Hi, first time posting almost first time growing (tried back in high school, long time ago) but back then there was no internet and I knew nothing about light cycles hence no buds at all. I now have 5 early girl feminized plants on the go in a room 2' x 4' too small as I can already see at 4 weeks from seed. Not sure how to attach a picture but when I learn I will. I originally gemmated 4 seeds but missed the memo on not to touch the tap root when planting so I only got two to grow, gemmated 3 more and all survived but a week behind the other two. The girls are between 12 and 16 inches tall right now, finally to my question: I leave for vacation Aug.1st so I have to start flowering now from what I read. After they are ready to harvest can I just leave them to dry in a well ventilated shed till I get back three weeks later? I have read about curing the buds, if I dry too long will this affect the curing process when I get back home? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 1stone1
They will be too dried out by the time you get back. You wont be able to cure them. They really should dry for 3-4 days then go into the curing process to draw out the rest of the moisture inside the buds. If you leave them hanging for three weeks by the time you get back they will be bone dry and the bacteria that eat the chlorophyll will be dead.
Check this guy's thread out it will give you some good knowledge on it. http://forum.grasscity.com/harvesting-processing-medical-marijuana/424138-simple-harvest-cure-step-step.html
Thanks for the replies, so I can't leave them hanging. If all goes as planed I should have close to a week to dry but no time to cure, can I vac pack or freeze the buds until I get home to cure them?
Dry where you can, If you can order boveda 62% boveda packs. After you dry a week, put the buds in a cvault or mason jar with boveda packs and it will help the buds cure without burping while you are gone. Make sure you do burp when you get back. Good Luck.
Thanks, been reading and watching youtube videos for over a month now and this is the first I heard of boveda packs. After a little look on ebay I see there are different sizes you can buy, not sure of what kind of harvest I am going too have with five indica dominated plants. So from my understanding if I dry the plants till the branches snap I can but the buts in an air tight container with these packs and not worry about mold? How much of this product will I need to cure a crop of five plants?
The 3 steps of cannabis growing... 1) You don't go on 3 week long vacations at harvest time. 2) See step number 1 3) well...there really is no 3rd step because there really is just step 1. I am not trying to bust your chops but did you have this vacation planned when you started to grow. I don't know of many growers who would risk the harvest of 5 plants and go on vacation at chop time. Rule of thumb is dry one day for every 10%RH then add 1 more day. So if your RH is 40% then you are looking at 5 days drying before you jar them up. Once in the jars you have to still watch RH and start the burping process. Once you get it stable( for a day) and close to 62% with out going lower then you can add the Boveda 62 pack. But I would still burp daily for a week. Also you are assuming they are going to be ready to chop on your schedule and not theirs. So when you are ready to chop them because it's vacation time and all the trichromes are still clear are you still going to chop them?
Thanks for the response, when I bought the seeds it said 6-8 weeks flowering time and with my newbie growing experience I thought 6-8 weeks meant total time. Should have done a little more reading before planting but too late now. Would a dehumidifier in a closed room help speed up the process of lowering the RH? When you mentioned about harvesting before the trichomes are amber, unfortunately I have no choice but to harvest a week before I go unless you have another idea to prolong harvest until I get back?
This is the method I use and it works great I love me some Boveda Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Totally depends, I usually put about an ounce in each mason jar with an 8g pack. So how much are you expecting?
Again thanks for the reply, much appreciated . This is a first time for me so I have no idea what to expect, I am not modding the plants to increase yield. Just growing underneath 10 13w cfl lights some cool and some warm. Indica domicated starting light change at 12 -16 inches high, so what do you think I should expect?
I've never grown indoor, maybe a pound? You could buy 1 17 liter cvault to hold it. I got 9 pounds off 4 plants dry outdoor.
Wow was not expecting that much, But they started to flower 5 days ago makes me feel like a new father again.
Sorry forgot to post pictures, anyone know if the flowering time that is listed for the seeds means when you change light or when it starts to flower?
It is from when the plant is in full flower usually about a week after the flip to 12/12. Mine were in full flower about 5 days after the flip but I vegged for over 2 months so they were fully mature and showing preflowers everywhere before I flipped. The listed flowering time is just a guide there are so many variables that can affect flowering time.
Well I am not the seasoned grower so I may be off slightly on my estimations but I would guess they should start trichromes production around the 3rd or 4th week of flower. Again there is a lot a variables that can alter the time frame I believe.