White Shark: Harvest Time Nears!

[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!

 

[D.A.A.S.69]

Rangi, you are right again, my friend. It is quite a journey, But it's a FUN journey, there is nothing better, than smoking your own homegrown dynamite. lol
Plus, you don't have to waste your money, on the dogsh-t, that they try to sell you on the streets. You are growing some real killer MJ.
Have fun !

 

[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.

 

[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]

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]

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]

You got it!

 

[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[SUP]o[/SUP]C 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!

 

[alltatup]

Rangi Grow looks fantastic!!! Love the big box. Just curious how you keep res temps down cuz I certainly had to buy chiller--before that it was a horrific grow with root rot (buds stunted, but still quite good bud).

 

[alltatup]

Spot on: share, give and take, pat on back and receive pat on back!!

 

[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!).

 

[Rangi]

alltatup Thanks very much! This was the first bud I've grown that is really good. REALLY good! lol Yield was low -- but only if measured in weight. I learned so much during this grow, and that has to count for something!

Ohhhhh ... root rot! Quite familiar with it!! When my boxes first arrived (this time last year) I set them all up in a 10' x 12' room ... 2 pros, 1 bb & 1 ms! What a squeeze. And as you can imagine - and as I should have done in advance - managing heat in that small space with 4 boxes cranked up with a battle I did not win easily! I saw the chiller solution on the BCNL forum, but wanted a solution that didn't require purchasing 3 chillers. Seemed inefficient. So I stumbled across some random post out in hyperspace about using a stainless steel coil in the rez, through which cold water is flowed to cool the solution. I also moved all the boxes to my spacious (and unused - since the last brat moved out 10 yrs ago!) basement.

Already long story, made as short as possible ... ...
- I have a chiller that cools tap water in a 25 gal Coleman Marine Cooler. That cold water then is circulated out to each box and back.
- At each box (other than MS), there are 2 cooling zones - grow chamber and nute rez.
- Flow of the cold water from the Coleman to each of the 6 zones is controlled by an Inkbird controller - thermometer measures temp (either air or water), and if above the temp I have "set" it activates a solenoid valve to open and allow the cold water to flow. Once the temp is back in range, the valve closes.
- To cool each rez, the cold water flows through stainless steel coils (2 in each pro; 1 in the bb) that are mostly submerged in the nute solution. Got this idea from beer kegging! Have never done it, but apparently at one point in the process hot liquid needs to be cooled quickly. So a SS "immersion coil" - through which cold water is flowed - is submerged in the hot liquid. So I thought ... hmmmmm! And it works
- To cool the grow chamber, cold water flows though a Gaming PC Radiator that I attached to the air intake! I guess hardcore PC gamers need to keep those electronics cool, so they've designed some super efficient liquid cooling systems. Best part of this was that the BCNL box fan IS a PC fan ... exactly 4" ... so this radiator I bought to attach to the outside of the box had the screw holes and everything already perfectly lined up!!. When the temp rises above the set point in the grow chamber, cold water starts flowing through the fins of the radiator through which the fresh air is being drawn into the box.
- And ... I also have a 7th "zone" ... the cold water flows to an 8" IceBox attached to an 8" S-Line Vortex fan ... The IceBox is a radiator (Hydrofarm now markets them) and can be attached to reflectors in grow rooms for cooling air. So I thought .... hmmmm ... lol! I've been able to eliminate the portable AC unit needed to manage the ambient environment. All from 1 chiller.

Trust me, I had LOTS and LOTS of glitches and hair-pulling frustrations to get this all "flowing" properly! I'm not a handyman. But I am curious. And like to tinker and experiment. And learn. blah blah blah. lol. Seriously though, this is just one example of so very many where growing weed has pushed me outside my comfort zone. Clearly not just growing the bud; I'm growing myself too. I like it.

 

[alltatup]

Rangi I know just how you feel. July 21 will be my two year anniversary growing, and I have learned so much!! I worship cannabis now--humans' plant best friend. Like dogs!! I'd love to see some pics of your setup and yes, moving the whole shebang to the basement sounds like a good move!!!

 

[Rangi]

Thanks - once again! - Campesino and everyone else here for passing on these gems of info! So grateful!

Humidipaks have been removed. Burping forward!

 

[Rangi]

@allatup, just fyi, I plan to post a few "DIY" type threads .... hopefully some info there that someone can use - regardless of whether it's a box grow or not. It'll probably be a week or two tho, but definitely sooner rather than later