New Grower - 1st Indoor Grow Questions

[Cali Cajun]

Huh! Since it looks like I'm actually starting to get close to the home stretch and harvesting and it was a watering day yesterday, I decided to try the teaspoon of blackstrap molasses thing. I can't imagine it would have had an effect so fast, but I'll be damned if the buds don't look noticeably (a bit) fatter this morning. And it's starting to look like halloween in the tent as the leaves yellow. I'm getting excited!! Christmas may come early this year in Cali.

 

[GroErr]

Huh! Since it looks like I'm actually starting to get close to the home stretch and harvesting and it was a watering day yesterday, I decided to try the teaspoon of blackstrap molasses thing. I can't imagine it would have had an effect so fast, but I'll be damned if the buds don't look noticeably (a bit) fatter this morning. And it's starting to look like halloween in the tent as the leaves yellow. I'm getting excited!! Christmas may come early this year in Cali.

Looking good, starting to fade so maybe a couple of weeks may do it. Maybe less like 10 days for some. A couple of the bud shots are showing brown/redish and receded hairs around the buds. That's my indicator, once they're pretty well all turned brown/redish I start to keep an eye on the overall ripeness of the plant and trichs. I use a combo of the turned hairs and trichs because trichs alone can be deceiving with a lot of strains. Like I have one CBD cross that starts showing some ambers around 5 weeks, it's a 7 week strain to be fully mature. If I went by trichs alone I'd be cutting way too early.

 

[Cali Cajun]

Sounds good - I've got a jeweler's loupe and it looks as if some of the trichomes are starting to turn amber, but not too many yet. I've tried taking pictures through the loupe, but I haven't gotten the hang of it yet. I'll try again the next time I water.

 

[Cali Cajun]

Six weeks into flower...

 

[Cali Cajun]

A few more...

 

[Cali Cajun]

Frack!! Taking magnified pictures of the trichomes is driving me NUTS!! I ordered a digital microscope from Amazon and tried it out today, but getting the proper zoom setting at the lowest magnification (40x) is impossible. I finally got the bright idea to attach my jeweler's loupe to my phone with a clothes pin, and it's now a lot easier to take pictures. The problem is at 10x magnification it's kind of hard to see too much detail - I THINK most of the trichs on the buds themselves are cloudy, but not sure if some are still clear. I'm definitely starting to see some amber, but I think only on the sugar leaves. I've got a couple of specific questions:

1) Is it really true that harvesting when trichs are mostly cloudy / hardly amber results in more of a speedy / up high experience, and that a lot of amber is more of a sedative / couch lock experience? I REALLY want to avoid both extremes, but prefer more of an up / sativa high that has me starting to feel tired a couple of hours later.

2) I know it's probably hard to tell from the pictures, but how much longer does it look like these girls have got? Temperature is starting to be an issue in the tent - we're having a prolonged heat spell and if I don't open the tent up / get an oscillating fan on the plants late in the afternoon during the hot part of the day, the temp has gotten up to 90 in the tent (mostly staying in the low to mid 80's).

 

[doctordetroit]

Looking tasty. I put frozen bottles of water near my air intake to keep temps down a couple deg° .
I've heard the same about the trich colors but no first hand knowledge. Here's my gg4 couple weeks behind you.

 

[GroErr]

Frack!! Taking magnified pictures of the trichomes is driving me NUTS!! I ordered a digital microscope from Amazon and tried it out today, but getting the proper zoom setting at the lowest magnification (40x) is impossible. I finally got the bright idea to attach my jeweler's loupe to my phone with a clothes pin, and it's now a lot easier to take pictures. The problem is at 10x magnification it's kind of hard to see too much detail - I THINK most of the trichs on the buds themselves are cloudy, but not sure if some are still clear. I'm definitely starting to see some amber, but I think only on the sugar leaves. I've got a couple of specific questions:

1) Is it really true that harvesting when trichs are mostly cloudy / hardly amber results in more of a speedy / up high experience, and that a lot of amber is more of a sedative / couch lock experience? I REALLY want to avoid both extremes, but prefer more of an up / sativa high that has me starting to feel tired a couple of hours later.

2) I know it's probably hard to tell from the pictures, but how much longer does it look like these girls have got? Temperature is starting to be an issue in the tent - we're having a prolonged heat spell and if I don't open the tent up / get an oscillating fan on the plants late in the afternoon during the hot part of the day, the temp has gotten up to 90 in the tent (mostly staying in the low to mid 80's).

Taking phone pics for trichs can be difficult, tripods help to steady the pics, some have an adapter of some type to hold a phone.

RE: 1) imo the strain will have more of an effect either way for the type of stone. But yeah more amber will generally be a more stony effect. I prefer them fully cloudy, when I see about 5% amber they're typically ready. You can try it yourself, pull branches at different times.

RE: 2) They're looking like they're in the window, hairs are mostly turned, seeing mostly cloudy with some clear on some of the buds. A few days maybe, just keep a close eye on them now, very close. They look nice and frosty

 

[Cali Cajun]

Looking tasty. I put frozen bottles of water near my air intake to keep temps down a couple deg° .
I've heard the same about the trich colors but no first hand knowledge. Here's my gg4 couple weeks behind you.

Thanks for the tip - a couple of degrees is really all I need so I'll try that this afternoon when things start getting hotter. Your GG4 is looking nice!!

 

[Cali Cajun]

Taking phone pics for trichs can be difficult, tripods help to steady the pics, some have an adapter of some type to hold a phone.

RE: 1) imo the strain will have more of an effect either way for the type of stone. But yeah more amber will generally be a more stony effect. I prefer them fully cloudy, when I see about 5% amber they're typically ready. You can try it yourself, pull branches at different times.

RE: 2) They're looking like they're in the window, hairs are mostly turned, seeing mostly cloudy with some clear on some of the buds. A few days maybe, just keep a close eye on them now, very close. They look nice and frosty

Thanks GroErr - I do have a iphone tripod; I think I tried it previously taking pictures but I didn't get the shutter trigger that Amazon recommended so it was still pretty unwieldy trying to click the photo button on the iphone while keeping the loupe over the lens. But I'll try again on next watering with the loupe attached to the phone with a clothes pin. I'm having a REALLY hard time differentiating between the clear / cloudy, but I've got old eyes...hopefully I'll get a little better at it with practice.

 

[GroErr]

Thanks GroErr - I do have a iphone tripod; I think I tried it previously taking pictures but I didn't get the shutter trigger that Amazon recommended so it was still pretty unwieldy trying to click the photo button on the iphone while keeping the loupe over the lens. But I'll try again on next watering with the loupe attached to the phone with a clothes pin. I'm having a REALLY hard time differentiating between the clear / cloudy, but I've got old eyes...hopefully I'll get a little better at it with practice.

Yeah that's where DSLR cameras have a big advantage, expensive but they have lens stabilizers that can adjust for minor shakes which makes still shots much easier. I wouldn't fret too much, once they get to this stage there's not going to be a huge difference one way or another if you pull them a day or two early or late.

One way you may get better trich pics is try taking some just before lights-on, with flash, in the dark. The contrast can help. Here's an example of lights-on vs. lights off. It can make quite a difference at the trich level.

 

[Cali Cajun]

That does make a big difference - I'll give that a try. I've gotten so used to my iPhone I never think of other cameras any more, but great point on the DSLR - my wife has one we break out for extra special vacations where we want great pictures. I'll have to dig it up and give that a try.

Should 10x loupe be enough for getting sufficient detail? I have another loupe that has stronger magnification, but the lens size reduces the picture size / area to a pretty tiny size.

 

[GroErr]

That does make a big difference - I'll give that a try. I've gotten so used to my iPhone I never think of other cameras any more, but great point on the DSLR - my wife has one we break out for extra special vacations where we want great pictures. I'll have to dig it up and give that a try.

Should 10x loupe be enough for getting sufficient detail? I have another loupe that has stronger magnification, but the lens size reduces the picture size / area to a pretty tiny size.

If you have an DSLR available try that for sure, use a macro setting, dark, flash on. Tripod is better but I don't use it and get what I need. Tripod's are difficult to maneuver in the room when it's full.

The 10x should be fine, with the DSLR I take closeups of the bud and that's good enough zoomed in to see what's what. It'll be more a matter of stabilizing the shot, just play around until you get a process that works for you.

 

[Cali Cajun]

Thank you sir - I'll give it a try with the DSLR! I just did another watering and took them outside one at a time where I can see better. I'm still not really seeing any amber on the buds themselves, and although I'm having a bit of a hard time telling the clear from cloudy trichomes, there still seem to be a fair number with a glassy rather than milky appearance. I'm going to check in with the guy I bought the clones from just to see what he's advising folks on flowering time - I checked Leafly and a couple of other sites and they said Gorilla Glue #4 has 7 - 9 weeks of flowering time. I'm about in the middle of that if I count flowering time from when I flipped; just about to start that if I count from when I first saw buds. I guess it's more typical to wait until the end of the projected flowering time (breeders from what I've read tend to underestate the time to maturity)??

 

[GroErr]

Thank you sir - I'll give it a try with the DSLR! I just did another watering and took them outside one at a time where I can see better. I'm still not really seeing any amber on the buds themselves, and although I'm having a bit of a hard time telling the clear from cloudy trichomes, there still seem to be a fair number with a glassy rather than milky appearance. I'm going to check in with the guy I bought the clones from just to see what he's advising folks on flowering time - I checked Leafly and a couple of other sites and they said Gorilla Glue #4 has 7 - 9 weeks of flowering time. I'm about in the middle of that if I count flowering time from when I flipped; just about to start that if I count from when I first saw buds. I guess it's more typical to wait until the end of the projected flowering time (breeders from what I've read tend to underestate the time to maturity)??

Yeah if you can get an idea from the guy who sold you the clone that'll be more accurate than any leafly or breeder recommendations. Breeder recommendations typically have a 2 week spread/window to allow for different phenos and different environments. Clones will be closer other than any differences in the growing environment. In the end, it'll finish when it's ready - lol

 

[Cali Cajun]

Well, he seems to have shut down operations - I'll have to check my cell phone to see if I still have his number. The hosting company for the main website says the domain has expired, and Instagram / Twitter / Facebook pages haven't been updated since 2017. It did seem to be a bit of a fly-by-night operation - the website looked good and he was selling a few strains that were interesting, but when I arranged the buy he had me meet him in the parking lot of a tractor & garden supply store. Oh well - I'll just keep my eyes on the girls and trust my newb instincts and see what happens. This was just a trial run anyway to get my feet wet, and I'm happy I haven't managed to kill any of the plants!

 

[GroErr]

Well, he seems to have shut down operations - I'll have to check my cell phone to see if I still have his number. The hosting company for the main website says the domain has expired, and Instagram / Twitter / Facebook pages haven't been updated since 2017. It did seem to be a bit of a fly-by-night operation - the website looked good and he was selling a few strains that were interesting, but when I arranged the buy he had me meet him in the parking lot of a tractor & garden supply store. Oh well - I'll just keep my eyes on the girls and trust my newb instincts and see what happens. This was just a trial run anyway to get my feet wet, and I'm happy I haven't managed to kill any of the plants!

Lol, sounds like you might find the guy working at the tractor & garden supply place. Oh well, they're almost done and look quite good, should be a good stash.

 

[Cali Cajun]

Thanks GroErr - I was feeling pretty good about things until the heat got a bit out of control in the tent for a couple of days - buds lost their nice shape and some are starting to look a bit foxtaily. I'm getting a bit OCD about it - gotta go meditate ('cuz it's too early to medicate) and let it all go.

 

[GroErr]

Thanks GroErr - I was feeling pretty good about things until the heat got a bit out of control in the tent for a couple of days - buds lost their nice shape and some are starting to look a bit foxtaily. I'm getting a bit OCD about it - gotta go meditate ('cuz it's too early to medicate) and let it all go.

Lol, yeah I know the feeling, essentially when they start looking a bit ragged they're generally ready. It's a hard stage when you have OCD (fellow OCD patient here - lol).

 

[BudmanTX]

Sounds good - I've got a jeweler's loupe and it looks as if some of the trichomes are starting to turn amber, but not too many yet. I've tried taking pictures through the loupe, but I haven't gotten the hang of it yet. I'll try again the next time I water.

jewlers loupe works man, use a string or a rubber band to attach


that an example of what you should see, last grow btw