Colorados Fire Thread*pics Discussion

So I got my bubble bags out of storage today.  I don't really think I need a new set yet.  I think I just need to master my technique.   Do you guys have any suggestions on how to clean these babies?  They haven't been used in like 2 yrs. so I feel like they need to be cleaned.  My ocd side shinning through.  I have an 8 bag set.  Do you guys use all 8 bags, or what are your preferred bags to use?

 

 
I would highly recommend using all 8 bags until you are familiar with the resin of that specific strain/grower(yourself?). That's what I do at least. Then one must think that growing new strains with new mediums/lights/nutes could potentially produce different sized heads than one was previously used to.
 
Once you are familiar and know it's properties then you can remove a couple select bags but IMO the 160 and 190 are extremely important and MUST be kept no matter what. If I were ever to  remove any bags the only bags I would consider removing are the 90 and 73.  This would catch your 45, 73 and 90 bags all together in the 45.... Matt Rize style.  All the good stuff into 1 pile.  Everything else is 2nd rate.
 
I remove my 73 because of all of my past runs from plants that I grew show me that I almost never yield anything in the 73. So that tiny 73 yield goes right into the 45 catch.Then again I generally take my plants 1-2 weeks longer than breeder suggests so maybe that allows the 73 micro heads to fatten up into 90's?  I dunno.  I'm just high and rambling now lol.
 
IF washing your bags after use a good rinse in icy cold water keeps mine nice and clean. And I mean icy cold.  My friend of the forum just did his first run ever and he tried to just rinse with cold water from the tap.  Well it melted the resin all over his bags.  For anything that is stubborn and melted/dried onto the mesh use Isopropyl.  I have only had to use isopropyl once for a light cleaning on one bag in the 15+ runs I have done with my set of bags now. I rinse in icy cold water immediately after collecting every time.
 
Hope this helps Brother todderfran!

 

Super helpful thank you sir.  I only ask how many bags you guys use because I know I see them selling less than 8 bag set, and hear people using select bags.  I was already thinking about using all 8 to figure out head size etc.  So thank you for confirming that.  I only deal with resin that is grown in my care so figuring each strain out should be fairly easy.  I always washed my bags in cold water immediately after collecting heads, but I am a little ocd so might do a light iso wash on these bags first.  Thank you for the info D_Urbmon.
 
I can't tell you guys how excited I am to run this shit.  I haven't attempted bubble in a few years.  It's been all bho.  I think/know now my problem back then was my methods.  I knew nothing about this beautiful resin compared to what I know now.  I was using unfiltered city water, round ice, and mixing with a paint mixer and drill.  I now know none of these things will help get full melt.  Def. going to be using much cleaner water, and I found some nice sharp distilled cubes at my local grocery.  Tossing the drill and using a wooden spoon and hand mix.  Feeling a little more confident I will get a quality hash this time. 
 
Last question which I know Dabs has talked about is what are your guys drying techniques.  Micro plane, no micro plane, cardboard, or do you have a better surface, etc.

 

Super glad to be of help to you todderfran!  I hope dabs doesn't mind that I beat him to the punch hehe.  I can picture him chillin with a parfait bowl right now.
 
 
Drying is 80% of the battle my friend.  I'm still trying to figure it all out myself but the method I learned from sirdabs seem to be most superior so far, albeit the most work.  Gently pull apart your resin patties with a toothpick until you can no further break them down.  I like to dry mine on parchment on a table.  I spent 45 minutes on my last patty!!!
 
I can share some pictures of the drying once sirdabs confirms if he doesn't mind me throwing up some pics in here, or you can refer over to my tutorial thread.  There should be a bit about drying in there with pictures.
 
http://forum.grasscity.com/harvesting-processing-medical-marijuana/1340470-how-make-full-melt-ice-water-extract-tutorial.html/page-12
 
My most recent run ^^^
 
After 2 weeks I will gently press on the chunks while dragging them over a piece of paper to further separate the heads.  I tried that for the first time on my previous run and it worked wonderfully.  Glands heads completely separated and had people asking me if I microplaned it.

 

Very helpful, thank you sir.

 

They look like "gold nuggets"  literally.  Thanks for the input on the cardboard.

 

Yesssss brotha!  I would probably be drying on cardboard if it weren't for you to enlighten me.
 
 
That Blueberry Affy looks phenomenal.  I always love how carefully handled the nugs are.  A true appreciation and love for the flower.

 

I like your methods Dabs.  Most people will say to fill the jar only about 3/4 of the way for a good cure.  But then I will assume your flowers are better.  I too by accident found filling the jars as full as possible without cramming the nugs in like you say will give a better cure.  Ran out of jars one time back when I was still only filling to 3/4.  Said fuck it and filled 2 jars to the max.  Those 2 jars cured better than the rest.

 

I want to point out a mistake I made when buying jars, and I didn't realize this until I went shopping again.
 
Wide-Mouth Jars.  It's not a huge mistake nor is it a big deal but wide mouth jars are optimal for curing. I bought regular ol jars which have a slightly narrower neck than the body of the jar itself.   There will be a tad less jostling and rustling of your herbs to get the nugs in and out in the event you want to rotate the nugs in the jar for a burp when curing in wide-mouth.  Something to think about for people that are going to invest in jars.  I'm gonna be buying only wide mouth from now.

 

^ Yeah I have had nugs that would not pass through that opening whole.  I hate breaking up a big cola for no reason.

 

Yeah or else it can be like a puzzle playing jenga or something which order you put the buds in and took em out to prevent having to break them apart haha.

 

 
  I knew it!
 
Thanks bro.  The link sufficed but glad to know for future reference if the situation is there. This is my favorite thread on all of GC and since I'm not a Coloradan(is that even a real word? ) I thought I would respect the integrity of the thread, however I am in Canada's Colorado. 

 

Jus found this thread in the UK lovely bud itd be a dream to get over Colorado some day haha

 

Well guys here it is.  What I consider my first real attempt at bubble.  I was doing so many things wrong last time I tried this like 2 yrs ago.  I feel like my bubble game just got a lot better.  Ran about 102 grams good ass trim.  Mixed strain Lost Coast Hash Plant, and Training Day.  I did 3 runs.  Very slow fast mix on the first.  I feel like my 90, and 45 came out best, but the 45 is kind of green looking, but when looked at under scope it looks like nothing but heads.  90 is clean as fuck almost no contaminant.  Almost nothing from the 73, and actually what came out of the 190 looks damn good under scope.  120 looks good but not a lot of it.  I kind of wish I had ran the strains separate as I feel they had different size heads.  I only care because this is something I really want to fine tune.  Well here are some shots.  Flash and no flash.
 
45 I think
90 I think
Together
 
And my favorite I think this is 45
 
Sorry I couldn't remember the order I took the shots but you get the idea.
I am so excited for this shit to dry.  Remember because of my location this will be my first real dance with what I think will be full melt.  I can not believe how much this stuff stinks while breaking it up.  Thanks SirDabs and D_Urbmon for your help and inspiration.

 

Dude that looks FrAN-FUCKING-TASTIC!
You can see the meltyness from here.  Let it dry out nice and good. If I may give some constructive criticism I feel like it would benefit from a little further separation.
 
I wish I could update the OP in my guide because I feel the separation, while good enough, is not optimal.

 

Thank you.  I will break it up some more.  My back started hurting I was bent over that parchment for like an hour to get to that point.  Shit is so fucking sticky.  What I need is like chilled tooth pics lol.  That way nothing sticks.