Live Stoner Chat 1st grow, need help!

[Mr Green Fingers]

First grow? you pulling our legs? lol Very nice grow indeed!

Haha I'm shocked as well dude how well it' gone so far! Beginners luck

 

[Kingflipper]

I don't use pH up anymore... Strictly use cyco nutrients silica for that purpose. So far, I've gone as far as using 3.75mL/gal and have observed no negative effects at all. Fox farms microbe brew really tanks pH and it takes a good bit of silica to bring it back up. It seems to keep solution as steady if not slightly better than my general hydroponics pH up, and also is a benefit to the plant win win lol

 

[Mr Green Fingers]

@MedGrower @912GreenSkell @Kingflipper what's up guys, could you please let me know your opinion on how long you think I have left as I am getting a bit impatient now lol, i am down to my last 1/2 oz of meds now and really don't want to buy anymore but I also want to get best yield/quality out of this now I've spent 11 weeks so far! Sorry the pics are not the best but I am using a free app so Can't complain as I have now bought 2 loupes but both seem useless or I haven't got a steady enough hand so any suggestions of a good easy to use one would be great!
Also what are your methods of drying/curing, ideal temp and RH for this as I am thinking of using the paper bag method and then jarring but not sure if that's the best method but have heard it locks in the aromas and taste if done correctly and cuts down on the cure time, have any of you tried this method?? Oh I was anticipating 1 more week of feeding and then flush, thanks guys for reading as always

 

[Kingflipper]

Hell yeah dude... You crushed it, and it looks like your hand is about as steady as mine for trich shots. Only way I can get a good view is to trim a couple sugar leaves from different buds and lay them on a table then use the loupe to scope em. I think I see a few ambers in there, tough to say though. Just by looking at the plant overall, it appears ready about any time to my eyes. Drying and curing is a topic of much debate. I've just always cut branch by branch and hang dried then jarred up until my last harvest when I gave the paper bags a shot. I like doing it that way its just a bit more work. Really comes down to personal preference. Try as many different methods as you'd like and see what works best for you. Given as how you're running low, its safe to say you can chop one of those colas off now and get it drying so YOU don't go dry lol. It wont hurt the plant any to do so. Good job man... Better get a couple more seeds ready to go, those buckets will be needing new tenants soon. If you wanna flush go ahead and do it now... The leaves have plenty of nutes stored in them and just looking at the pics they've swelled nicely. I like to shock and stress my plants to hell the last few days of their lives

 

[Mr Green Fingers]

Hell yeah dude... You crushed it, and it looks like your hand is about as steady as mine for trich shots. Only way I can get a good view is to trim a couple sugar leaves from different buds and lay them on a table then use the loupe to scope em. I think I see a few ambers in there, tough to say though. Just by looking at the plant overall, it appears ready about any time to my eyes. Drying and curing is a topic of much debate. I've just always cut branch by branch and hang dried then jarred up until my last harvest when I gave the paper bags a shot. I like doing it that way its just a bit more work. Really comes down to personal preference. Try as many different methods as you'd like and see what works best for you. Given as how you're running low, its safe to say you can chop one of those colas off now and get it drying so YOU don't go dry lol. It wont hurt the plant any to do so. Good job man... Better get a couple more seeds ready to go, those buckets will be needing new tenants soon. If you wanna flush go ahead and do it now... The leaves have plenty of nutes stored in them and just looking at the pics they've swelled nicely. I like to shock and stress my plants to hell the last few days of their lives

whoahoooooooooooo! Can't believe I'm finally in the harvesting window! Ok so I think I am going to feed them for 1 more day and then start flushing my babies! Just a quick question about drying/curing, is it possible for me to dry in my tent whilst the light is on if there in paper bags because the lower stuff is still definitely not done so I would like to do a stage harest if possible but I don't want to lose any quality by doing this so will just use the popcorn for bi products if so as I only have the room for 1 tent unfortunately
If I'm doing the paper bag method do I need to cut the main colas into individual buds to stop mould?? I am super excited now, looks like there will be no clubbing this new years eve but trimming instead, what a way to bring in the new year oh and what do you mean by shocking them, what do you do? I have been letting my temps drop last 2 weeks to see if I could get some purples going which I seemed to have achieved on the sugar leaves at least!
You guys are awesome and have helped me out so much, have a wonderful Christmas and a great new year!

 

[Mr Green Fingers]

Hell yeah dude... You crushed it, and it looks like your hand is about as steady as mine for trich shots. Only way I can get a good view is to trim a couple sugar leaves from different buds and lay them on a table then use the loupe to scope em. I think I see a few ambers in there, tough to say though. Just by looking at the plant overall, it appears ready about any time to my eyes. Drying and curing is a topic of much debate. I've just always cut branch by branch and hang dried then jarred up until my last harvest when I gave the paper bags a shot. I like doing it that way its just a bit more work. Really comes down to personal preference. Try as many different methods as you'd like and see what works best for you. Given as how you're running low, its safe to say you can chop one of those colas off now and get it drying so YOU don't go dry lol. It wont hurt the plant any to do so. Good job man... Better get a couple more seeds ready to go, those buckets will be needing new tenants soon. If you wanna flush go ahead and do it now... The leaves have plenty of nutes stored in them and just looking at the pics they've swelled nicely. I like to shock and stress my plants to hell the last few days of their lives

Just on the seed front, I will be growing some Mephisto genetics next, illuminato 25 Sour Orange Livers and also they threw in some freebie Skywalker so may do 1 of each or 2 SOL but I can' start for a few weeks as going skiing at the end of February for a week so I think if I can get them to around week 3 or 4 when I go they should be ok to leave for the week but don't want to leave them when there flowering!

 

[Kingflipper]

Staged harvest in my opinion is the way to go unless its just a tiny plant with a couple colas. And yeah drying in the tent will be just fine. To use the paper bags, you'll need to trim the colas down to golf ball sized buds. As far as shocking them... That's what you try to avoid all the way up to the point of where you are now. Lol. Ill do all kinds of shit to em. Drop the pH waaaaayyy down one day then raise it waaaaayyy up the next, drill holes in the stalks, put a shitload of ice in the reservoir. Pretty much any kind of sadistic torture you can think of works lol. Don't do it though until you're at the point where you're ready to chop whats left of the whole plant at the end of your staged harvest. Intentionally damaging it or inducing shock however you want to will signal it to go into "fight" mode and try to defend herself by producing more oils and cannabinoids, as that's how the plant defends itself naturally. You just want to provoke it to defend itself as hard as possible.

 

[Mr Green Fingers]

Staged harvest in my opinion is the way to go unless its just a tiny plant with a couple colas. And yeah drying in the tent will be just fine. To use the paper bags, you'll need to trim the colas down to golf ball sized buds. As far as shocking them... That's what you try to avoid all the way up to the point of where you are now. Lol. Ill do all kinds of shit to em. Drop the pH waaaaayyy down one day then raise it waaaaayyy up the next, drill holes in the stalks, put a shitload of ice in the reservoir. Pretty much any kind of sadistic torture you can think of works lol. Don't do it though until you're at the point where you're ready to chop whats left of the whole plant at the end of your staged harvest. Intentionally damaging it or inducing shock however you want to will signal it to go into "fight" mode and try to defend herself by producing more oils and cannabinoids, as that's how the plant defends itself naturally. You just want to provoke it to defend itself as hard as possible.

You are the man, geez I would have been lost without AFN, Seriously you guys are awesome and have helped me out so much! Ok so the point of shocking is to produce more resin, got it! Last thing, I know I don't stop asking stuff lol! What is best temps and RH for drying? If I am keeping the lights on whilst drying my temps and RH are roughly 73/55 so is this ok and how long would you expect the dry time to be in paper bags at these temps/rh??

 

[Kingflipper]

Optimal drying environment is 60 degrees with 60 percent humidity. Anything will work, just don't let them stay under 55% humidity once they've dried or the curing process will get f××ked up. This is what I struggle with still since in in a place in the states where the damn temp and humidity swings are nuts from day to day.
At the end of the 3rd day, pop open a bag and check them. Its been taking mine 4 days but temp was 74 on Thursday with 77%humidity and it is now in 40s with 100% humidity. Sunday gonna be 15 and won't be shit for humidity. It'll be a lot better in the tent in controlled environment...
Check out the drying/curing thread for all the info you'd ever wanna know lol. For key, getting this part right is harder than actually growing the damn things lol

 

[Mr Green Fingers]

Optimal drying environment is 60 degrees with 60 percent humidity. Anything will work, just don't let them stay under 55% humidity once they've dried or the curing process will get f××ked up. This is what I struggle with still since in in a place in the states where the damn temp and humidity swings are nuts from day to day.
At the end of the 3rd day, pop open a bag and check them. Its been taking mine 4 days but temp was 74 on Thursday with 77%humidity and it is now in 40s with 100% humidity. Sunday gonna be 15 and won't be shit for humidity. It'll be a lot better in the tent in controlled environment...
Check out the drying/curing thread for all the info you'd ever wanna know lol. For key, getting this part right is harder than actually growing the damn things lol

Ok perfect, I am going to get the boveda 62 packs so hopefully that should keep my rh perfect in the jars! Wow I'm super excited but not looking forward to trimming them up but think I will do it before cutting off the branches