Harvesting in a few weeks... Checklist?

[SmokeDoggy]

Anyone have a list of things which need to be done prior to/at Harvest time?

She's lookin about like this right now (borrowed this pic from someone else):

Basically she's day 45 of flowering.

I expect to harvest at day 71 or so, obviously depending on trichome color. I'll shoot for 10% amber and harvest then.

Anyways (back to obessessing about my girl), I'm more interested right now in learning what I should do to prepare.

I'm wondering how much leavage I should remove now. I've been trimming (well ripping) and tucking leaves for the past ~2-3 weeks now. Basically making sure I get as much light as possible to all of the little buds underneath.

I did LST about 1/2 way through and have been doing it since. I also did a FIM once but I don't know if it is just this strain or me messing it up by accidentally going back to veg after 3 weeks on flower (accidentally!!!!) or what but each stem was growing it's own stems. It's like hella bonzai'd out on me. It was literally growing exponentially off of each stem. I had no choice but to LST like mad as I'm sure you could figure.

It looks like this (below) except maybe half as tall (but still hella dense) in terms of leaves (but the above pic in terms of where it is in the flowering/budding cycle).

I have a LOT of bud sites. I counted 78 but there's probably a dozen or so more which aren't getting light, but I don't really care too much about those right now.

So I was thinking I want to chop more leavage like the one in this picture because I read somewhere that you don't want the LEAVES themselves to grow so start chopping those before harvesting so that the energy MUST go into the buds...

BUT I don't want to cause it to grow slower. I am thinking all of the leaves which are there are giving it more energy so if I halve those I might lose half it's ability to grow in my expected timeframe.. RIGHT??

After this, I am thinking when it gets to 2 weeks from chop chop, I will flush with H20 only (no fertilizer) and then also pluck all of the remaining stems/leaves off at that time, except those engulfed in the buds. Does that sound good? Too early?

So then when it comes time to chop chop, what all do I need to do? I am thinking just cut up each stem and hang it upside down for a few days. I will then trim off the stems and the extra leaf matter - and then I think I want to save those, right? So I can make some hash? I will have a LOT of this, I'm pretty sure, considering I have a full plant and 78 growing bud sites plus there could easily be a dozen or two or three more which either aren't blooming or I plucked the leaves off and it didn't make it. So I want to make some hash - I will keep this for later I guess - I think everclear and let it evap for a few weeks something like that right? I will have to research that separately, but let me know of any ideas now to prep knowing I will soon be doing that too from all the trimmings.

Then lastly what I read is store the buds in a jar and let it air out 2-3 times a day then once a day and then seal for future use. Does that sound about right ???

Whaddaya think??? Sorry for making this into an epic adventure rather than just asking some simple questions... Thanks for reading!

 

[Purplekrunchie]

Removeing leaves also takes stored energy from the plant, and slows it down some, so if you already have alot of good flowering nodes, id lay off and just let the girls ripen. Stop feeding anything but water in a week or 2 and those leaves should start to yellow, as the stored nutrients transfer to the final bud growth, it also makes for a smoother taste, as they wont have a buncha nitrogen. If they look anything like your buddys pic im coming over to smoke lolz. early congrats on a successfull harvest.

I trim the large worthless leaves the day of harvest, than after hanging for 24 hours I attack some of the smaller leaves, than do a 3rd and final manicure a day or 2 later. If its less leafy stuff I only do 2 trimmings.

 

[SmokeDoggy]

Yeah each bud site is the size of a grape now and the top most buds on each stem are basically turning into "colas" I think that is the right term. Basically just big cones of bud. Right now slightly smaller than a golf ball. So like I said I figure I have another 26 days to go or so...

Ok thanks for the feedback. I will do what you said and let it be for now. I'll just tuck as best I can and trim very sparingly for now until harvest time. Thanks.

 

[Consciousness420]

sounds good.. your checklist is good.. I would add just a couple more things --> if you can, try to gradually start making it as dry as possible in the grow room (de-humifier.. whatever - best levels are 35%-40% humidity) and increase light levels/intensity, some also even allow the plants to get an hour or two more light per day for the last few weeks to increase yield. You can also add a little molasses in the soil to get the microbial advantage.. ya, any leaves at the bottom getting next to no light or are in the least bit dis-colored can be snipped.. try to leave the largest lushest fan leaves (they still have a lot of sugar for the buds to use).. also, if you are using an HPS and giving it red spectrum, try adding a blue spectrum light (MH) in the last few weeks this really increases yield.. lastly, I would try to time the harvest according to (obviously the harvest window mainly but also-->) the weather report for your area as regards humidity OR if you can control your own local humidity (even better) so that the day you chop, raise the humidity to about 55-60% and let hang upside-down for a day or two, then each day afterwards decrease humidity a couple points because slow drying like this in the first week is critical (if humidity is say 40% or lower when you chop the plants will dry in a day or two - TOO FAST and you will wind up with crap weed).. good luck!

 

[ganjamisfit]

I think some people are to quick to cut leaves thinking it will divert energy to flower growth but you have to think of the leaves as solar panels taking in energy (aka light) to promote stronger flowering. Just take it easy on what you trim.

 

[SmokeDoggy]

OK, good. I was just really making sure the info I heard was not correct - to chop all the leaves a few weeks before harvesting. Phew, I'm glad I didn't do that.

Thanks for all the ideas/feedback conciousness420. I will do my best with the humidity, I did not know that but it kind of makes some sense - you don't want to dry it out too quickly.

This is my first grow - it's a CFL grow. I have just the one plant and I think right now there are 6 of the ncvision 2700K CFLs in there with some white shelf liner for reflecting light.


What about getting ready for making hash? Anything I should do to plan? What all should I keep? Only the stuff with crystals on it? What about the stalk?

 

[Consciousness420]

I think some people are to quick to cut leaves thinking it will divert energy to flower growth but you have to think of the leaves as solar panels taking in energy (aka light) to promote stronger flowering. Just take it easy on what you trim.

yepper, which is why I mentioned only cutting leaves that are yellow/dying and/or not receiving any light.. dont be afraid to trim, you can max your final yield by removing material/mass that really does nothing for the bud production (note: healthy green fan leaves that ARE getting light do a great deal to produce excess sugars for bud production), yellow leaves suck sugars away from bud production and leaves not getting any light (cannot act as 'solar panels') do not produce any sugars for the bud.. cheers

 

[Mpdeemer]

All I can say is when I don't swazz at 21 days my lower buds are nowhere the size. They are next two 3 to 4 times bigger. So I know the fan leaves are important but getting the light to the lower sites will keeping enough fan leaves to do the job.