Time to harvest? First Grow Blue Dream in DWC - A Diary, Sort Of

[madams9]

I started an actual diary on another, less helpful forum, then I discovered this place. It is THE go-to source for cannabis cultivation.

I am creating this post in an effort to pull together previous entries on the project and to update the process - I think we're about to chop.

Here are the all the prior posts that I could pull together here at GWE.


https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...top#post274316 - 12/9/18


https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...row#post278405 - 12/23/18


https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...row#post278405 - 1/4/19


https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...row#post283826 - 1/13/19


https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-10#post289120 - 2/3/19


https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...int#post290912 - 2/11/19


https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-12#post292653 - 2/17/19


https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-14#post294636 - 2/25/19


https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...f15#post296009 - 3/3/19


https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...f20#post296960 - 3/8/19


https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...own#post298441 - 3/14/19




Which brings us to Week 17, Day 152 with 54 days in flower.

Harvest is nigh. The plant is showing serious signs of illness/failure. Leaves are looking pretty ugly and the buds are tight. Pistols are mostly curled and golden. Trichomes look, well, okay to me. Here are some pics and info.






The trichomes seem pretty ripe, but it's hard for this inexperienced observer to actually have an opinion. I see quite a few amber trichomes showing up and I am really interested in more THC in the mix.

I snipped a small bud off the interior of the plant and 'scoped it.

What do you folks think?















I'm seriously considering chopping tomorrow, possibly Sunday?

Or I could wait 2 more weeks, but no more. I'm going out of town and I have to get this show on the road.

Opinions please?

Thanks!

[madams9]

Forgot to post this. It seems picky about the player it will actually play in, but here is a video of the plant that may give you some idea of it's condition

https://vimeo.com/329892582

[Obi-Wan]

I’d say they have 2-4weeks left. It’s hard to tell without knowing if the pics are of bud or sugar leaves but your video pushes me towards more time. If I look at both together I feel like the amber trichs your seeing are on the sugar leaves. It’s common to see them go amber on sugar leaves 3-4 weeks before the buds are ready.

[madams9]

Fair enough. The pics are me just pushing the end of the microscope into a small bud that I snipped off.

Two more weeks is pushing it a bit, but it can be done.

Thank you!

[madams9]

New pics. I snagged a small bud off the plant and trimmed it. It looks like this:





Rolled it around under a microscope and saw this, more or less:










And the fact of the matter is I'm out of time. Stuff around here will start to kick into gear around the first of the month and I need to get this plant down, trim, hang to dry and get my tent moved to setup for another grow (Northern Lights auto) by the end of next month. I know this thing could really use another 2 weeks, but this was never supposed to be a photoperiodic plant. Given that fact, I think it's done pretty well in my little tent. It was supposed to be over and done months ago, but here a week from Thursday (possibly Friday) I'll have to do the deed. I'm not totally sure enough of the trichomes are going to ripen, but I'm out of time (he kept telling himself as the plant silently begged for me to wait until May 2nd).

I did dry and sample the bud I took last week. It ground up nicely. It burned pretty well. As expected, it was harsh, tasted like burning plant (not really the good kind) and it got me a little buzz. Right now, my biggest problem is that a couple of the colas on the plant are growing on slender stems and they are so heavy they're trying to fall over. SCROG is a good thing. I will grow another photoperiodic plant and I will do it differently. A SCROG of some kind is likely.

Learned a lot. Owe a lot to this site - best information, best forum. I'm pretty happy.

So, there we are. More next week.

[alltatup]

It's a darn shame you have to cut early, because that will decrease the potency and the size of the buds. I still see quite a few white pistils on that little sample, but she looks frosty even without the microscope. Man, you oughtta let those colas ripen, and give the falling one some support. :-{

[SoOrbudgal]

Oh how I hate a racey high, which is what I got once from havesting early. I would put it near a window or anywhere you can let it go for a couple more weeks. Live and learn is what its all about.

[SDwy]

This girl is not ready to harvest yet, her trics are all still clear! How the hell do you get photos of the trics? It's all I can do using my little hand held microscope just to see them let alone get a photo! If you have to chop them now you will get a really trippy high, prolly a good one too! Great looking girls!

[madams9]

I appreciate the input. I'm reconsidering/reconfiguring things so that I may buy another week or so. But by that time, all the leaves on this thing may be dead. It's looking sickly, though it may just be the way end of life occurs. This is my first grow, so there are no norms.

Pics of trichomes. I'm using this:

https://www.amazon.com/Jiusion-Magnification-Endoscope-Microscope-Compatible/dp/B06WD843ZM/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_421_bs_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=075C8NN8TC4N3MZDM2B4

It's cheap and you have to use it on a table top, but it can be done. Works with open-source software, but the hardware buttons on the side don't work. It's also hard to focus, in my opinion. And it's got this wacky usb type A connector that converts to a type C connector so that you can use it on a phone.

[SDwy]

I am soooo computer illiterate! I’ve never done an “on-line” grow journal just because I don’t have the patience to do all that typing, lol. My grow journals are ALL hand written & are also sort of diaries too, most people would not be interested in my BS. I am going to look into that microscope or something similar, mine is a hand held & I have a hell of a time using it, I guess my old hands just shake too much! Thanks for the information.

[madams9]

Hi ho folks,

So, I've pushed things to the limit to establish a harvest date of 5/5/19 - a week from this Sunday. The question I have is about the reservoir. Is it going to hurt to let that reservoir run low. It's going to be about half full of fluid by the time I cut it.

Will a low reservoir level hurt the yield or quality of the product? Or do I need to keep that level up?

I appreciate your input. In the meantime, here are some trichome pics.

The sample:

[ReeferMadnezz]

If you mentioned it somewhere else in the post, then pardon my ignorance, but what do you use for your close-up photos? They are very clear.

[madams9]

@ReeferMadnezz

Sure. It's an inexpensive usb microscope purchased from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Jiusion-Magnification-Endoscope-Microscope-Compatible/dp/B06WD843ZM/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_421_bs_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=075C8NN8TC4N3MZDM2B4

See message to SDwy above.

And thanks. I'm fairly impressed.

[madams9]

The deed is done. Sunday the plant came down and was trimmed and hung to dry. I'm pretty sure it needed 2 more weeks, but I'm out of time. I have family coming and then we blow out to another state far away next week. So I was just out of time.

Here's what it all looks like.

First, some random bud pictures. You can see that the trichomes are not entirely ripe:












Here is the haul:





There were several large colas.


Here is the carcass. Sorry about the lighting.





I've tried it. It's still harsh and grassy smelling, but it does provide some medicinal benefit.

We'll see how it finally works out. I'm pretty sure it was a worthwhile. The hung weight is 2.64 pounds (measured with a luggage scale). I expect there will be about 1/2 pound of buds when it's all said and done, so that will give me something to work with.

Next grow will likely start around the first of next month - 2 Northern Lights autos, so I'll be back.

Thanks for all the help and support. You folks rock!

[madams9]

Belated follow up. The produce is very nice. Yield was just over a half pound and quality has been praised. What's left has been in jars and is fragrant but not terribly flavorful in the smoke. It is also surprisingly mild. I'm not sure it's Blue Dream, but it was a worthwhile experience.

[s62]

Thanks for updating us! I ended up harvesting mine a bit early too, but had to as well. Timing sucks!

[RagWeedDWC]

Very nice DWC grow!