Hi, total noob first time grower with some questions and a problem or two.

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OK, final bud report.

I'm out of time so I wanted to know if I should bag these babies in zero light for 24h?

These are odd plants. Some trichomes look clear, some look cloudy, some look amber, and some even look purple. 0.o'

Here are the photos. I wanted your opinions on putting them in total darkness. Oh, I checked, and I don't think it would get much better than this before the plants died. I checked one of my first bud photos and it was at the end of OCTOBER! lol

Thanks!


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No, seriously. Should I bag them for a day before I chop them? :)

Thanks!
 
OK, just in case nobody knows what I'm talking about, it was suggested to me earlier in the thread that if I wanted more amber trichomes, I should put them somewhere with 100% darkness for a day or 2. A light proof bag was the suggestion.

I kind of need to know if these guys, or some of them, need me to do that, as I need to harvest them in the next day or 2.

Also, I would love it if someone could explain why on at least 1 of the plants, the trichomes appear to have more of a purple tint to them.

Thanks, and I hope the explanation helps.

Oh, also, while I haven't watched his whole series yet, I did watch the videos recommended to me earlier, from the series "So You Want to Grow Pot." All I can say is, WOW! Super informative, but also very very funny guy! :) Although, I have no idea how that survived YouTube censoring considering the age of the video. :)
 
Oh, one other thing I forgot.

There's no way I'll be able to get 75F where I'm hanging these. I'll probably be around 50F, maybe up to 60F.

Will this affect things negatively? Also, from the video, it sounds like I should have about 50% humidity. That's not what we get up here in winter. We average about 30%. lol I'll try putting a pan of water in the greenhouse to up the humidity, but I would bet that a lot of it will just seep out.

Not sure about how that will change things.

I'm assuming (unless I missed that part in the video) that you prune off the leaves after it's dried?

What about the trichomes on the leaves close to the buds? Is there any way to make use of them for baked (no pun intended) goods?

Thanks!
 
I've heard that putting plants in total darkness for up to 48 hours before harvesting stresses the plant, and the plant reacts by increasing resin production. I haven't seen any science that confirms or denies that though, nor have I done that before myself. I will be trying it with my current grow.

I've never put a live plant in a bag, and my initial reaction when I read your post was, "that sounds like a recipe for mold;" plants transpire significantly when it is dark, so unless the bag was somehow lightproof AND breathable, I personally would be concerned about doing that. If more experienced growers think differently, please do call me out on that.

RE the environment, what is interesting in your case is that you have a combination of lower than ideal temperature (leads to slower dry time) and lower than ideal humidity (leads to faster dry time). In theory, they offset one another, but I don't know to what degree, and there is a reason why ideal temp and humidity have been established. The reference to 30% humidity is concerning because at that level, your larger buds could end up being dry on the outside but still moist inside. If you are unable to acquire a grow tent (or some other enclosure) to put in the greenhouse, and use a space heater and humidifier within that to create the right environment, I really don't know what your outcome is going to be. Drying your buds in cardboard boxes or paper bags will create an internal environment that is more humid than the outside, but I don't know how much that will get the humidity up, and you will still have your temp issue. I feel like I remember @RosterTheCog posting about drying in bags or even a cooler, so maybe Roster can chime in here? You would definitely need to monitor the internal RH and open the box or bag to bring the RH down if it gets too high, but you would also need to do so anyway to exchange the air.

You asked two questions about leaves. The first was pruning. Before answering that, something to keep in mind is that the more intact you leave your plants, the slower the dry time. A larger proportion of water in a plant is stored in the branches and stems, so if you are in an environment that will lead to faster than ideal drying times, you can slow the dry time by cutting the plant and hanging it whole. In the opposite situation, if you need to speed up the dry you would cut and hang individual branches. I'm not sure which situation your humidity and temp will lead to, thus can't suggest which route to take, but something to consider. Now to pruning: some folks trim their buds before (wet trimming) and others do so after (dry trimming). I've heard that wet trimming, followed by another round after the buds are dry, leads to better looking buds ("dispensary quality").

RE the second question about a use for the trichomes on leaves, absolutely. Do some web searches for making kief and/or bubble hash.
 
Thanks for the info! In the end, the environment changed for the better. They are in a partially heated garage. About 60F and 55-60% hum.

So, little lower temp, little higher humidity, so it sounds like a good balance.

I hung the whole plants but I'll watch how they go. Two of them changed a LOT in the last 36h. All but the newest, smallest leaves, and the mature buds died and dried in that 36h. Sure, there were already a decent number of dead leaves, but most were just very pale yellow. I figure those 2 will dry the fastest, as they don't even feel like they have much water in them.

The last one was still alive and kicking. Drying? Yes, but it had by FAR the most leaves that weren't even partially dried out yet. Might be the strain. I'm going to watch that one more carefully.

Sorry, I can't remember from the video. How long is this supposed to take? 2 weeks+?
I only ask because I was wondering what metric to go by in deciding when to/if to, hang the stems individually?

Thanks!
 
Also, I would love it if someone could explain why on at least 1 of the plants, the trichomes appear to have more of a purple tint to them.

The dark trichomes are overdone and degraded.
Nice buds by the way
 
How long is this supposed to take? 2 weeks+?
I only ask because I was wondering what metric to go by in deciding when to/if to, hang the stems individually?
Thanks!

2 weeks seems way too long to me, but I don't dry whole plants and I don't know your drying environment.
I would have trimmed the colas and buds of all leaves first and then hung the stems up.
It usually takes me 3 to 4 days of hanging in a 17C and 50%hum dark tent with a small fan just moving the air and the extractor fan/filter sucking it out.
Once the buds are feeling crispy on the outside, they will still feel a bit moist inside.
At about this point, cut the buds off the stems and put them in airtight jars with a hydrometer to measure humidity.
Give it about 6 hours to measure the humidity.
If they go above 70%, remove them from the jars and dry for about 6 hours on a tray in the same drying conditions and then put them back in the jars and check the humidity again.
Repeat the process until the humidity in the jars is around 62-65%.
At that point, they are ready to cure and you should put a 62% Boveda bag in each jar and leave it alone in a cool dark place.
Let it vent for a few minutes each week and keep smelling it to check for the ripening aroma as well as for any hint of mold smell.
If you let the humidity fall below 56% or so, the buds will be too dry to cure and will taste harsher.
Never blow fan air directly on the drying pot.
I also dry the trim in the tent at the same time and just let it get real crispy and dry since I will only use for butter and not smoking.
After a while in the jars, you can tell that it's correctly dried if you hear a snap when you break a small stem on the buds.
 

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