Ok Ok- last bump before harvest pics- if you had to give one piece of advice for harvesting indoor, soil grown cannabis (no matter how simple or complex) what would it be? Thank you to any replies. Will update tomorrow with BG harvest…
Starting to think of any last things (laying down plastic before cutting, do you cut the whole plant or cut branches? does it matter? My plants are a tad crowded so naturally the branches are intertwined (using each other for leverage, etc. So its going to need to be a fairly delicate process.
That being said i have a giant pair of 2 handed gardening sheers to cut the base within seconds of the lights coming on to disconnect the roots before they start pumping water upward.
no special techniques needed - if it’s a flopper I lean the plant up against the wall next to my kitchen table. Cut off one branch at a time. I put the fan leaves in one pile and the trim leaves in another, to be used for cooking or extracting.
My advice, put on some tunes and get comfortable. It’s going to take you longer than you think. Let the buds dry as slowly as possible, the longer they take to dry the more evenly they will dry. Try not to cry as your buds that looked huge before they were dry are small now, that’s normal. Enjoy your first harvest, it will only get better from there.
Thank you both for all the advice throughout. Yeah - im just happy they are covered in trichome… i knew i woudn’t get a large yield so it was all about getting that light on those bud sites for quality… i’d probably spend 1 - 2 hours per day down there babying those three little girls, tucking leaves, etc.
Even have a couple of clones i was able to pull off some bottom trim using nothing but peroxide, water and dirt, first clone is already a foot tall and starting to flower (trying a clone-to-flower to see what the yield is like on basically 0 veg time).
I have my upstaris bathroom setup with an exhaust fan blowing out the crack of the door and clothesline / wood running across the room for hanging… will have the fan blowing away and out (to push out the water and keep the air circulating) until the snap point hits for the branches… then I trim and put into open jars for a good 3 week cure (adding a lid after a couple days, clearing out the air in the jar a few times per day, letting all that water slowly make its way out of the stems through the buds without letting the air in the jar turn stale/damp)… i am a very patient person, they will be cured properly … sure, i’ll smoke a little but i want these turning out the best they possibly can.
Thanks again- my goal was 3 oz total and i think I’ll hit that no problem after they are dry. My guess looking at them now is 1.5 - 2 oz per plant - would have been better if i’d had better canvased my plants (next round is supercrop time).
Do you cut the main stem before doing the branch cutting? So far a lot of people have been saying to do that either IN the dark or RIGHT as you turn on the llights after a dark cycle to trap water in the root system
nope, I cut all the branches off & trim until it’s just the main stalk and stems, then I take shears and cut the trunk off and throw the soil & rootball into my outdoor garden bed.
Ok good to know bro. Thanks. So not everyone is all about this dark cycle harvest approach… i mean if you know how to dry and cure it really shouldn’t matter as long as you’re patient.
What about watering? Do you put a day in between harvest and water? I like to water my plants daily (dont have them in 5 gallon buckets - more like 3 gallon) but i DOUSED bubblegum yesterday to finish off the week-flush of tap water-only.
Was planning on not giving her any water today as she should be plenty hydrated considering i completely soaked the soil from top to bottom 24 hrs ago…
I like to harvest when the pots are fairly dry, just to make it easier to lift the container and carry it around. But sometimes I’ll water the day before harvest, if necessary
wow man that looks amazing, and it was all with CFL?? drying and trimming can be done as many ways as you can imagine. usually when people are in a real dry environment they would leave more leaves on to slow the drying process. if you’re in a humid environment you could clean it up a bit to speed up the drying process. i prefer dry trimming myself
The only variation in bulb was switching from bright to 2700k… alll phillips CFL bulbs from home depot. blew my mind man. So stoked…2 more plants to harvest (one tomorrow then the next in about a week).
And in fact i didnt “switch” i just kept adding CFL bulbs as the plants grew, adding 2700’s as the plants matured … used some strategic placement to hit some of the lower nodes (one of the actual benefits to CFL). ended up with 12 23-watt bulbs total for 3 plants.roughly half were 2700 and the others 6500.
The more leaf you leave the longer it takes to dry. You want at least a week dry if you can get it to keep your smoke smooth. If you can get two weeks even better but much longer you start running the risk of mold.
… sure, i’ll smoke a little but i want these turning out the best they possibly can.
