Can someone outline a harvesting plan for me?

[planehopr]

I have grown before--2 cycles, 10 plants, 4x4 tent, 1lb each cycle..

Both times I kind of dropped the ball in harvesting. Its a lot of dirty, sticky, time consuming work. I sold my equipment because I had a enough weed to last me and my wife for 2 years.

Now I just went out and bought an 8 x 4 tent. I plan to grow 20 plants under 2-1000 W HPS lights. Then in 6 weeks my brother is also going to grow the exact same set up. We are going to be harvesting every 6-8 weeks.

Can someone outline an organized harvesting plan for me? I'm thinking about getting a drying rack and wet trimming most of it with a magic trimmer, leaving the prized top colas to be trimmed by hand.

Then after a few days to a week (I live in the desert) I'll move those buds to Canning Jars.

After a couple weeks I'll either sell the weed to dispensaries or provide care to medical marijuana patients.

With $4000 now invested in grows, I cannot afford to drop the ball. I hope I didn't bite off more than I can chew.

 

[bowlfullofbliss]

So you're saying that you want to make money, but you are too lazy to do the work to do it right? Is that right?

You don't have anywhere near enough bud to be acting like that. I harvest, by myself, 5 lbs dried weight 4 times a year. It takes me days and nights of nonstop trimming, and reharvesting.

First of all, 20 plants in a 4x8 tent is WAY too may. You will have a useless jungle that produces few big colas. You will have room for 9 good sized plants, maybe 12 at MOST. You need to learn to top/train them to make big productive tops, and not a bunch of small branches that take forever to harvest. Learn to create 4 or 6 main branches, or even try Nugbuckets mainlining in the organics section. Get big fat tops, and zero popcorn.

Next, you need to harvest the branches and trim everything but the fine sugar leaves at the first cutdown, then hang those for 5-6 days in the dark with circulation. I then take all those branches, and fill 5 gallon buckets with them. This brings out all the moisture trapped deep inside the nugs and branches, and evenly distributes it in everything. Those buckets can be used to regulate how much moisture is in there for all the time you need to finish the mainicure before jaring.

I use a dedicated 4x8 tent and run rope as hang lines, and put in a fan, and zip open the top of the doors to let out the moisture. The slightly moist buds in the buckets will stay that way for quite a while, long enough to prevent overdry, which sucks.

Using those trimmers is a cop out for a small grow. If you run a big op, or outdoor, than more power to you, but you aren't even close that wussy stuff.

lol. people.

 

[planehopr]

So you're saying that you want to make money, but you are too lazy to do the work to do it right? Is that right?

You don't have anywhere near enough bud to be acting like that. I harvest, by myself, 5 lbs dried weight 4 times a year. It takes me days and nights of nonstop trimming, and reharvesting.

First of all, 20 plants in a 4x8 tent is WAY too may. You will have a useless jungle that produces few big colas. You will have room for 9 good sized plants, maybe 12 at MOST. You need to learn to top/train them to make big productive tops, and not a bunch of small branches that take forever to harvest. Learn to create 4 or 6 main branches, or even try Nugbuckets mainlining in the organics section. Get big fat tops, and zero popcorn.

Next, you need to harvest the branches and trim everything but the fine sugar leaves at the first cutdown, then hang those for 5-6 days in the dark with circulation. I then take all those branches, and fill 5 gallon buckets with them. This brings out all the moisture trapped deep inside the nugs and branches, and evenly distributes it in everything. Those buckets can be used to regulate how much moisture is in there for all the time you need to finish the mainicure before jaring.

I use a dedicated 4x8 tent and run rope as hang lines, and put in a fan, and zip open the top of the doors to let out the moisture. The slightly moist buds in the buckets will stay that way for quite a while, long enough to prevent overdry, which sucks.

Using those trimmers is a cop out for a small grow. If you run a big op, or outdoor, than more power to you, but you aren't even close that wussy stuff.

lol. people.

I think you are being way to hard on me. The harvest overwhelms me. I grew 10 plants in a 4 x 4...all 3' high in a canopy. They were all topped. I got many colas. This indoor strategy of many smaller plants instead of a few larger ones is something I've seen recommended many places. I had good success. After doing it by hand, now I want to do the best buds by hand and all the medium stuff in the trimmer. I was a project manager in my previous life and thank god I had administrative assistants because I could never handle nit picky shit. I see things at a higher level. Harvesting is dirty, sticky, meticulous work. I'm willing to sacrifice a bit of quality on the lower end stuff to save massive amounts of time. My time is worth more to me....and 2-4 pounds every 6 weeks is a lot of work. I'm not afraid of work, but I must make efficient use of my time.

 

[Stomper420]

Trimming sucks but there is always a downside to a good thing. I trim a lil every day. I run a 10x10 with 20 plants all fimmed. Ill take a few branches every day and trim um up. I run a perpetual grow so it never realy gets outta hand. Also do a staggered harvest. This way Im noy cutting to much at one time. I can even take days off in the mix. Its become a life style. Either you want it or you dont..Theres no way arund it unless you wanna share your grow with somebody and have them do the dirty work...Good Luck and stay sticky!

 

[planehopr]

So you're saying that you want to make money, but you are too lazy to do the work to do it right? Is that right?

You don't have anywhere near enough bud to be acting like that. I harvest, by myself, 5 lbs dried weight 4 times a year. It takes me days and nights of nonstop trimming, and reharvesting.

First of all, 20 plants in a 4x8 tent is WAY too may. You will have a useless jungle that produces few big colas. You will have room for 9 good sized plants, maybe 12 at MOST. You need to learn to top/train them to make big productive tops, and not a bunch of small branches that take forever to harvest. Learn to create 4 or 6 main branches, or even try Nugbuckets mainlining in the organics section. Get big fat tops, and zero popcorn.

Next, you need to harvest the branches and trim everything but the fine sugar leaves at the first cutdown, then hang those for 5-6 days in the dark with circulation. I then take all those branches, and fill 5 gallon buckets with them. This brings out all the moisture trapped deep inside the nugs and branches, and evenly distributes it in everything. Those buckets can be used to regulate how much moisture is in there for all the time you need to finish the mainicure before jaring.

I use a dedicated 4x8 tent and run rope as hang lines, and put in a fan, and zip open the top of the doors to let out the moisture. The slightly moist buds in the buckets will stay that way for quite a while, long enough to prevent overdry, which sucks.

Using those trimmers is a cop out for a small grow. If you run a big op, or outdoor, than more power to you, but you aren't even close that wussy stuff.

lol. people.

I re-read your response. That is some excellent advice. I'm going to work to make sure I maximize things best I can. I appreciate you outlining your process of cutting off branches and hanging everything with just sugar leafs. Thank you.

 

[planehopr]

Trimming sucks but there is always a downside to a good thing. I trim a lil every day. I run a 10x10 with 20 plants all fimmed. Ill take a few branches every day and trim um up. I run a perpetual grow so it never realy gets outta hand. Also do a staggered harvest. This way Im noy cutting to much at one time. I can even take days off in the mix. Its become a life style. Either you want it or you dont..Theres no way arund it unless you wanna share your grow with somebody and have them do the dirty work...Good Luck and stay sticky!

I've had 2 successful grows before. I hope that in time I find my groove. I don't personally know any growers. I've learned everything on boards like this and reading for hundreds of hours. Its does not have to be terribly complicated, but elements like the harvest can really be screwed up. Because I have a few thousand into this, I want to keep asking questions so I can get it right and improve upon what I did before. Its a work in progress. I need to network with other growers to learn more sophisticated techniques. I've been offered to come to 100+ plant mass grows and help trim...but that sounds about as exciting as watching water boil or paint dry. Next time I'm offered that, I am going to do it just so I can get my hands around what other, more successful people are doing...and I'll get paid for it too so its a win win learn as I earn experience.

 

[Coho]

Get good shears (Fiskers).. easier on your hands. Its a pain in the ass..but its part of it. Mskes a pretty product for the patient.

 

[planehopr]

Get good shears (Fiskers).. easier on your hands. Its a pain in the ass..but its part of it. Mskes a pretty product for the patient.

I love my fiskers...I have a few pair of them. I still am looking to stream line the process. Maybe I'll hire some people...make them put on no pocket white bee suits and pay them in weed to trim to my specifications. I'm not lazy, I just know my own limitations.

 

[ilikecheetoes]

i break fiskers to easy. I get the cheap ones at the 99cent store. They still have springs and are sharp.
I also notice my fiskers get "crunchy" in the hinge. Like you can feel it grinding or something.

 

[monkeybones]

better wear gloves