White Shark: Harvest Time Nears!

[uncledoug]

4 hrs. 20 min.

[SamHeinous]

Just wanted to say welcome to the forum! I am fairly new here myself, but this is my weed growing home on the web - because the people here are SO NICE. I don't see a lot of the BS I see on other forums. I'm looking forward to following your grows!

[Rangi]

Drying Process

A few shots from earlier:



I've trimmed up almost 5 of the 11 plants now. Time for a break, so I thought I'd describe how I dry and cure in this room:


which I initially set at ~70F and ~45% RH using a heater and humidifier (ambient RH in the house typically falls between 25 & 35%). The room has a fresh air supply and an exhaust fan.

The white cube is my dryer. Very simple but effective design (if used appropriately). A 4" computer fan mounted on the bottom pulls air in through vents on the tops of the side panels and exhausts it out the bottom after passing through a carbon filter.



There are 3 screens onto which the plant material is placed. I think this tray has 2 of the 11 plants:



I place them in the dryer initially for 24 hours (I keep adding to the dryer as I'm trimming, but I keep track timing for each "batch" separately). After that initial dry, I seal them in large freezer ziplock bags for 12 hours. I continue to alternate the buds between being in the dryer and in baggies, following this schedule as a guide:

Dryer - 24 hrs
Bag - 12 hrs
Dryer - 12 hrs
Bag - 6 hrs
Dryer - 6 hrs
Bag - 3 hrs

... continue until sufficiently dry to cure in mason jars

The idea is that you place the bud in the dryer just long enough for the outer layer to dry somewhat. It will just barely start to feel dry to the touch on the surface. Then, by placing them in a bag, the moisture redistributes evenly throughout the bud (moving from the moist core out to the dry 'shell' - and the bud will no longer feel dry to the touch). Returning to the dryer once again dries the outer layer, and then another stint in the baggie and it's redistributed evenly again.

There's nothing magical about these particular timings. The key is going very gradually. The first time I used this process I started them in the dryer for 48h, then 24h in bags, etc. The current timings are much more conservative. The buds will be nicely dried in 3 to 5 days, and can then be moved to mason jars to cure. Toward the end of the drying, I raise the RH from 45% to 50% to prepare for the jars, which I keep at 62% with Integra humidity control packs.

Time for some shut eye. Up with the robins and back at trimming in a few hours.

[SamHeinous]

Did you build your dryer yourself? That's really neat. I wouldn't mind having something like that, maybe with some sort of attached humidity control since mine is so low out here, but it's REALLY neat!

[Rangi]

No ... I like to tinker, but this wasn't one of my projects! It came as part of my set of indoor boxes from BC Northern Lights (www.bcnorthernlights.com)

[Rangi]

• Bit of a rest, and back at it ...
• 5 plants done; 6 to go
• Here's the first one on my agenda today ... not bad!

[Smokesteve]

Looking good, I'm on my third and final round with Great White Shark from GCS. I found the buds to be slightly harsh if I left any of the leaves on the buds at all. I think I screwed up the flush. The pure flowers taste really amazing. I just pick off the leaves before packing a bowl and save the leaves in a big jar for processing down the road.

[Rangi]

Looking good, I'm on my third and final round with Great White Shark from GCS. I found the buds to be slightly harsh if I left any of the leaves on the buds at all. I think I screwed up the flush. The pure flowers taste really amazing. I just pick off the leaves before packing a bowl and save the leaves in a big jar for processing down the road.

Smokesteve thanks very much for reaching out. I actually don't know anyone and haven't read any journals of White Shark grows. Not sure if we have exactly the same strain ... I initially purchased clones from WeedMD.com (a Canadian LP) ... kept one as a mom, which I'm now cloning, and the rest are those I just harvested. WeedMD.com is the only (that I know of) LP that sells dried bud from one of the strains that they also sell as clones. So I was able to sample (plentifully, I might add!) their Shark product and I really enjoyed it.

This grow has turned out ridiculously sticky! I ended up flushing 3-4 days longer than I had initially thought I would, so I'm hoping its nice and clean.

[D.A.A.S.69]

Rangi, that's what we like around my house, is the sticky, gummy stuff.
But I grow in living soil, most of the time, and don't flush. Nothing to flush.

[Rangi]

Just wanted to say welcome to the forum! I am fairly new here myself, but this is my weed growing home on the web - because the people here are SO NICE. I don't see a lot of the BS I see on other forums. I'm looking forward to following your grows!

Thank you very much! Sorry for the delay in responding ... been just swamped that past few days ... but swamped in a good way with harvest I've had such a great welcome here ... looking forward to learning from some very cool people!

[Rangi]

Almost Dry & Ready to Cure in Jars

• placed the first trimmed batch in the dryer 72 hours ago
  • each time the bud "shell" felt dry to the touch, they were placed in ziplock baggies to "sweat" (moisture from core redistributes throughout flower, resulting in "shell" feeling moist again) and then placed back in the dryer.

• careful attention is required to avoid:
  • (a) buds becoming too dry ... because not transferred from dryer to baggies soon enough
  • (b) mold forming ... because not transferred from baggies to dryer soon enough

• I kept the inside of the dryer at ~70F and 45-50%RH for the first 2+ days, then increased RH to 50-55%
  • this will further slow down the rate of drying, and bring buds close to the 62% they'll be held at for curing in jars

• I should be able to remove buds from some stems in the next few hours, which I'll transfer to mason jars for curing
  • I'll keep moving buds to jars as they finish drying
  • I like to keep 62%RH Integra packs in the jars, but I may be out. I'll order more.
  • I'll burp jars once daily for the first week (once weekly thereafter) and monitor for condensation etc.

[Rangi]

Potency "Estimate" > HiGrade Analytic Scope

• I ordered one of these Scopes a few weeks ago ... See:
  • https://www.gethigrade.com/web/index.html

• Makes 3 claims:
  1. Plant Diagnostics
  2. Harvest Optimization (when to harvest)
  3. Potency Evaluation (%THC estimate)
• For #1 and #2, you submit a pic via the scope/app/phone and about 12hrs later you get an email with "results"
• For #3, you take a pic and get an immediate estimate

• Can't find any studies demonstrating reliability and validity, so for now I consider a neat toy lol
  • But I must admit it made me smile today ....

• Fending off cognitive dissonance, and notwithstanding this flattering "result", I won't suggest by any means this is an accurate analysis
• Perhaps at some later time I'll upgrade it from "toy" to "tool". We'll see!
• For now, just smiling

[Rangi]

Harvest Report - White Shark Weighed and Jarred

• buds were ready for jars last night

• each jar has an Integra 62% humidity pack
  • Bud: 318g
  • Premium Trim: 41g

• was a bit disappointed in final weight ... about 60% of what I should be able to get from this strain in this setup
  • that said, it was my first time growing this strain, plus they had a rather bumpy ride!
  • They travelled across the country during a -40^oC cold snap to get to me - and were in the dark for 24 hours during their trip
  • Then they developed and survived WPM
  • Then they experienced nute lockout in early flower
• weight aside, I am absolutely thrilled with the quality - which I haven't seen the best of yet ... cure, cure cure!

[Rangi]

Campesino, I don't have a hygrometer that is jar-friendly, but I will in a few days - it's en route! This is also a neat concept:

http://www.hygrolid.com

[alltatup]

I also like the Caliber IV, after wasting money on a few cheaper ones...

[Rangi]

Campesino, I agree re accuracy concerns. I had a cheap one years ago that came with in my cedar cigar humidor. Piece of junk. I'll go with the caliber IV that you and alltatup have found works well. Thank you both for the feedback

[alltatup]

Rangi, Just wanted to show you my Purple Haze x Malawi grow (like my 3rd grow??) that took over the box. Since then I've been conservative with veg time, but I know with the strains I'm growing now that I could veg a little longer and get better yield.

[Rangi]

Wow!! That's amazing!

I have another crop of White Shark (clones from my mom) veg'ing and training right now in my Bloombox. Hoping I can get some height on them, compared to this last crop. My plan is to stick with this strain for the next several crops - at least - so I can figure out timings, etc. I don't yet have a "groove" in terms of having them transition smoothly each time I move them (cloner > bloombox; bloombox > producer). I'm already feeling under the gun to get these ones moved to the pro ... they're starting to take off ... and I don't have pro available yet (cleaning day today I guess!).

[alltatup]

Man, Rangi, you are dealing with a lotta plants!! That's great: I learn so much from each grow.

[Rangi]

I love learning from these plants, alltatup! There's an argument to be made for "immersion" approaches to learning ... but it comes at the risk of becoming entirely overwhelmed and falling flat on your face! lol

I initially ordered a Bloombox only. Then a week later I called them back and said, screw it, I'm all in. Give me the Full Meal Deal. And make that With Cheese. lol

So, I've gone from never having even seen a live, growing marijuana plant to having - as you said - a lotta them! My Health Canada personal production registration allows me to grow 25 plants. And I'll be able to add 8 more (for my wife and me) as "recreational" plants on 17 October when the new law comes into effect. 33 plants will either keep me out of trouble ... or get me into a lot of it. Really, could go either way. lolol