Gemu's T-5 Closet

Pulling the nanners you can see won't do any good. It's a waste of time. In fact, there is a theory that pulling them only makes the plant produce MORE of them. Take a sample bud low down on the plant, do a quick dry, then smoke. If it does the job you expect it to do (or, nearly, at least), go ahead and chop it. If you cure it properly after you've harvested, the THC will get more potent anyway. But, if you don't like your sample, give it up 3-5 more days before you harvest. Bottom line is that it boils down to how many seeds you are going to end up with. The longer you wait, the more seeds you'll have. And, again, this advice ONLY applies because you don't have any females that can be pollenated.

Gramaw49 said:

Pulling the nanners you can see won't do any good. It's a waste of time. In fact, there is a theory that pulling them only makes the plant produce MORE of them. Take a sample bud low down on the plant, do a quick dry, then smoke. If it does the job you expect it to do (or, nearly, at least), go ahead and chop it. If you cure it properly after you've harvested, the THC will get more potent anyway. But, if you don't like your sample, give it up 3-5 more days before you harvest. Bottom line is that it boils down to how many seeds you are going to end up with. The longer you wait, the more seeds you'll have. And, again, this advice ONLY applies because you don't have any females that can be pollenated.

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Can't sample right now unfortunately, Tbreak lasts tell thursday O: I smoked pretty much all but 4-5 days for about 10 months (since I started smoking), this is my first Tbreak and since its like day 12 I'm too close to not give myself that gratitude XD. Maybe i'll just hit my parents with a nug of it when they get home and see if it gets them toasted.

If they get toasted i'll chop XD


^Two of my branches were drying fast, stems kinda snapped so I threw them in a jar for about 7 hours and re examined, stems didnt snap nearly as much anymore and the buds were kinda moist again. Throwing them on that tray for a bit then i'll throw them back in the jar.

Phone camera is being troll, this is the only viable pic I could snap for some reason XD

They look alright?

Edit: My parents will smoke plenty of my grow in the future, so i'll test a nug on somebody else. I just remembered I have friends I can test my sceince on. I'll report on how toasted said friend gets in a couple hours XD

Yes, they look good. But ... What do you have those laying on? Iron of some sort? At the very least, put some paper under the nugs! They should be hanging, (imo) but you cut the stems too soon (imo). Stems are handy for hanging. I made the same mistake a million years ago with my first grow. Soooo .. if I were you, I'd put them in a brown paper bag, then set the bag in a dark closet. Make sure to give them a shake and/or gently "stir" (with your hands) each day as they dry. When they are dry to the touch, but still moist on the inside, put them in jars, continue curing as instructed elsewhere. (Let me know if you need a link for curing instructions)

Gramaw49 said:

Yes, they look good. But ... What do you have those laying on? Iron of some sort? At the very least, put some paper under the nugs! They should be hanging, (imo) but you cut the stems too soon (imo). Stems are handy for hanging. I made the same mistake a million years ago with my first grow. Soooo .. if I were you, I'd put them in a brown paper bag, then set the bag in a dark closet. Make sure to give them a shake and/or gently "stir" (with your hands) each day as they dry. When they are dry to the touch, but still moist on the inside, put them in jars, continue curing as instructed elsewhere. (Let me know if you need a link for curing instructions)

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The other vast majority of my plants are still hanging with the colas, this is just two branches that dryed WAY faster than the other plants so I jarred them up quick before they got too dry

I do have little brown lunch sacks handy i'm pretty sure, woudl throwing them in those be the best?

I've probably done 40-50 hours researching drying/curing. I have a thread going in the drying/curing section that is also feeding me loads of info: https://www.rollitup.org/t/boveda-69-pack-considering-only-due-to-availibility.838355/page-2#post-10722099

I was actually thinking of a large brown grocery bag, but the smaller ones will work, too. Just use several of them. You can also just use newspaper (fold the bud into a newspaper, set it in a dark closet).

If they are drying too fast, you can add some moisture by putting in a bud that is wetter. Some people advocate the use of orange rind (wash an orange thoroughly; peel it; put half of the rind into the bag) but I haven't ever tried it so I can talk from experience. I just intuitively think it would work so long as there orange is clean. You don't want to add any potential nasty organisms that would mold.

Then again -- maybe it's time for them to go into the jar phase. But I doubt it because from your pics, the leaves haven't even dried yet. (So, it is possible that they aren't REALLY "drying too fast"??? I know, I know -- it's just so hard to know! LOL)

You've done a good job so far. Trust your instincts.

Your doing fantastic, T5HO Rocks. Keep it up.

Gramaw49 said:

I was actually thinking of a large brown grocery bag, but the smaller ones will work, too. Just use several of them. You can also just use newspaper (fold the bud into a newspaper, set it in a dark closet).

If they are drying too fast, you can add some moisture by putting in a bud that is wetter. Some people advocate the use of orange rind (wash an orange thoroughly; peel it; put half of the rind into the bag) but I haven't ever tried it so I can talk from experience. I just intuitively think it would work so long as there orange is clean. You don't want to add any potential nasty organisms that would mold.

Then again -- maybe it's time for them to go into the jar phase. But I doubt it because from your pics, the leaves haven't even dried yet. (So, it is possible that they aren't REALLY "drying too fast"??? I know, I know -- it's just so hard to know! LOL)

You've done a good job so far. Trust your instincts.

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I've been testing the durability of the stems, pretty much every one still hanging has quite a bendy stem, but this morning when I checked I had these 2 that semi snapped (In this case, these 2 were significantly dryer than the others), I probably jumped the gun a little but I was worried about them being over dried by the time I got home; some work days can be quite long. I have a bunch of the little brown bags and I also have grocery bags. Do I throw them in the bag and then just fold over the top? How sealed do I want my bag? I've read up on a handful of paper bag drying methods but I didnt necessarily expect to use it myself, therefore i'm semi familiar with the method but didnt retain all the info XD

I'm one of those people who spends hours and hours and hours researching (cuz i love it), but also asks for as many opinions as I can

shred the little lunch bags and make a layer of that in the bottom of a grocery bag. Then a layer of buds followed by more shredded bag. Continue this till the bags are half full or so and just place them in a dark area with the top of the bag open not folded closed. Also toss the bags 1 or two times a day to ensure that the buds are drying evenly

XD ok so here is what I did. There were 2 different plants that were drying faster, so I had them seperated. There was a lot more of one than the other, so I put the one I had more of in a bigger bag, but just threw the smaller amount in one of the small brown lunch bags.


Ok so i've done copious amounts of research on drying and I think i'll be able to make sure that my remaining colas are properly dried before chopping them (again, I was just worried about the rate that these 2 were drying, didnt know if i was gonna come home to some dry ass buds or something), but it will be more difficult to tell if the buds in my bags are dry. Any tips on the best way to determine whether or not the bag buds are properly dried?

I'm sorry I didn't see your earlier question before you went to all that work shredding paper.... Putting the bud in the bag (alone) is sufficient. Fold the top down at bedtime and re-open during the day while you are at work (for air). Keep the bag in a dark closet that isn't too hot. If you have to choose between a cold closet vs a hot closet, go with the cold one. Your bud will dry more slowly in cooler air. (Cool, not cold. Cold means too much moisture, usually) Gently turn the buds inside the bags using your hands at least 2x a day (before work / after work).

You said something about separating 2 plants that were drying faster?? Keep the dryer bud with the wetter bud. Don't separate them. The wetter bud will slow down the drying process for the dryer bud. (I think I mentioned this earlier). The only way to know if your bud is ready to move to glass jars is to feel it. The smaller nugs will probably be ready sooner than the bigger buds.

Also, "a day at work" is not going to make or break you on this. In other words -- as long as you are taking care of this every day and not neglecting to turn the bud, etc. -- when you're away at work and get home, you won't find that your bud is suddenly "too dry." You may find, though, that it is finally "just right" and ready for the jars. Keep a good eye on the leaves. Green leaves means its too wet still (like in your pics). Pay less attention to the stems at this point. You'll get a lot of conflicting info on that one, but in my experience, the stems are always inconsistent -- even within the same plant. Don't know why it is that way, but it seems to be consistently inconsistent. I only use the "bud squeeze" method to determine when mine is ready for glass, regardless of what is happening with the stems.

Can you post another picture of the hemie? I mean, pics that you take right now? I went back and looked at all the pictures again, more closely and with my grannie glasses on (LOL), and before I fork over any more suggestions, it would be helpful to see it again. A close up of the resin, please, and an overall pic of the plant (so I can see the leaves). I may have some good advice for you, but I'll reserve comment until I look at pics... It is SUCH a nice plant in spite of its sudden sex change -- I don't judge -- so I'd hate to see you wait too long to harvest, etc. I'll check back in a bit....

XD no problem man. I felt a little silly doing it but it didnt take much time or effort. My buddy is trippin on that plant right now, open eye, close eye visuals, also feeling the music XD

Guess im gonna be chopping her tonight

Edit: just saw your last post yeah i'll throw a pic up in a sec

Yay. She decided to be photogenic for once XD

DONT CHOP TONIGHT .... Posting this to stop the ax, but will come back with my reasons in a minute ...

Gramaw49 said:

DONT CHOP TONIGHT .... Posting this to stop the ax, but will come back with my reasons in a minute ...

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XD wasnt gonna chop for a few hours anyways. I honestly genuinely appreciate your concern though

Okay...

Even if you've decided to go ahead and harvest her, you aren't READY to harvest because you need to:

1) flush (which I don't do, but I can look at your plant and see that you need to);
2) let the soil dry completely;
3) when the soil is completely dry and your leaves are yellowing, put her in the dark for 24 hours;
4) early in the morning before "lights on" when normally occur, either pull her up from the roots and hang, or cut her main stalk just above the soil line, and hang.
5) turn the lights on and trim all of the leaves that aren't part of the bud (Save trim for making hash oil)

How much difference does all of this make? A TON. You will double (if not quadruple) the potency and flavor of your bud by following those steps.

Posting this, but I'll come back with an explanation (Because I can already see that you like to know "Why" not just "How")

I actually sent a lot of water through them on 7/11, probably tripled the volume of my pot with water. All the other plants responded to it as I would have expected them to, by yellowing up. For whatever reason this plant has stayed strong, I can definitely do a 2nd flush though. I'll go do that right now.

Gramaw49 said:

Posting this, but I'll come back with an explanation (Because I can already see that you like to know "Why" not just "How")

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^Pretty much

GemuGrows said:

I actually sent a lot of water through them on 7/11, probably tripled the volume of my pot with water. All the other plants responded to it as I would have expected them to, by yellowing up. For whatever reason this plant has stayed strong, I can definitely do a 2nd flush though. I'll go do that right now.

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I was writing the "Why" post when I saw this ...
You may not want to flush just before lights out. If you can do it in the morning, it would be better. I'll be back. Hang tight. I'm typing as quickly as I can LOL I Know you are eager

Gramaw49 said:

I was writing the "Why" post when I saw this ...
You may not want to flush just before lights out. If you can do it in the morning, it would be better. I'll be back. Hang tight. I'm typing as quickly as I can LOL I Know you are eager

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Whats done is done...

XD

I still have 3 hours of lights on, but yeah I probably just upped my humidity for the night O:

To be fair though, I did water it though like 20 minutes before i decided to flush again, so it was already wet. I should probably get in a habit of watering in the morning for future grows, I probably wont be able to start my next one for like 2-3 months because i'm planning on doing some traveling

Re the late day watering: Maybe that's what turned her into a hermie. I was having a hard time figuring out why she changed on you, but that could explain it. Anyway, onward --

Re Harvesting:

First, I'm assuming that your resin is nice and cloudy. Best to harvest when the resin is ready vs. worrying about the nanners. You can pick out seeds but you can't produce more resin after curing.

As a rule: When we decide it is time nearly time to harvest, we have to do more than just decide. We have to get the plant ready. Normally, the process takes 2 weeks (which I'm assuming you know because you flushed on 7/11, but I'm writing for the benefit of future readers, too). And this is why you'll hear me say that I don't flush "right before harvest". It normally needs to be done about 14 days before harvest. You're going to "push" yours a bit though, which is better than ignoring it altogether.

Understanding why we flush may help. Flushing removes the nutrients in the growing medium, and without nutes the plant will start consuming its stored food reserves. We don't want those reserves (sugars, starches, etc) in our smoke because the end result will be harsh crap that doesn't burn well. So, the plant needs a bit of time to use up the reserves.

In your case, since you're doing a "flush push," you can test to see if the plant is "clean" even if the leaves haven't yellowed. Break off a fan leaf, then cut into the stem and taste the fluid at the cut. It should taste "clean" like water, not bitter or nasty. If it doesn't taste clean, you need to flush again.

I always do a 2-step flush. The first watering dissolves the crap that needs to be dissolved. I wait 10 minutes or so, then I soak it again. The 2nd soaking does the actual flushing. You aren't ready to harvest until you get a clean taste test of the fluid in the stem.

Since you JUST flushed, you'll have to do the taste test in the morning, at least an hour after lights on.

When you're sure that the plant is "clean", it's time to let things get dry. I like to let soil get REALLY dry because resin production increases dramatically the dryer the plant and air is. (It's the dry air that causes it, which you can't have with wet growing medium) How long it takes your soil to dry will be dependent on the humidity in the room.

When you decide that your soil is dry, then you want to let the plant go dark for 24 hours (give or take). This allows for increased resin production and it also allows any of the "Stuff" in the plant to drain back down to the roots. (Reserves drain to the roots during the night, and rise back up through the plant in the daytime). This is also why you want to do the actual harvest in the dark (a small light to see by is okay. Just don't let the plant think it is sun-up!)

Cut the plant just above the soil line and leave it whole, or pull the whole thing out by the root ball, and (again) leave the plant intact. Hang it up. Trim it. Let it dry and cure.