greenchile

I asked these questions in our grow journal, but I'm sure not everyone goes through and reads the whole damn thing~so I decided I'd post here and see what happens.
We have a female in the 6th week of flowering. Started flushing three days ago, and intend to chop this weekend.
The questions are should we take her apart or dry her as a whole? She is a bit over 7ft. tall. Does the method make a difference in the quality?
And wet or dry trim??? We know that dry is messier, but is there any benefit from leaving the leaves on while drying? It is pretty cold and dry here, so humidity isn't as big a factor.

__________________
growin fast a stash to last, no more shwag in this greenchile bag.

Firsttimer

I too have a real Cool and Dry area to dry my weed. I find that i just get 2 nails. And a string. Tie it high enough so the plant is no where near the ground. I might even chop down a main cola to shorten it up a little. Tip it upside down. If you plan on making hash and or Hash oil. I suggest you leave the Leafs on there. I normally chop off all the ugly brown and yellow leafs if any. And use that for Keif. And oil too. Leave all the leaves on for 4 to 6 days. Then chop off all the big leafs from the stem closest to the main stalk. Then rehang till fully Dried. Which normally takes me 10 to 16 days in 60 degrees fahrenheit and 20 % Humidity. After The stem snaps. Or the buds are crispy to the touch. I trim it down like a Hair cut. Just the way I would like to smoke it. I image weed I have bought. And I Imagine all the nasty little leaf and all that extra tar. So I want a Nice and Manicured bud. Then it goes into jars for Curing.


Do different methods make a difference in quality? Yes. The hotter your room. The more THC you loose according to study's done in Mel Franks Book. Also Light will cause you to loose THC also. So a Dark Cool Low Humidity place is the most optimal place to dry Marijuana.

7 foot plant sounds like you have a huge one. Also. You really think she is done in 7 weeks? I know of strains that finish quick. But have never grown one. Have fun and enjoy your harvest.

__________________
Don't let my name fool you Take care and grow hard!

greenchile

Thanks for the detailed reply!! Yeah she is even a little over 7ft. We hadn't read that she would triple in size during flowering until she was already 4 ft.(Newb mistake) But she is beautiful Christmas tree.
We were asking ourselves the same question about the time frame, but we prefer the euphoric high. We wake and bake and stay lit pretty much all day, so I have to be able to clean and get sh*t done. Couch lock prevents that. We had clipped a branch about 5 days ago, it had about 2 joints worth on it~hung it upside down and then last night we packed it up and blasted off, it was a very up high!! Our concern is that the tops will get too mature and the lower budsites will still remain immature. We were going to try staggering the harvest like the grow guide says, but we aren't sure if cutting the main stem (1/2 way down the plant) will hurt the development of the lower growth. Will she stop growing if we do this? We've already been flushing for 5 days. So, there are no nutes at this point.
We have one other question about curing~~when I took the buds off the branch it felt crispy and dry, but then I put it in the tupperware dish and covered it~~and now it seems more moist and sticky~~is this normal and how long does curing usually take? We intend to cure the rest in Mason jars, but we need to know what the benefit of this is, and how long do we cure?
Thanks again for your reply.

__________________
growin fast a stash to last, no more shwag in this greenchile bag.

Firsttimer

My Pleasure. Your welcome.


In my experience. The bottom buds mature faster than the Main Colas.





Like I said before you lower buds will develop first. The best way to tell is with a microscope. You can get a cheap one down at Radio Shake. They sell a 60X through 100X hand help Microscope for 12 dollars. Works wonders. And you want to harvest 50 Percent Clear Trichromes. And 50 Percent Cloudy. Soma Sativas can take up too 14 weeks to finish. Will cutting it down the middle hurt the development? May take it a little longer but you wont tell unless you have a microscope. But with out one you can tell the Trich Development day by day. When its about done. It looks like Due Drops all over it. Well Most Potent Strains.





You would think the nutes are all out but there not. I would wait the full 14 days if possible. If need be take some lower buds and dry them first for some smoke....


Yes this happens to me often. This means that you needed just 1 more day of drying. Also. When you cure weed. You want it to sweat a little moister. So when you open your jar. Your releasing the old warm air. And replacing it with fresh air. This allowing it to dry Slowly. And ferment in its good taste. Although it should not be too wet. This can cause moldy buds. It has to by crispy to the touch going in the jar. And if its a little moist the next couple of days. Just Leave the lid off over night for a night or two. This will help it dry out a little more. The more you dry. The smoother the smoke. Curing can take as little as 2 weeks. To 1 year. I cure my buds As I smoke them. It makes My weed Tastier Smoother and Much More Enjoyable. And to say the least. I feel that pot is more potent 1 week after she is curing. I don't know what it is. But it just seems not as potent anytime before that. Enjoy your harvest my friend. Keep in mind a plant like that will take you 1 hours to trim. But that's nothing compared to how long it took to grow the damn thing...

__________________
Don't let my name fool you Take care and grow hard!

greenchile

We are a little confused (I"m blonde) lol, so I'm gonna explain my understanding of what you're saying and let us know if we are getting it. So, the lower buds mature first? We thought about this for awhile and I guess we were trying to base maturity on size of buds. The top 4 ft of her have large dense buds, and the lower 4 ft. have small cheap looking buds. So, the lower ones are ripe first? Pic of lower bud and a pic of the top See the difference

__________________
growin fast a stash to last, no more shwag in this greenchile bag.

Firsttimer

Now this is just my Opinion. But. I feel that thing is still a little young. You could probably go 1 to 2 more weeks. See how Dark green your leafs are. That means your loaded with Nitrogen in there still. Your plant stores nutrients incase of a drought. Or something. Flushing it and giving it pure water flushes out the plant of those nutrients. That's why we flush 2 weeks before harvest. Otherwise you get weed that taste like soil. And can give you a mean headache if High in Nitrogen.


Your pistols are starting to whether. SO that is a sign of maturity. But there still really white. I would say give them some more time. You wont regret it. I don't know if your a Heavy smoker or light smoker. But don't settle for less. You've already came this far. I would just play it week by week. By the looks of your leaves you may have a Sativa. But I wouldn't be able to tell Unless I saw them during vegg stage. You can get stoned right now. Or have a finish product in 1 to 4 more weeks. The lower bud looks almost done. But the main cola looks raw.

But like I said before. You need a Microscope to properly know when you need to harvest. And if you can't use that. Than try to chop when the hairs have turned 60 to 85 Percent. Good luck. And if you haven't read Deltas Harvesting 101. Go check out the Library.

__________________
Don't let my name fool you Take care and grow hard!

greenchile

I'm gonna have to agree with you, we just don't want the tops to mature too much, because of course that is where the most bud is. My other half went to Radio Shack a couple days ago and they didn't have anything worth buying (we live in the bunghole of the universe). Patience is not a virtue we were blessed with, lol. You can take a look at both of our journals or at our picture albums~~they have all the details of the grow and the pics of the different weeks. We also have a new grow started with three babies recovering from H202 burn. But they are recovering nicely. Any other input is valued. We are still very new at this, but I think we've done pretty well compared to some of the threads we've read. We are definately hooked.
We both wake and bake and stay lit pretty much all day (that's why we prefer a euphoric high). So we would be considered pretty heavy smokers~~who still maintain to get everything done that needs to be. lol

__________________
growin fast a stash to last, no more shwag in this greenchile bag.

THELONERANGER

Its to small .. let it grow 2 more weeks..... And when you cut it down pull it apart.. 7ft. THATS BIG

greenchile

We're with ya, we purchased a 100x microscope today and the trichs are still pretty clear. Thanks for answering about whether to dry whole or pull apart. Can you tell us the difference between the two????

__________________
growin fast a stash to last, no more shwag in this greenchile bag.

Firsttimer

What you mean. You can tell by the crystals. You want 50 percent Cloudy and 50 percent Clear. When they start to get cloudy is when you know the are maturing. When they turn amber they degrade into couch lock.

Some people around here say the best way to tell is threw a QC by fast drying it. But IMHO. Fast drying makes you loose a lot of the potency. So that's not a good way to judge. Crystals are the only way. Perfectionism is Key. And you should have optimal harvest. Now its drying and curing your on too.

__________________
Don't let my name fool you Take care and grow hard!