purple/brown stems, yellow leaves, photos

[The Hash Nibbler]

Hey paddy, no dude you don't owe me a thing, it's a hobby for me, like stamp collecting for nerds =)

OK, Lets see what you got here and I will try and make it easier to understand, I wasn't very specific, sorry.

 

1)a) you got those tall plants right, you got the nice big single buds on the tops, cut the main stem under the big bud you want to harvest and just leave the rest under lights to bulk up the buds.

 

the wet toilet paper just seals up the cut end of the main stem still on the plant and prevents it from rotting or getting air and crap in there, just wet it once when you put it on and then just leave it there, it will go hard like Paper Mache . Then you lower your lights down so they are about 40cm from the tops and let those lower buds bulk up so you get more later. I would do this to all your tall ones and in a few weeks you can pull the rest when the buds are nice and fat.

 

c) Yeah give the buds a bit of a trim to get the excess leaf off them and hang them for a week in the dark but not somewhere too damp. then when you bend the stem and it gives a crisp 'Snap" they are ready to cure.

Get a few sealable jars, cut the buds into large chunks and put in the jars but don't pack them in tight, they need space around them so they don't mould. For the first week open the jars for 30-40 minutes each day to let moisture out and close them up again. second week 30-40 minutes every two days then third week once every 3-4 days. You can do it longer if you like, some people do it for over a month but this should be fine and give a nice smoke.

 

2) When a plant is budding and it needs sugars to plump the buds it draws on reserves in the leaves and the leaves go yellow and die, this is what the small plant looks like it is doing, it may be near the end of it's cycle. It has nothing to do with nutes and adding more nutes won't stop it. Would make sense if it's the oldest. Little one stopped vegging because it had no more room in the pot, thats my guess, when you pull it you will be suprised how root bound it is I reckon!

 

Look mate you will learn a lot from this grow and next time just means you will know what NOT to do, like I do too =)

Dude with good coco and nutes, bigger pots, good temp, good PH and ventilation on your next run you will be able to veg for 4 weeks max and bud for 8-9 weeks, this is the NORMAL time frame for the veg and bloom. Just Veg them until they are half the height you want them and switch (after 24-48hrs darkness) they will stretch and grow the other half as they flower.

 

. Follow my grow thread and it will prep you for your next one, you probably won't be far behind me and we both grow coco and use drain to waste. I'm using 19L pots and that is as small as I would like to go, they are the only ones that just fit in my cupboard!

 

Yeah light is a funny thing with plants, too much or too little messes with them. you really want to freak out get a lil microscope and check out the trichomes on your buds, it's like a bizarre little world in there, like mushroom land.

Oh, don't keep the yellow leaf , it is dead but the green you trim off, keep it, dry it in a paper bag and make a bit of hash out of it, but thats another story...............Later Paddy, hope I answered your questions OK. GH72

[paddy1]

hey GH - thanks again.

 

Ok all that makes perfect sense. My plan at this stage is to only water the small one once more. I think that flushing really gave it enough moisture. On close inspection, I would say about 30%-40% of the hairs are brown. It's monday so I intend to water it once more (no nutes) then harvest on Thursday.

 

1) Only thing was - how long after cutting (roughly) should I put the wet toilet paper on top?

 

Interesting that you indicated 4 weeks veg, 8 week flower. I often thought that 8 weeks veg was too long and thought that even with mine, 6 weeks was enough especially if i use 1000W HPS.

 

With the tall ones, thanks for answering all the specific questions. The top of those plants are not showing my brown hair at the moment, but i might nonetheless cut them on wednesday or so and drop the lights for the last 2-3 weeks. Hopefully will get some nice volume down the bottom and make it worth while.

 

From now, the only other thing I'm reading about on this forum is making hash. I figured that if i have the volume from good big grow, then I may as well give it a go. The method i saw was freezing some cured (?) buds and leaf, then shake through a fine seive. Then I collect the residue below, wrap it up several times to ensure it's water tight, boil in water briefly then let it cool and set.

 

2) Is that your method?

 

Next time I grow, I'm using big pots, i'll top and tie down (which I didn't do with these) the plants early on, big pots, more thorough examination of run off volume, watering / feeding less often, PH measurer, good solid ventilation, temperature control of the area, taking more effort to ensure it's 100% darkness for 12 hours when flowering, avoiding the use of soil. I think all these are the 'big' lessons i got from this first grow. Hopefully the final product will still be good.

 

3) One final question - when drying out the buds, do you think a well ventilated, dark, but fairly cold place would be bad to use? (ie... would the coldness be a problem - say ranging from 8/9 degrees to 15 degrees?) I think i should NOT use that spot (it's a garage) but just wanted to check

 

thanks mate

Edited May 10, 2010 by paddy1

[The Hash Nibbler]

Hey Paddy, STOP!!!!!, I thought you had at least 50% brown hairs on your buds, do not cut them until it has or you will get shitty buds OK, hope this gets to you in time. That was an important part you didn't tell me =)

 

1) You put the wet paper on straight after you make your cut, make sure that what ever you use to cut is sharp and been cleaned with alcohol or dipped in very hot water to avoid disease.

 

The vegging time question- Yeah dude, get some bigger pots man. You are vegging them way too long, looks like they are trying to go off but then reach the limits of your pots and get root bound, causing them to not fill out, root mass is equal to or greater than what you see above ground, even if it does not look it when it's all compacted and root bound. Any extra weeks of veg then is a waste of time and money. With a 1000w Hps dude you should only have to veg for 3-4 weeks MAX.

 

Harvest question- still give them the chop dude but wait until the hairs are at least 50% brown. Maybe it is time to ask yourself a hard question, is it better to push shit uphill with these plants and try and milk the most out of them or would it be better to just wait till they are ready pull them and start again?

 

You got quite a bit wrong with these guys, which is normal for everyones first grow, I would get some bigger pots, get some seedlings going and never look back. Dude it will take you 3-4 weeks to finish these, that would be the end of your new vege cycle and then you would only have 8-9 weeks to wait for PRIMO buds, I will help you just grab some good seeds and start now. Follow my grow diary and anything else I can help you with and I am sure when people see you are really trying with a new one they will help too. hard decision but it's yours to make, I only offer you my advice.

 

2) Yeah thats pretty much it mate for the hash method, will run you through it later when your ready to go, I grind mine through a sieve and take those crystally fine particles (scuff) and compact them like you said and then cool in fridge. Works good but you need a good resin content. Everybody is raving about bubble bags now, never tried them but looks interesting. Look , lets get this grow under control then we'll make some Hash bro.

 

Next time you grow this strain, if you grow this strain again, tip them as they are growing and they will fill out not so much up and keep your growth more even, thats what I do if they look like they are going to hit the ceiling!

 

3) Dry your buds somewhere but not your garage, it will probably get too much moisture, I know it sounds stupid but I get a box and poke hundreds of holes into it, string some wire across the inside at the top and hang my buds in that in the house. come out pretty good.

 

You can still get the double harvest if you REALLY want man but get your new seedlings/pots ready now so you can get a quick change over. You are not going to get a mega harvest outta these babies, they run outta root space and they're growth in veg has made them like they are now and you can't really change that, you can make the best from a bad situation or start again.

 

Like my bro used to say- You can polish a Turd all day long, it might even get a bit shiny, But it's still a turd. =)

 

Have a great day Paddy. GH72

[paddy1]

hi Mate

 

That's ok I haven't done any harvesting activities just yet.

 

I had a good look under natural light and found that my two small ones in soil are actually about 40%+ brown hairs, but I'm not harvesting them for another 4 days. I am hoping they'll be over the 50% threshold by then, but in my opinions, the buds are not really growing much anymore. They seem to be thickening a bit, but nothing substantial. Seems that most of it has already been done now.

 

With the three taller ones, I am going to cut the tops and try to get more out of the bottom. On close inspection, i can see that the bottoms are budding a bit, but not really thickening and coming to life, so i'm thinking topping and lowering the light will help my yield. By the way, do the top parts need to be browning hairs of 50% before I top them?

 

Yes - a few things have gone wrong with these. Early in veg, my ventilation was a bit limited and i had to leave them outdoors for a couple of days when moving house. Not sure if they ever properly recovered from these two events but yes - first grow and many many valuable lessons learned.

 

Unfortunately, I won't be doing another grow until October or so. Same seeds, but big pots, topping and tying will be the big changes I'll make.

 

I know I won't get mega volume out of these babies, but should be enough to hopefully keep me in good shape for a couple of months or more. When I do the next later in the year, I also plan to veg outdoors then bud indoors.

 

Will avoid the garage and I agree- there may be too much moisture in there. I like your box idea

 

By the way - a lot of sites and shops recommended 18/6 for 8 weeks of veg and then 12/12 for 4 weeks of bloom. Are you sure that 4 weeks of veg would be enough?

Edited May 10, 2010 by paddy1

[The Hash Nibbler]

Hey paddy, yeah, do the small ones in 4 days, tip the big fellas at the same time and drop your lights down and try and bulk the rest out, good idea. 50% would be good for the brown hairs but it is up to you mate.

Shops and forums should be recommending 18/6 for 4 weeks veg and 12/12 for 8-9 weeks bloom. 4 weeks of veg is Plenty,

I will probably only do mine for 2-3 weeks to keep them shorter.

It's all good man, you will have learnt a lot for your next run, so it is not bad. k, dude, time for bed.

Let me know if you need help with anything and will try and run you through it. Zzzzzzzzzz..........GH72

[paddy1]

Thanks a heap mate. I certainly have learnt a lot.

 

I'm glad to hear that 4 + 8 weeks is fine to do. In reality running the light 4 weeks at 12/12 instead of 18/6 would end up being a good solid saving on electricity bills. I think it was a bit overkill for me to buy a 1000W HPS in the first place, but I just hate buying a mid-range and later wishing i'd bought the big boy later, so I started with the big boy!!!

 

In any case, thanks a bunch for all your help. I have just one final little question. If you did 4 + 8 and topped and tied..etc.. had good ventilation, PH, temperature control and so on, how much dried bud would you expect to get of the plant after harvesting and curing? (roughly!)

[Naycha]

I have just one final little question. If you did 4 + 8 and topped and tied..etc.. had good ventilation, PH, temperature control and so on, how much dried bud would you expect to get of the plant after harvesting and curing? (roughly!)

 

Questions about yeild are all relative, but 1 gram per watt is a fair figure to aim for. Best I have done is probably 1/2 - 3/4 of a gram per watt.

 

So for 1000W I would be really happy for 1000g, and disappointed with anything less than 500g.

[paddy1]

Actually - may as well get your feedback while your here.

 

This is a close up photo of a fresh cutting. What do you think:

 

[The Hash Nibbler]

Hey Paddy, Naycha got in before me, but he knows his shit so listen to the man. bud looks alright, little more time, as you said to get at least 50% brown hairs. When I blew it up I could see your trichomes, sounds dirty doesn't it! =) They are still clear so that extra bit of time will do them good. Looks good though man, good enough for a sampler =).

Yield is a hard one mate, so many factors, I aim low and am always pleasantly suprised in the end. Mostly depends on the strain, some yield big and some yield small. I work out my output to be, in my cupboard about 200 grams a plant, thats VERY conservative and is still over 13oz. i would be stoked with that. It's just for me, so I got no need for more. I could just do a grow a year. OK dude, you have fun with your babies. Naycha, skywalker and some of the other guys are really clued up so take their advice too, you won't be sorry. GH72

[paddy1]

By the way guys - just out of interest - is it possible to add something to soil or whatever to increase to potency of the THC?