your advice re the fan. Thanks. So then you dont trim after being hung and before jarring? I like the idea of fewer hours of harvesting. I thought trimming was a given, just some do it before hanging and other do it before jarring. Is it simply a matter of aesthetics?

Purely a matter of personal taste. If I was selling the product as only bud, then I would trim. For my personal use, I like the extra flavor, less work and less trichomes in the scrap pile.

 

[volksball]

Purely a matter of personal taste. If I was selling the product as only bud, then I would trim. For my personal use, I like the extra flavor, less work and less trichomes in the scrap pile.

It makes sense. I wondered why would one throw away all that gooey goodness. I did, however, buy a trim tray to catch all the kief, which I like the idea of.

I may, as you've suggested, only trim off fans before hanging, though I may trim again before jarring to use the kief. Will I get the same amount of kief if I trim before jarring? Or is kief only collected while the leaves are wet?

 

[Emilya Green]

So then you dont trim after being hung and before jarring?

As they hang dry, there are leaves that are obviously needing to go... so there is a little bit of pulling of loose leaves and cleaning up during this process and as the buds are snipped to go first into paper sacks and then into the jars... but except for trimming away stems, the scissors don't get used as much these days.

 

[Emilya Green]

It makes sense. I wondered why would one throw away all that gooey goodness. I did, however, buy a trim tray to catch all the kief, which I like the idea of.

I may, as you've suggested, only trim off fans before hanging, though I may trim again before jarring to use the kief. Will I get the same amount of kief if I trim before jarring? Or is kief only collected while the leaves are wet?

I get it as I am doing the initial cutting, cleaning up of fan leaves, and weighing. While I am doing that I am making 3 piles... the large piece hang pile, the smaller branches with several buds that would dry better sitting on a screen, and the small popcorn stuff that needs to dry separately. This makes a small mess on my desk, and in that I find my kief and a bit of finger hash.

 

[volksball]

I get it as I am doing the initial cutting, cleaning up of fan leaves, and weighing. While I am doing that I am making 3 piles... the large piece hang pile, the smaller branches with several buds that would dry better sitting on a screen, and the small popcorn stuff that needs to dry separately. This makes a small mess on my desk, and in that I find my kief and a bit of finger hash.

Ah ok. I'd better get a screen then! I was looking at those hanging tiered drying racks. I suppose I should get one for the smaller stuff/ popcorn. I suppose I can put the smaller branches and the popcorn on separate hanging trays. I assume whatever goes in the trays are cut from their branches and only the big buds stay on their branches and are hung from clothing hangers? Sorry for all the questions.

 

[volksball]

This one make sense?

Or this one?

 

[Emilya Green]

yep... paper plates work well too if you dont want/need to get fancy. As far as the trays... during the slow dry I am reluctant to cut away from the branches just yet... I would rather cut a branch into sections keeping several little buds on it. I wait to separate everything till they go in the paper sack. That stuff and even smaller sitting on a paper plate dry a little faster than the rest, so it is always first into the paper sack. It gets to be a chore sometimes labeling all these drying stations so as to not confuse multiple crops... but it can be done.

 

[volksball]

yep... paper plates work well too if you dont want/need to get fancy. As far as the trays... during the slow dry I am reluctant to cut away from the branches just yet... I would rather cut a branch into sections keeping several little buds on it. I wait to separate everything till they go in the paper sack. That stuff and even smaller sitting on a paper plate dry a little faster than the rest, so it is always first into the paper sack. It gets to be a chore sometimes labeling all these drying stations so as to not confuse multiple crops... but it can be done.

And it will be. If there's anything you've learned about me thus far, is I'm thorough. Ha. Or neurotic?...That was rhetorical.

I just bought the 8 layer rack so that I can sort bigger to smaller as well as individual plant yeilds.

So, my plan then will be to cut em down, trim fan and non-trichomed sun leaves, weigh the raw product on branches, hang the big ones and divide up smaller bud branches into sizes that will fit the rack, sorting by plant, to begin.

20c/62% - No fan. 7-10 days based on snapability of smaller branches and relative bendability of bigger ones.

Come bagging time, I'll sort based on size and plant to keep tabs on who gave what and the quality of each. I'll likely pick your brain again at that stage, if that's ok..

Hopefully I've got it right!

Thanks for taking the time!