THE OUTRO
I harvested the beautiful OG Kush this afternoon--a cup winner from Royal Queen Seeds. I was finally able to get a good close look at the trichomes: I saw a smattering of amber, the rest cloudy and clear. Maybe it was like half half cloudy clear, maybe more cloudy. I've never seen my buds look like these looked, and this one stayed in the grow box for 2 and 1/2 days longer than the ones I harvested on Tuesday. I believe I hit that 72-hour harvest window right on the head this time.
Nothing I love more than sitting and trimming branches. My hands were so sticky when I was done. Terpenes were in my nostrils. The fresh-cut buds do smell like sweet fresh-cut grass: I love that smell, they're beginning to transform as they start this phase of drying, as the biosynthesis activities begin to kick in, moisture is distributed and slowly removed, sugars and carbs used up, chlorophyll removed and other cannabinoids are transformed into THC acid. Which is why the bud gets stronger when cured properly.
This time I am doing my cure a little differently. This time I left the buds on larger branches, to slow down the drying period, not to rush it. I didn't do a close close trim so that the most trichome-laden parts of sugar leaves will protect the trichomes all over the calyxes. And since I vape rather than smoke, leaving more leaf on the buds won't matter. Cuz what gets vaped are the 'noids and 'penes, whereas what gets combusted is everything.
I've got two plants to go: the nine-week Tangerine Dream and the tiny Night Queen at the back of the small grow box, which I'll never use again. All the rest and hung up and drying in my closet. I hope my clothes smell like sweet grass and not like cannabis...