Getting ready to start 3rd grow, have some questions

[bluecanoe]

Paracelsus, there's no way he could babysit. He has the perfect place, keeps talking about hiding a grow from my sister. But I would have to transport plants, lights, the works over there and I only have one nerve....it would be shot! The people came yesterday and I hid the plants with no problem. The electrician will be working on one wall, opposite of the plants. I will turn the lights off for that small amount of time, spray with peppermint and open a window. It shouldn't take him/her long to hard wire the downstairs dehumidifier to that plug so I'll just take a valium and chill. I will stay in that room the entire time sorting papers and filing and such just to make sure no one goes near my grow wall. I don't foresee them working in that room again. Everything else will be the bathroom, under the house, and outside. I have blackout shades on the windows and during the day you can't see the lights. I'm just hoping that things go smoothly and the work gets done without my secret getting out!

 

[bluecanoe]

Aloner, I added molasses to my water today and it didn't drop my ph at all....that's something that makes you go hmmm isn't it? Once I run out of this water and ph another batch, I'll check it after I add the molasses. I use a rubbermaid container with a tight fitting lid and ph a gallon at a time, it doesn't take long for the girls to drink it up, but that's ok...they'll pay me back in spades!

 

[Aloner]

That is weird! But hey, as long as you check the first few times. "Whatever works"!

In my case, water is about pH 9 out of the tap and after adding only molasses it was down around 6.5 every single time. I used organic unsulphered blackstrap molasses from Plantation, 1 tablespoon per gallon.

 

[D.A.A.S.69]

Yes, like Aloner said, it will drop your ph.
I always use hot-warm water so the molasses will break down much easier, an dissolve, before I pour it on my plants.

 

[Aloner]

Yeah, I put it in about a cup of hot water to dissolve it, then added room temp water to make a gallon.

 

[Paracelsus]

I say congratulations on getting your house adjusted to the way you want. They always do say the best place to hide something is in plain sight. You outlaw.

 

[bluecanoe]

They aren't great, but here are some pictures. The one with buds all the way up the main stalk is the oldest plant, Sweet Soma. The other one I had to tie down to keep it from hitting the light. They are really beautiful and I'm so happy that I used Kind Soil. So easy.

 

[D.A.A.S.69]

Good Morning Blue. ,looking nice, that's a nice size stalk on your plant, I'm thinking you are going to have some huge buds too.
Good job, good luck with the rest of your grow.

 

[Paracelsus]

He’s just going to think you were heavy on the perfume.

 

[bluecanoe]

I'm getting close to harvesting the Sweet Soma plant. She's a hoss. I had to take them out and alter the shelving they sit on and while I had them out, took some pics. I found that on my computer when I enlarged them I could scroll up and down and see how beautiful they are. But honestly pictures don't do them justice. I wish I had measured the height, but I didn't. The plant that's covered in white flowers is 11 days younger than the other one, which is 73 days today. It's an 8-9 week plant and the trichomes are clear, with some cloudy. I know that most like amber, Potted mentioned that clear trichs mean couch lock...I like couch lock! I picked a small bud the other night and dried it in the toaster oven and we missed the last half of Wonder Woman!
Here are some pics, they are mixed up, but you can pretty much tell which plant is which.

 

[Aloner]

It's the other way around... clear is generally more speedy. The more amber, the more couchlock.

Looking very good!

 

[bluecanoe]

Thanks Aloner. I'm giving her another week at least and I haven't been very interested in the color of the trichomes yet, knowing that she wasn't ready. I am getting excited.

 

[alltatup]

BC, they look fantastic!!! Job well done!!!

 

[Paracelsus]

When giants walk the earth, wowser I might have to try some Auto’s myself

 

[bluecanoe]

I am thinking about harvesting the Sweet Soma plant this weekend. I don't need to go all the way to the soil, I think there are a couple of stems that have flowers on them that can mature a bit more. Contractors are here, and yesterday and today the lights were off for 8 hours each day. They are used to 24/0. They don't look like they are insulted or anything. But I hate risking them not being happy. Tomorrow I am going to leave the lights on until someone says they have to go back there and then I'll hit the surge protector, cover the tent and spray peppermint. I don't think it'll happen, but there's always the chance.
I have a few questions.
1) I can't remember if I am supposed to flush the SS before harvesting--fiber pots, kind soil. I've been putting molasses in the water for 3 weeks now.
2) Do I stop watering until I harvest? I watered two days ago so they are almost ready for another drink, but if I wait til Saturday I can just take the top and leave the rest to see what'll happen. And then water.
3) Can I hang the buds on a clothes hanger and hang it behind the tent? It'll be coolish, as temps outside get higher the room gets warmer, but there's a ceiling fan and a small floor fan for circulation and there will be a dehumidifier in there permanently so I can adjust the humidity.
I'll still be finishing off two plants in the tent, but was just wondering since we have a mold problem and that's the only place that's less apt to grow mold. I would be pissed if I got to this point and hanging them in the wrong place ruined them. If they are hanging on the outside of the tent they won't get the lights, or even really heat. I'm just still learning, and questioning myself.
I sent Mr. Kind some pics of the Sweet Soma and told him I was told he'd send me some soil...still waiting to hear from that, so until then I am going to start germinating two more seeds. It's an eenie, meenie, miney, moe situation to see what I grow next. Whew! 3 down, infinity to go!
Thanks all.

 

[alltatup]

BC, Here are my practices:

1. My nutes are so low for the final few weeks of flower that I usually don't flush, and my buds are never harsh. On the contrary, they are sweet and full of flavor.
2. I am a hydro grower, but I don't think that dehydrating your plants before harvest is a good idea. It sounds to me like it would be unpleasant for them; I personally don't like to stress my plants except in good ways like LST & lowering humidity during flower.
3. I just dried my Afghan Kush colas. Temps in that room are around 67 degrees and 45% humidity. Nebula says temps below 65 make buds more susceptible to mold; each one of us has to balance the drying act with the temp and humidity of our circumstances.
If, for example, I were dealing with a lot of humidity, I'd want to try to dry the buds a little faster and warmer (around 70 degrees); since it's pretty dry where I'm at right now, I wasn't blowing air on the buds--just checking them daily. They dried for 5 days in those conditions, but I've had much faster dry periods where I put the bud in my bud dryer. Now the AK buds are in a jar at 61% rh.

Don't dry the buds anywhere it's mold-prone!! Use heat & dryness strategically to remove the threat of mold. Thank the cannabis gods that you're getting rid of that problem!!!!

 

[Aloner]

1) no need to flush with Kind Soil
2) I leave mine in the dark for 2 days before the chop with no water during that time, but not to intentionally dry them out
3) if drying outside the tent, I don't know that peppermint oil will be enough to cover the scent -- are the contractors finished?

 

[Paracelsus]

I agree you don’t flush with kind soil or LOS. I suggest if you are going to do a serial harvest only taking the budds you think are ready you use a holistic natural approach to the drying before the cure.

Trim you stalks that are ready and put them in brown paper bags, only a few in each bag giving them room to breath. Then put a cup or two of rice in each bag and place them inside the tent until the work is finished. Then take them out and hang them when the coast is clear.

 

[bluecanoe]

Allatup: The temp in that room was around 60 yesterday, but inside the tent is warmer. The humidity is a bit higher than 45%, last time I checked it was 52%. This whole house is mold prone! But the problem is being rectified as I type. Thanks for your input.

Aloner: I thought that was the case with Kind Soil - no flush. If I'm not harvesting the entire plant, should I still leave it in the dark for 2 days? I don't really have any other place to put that one plant, and I'm going to let the bottom stems of that plant stay and finish off if they will. The contractors are not finished yet, they are outside right now, but I have the lights off just in case they spring it on me that they need to get into that room. I hope I am not harming them by turning the lights off for several hours a day, they don't look upset. And no, the contractors are not done yet, they will be here about another 2 weeks or so. By then I should have what I've dried in jars and letting the rest of the plant finish off and the other plant get done.

Paracelsus: Your way sounds the safest for me, no mold and no smell. My problem is going to be finding paper bags. Seems like down here they don't exist! I'm going to WalMart today and might ask if they have any, I know the liquor store has them so I might see if they'll sell me a few. To put a cup or two of rice in each bag, they'd have to be pretty good sized bags. Won't the rice dry them out so I won't have to hang them? I've never heard of doing it that way before, but it makes sense.

Thanks all for your input.

 

[Paracelsus]

The rice will absorb some and control the moisture but I don’t think it will dry them completely. Is there a Whole Foods by you, they still use paper. Some supermarkets sell brown paper sandwich bags for school lunches, they are on the small side, not sure how much you’re going to trim.

Vader used this method in one of his old videos.