Newbie Outdoor in So. New England

Ok, pot growing is different now than in the 1970's when I last tried it. Its far more sophisticated. We used to smoke the leaves without regard to whether it was a male or female plant and it was still lots of fun.

Zoom forward 30 years. I have one plant outdoors that I grew on a lark. Its about 4.5' tall. Its simple ragweed--the seed came from pot that goes for about $200 per oz. I like regular pot. At this stage in life, I am not looking to get totally zonked. Lucky me, its a female with buds that are getting bigger by the day. I won't win any awards, but I like what I see.

This is my question: How long do I let it go before I harvest? The nights are getting colder-in the low 50s and soon maybe into the 40s. During the day its sunny and warm, in the mid 70s. Can I wait until just before frost?

Thanks gang.

Welcome Jared!! This is a good thread to let you know when they should be done. https://www.rollitup.org/harvesting-curing/210501-zeuss-take-harvesting.html Her is another, https://www.rollitup.org/harvesting-curing/28072-harvest-time-tutorial.html

Hope this helps.

The cold temps won't hurt, but it's best to have her finish before the frost starts.

hey dude, thanks. i checked them out. i am not sure my buds will ever look like those. mine are green as grass (excuse the pun). yeah, i have white parts to the flowers (i am such a newbie that i don't even know what they are called!)

i have a general idea of the changes to look for. i am quite a good gardener-i have a huge garden with all kinds of fruits and vegetables, so i do know quite a bit about how to grow plants. i will keep an eye on the buds, with my other eye on the frost forecast.

Best of luck to ya!! You can also figure it will take 8-10 weeks from the time you first noticed buds starting to form.

it is amazing, but since i first posted this thread my buds have quadrupled in size and the plant looks awesome.

Let's see some pic's.

Hey Jared. We got a few weeks left my man. Looking like a Halloween harvest up here in NE

for reasons not worth explaining, no pics as of this moment, but mine looks a lot like messman's photo id, above.

messman, there is no way i could go until halloween. we will have frost before then. whats the best way to dry the plant? can i hang the whole thing in my dry basement and then pick the buds off later?

Do'nt worry about the frost Jared - seriously they can take light frosts. If we start getting multiple frosts and/or heavier frosts then pull. But for now take it week to week. So far so good. As far as harvesting, you can hang the whole thing, but far easier to chop branches off and work with them. String a line from your rafters or wherever, and you can simply hang the branches on it, or affix with a paper clip. A cool, dry dark environment is best.

Fellow New Englander

Hey Jared,
check out this thread from another site. It has a lot of great regional info spanning a few years. Congrats on your plant and happy tokin'!
~rock~

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=22169

Fellow New Englanders!!! woow.

I planted mine way too late it just started budding 5 days ago u think theres any hope for it if I leave it outside til its good or should I tend to in inside?

Sorry I'm posting this in ur thread dude just thought it was sorta on subject considering its getting chilly here.

Started budding 5 days ago?!? No way will you make it another 2 months. I'd bring her in.

ok, i just harvested the plant and its hanging up to dry. but about 2 weeks ago i harvested the top two buds. smoked some of it last weekend. awesome! its a clean, very smooth high. now i see why you throw out the leaves. makes me want to grow more than just one plant.

one thing, the density of my buds are no where near what i buy. mine are light and airy. why is that? i assume its the genetics of the plant.

The reason the buds are airy is probably because you harvested a little too early. I grew mine outside and it got down to 33 before I harvested and they are a little airy too!

Happy Harvest Jared and congrats - enjoy the fruits of your labor As Bunghullio says the buds are most likely airy because they needed a bit more time. The nugs from the branches I harvested so far as also airy. Not that there is anything wrong with this - it's still fine smoke The rest of my patch is still out there, braving some truly brutal conditions. I'm letting them go cause they ain't dying! They've taken more of a beating than I expected they could - multiple frosts and continued cold rainy conditions.

wow, ok i get it. i had no idea you could let the plants go through multiple frosts. its fucking snowing here today and I am in So. New England!

my buds started to turn light brown and i got worried and pulled the one plant i had before it got "ruined". maybe it wasn't getting ruined. maybe it was just getting better. can someone enlighten me on that?

hey rockfish, i checked out that site. pretty good, but its just like this site. all good, but it becomes an information overload. i am a pretty good vegetable gardener, so growing weed is NP for me. i just need to fine tune the little details, like when to harvest, when and how to feed, etc. i am an OUTDOOR grower. just a couple of plants for my own head.

Bunghulio, thats amazing!!


i love coming here. its great to be amongst like thinkers.