New to growing!

I have just recently started to learn about growing weed.
Im on my first grow (indor grow tent, 200W light), and i am growing 5 plants of Pineapple express autos from Barneys farm. They are on week 8 as of tomorrow, and these are super fast growers, buds are getting bigger and bigger! Really fun since this is my first time growing!

Anyway, as a total newbie-grower i have some questions for you guys.

1: Since i do not own a magnifying glass of any sort, is there any good way for me to know when to harvest? (I´m guessing they will be ready in about 2 weeks or so since these are fast growing autoflowers).

2: Can i “sample” a small bud? Heat it in oven or something?

3: Has anyone grown this strain before, and what did you think of it?

I will include some pictures i took yesterday!
I will have a lot more questions as im learning i guess. Thanks for this great community! (And sorry for my not so good english, its not my native language. )

For starters you can test your buds whenever you want. It won't hurt you. And as long as you careful and only take a small sample it won't cause much stress to your plant. And I would suggest that if you are going to test buds waite until at least week 7 of flower.

And yeah you can cure it in the oven on the lowest temperature setting possible with the door cracked. Just check it very often so It does not get too dry in turn into powder. I have even used a hair dryer before you just need to find a way to secure the Bud down so it doesn't blow around everywhere in the wind. A shot glass with aluminum foil as a lid and tiny holes punched in it should work just fine also. Be creative. Heat is heat. Doesn't matter the source just make sure not to have too much of it (heat).

And the only true way to tell when your buds are done to your liking, is to have a strong magnifying glass or jeweler's loupe to check the color of the tricombes. I would actually suggest you pay like $10 more and get a electronic one with a USB that you can attach to your laptop and view it on a larger screen. And you can pick one of those up from Amazon for around 20 to 30 bucks. I would think if you can afford 2000watts worth of grow lights, Buying one of these should not be a problem.

jdog127 said:

For starters you can test your buds whenever you want. It won't hurt you. And as long as you careful and only take a small sample it won't cause much stress to your plant. And I would suggest that if you are going to test buds waite until at least week 7 of flower.

And yeah you can cure it in the oven on the lowest temperature setting possible with the door cracked. Just check it very often so It does not get too dry in turn into powder. I have even used a hair dryer before you just need to find a way to secure the Bud down so it doesn't blow around everywhere in the wind. A shot glass with aluminum foil as a lid and tiny holes punched in it should work just fine also. Be creative. Heat is heat. Doesn't matter the source just make sure not to have too much of it (heat).

And the only true way to tell when your buds are done to your liking, is to have a strong magnifying glass or jeweler's loupe to check the color of the tricombes. I would actually suggest you pay like $10 more and get a electronic one with a USB that you can attach to your laptop and view it on a larger screen. And you can pick one of those up from Amazon for around 20 to 30 bucks. I would think if you can afford 2000watts worth of grow lights, Buying one of these should not be a problem.

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Thanks for the info! Yeah i should probably just buy a strong magnifying glass.

One more question! I know im not there yet, but when i eventually harvest my plants, then what do i do? Can i just hang them inside the tent and close it? And if so, should the fans be on or off? Thanks!

Your drying should be controlled. I made a drying box. Aim for 7-10 days. Then place in jar or bag with Bovita packs.

Good luck sir. Hope this helps.

noahthemachinist said:

Your drying should be controlled. I made a drying box. Aim for 7-10 days. Then place in jar or bag with Bovita packs.

Good luck sir. Hope this helps.

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Okay, that looks nice! Problem is though, im not sure if i have any space for a separate drying box...

G_H_O_S_T said:

Okay, that looks nice! Problem is though, im not sure if i have any space for a separate drying box...

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If you have no space you can use a smaller box. I have seen people use cardboard and string also. Good luck boss.

TAKE the advice, go on Amazon and buy the $21 USB microscope. I got one last week its awesome. I tried a high power mag glass...they suck.

Truth brother...if u r like me u have had to buy 100 little things to stock your grow...the microscope is key. Yes phones or glasses work but not as well.

Small drying tent perhaps that you collapse and store when done? But if u KNOW it will all be done at same time you can use the growing tent...just not while growing, one or the other. 2x2x5 tent is real cheap! You will need it for a few weeks max.

Dude you need to do some research on curing it’s all been posted by people for the last ten years . Use this forum as a library ....

I could go over it again but ... it’s allot of info

Looks pretty great for a 200 watt light!! That's not nearly enough wattage for 5 plants, but they sure look sugary!!

You can judge somewhat from the hairs....when at least half of the hairs have turned red, you can harvest. Sometimes letting them go longer will improve the potency, flavor, and strength.

Drying can take from 2 days to 10, or more, depending on the density of the buds and humidity and temps. The worst things you can do is under dry, where you will wind up with moldy crap, or over drying, where it will turn to dust basically.

For a few dollars yo can buy a moisture gauge and zero in on 62-65" humidity, then jar it. These cheap gauges aren't super accurate though, so buy a few.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Brass-Analog-Smoking-Tobacco-Hygrometer-Round-Humidifier-For-Cigar-Humidor-US/352927375577?hash=item522c1c60d9:g:PR0AAOSwHwleF-us

I use to get them close, then put them in a brown paper grocery bag to slow the process down and zero in on that magic number of 62-65%

The Boveda packs someone else mentioned are great and last a long time, but they are not cheap, and not really needed. Spend your money on more lighting first!!

Great first grow...Enjoy!!

You can absolutely dry them in your tent. Lights off, exhaust on low, and an oscillating fan to circulate air from the bottom (but not blowing on plants). Cut them whole and hang them.

It's doable provided you don't have another crop that needs to go into the flower tent for 10 days or so. If you do, you can make a relatively small drying box for cheap.

noahthemachinist said:

Your drying should be controlled. I made a drying box. Aim for 7-10 days. Then place in jar or bag with Bovita packs.

Good luck sir. Hope this helps.View attachment 4471753View attachment 4471754

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Yours is so high tech compared to mine. Amazing how stoners improvise! Lol

manfredo said:

Looks pretty great for a 200 watt light!! That's not nearly enough wattage for 5 plants, but they sure look sugary!!

You can judge somewhat from the hairs....when at least half of the hairs have turned red, you can harvest. Sometimes letting them go longer will improve the potency, flavor, and strength.

Drying can take from 2 days to 10, or more, depending on the density of the buds and humidity and temps. The worst things you can do is under dry, where you will wind up with moldy crap, or over drying, where it will turn to dust basically.

Great first grow...Enjoy!!

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Thanks man! I know 200 watts is not enough, but some how it seems to work with this grow. Yeah well, im gonna study the whole drying and curing thing these upcoming days!

Tormentedangel420 said:

You can absolutely dry them in your tent. Lights off, exhaust on low, and an oscillating fan to circulate air from the bottom (but not blowing on plants). Cut them whole and hang them.

It's doable provided you don't have another crop that needs to go into the flower tent for 10 days or so. If you do, you can make a relatively small drying box for cheap.

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I will probably be drying these in the growing tent. Is it doable to do this without any fans on if i leave the tent open?

I'd assume that would depend on a few factors. Size of tent. Size of and amount of plants needed to dry. I'm still new at this as well so I cannot tell you for sure, but I'd think that if you had adequate air circulation and not alot of plants you would be ok.

50% humidity is a common goal for drying. I dont think you need the tent open or a fan unless somehow you are in a very humid environment all the time. You need a hygrometer to measure humidity so after you add the plants you know if you need to open flaps and add a small fan.

Tormentedangel420 said:

Yours is so high tech compared to mine. Amazing how stoners improvise! Lol

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Thanks I appreciate that!
It Works well I have a temp/RH probe in it help me get that full 10 day dry.


To the OP.

You deffinately need Loupe 40x or 60x

Good rule of thumb for me is to wait an week or two anytime I think one is ready.

This is the most important part. Hope its tasty!

ComfortCreator said:

50% humidity is a common goal for drying. I dont think you need the tent open or a fan unless somehow you are in a very humid environment all the time. You need a hygrometer to measure humidity so after you add the plants you know if you need to open flaps and add a small fan.

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Okay thanks!
I will trry, and continue to learn "on the go".
If i get "ok" weed or the "best" weed out of this grow isnt super important since its my first time, but i sure dont wanna have "shit".

G_H_O_S_T said:

Okay thanks!
I will trry, and continue to learn "on the go".
If i get "ok" weed or the "best" weed out of this grow isnt super important since its my first time, but i sure dont wanna have "shit".

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I appreciate that like me you have low expectations at the start and want to get good at this more than anything else.

But let me give you a few more tips. I spent months reading about growing...as many aspects as I could, and like you i learned a step or 2 ahead as I went.

You CAN grow great bud your first time, and in large quantities. To me there is a difference between trying something and wanting to be really good at it. I want to be good at it. I dont have lofty expectations for my results...but I DO have high expectations of myself as far as effort.

I would guess I shortcut out 10 grows of practice runs my first time. I will post up my results in the coming weeks. Not bragging, not saying I did great or better than an experienced grower. But I KNOW I did better than most newbies and the reason is I spent enough time learning what goes wrong.

Just spending the time I did learning to top and LST my plants (manifolded)...a risk for a newbie. I broke some branches, even threw out a few plants. But the plants I got are bigger and nicer than most of the newbie grows i see simply because the manifolded plant is so much more robust (less, bigger colas vs a ton of dinky buds and one big cola).

1. Doing too much and doing things you are not sure of is a sure way to make mistakes and possibly fail. When in doubt do not do that unknown risky thing until you KNOW it is the right thing. Read, ask.

2. There are enormous pitfalls to growing just like any hobby or job. The basics are so key I cant say it enough. DO NOT compromise the basics.

Temperature, humidity, airflow, water, light, O2 to roots and CO2 to leaves are the basics. These will get messed up and if you dont fix them you will reduce your good results. Its so easy to tell yourseld its OK if it is a little too hot, cold, humid etc. Light is a massively limiting factor in many ways. Dont tell yourzelf mediocre is ok. Have enough light. Get fans. Do it right.

I cannot imagine spending as much time as I did and not get results, even the first time. I started older than many at growing, so that may he a factor but dont tell yourself it is ok to grow a mediocre grow round 1. Or fail. It might. But it wont if you work it hard.

Learn. Most of all have fun seeing how this amazing plant grows. Good luck!

50% is way to dry, unless you like dust.

And not to be contradictory, but there is no need to hang weed by the limb to dry. That's an old wives tale. It is also soooo much easier to trim buds BEFORE they dry. It's all personal preference, but as someone who has trimmed hundreds & hundreds of pounds of bud, trust me!! The easiest way is to pluck the fan leaves by hand, and trim the smaller leaf, if you want, with scissors. There's really no need to remove anything but the fan leaves if it's for personal use, as those smaller leaves will be covered in trichomes.

You will find tons of information and you'll have to sort through it yourself...Much of the info posted on growing weed is just completely wrong. The best thing is to read from people who have years of experience...I have been doing this steady for 20+ years, and still have lots to learn....and that's part of what keeps it interesting.