Rich's Girl

Countryfarmer said:

Yep. You have another harvest ahead of you. Compare the two separately to determine your personal preferences in harvest time. Treat this like an experiment instead of a mistake.

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Just put her back out for another day of sunshine. Is supposed to be in the 70s all week. The buds I clipped dried really fast in the basement, so I put them in a jar to cure. Sure hope the next harvest is a lot better smoke. Not impressed with this at all except for the smell of the buds while they are growing. Should I expect it to improve after curing a while? This is all new to me; I just usually buy it.

There was alot of plant in that basket..More than I thought

Antny420 said:

There was alot of plant in that basket..More than I thought

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I just want it to be worth the risk I'm taking and I'd like it to rip my head off.

filmore said:

Just put her back out for another day of sunshine. Is supposed to be in the 70s all week. The buds I clipped dried really fast in the basement, so I put them in a jar to cure. Sure hope the next harvest is a lot better smoke. Not impressed with this at all except for the smell of the buds while they are growing. Should I expect it to improve after curing a while? This is all new to me; I just usually buy it.

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Yeh, I had a problem with the buds that the deer knocked off drying too fast. Those buds dried far too fast in my attic, so I will instead use my guest bedroom to dry in instead.

The buds may not be completely dry yet, which is why you want to put them in jars to cure. Curing is simply drying very slowly.

So, put the buds in the jars and burp them a time or two a day. Pull them out of the jars and test their moistness. Although the buds may appear to be completely dry when you pulled them down from hanging in your basement, there may still be moisture trapped in the bud. That moisture should migrate out of the buds, and the jars can help slow down this portion of the drying process.

In a perfect world none of us would have to use jars or any other method to dry. We would have drying/curing rooms set up like the big tobacco companies have.

How high is the temp in your basement? It should have been a much better spot to use than my attic was simply because the temperature should be lower there. Try to dry in an area that has a temperature range between 55-65 degrees; this low temperature range should slow the dry down. You also want a mid to low level of humidity in the room. A high degree of humidity can extend the drying time and allow for unwanted molds or fungus to grow. Aim for a low humidity level early on (no lower than 35%) and slowly increase the humidity level until it is in the 45 to 55% range.

Just guessing, but the buds that you are not happy with probably have a hay-like smell to them, right? That is a sign of both premature buds and the need for additional slow drying (curing).

If your buds have truly gotten dry and the curing (slow dry) process is not occurring you can try to induce the process by placing a couple of leaves of lettuce in the jar with your bud. The lettuce has a neutral scent so no smell will be imparted, but the water from the lettuce may help restart the curing process.

Hope this helps!

Wow, great information man. Makes me feel a bit better. Yes, smells like hay and yes, the buds have moisture to them this morning, so I'm assuming it is time for the curing process in the jars. All of what you said makes sense, especially immaturity of my buds. So anyway that's about an ounce and a half that can hopefully improve by curing while she is still producing for a couple more weeks. Guess I'd better make a call to get me through. Then I'll check on my humidity. The furnace ran overnight and dried them too fast, but they aren't truly dry.

I raised her today to get the last bit of sunshine throughout this weekend. Supposed to be in the high 70s and I'm lucky to have this. Should I let her go for another week yet? I'm still covering her at night unless it gets too cold and I bring her in.

Looks happy out there in the sun today, think I'll let her go as long as I can.

Yeh, let her keep on growing filmore.

Countryfarmer said:

Yeh, let her keep on growing filmore.

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I still have hope for some good stuff. I must broaden my horizon to get some better plants to grow. Do you start with seeds? I'm making a trip to CO next month and will ask a friend with a MMJ card to either get me seeds or clones of known good stuff they sell legally. I read about so many kinds you all grow and need to figure out how to accomplish that with great stock to start with here in WI.

At least I got a good grow, just kinda fucked up a bit. A guy that gave me this clone got his all cross pollenated with crap growing on a farm. There is lots of hemp growing in corn fields, so I'm lucky to have kept mine clean.

filmore said:

I still have hope for some good stuff. I must broaden my horizon to get some better plants to grow. Do you start with seeds? I'm making a trip to CO next month and will ask a friend with a MMJ card to either get me seeds or clones of known good stuff they sell legally. I read about so many kinds you all grow and need to figure out how to accomplish that with great stock to start with here in WI.

At least I got a good grow, just kinda fucked up a bit. A guy that gave me this clone got his all cross pollenated with crap growing on a farm. There is lots of hemp growing in corn fields, so I'm lucky to have kept mine clean.

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You forget my friend, I am just as new at this as you are.

I do have to admit to reading a lot both before and during this grow. I may have overdone the studying part, but I approached it as if I were taking a college exam.

To answer your question though, I did start with seeds and I chose a strain that was billed as being easy for new growers to grow (big bud). If I hadn't thrown some unknown mexican strain seeds into the ground though, I would be left with only one plant due to a seed bank ripping me off.

If you have access to clones from proven performing plants, I would definitely go that route. Otherwise I would pick an indica heavy strain seed from a reputable seed bank such as attitude or nirvana.

As to keeping your plants from being cross-pollinated, I would consider going inside. It is more costly because of the electricity. But if you go the route of a sealed grow room you stand a better chance of keeping all of that hemp pollen from your plants, and you don't have to be concerned with the whims of mother nature or the off-chance that one of your neighbors got nosy about the plants growing on your deck.

By the way, still love the stealth grow. I get a chuckle every time I see it.

she looks like she has a while to go.

Man, we've been blessed with the best October weather ever, so she's still getting 8 hours or so of sunshine. Supposed to stay in the 70s for the next week too. I took a few pics over the last couple days, but got lazy. Now she is as high as I can go with her.

Looks fine filmore. She doesn't look as if she is going to give you large buds on the second harvest, but you should get some that finished well. One question as I can not tell from the pics, but is that normal, end-of-life yellowing you have going on, or is there some nutrient burn on some of those leaves? If it is nutrient burn it could also be an old injury and I am just now seeing it. You have the plant, so what do you think?

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Hey filmore is that a snake on your deck to the left of the far left chair? Gotta love the unusualy warm WI weather! Keep it growin!!!!

Countryfarmer said:

Looks fine filmore. She doesn't look as if she is going to give you large buds on the second harvest, but you should get some that finished well. One question as I can not tell from the pics, but is that normal, end-of-life yellowing you have going on, or is there some nutrient burn on some of those leaves? If it is nutrient burn it could also be an old injury and I am just now seeing it. You have the plant, so what do you think?

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The yellowing just started the last week, some turning brown on the tips, so snipped a few off. All has been green up till now. Yes, my biggest correction would be to open her to the sun much earlier if possible. I don't see any crystals like the colas showed. Thanks.

Noballs said:

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Hey filmore is that a snake on your deck to the left of the far left chair? Gotta love the unusualy warm WI weather! Keep it growin!!!![/QUOTE]

Yep, a rubber one from Walmart. Keeps the birds from landing and dropping sorties all over the deck. They really work.

Well, this is it for this year. Thanks for all the tips; only got 1/4 pound and it isn't any good yet. Crap. Date on pics is wrong too.

You care to take a few close up pics of the buds? i'm interested

RDGgreenthumb said:

You care to take a few close up pics of the buds? i'm interested

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I'll try outside again today, but this one pic shows what the majority of my harvest was... small and airy buds. As they have been curing they have a better smell than the colas that I harvested two weeks earlier, but I'm not happy with potency so far.

Filmore, if your potency is not there it probably relates to the genetics of the plant and not to other factors. Get yourself some high quality seed from a reputable breeder for next year and I think you will be pleasantly surprised. And please tell me you plan on doing another stealth basket grow. I'd do one except for the fact I entertain on my back deck a fair amount and some of those people would instantly recognize what I was growing.