Oh yeah, totally forgot to add in the smoke report.
The first plant I pulled (the 27th of January) dried way too fast and I spent a lot of time being pissed off cause it smelled like hay, but it still got you high. Definitely a late hitting, head high but probably equivalent to bag weed in potency. Everything I read said to hang the plant upside down for a minimum of six days, I had it hanging for four and that was too long!
I dried the cola you see in the last set of pics for three days then put it into paper bags and had to take it out of the paper and put it in ziploc bags. The paper even dried it too fast!
From here on out I think my process will be:
1. Let hang until I determine by the touch test that it is ready
2. put in paper bag for one to two days, check twice a day and air out
3. put in gallon zip locs that are open but folded between the top and the weed, airing them out about three times a day
I had a problem thinking the weed was going bad (rotting) due to a slightly pungent smell. Now I think that is just normal because every time I get it dry enough that the smell disappears, the hay smell shows up and it's too dry. After I had that cola in the paper bag for a couple days I got frustrated and placed in the plastic. There is a slight smell of pungency, but over time (controlled finely by how much air exposure the bag gets) it is slowly turning into the good pot smell we all know and love. So I guess my advice for other beginners would be to allow a little smell that you think might be "off", but monitor closely so it doesn't become too much.
Obviously, this should be taken with a grain of salt since this is my first time (though I have been reading) and I live in a VERY DRY CLIMATE.