Flowering Harvest help

[Lethidox]

i have a bunch of questions need some advice as im not sure wtf im doing this is my first actual harvest i get to keep but 2nd grow.

1. should i wash my buds? this is an outdoor grow. i see some bugs on um like ants stuck on the trichomes but tbh idgaf i'd still smoke the ants and all lmfao. it just rained not too long ago pretty hard and likely will continue to rain more this entire week as well.

2. should i be harvesting in the dark? if so why?

3. what happens if i have no complete dark room to dry them in? is there any alternatives to drying like say a paper bag maybe? idk how the fuck i would fit the whole branches in paper bags though

4. How long should i dry for i read 7-10 days but is it just based on the stems snapping? and what happens if i don't dry enough?

5. Do you think i should harvest this already? or let them go a little longer. the smaller plants buds are not that big and it has a lot more white pistils still the bigger plant looks ready imo but totally unsure. trichomes to me look cloudy buds dont really seem to be getting any bigger either maybe on the smaller one idk. wondeirng on your opinions

 

[Lethidox]

Pics inc

 

[redivider]

bugs - ew...

Take the time and pick off any animals on there. months and months of work and you're just going to be like - eh a few hours of work ain't worth it... nooooooo

and next time don't wait til harvest - use neem oil as soon as you see the first fucker appear that way it won't reproduce as efficiently.

Edit: Also use photohosting and link to the pic in the text

 

[Palmerrdgrower]

P

Pics inc

la look great. First thing is to get high as fuck. Then pick of as many bugs as u can. The last 2 pics I would harvest they will darken up about 10 to 30 percent more when dry. I personally trim wet and keep the plant intact I don’t have a dark space but it tends to take 7 to 10 days for me to dry. Then when the stems crack not break I cut off the buds and jar them. The dry and cure makes or breaks your bud. Ps. When you’re trimming pick off anything that is not marijuana with your sisors

 

[Lethidox]

bugs - ew...

Take the time and pick off any animals on there. months and months of work and you're just going to be like - eh a few hours of work ain't worth it... nooooooo

and next time don't wait til harvest - use neem oil as soon as you see the first fucker appear that way it won't reproduce as efficiently.

Edit: Also use photohosting and link to the pic in the text

yea i can wash um probably and should you right fuck that too much work in um to not wash the bugs off. and i didn't want to spray this grow during harvest just didn't want to risk smoking chemicals or having buds taste worse because i sprayed. was just being more cautious i guess since this my first actual harvest.

i'll look into photohosting i need a better way to upload on here for sure.

 

[Lethidox]

P

la look great. First thing is to get high as fuck. Then pick of as many bugs as u can. The last 2 pics I would harvest they will darken up about 10 to 30 percent more when dry. I personally trim wet and keep the plant intact I don’t have a dark space but it tends to take 7 to 10 days for me to dry. Then when the stems crack not break I cut off the buds and jar them. The dry and cure makes or breaks your bud. Ps. When you’re trimming pick off anything that is not marijuana with your sisors

do you put um ina 24-48 hour dark period before you harvest? and do you dry in dark room as well? im reading up on this and people are back and forth some say it's bs others say it works so im really confused. i mean in reality we get no 24/48 hour dark period anyways but i think it has something to do with the plant still growing in a way when you chop um. i dont have a dark room to house them or dry them in

 

[Lethidox]

i ended up making a ghetto drying room in my half bathroom that i really don't use. opened up the windows entirely so they get airflow but covered the windows with a towel and taped to the wall lmao. so they are in complete darkness now going to test the whole darkness stuff out i don't buy it though. not really gonna run it for a complete 2 days but run imma run it until sunday morning and harvest. then just dry it in the same room. gonna air out the room at night though just for more air flow.

 

[IvcusLongDankus]

The thing about putting the plants in the dark for 24-48Hr, people say the darkness triggers the defense mechanism of the cannabis plant making it produce more trichomes. While it is true that in the wild the cannabis plant uses trichomes as a defense against UV,winds,insects and other animals. In a indoor setting I'm not 100 percent sure about it doing the same, it should because you are replicating the sun,wind and atmosphere. So I'm gonna guess 50/50 haha!

 

[IvcusLongDankus]

The plants have to be live & not chopped down for the darkness thing to "work"

 

[OJAE]

get a small grow tent to dry in

 

[Palmerrdgrower]

i ended up making a ghetto drying room in my half bathroom that i really don't use. opened up the windows entirely so they get airflow but covered the windows with a towel and taped to the wall lmao. so they are in complete darkness now going to test the whole darkness stuff out i don't buy it though. not really gonna run it for a complete 2 days but run imma run it until sunday morning and harvest. then just dry it in the same room. gonna air out the room at night though just for more air flow.

I believe that you can take as much advice that you want and leave the rest. I can’t put my plants in 48 hrs of darkness because I have them at all different ages but I do dry in darkness when I can. But atm I cannot

 

[Nizza]

putting them into darkness 24-48 hours is the same as going a little bit longer IMO. it just helps you convert some of the chemicals.. but i fully agree on harvesting when dark (#2 question)
the plant brings nutes up during the day and down to roots during the night. just harvest like 3-4 hours after lights out or 1-2 hours before lights on is what i do

 

[PURPLEB3RRYKUSH]

Harvest right b4 sun comes up

 

[Lethidox]

yea i wasn't sure about the whole darkness thing but i was going to chop soon anyways i could of sworn i brought um outside about 5-6 weeks ago only though so i think they still got more time to go but idk to me they look done already. hard to really tell with no jewelers loop but based on clear trichomes these ones look cloudy for sure. i tossed um in just for 2 reasons. 1. it's raining hard outside so in a sense this gives um time to dry out more before i chop and potentially not get bud rot by sitting in the rain. it's supposed to rain all week i believe. today wasn't that bad but it was storming past 2 days. 2. figured might as well bring um in set up the room for drying it in the dark so was like fuck it. can't leave the plants in the garage either people keep touching it and moving it around to places idk where they are at so just easiest to keep an eye on em for the next few days.

dont got money right now to buy a tent not even a small one. the bathroom is really dark though very little light leak and the light leak is at the edges of the window i can further tape it to get no light leak but the lights dont hit my plants. major downside though is the air flow. i'll check how they are doing tomorrow but i have a guess that if i don't open the windows or the door at night when it's completely dark i will get mold growing easy.

 

[Lethidox]

Harvest right b4 sun comes up

how would i do that if i am running a 24-48 hour dark period though will be like any time is before sun up lmfao besides temps of course but yea i'll harvest around 5am on sunday planning to just dry trim um will be washing the buds though in baking soda and lemon juice and water.

 

[Lethidox]

i ended up tossing them back outside. did some research based on memory/photo's i flipped them only 5 weeks ago. so i personally don't think they are even close to being ready. going to keep a better eye on them though but i think they maybe have another 1-3 weeks to go imma try run it week by week see what happens. as for the bathroom idea didn't end up working. can literally feel the humidity. just going to harvest before sunrise and shove the buds to hang in the bathroom in the dark for 7-10 days. pretty sure what made it so humid in there was the fact the pots were drenched since i just watered them earlier before moving them. if i just put the buds alone in there they should be fine otherwise.

 

[Tas devil]

They are not ready yet..plant is still growing..probably another 2 weeks more or less.if you havnt a jewellers loupe you can go by the pistols when they are 3/4 brown.your leaves are not even dying yet.its the first sign the plant is coming to an end..see if you can purchase a jewellers loupe bud.you will know exactly when to harvest..i dont think they will take up too much room.ive even taken my cloths out that were hanging in my wardrobe and draws lol..you can cut foot long branches off wet trim and use a clothes hanger .make sure they dont touch..you can wait till they feel dry on outside but stem isnt.you can cut them off the branches and lay on paper in draw .turning them daily and checking the stem by bending it to see if drying.when it has i use like a tupperware container put buds in it and sit on the window sill till it warms up inside.they will feel damp.i take it away from window then leave lid off till it cools .then check.sometimes i do this a couple times..the reason is some buds arnt as dry as the bigger ones and putting it near a widow with sun shinning on container it makes the weed sweat and distributes the moisture evenly through all the dope so it dries evenly..i do this with small grows and have done so and effectively for 20 odd years .there are plenty good ways to do it.i dont use fans rh meters etc as i dont need to.

 

[Lethidox]

They are not ready yet..plant is still growing..probably another 2 weeks more or less.if you havnt a jewellers loupe you can go by the pistols when they are 3/4 brown.your leaves are not even dying yet.its the first sign the plant is coming to an end..see if you can purchase a jewellers loupe bud.you will know exactly when to harvest..i dont think they will take up too much room.ive even taken my cloths out that were hanging in my wardrobe and draws lol..you can cut foot long branches off wet trim and use a clothes hanger .make sure they dont touch..you can wait till they feel dry on outside but stem isnt.you can cut them off the branches and lay on paper in draw .turning them daily and checking the stem by bending it to see if drying.when it has i use like a tupperware container put buds in it and sit on the window sill till it warms up inside.they will feel damp.i take it away from window then leave lid off till it cools .then check.sometimes i do this a couple times..the reason is some buds arnt as dry as the bigger ones and putting it near a widow with sun shinning on container it makes the weed sweat and distributes the moisture evenly through all the dope so it dries evenly..i do this with small grows and have done so and effectively for 20 odd years .there are plenty good ways to do it.i dont use fans rh meters etc as i dont need to.

yea i was watching some videos just to make sure and i was like my pistils and buds look REALLY small and mostly white still and the leaves are still pretty damn green not even showing signs of yellowing so i figured they aint even done yet. good thing i tossed um back outside lol. same shit happened to me with my first grow was around this stage and eventually forgot about um but the buds were bigger and hairs more brown.

i'll be buying a jewelers loop now since i got more weeks to go. trichomes do seem milky at first glance imo though but yea most of the hairs are still white and just based on memory only been 5 weeks since the flip which is way too early since the transition alone takes time to happen. then gotta deal with the stretch and all that

 

[emerson61]

Another technique I have used is to let your plants slightly wilt, then water for one light cycle, then put in dark for 48 hours before chopping. You know how when you water a healthy buy slightly wilted plant, it perks up and looks beefier? Weed works that way, too.

 

[emerson61]

I'm on my 4th indoor grow, and starting to get my techniques dialed in. So much great info on strains, trimming, nutes, water schedules, etc. on Internet and forums such as this; find what works for you and do you own thing. It grows like a weed, so really hard to mess up too much. Just watch out for light burn (Indoor), nute burn and over watering. Such a fun hobby with so much to learn.

Getting close to harvest on a grow now. On day 59 today. I like to cut at about 20-30% amber trichs