Ok so I have made two attempts at growing auto flowers. The first time I grew two gorilla glues from fast buds and two white widows from crop kings. The second time I grew 1 blackberry, 1 white widow, 1 gorilla glue and 1 sweet soma. These all smelled great, we’re loaded with crystals and super sticky. Problem is they don’t taste great (harsh and nothing like they smell) and they don’t get me half as medicated as I would like to be. Are autoflowers just weak and do they just taste bad because of the ruderalis genetics? Also all plants had light burn from the qb’s being too close to the plants. There wasn’t many leaves left before harvesting. I will have to adjust it but does light burn mess with the taste and potency? The first 4 autoflowers were in pro-mix/perlite and the second grow the 4 weres in a coco/perlite mix. Got about 1-2 ounces per autoflower and were harvested when trichimes were 80% cloudy with a few orange trichomes. Watered with bio-Vega canna veg nutrients and supplemented with small amounts of canna Flores, molasses and calmag during flowering. Did not ph the water but have since bought ph up and down. When the plants were harvested, I trimmed off any larger leaves from a round the buds and hung the branches upside down. I let them dry for about 5 days until the branches were snapping and the buds felt a little crunchy from the outside. I then cured in jars and burped regularly. Not sure what I am doing wrong here but what can I do to get dank buds. Should I switch to regular or photperiod fem plants? Thanks in advance for any suggestions Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Likely 2 issues. Harvested early can cause low potency. I don't do autos but all my photos get a full 10 weeks in flower. Longer for a long running Sativa. 13-15 weeks isn't uncommon for them. Bad taste and harsh, hot smoke is dried to long. Stem snapping is way to dry IME. A slow dry and a 1-2 month cure will vastly improve the taste and remove much of the harshness. ============================================== Cut from another of my threads as I'm lazy. =========================================== My grow is So Calif and between the temps and the very low humidity it's very easy to over dry.. Even a single day to long on the line can ruin it all.. To keep the wife happy all my work is restricted to the garage so I get to be inventive at times.. If you search long enough you'll come across the 777 of curing .. This being the 7 days @ 70 degrees @ 70% humidity.. Works well if you have a temp and humidity controlled room.. We don't so we use jars to achieve the same ends.. While I started in jars this soon proved impractical trying to unscrew all the jars over and over.. Some trial and error later I worked out a method to limit exposure to our stone dry air and still get things done in a timely way.. I take the plant a branch at a time and trim close while seconds off the living plant.. All the leafs are standing tall and you don't get a better shot at trimming.. Hang.. http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1393031894.jpg Depending on temp and humidity this stage can take from 24 hours to a week.. just hung bud is dead limp to the touch after 12 hours or so.... When the buds start to stiffen when slightly compressed I remove from the branches.. http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1393031909.jpg And the buds get placed in cut down paper shopping bags about 3 inches tall.. http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1393031922.jpg Next I place the bags in a air snug-tight container.. Mostly I use either an Ice Chest or a New unused Trash Can.. I try and size the container to the load.. You don't want 1 bag of buds in a trash can.. While I did use several hygrometers early on for this stage I've since found I can do it all just by feel now.. Leave bags in can till limp to the touch again.. This first day that won't take very long. a couple of hours... Once limp remove from container and set bags out till stiff when compressed slightly.. I'll flip the contents of the bags to a third bag to get the lowest buds up on top.. I'll continue this rotation of the bags into and out of the container gradually spending less and less time exposed.. the last few days the bags will only be out an hour or so.. This takes me about 7 days.. This is where I do use the Hygrometers.. The can is now acting like a large jar.. Your best readings come in the morning after the can has had 12 hours or more to stabilize and will tell you how much exposure your product will need that day.. Combined with a hygrometer telling me what is outside helps.. http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1381192804.jpg A full can requiring a single meter as well as being able to get the product in and out rapidly made this a much more practical way at least in the extremely dry SW USA.. Once the can has reached 65% and 7 to 10 days have elapsed It gets jarred in Half Gallon mason jars with a 62% Boveda 60 gram and I'm done.. 60 days minimum cure time for me.. Longer is better but you'll have a very respectable smoke in 2 months.. http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1393296931.jpg Caution this may get you a large container of mold in a less dry area.. Just what I've worked out in my smoking hot and extremely dry garage.. BNW
Someone might disagree with me on this, but I'd drop the molasses. It's for feeding the microbes in soil, not for feeding the plant directly. It does have small amounts of nutrients besides the sugar, but I'm not sure how available those are to your plant without the biological support of soil microbes. I'd say at best it's just a waste of money, at worst it could throw things off and attract pests. I'd say give photoperiod plants a try, see if you get similar results. That way you can narrow it down to auto's being your problem, or something in your grow that needs tweaking. 5 days does sound like a pretty fast dry time for the branches to be snapping, but I have no idea what your plants looked like or what size they were, so that's not a sure thing. How did it smell after drying and in the jar? How did it feel in your hands? when you break it apart, is it sticky or dry?
Thanks for the drying tips. I probably should be using a hygrometer. I tend to have no issues with my grow until it comes to the drying stage. I definitely think I am drying the buds too fast, hence the harsh smoke. I wonder if that’s also affecting the potency as well. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I used to originally use the molasses in my soil grows and it would work great. It hasn’t had the same effect in my recent hydro grows. I tend to just use it towards the end but I may try and ditch it and see how it goes. I have 4 photoperiod seeds already popped and ready to be planted so hopefully this round works out. The drying is most likely my main issue. I will hVe to start using a hygrometer and humidifier to slow down the dry. Right now by day 5 the buds feel crispy and branches snap easily. The buds smell less and less each day they were dried in the clothing line. I find that the buds don’t smell as strong when I open the jar. If I take them out of the jar and leave it out the smell intensifies pretty quick and the whole room will reek. The buds are dry but still sticky and full of trichomes. They look and smell great but that’s about it. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Its defo been poorly dried and no cure fuck them 2 up and you are left with what you have now the grow can go smoothly and plants thrive but poor drying = poor cannabis and black strap molasses I didn't even think ppl still uses that its probably zero effect on yield and potency and weight so why bother a correct dry pushes out all the goodness to glands.
Power is out here, winter storm, so I'll get back to you more when it comes bask up. But for what you have harvested and trimmed now, get yourself some glass mason jars and 62% Boveda packets. Let at least one jar full sit and cure for two weeks, burp it every cups days. Then let us know how it is. Sent from my SM-N920V using Grasscity Forum mobile app