btk

Hey Guys,

I'm getting near harvest of my plants. I am growing indoor, hydro, and plan to flush for the last week. I am currently at day 55 of flower and plan to chop next week or the week after.

As of now, the trichromes are mostly clear and cloudy, with just a few (~2-5%) amber. I am wondering, if I were to start flushing today, how much more woul the trichromes advance to amber during the flush. That is, if I am aiming for 40% amber at harvest, when should I start flushing...?

Thanks,

mattdreads

I'd give them their flush and chop em down. you may end up with give or take about 40%, dependent on strain but if you're at 5% and you've got a full week to grow, plus the chop...you're close.

remember, they mature while drying as well.

happy harvest

kawliga

Hey MattDreads....can you expand on this.....? This is news to me....I thought once chopped their was no further development of trichs.

Interested as I am harvesting outdoor grow now...and if this is fact then I may want to speed up my harvest or at least make some adjustment.

Is their any guage that can let you estimate how much further the trichs will develop once chopped?

Thanks

K.

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I just cannot fathom that Marijuana, with all its history and medicinal properties, is illegal almost everywhere and yet alcohol, which has no redeeming qualities, is sold directly by the Government....shows the reality of our world doesn't it?

cavadge

I had that realization harvesting my second indoor grow. When I hung the plants, some showed hardly any amber hairs. Going into the jar, almost all amber.

Maturation during drying/curing has something to do with converting chlorophyll and other elements into THC. I am not well versed in this area, but am striving to learn more.

mattdreads

first off, the hairs drying is what turns them brown. you could clip them at 30 days and the pistils will turn brown after drying as well.

the plant's number one most important thing is what it's producing. hacking off it's root system doesn't kill it like hacking off ones head. the plant is still full of stored nutrients and fluids which the plant trys even moreso to utilize after the chop. it doesn't have the ability to think, "ah, pointless, there's no roots anymore anyway, might as well give up." lol

it uses everything it can for as long as it can. those fluids still move through the plant.

maturing after harvest happens because of these fluids. the longer it takes to dry, the more time the plant has to push more cannabinoids into the trichomes.

the fluids in the plant itself are non-psychoactive. if you could drain a ganja plant, drink it, you wouldn't get high. they have to go through a process first which happens only in the trichome itself. if you know what a trich looks like, kind of like a funky mushroom, there's the 'stalk' of the trich, or stipe cell if you want to be technical, and the bulb on the top. (secretory cavity). between these two is a little disc cell where the magic happens. fluids from the plant get pushed through the stipe cell, and stop and the disc cell. after that what secretes through the disc cell into the secretory cavity are all your cannabinoids. (which is what gives it it's fat head) these cannabinoids break down into different things, one of which being THC. what causes them to break down exactly isn't for sure, but it has been found that light, more specifically UVB is one of the large contributing factors in turning the cannabinoids into THC.

during this breakdown, THC builds up against inside of the secratory cavity. when there's no more room for this to happen, the trich turns amber. from this point the trich cannot absorb light which is why is best to dry/store ganja in a dark area, or at least under only incadesent lighting (regular house bulbs).

so as long as it's not completely amber, and your ganja is still wet, it's maturing. although slowed greatly due to the fact that it doesn't have the ability to drink, the fluids get syrupy.

also why it's important to hang your plants. give the plant more time and more fluid to work with.

I hang full plants, for the first 24 to 36 hours, then hack of everything restricting airflow. big fan leaves, certain cola's. then I let it sit until the stems crack and leave it for one more day after that, unless the tops are already pretty crispy. if there is any kind of moisture to be felt, I leave it another day. then I put them in a brown paper bag and let them there for 3 days. I make sure to turn the bags a few times a day so that the fluids don't hang to one side of the buds. after that it's ready for glass, and I open my jars at least once a day for 2 or 3 weeks. probably a month. often I'll take everything back out of the jar and let it sit out in the open'. you'll feel the buds get kind of wetish again. they're sweating, still trying to do what it can with what it has. lol. stubborn weed

hope this helps some. let me know if I need to be more clear, I typed this quickly as I am about to eat dinner. haven't checked much for typos

kawliga

Thanks....very useful and helpful....so just a few more questions if I may.

I am a wet trimmer....chop, cut into smaller stem/branches, trim to about 90% of final product...hang to dry for 7 to 10 days....do remaining 10% trim as necessary...then cure in a similar fashion to you.

You hang your whole cut plants without any trimming for 2 or 3 days...then I assume you do a dry trim.

Do you think the whole plant must remain intact for maturing to take place...? or does it mature just as well as smaller stems/branches hanging would?

Do you think it assists the plant to mature by not trimming anything for the first couple days....? Or could you at least remove the fan leaves and get the same effect? ( I really dislike much dry trimming)

Lastly....and I certainly understand this is your opinion, but what do you think the increase in maturation during the dry and curing processes might be?

Say I chop at 80/20 cloudy/amber....would it increase to say 70/30....? Any rough idea would be helpful....realize it certainly varies by environment and curing/drying process...

Thanks again for the great info....

K.

__________________
I just cannot fathom that Marijuana, with all its history and medicinal properties, is illegal almost everywhere and yet alcohol, which has no redeeming qualities, is sold directly by the Government....shows the reality of our world doesn't it?

hunter2021

I have heard this as well but this is what i have to say on the manner. The hairs for one don't always turn brown when they dry, only when they were beginning their maturation stage. I have had plenty of cloudy harvests with half the dry hairs still white/green.

FURTHERMORE: Lou Cypher tried explaining this concept of maturation after cutdown to me after my second harvest. The buds were cut down with barely any amber, when the went into the jars a week later they were still mostly cloudy, few amber. When I pulled them out of the jars a month later Still cloudy only hint of amber...

I rest my case, they might go amber after chop, but for me they only kept maturing for the first day of chopdown, after that the resin glands dry up and don't turn...

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mattdreads

I leave as much as the plant dry intact as possible, but I do clip off the biggest fan leaves asap, for fear of mold.

dry clipping is actually easier once you get the hang of it, imho.

takes min 10 to 14 days for me, but I go a bit cooler then recommended temps and dryer. (60-65F @ 40-50%) which is also why it's handy for me to leave a lot on the plant, because I'm drying in a pretty dry area.

it definitely doesn't need to stay intact for the maturing to take place, but more maturing will take place because it'll take longer to dry. there's more fluids to dry, and less cuts for it to dry from.

I've done a side by side, tops look more cristalized when dried full plant then tops that are wet trimmed. certainly. does this mean they're stronger? that's purely speculation. I would say they have a different effect though.

again, prefferably I leave as much of the plant intact as possible until it's dry. this also brings your wieght loss up, because all the tiny sugar coated leaves that you clip when wet dry up and pull into the top. perfectly smokable as long as properly flushed.

and as far as how much it matures after the chop...there's indeed a tremendous amount of variables to look at, but saying that everything was optimal in your grow and you drying in relatively close to the recommended temp and RH (70F @ 55-65%) I'd say....

I don't know...lol. I don't notice a whole lot more ambering, but I do notice at least a 10% increase in the overal maturing of the trichomes as a whole. and if you dry trim, more. most of which happens within the first 36 hours of harvest