Back for trim advice. Am I on the right track with these? I’d do it over the course of a few evenings, not all at once, there’s a lot to remove and I don’t want to stress the absolute shit out of this girl.
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Harvest day for the SAD Fast. She’s not quite ripe yet, but I was starting to see signs of more bud rot, and it’s supposed to rain for the next week straight. Compromise time.
All cloudy, only a small minority amber. I would have preferred to have let them go another week or so, just worried I’d lose everything to bud rot if I did that.
Here she is just before scissor-time.
Washed with lemon juice-baking soda about 60cc of each in 2 gallons. Generous H2O2 bath, pretty much half a bottle in 2 gallons. Plain water rinse and distilled rinse. I wanted to make a stronger than usual wash solution because I noticed some rot. Want to get rid of any trace amounts. Carefully trimmed fans and pulled buds apart. Threw away a few large nugs with some signs of rot, some certainly had it, there’s more than enough so I just saved the stuff without any signs of it. Also saw some caterpillars, those buds got tossed too just to be safe. I stopped with pretty much all IPM more than a month ago, I guess this is the price for that.
She’s super dense and sticky, so washed quite a bit of dirt/bugs off in the water.
Resting for a few weeks in the dry cabinet with the Critical Kush Auto still drying.
I’ve got 3 trays packed pretty densely compared to prior harvests, and 1 tray with about my usual bud spacing. If I had to count my chickens before they hatch, so to speak, I’m guessing about 3oz dry.
LESSONS LEARNED: Continue BT until almost ready for harvest. Maybe up until a week or two before. I hate trimming popcorn already so large colas only. It’s a waste of time to have to trim/clean 1/2 gram buds
Also, it’s going to take me many hours to havest the other photoperiods this way. They’re several times bigger and harvesting this took almost 2 hours scrutinizing all the buds into the wash for any evidence of rot or bugs and trimming fans. It is front-loading a ton of trim work, but jeez, this is really a shit load of work. Appreciation grows daily for the underground growers of times past, and craft growers at scale in modern landscape who are doing this for ridiculously low prices now. Even at $200 an ounce/$3200lb, I’d never be able to do this for a living. And I’m sure nobody would even pay that for mine. I think in my local blackmarket this probably not stellar but hopefully decent herb MAY be worth half that, even at retail prices, probably $50 an ounce. I don’t know how anybody feeds themselves this way. But it makes a great hobby, and for that I’m very thankful and having fun.
I remember thinking I should do this when I was in college. It would have been nice spending money for the time, but it sure wouldn’t have been easy money like I thought.
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One thing that might help keep your spirits up while you’re in trim jail is to think back when you didn’t have any smoke at all. Trim jail beats the hell out of that.
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Good point! Agreed. I’ll let you know in a few months how that mentality works out. It’s kinda like complaining you are too full at a buffet 
BTW: Just stepped out to the shed and peeked at these buds…wonderful smell.
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Holy F$cking sh!t brother…you’ve been busy. Your plan of attack seems to be working out just fine. I like…LOVE…your diagram, definitely a great rough estimate for any grower or plant. From all the way over here, I can see your doing an excellent job on the proper research and then execution so my input here would probably do more harm than good! Didnt mean to take so long to respond though, to be honest I haven’t been able to figure out how to tag someones journal or thread for new posts, I just check my ‘mail’ for responses and I missed this thread, I saw your other really detailed mind blowing thread on your cure cabinet and got mixed up, my apologies! So anywho…bro, your hitting this one out the park. We all are at nature’s whim doing outdoor, but all crazy emergencies aside(which always seem to happen), you and your ladies are in synchronization full throttle and I just hope to learn and improve on my own grows as we all grow closer to this harvest season. Im betting you’ve done some thinning as we’ve transferred into flower and Im also betting you did what Im doing and tried a few different styles and techniques? Again, I apologize for not getting back to you here sooner, I pray that all is well in your world 
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I’ve definately been busy - just not as busy with the plants as I hoped. Been a rough week, the little one got a bit sick and work has been a push. I usually work pretty long hours Monday-Thursday, so it’s the weekends where I have time to work in the garden.
I haven’t done any trimming yet, was kinda waiting on feedback. The ladies are in full flower, all of them, which is lovely to see. The 3 smaller ones (Snow-G, Avenue of the Giants, and Hella Jelly) are smelling really good and strong, the larger hashplant and Hawaiian Snow aren’t nearly as appetizing yet. The Hella Jelly gets sweeter and fruitier smelling by the day. Exciting.
Hopefully I can get out tomorrow and get started doing trimming. It’s rainy, so not hot, but definately not weather where I’m encouraged to get outside with a pair of scissors.
Making some hot sauce and salsa today! Started a green chile stew a bit ago, got lots of chiles coming in from the garden. Hope all is well with your world too! Just smoked a bit of the SLH, it’s nice. I don’t know if its that or just the weekend making me feel super mellow today 
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Flower pr0n
Hella Jelly 
Snow-G
Avenue of the Giants
Dragon’s Hashplant
Hawaiian Snow
Jalapeno/Chipotle Hot Sauce
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Very nice man, those are gonna fatten up real big no matter what you do! As Ive said before, just a few big fans down low that Id remove, maybe some small stragglers but observing the natural growth patterns is kind of the only way to see what to take. I guess in the end its more about when you take it, not what you take…Your diagram is pretty dead on…it was hard for me to read but it looked like you were wondering about the purple highlighted area? Id say keep it and strip the lower areas but again, you have so much going on “eggs in different basket” lol and thats definitely going to pay off. Big time! Flowers really look beautiful and healthy and are moving along fast! Hot sauce and green chili sounds/looks delicious, and btw, I finally had a good ripe melon last night so life is good on my end too, finally!
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Glad you finally got a ripe one! Perhaps it’s my turn next
Thanks for the input. Like I said, hopefully the rain clears up and I can do some cleaning up. They are hungry too, need to start some tea. Been slacking because of the rain.
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Thanks man, I have faith that your melon redemption is around the corner!
Well, I hope Ive helped. Wanted to let ya know, I took some pics that Im gonna put up, I’ll have to scroll back and check out your tea recipe too. My girls could use a healthy kickstart, those thrips or whatever I have are still giving me problems. Been starting to see a few nasty larvae trying to dig in too…its at this point I just start hoping for the best, done most of what I can/care to do…Hows that Critical doing btw? Good to be chillin I bet Looks Nice!
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Melon redemption still awaits. Picked a nice one this morning with a totally dead/brown tail opposite the melon…and it’s rotten inside. Stank when I cut it open. Guess I started letting things go too long now. Frustrated to say the least.
Went on a picnic with the SO and the baby, the rains are running off up in the mountains. We didn’t go very far just to be safe and not get stuck in any danger of flash floods.
The Critical Kush has had about 8 days the dry cabinet, dry enough to smoke but not dry enough to jar yet. The 1-week samples were still a little too moist when I tested with the Runtz XL and Super Lemon Haze autos. The 2 week-dried SLH/Runtz have about 2 weeks of cure on them now, smelling great. The little nugs I pulled yesterday to sample the Critical Kush also smelling great, but only trimmed a couple popcorn buds to get me through next weekend, when I’ll trim/jar the remainder (probably 2oz or so).
Here’s a sampling of my season as of today
As far as the compost tea, it’s pretty standard. Worm castings are the base, adding a bunch of other shit approximating the Rev’s recipes or when I’m crunched for time I also picked up a bag of Terp Tea Bloom. Sometimes when I get home and have to get the brew going for the next day; I just don’t want to deal with all the dry ammendements to make something from scratch. I’ve been using Mycrobe Complete with whatever is brewing to keep the microbe colonies alive in my soil. I also got a sample of Fish Sh!t (like $5 shipping or something) that I swapped in a few weeks ago. That seemed to really perk things up.
Honestly, I’m not sure if all the obscure ingredients in the tea make too much of a difference, but I’m already in this deep. I think a basic tea of just a little molasses, earthworm castings/compost, some organic flower dry fertilizer would do the trick pretty well. I’m using a 27 gallon black/yellow bin with a water spigot mounted to the bottom. I have a giant air pump and 8 big airstones, leave it sitting 12-24 hours depending on what’s brewing. It takes a few days to make each batch because I use tap water that just bubbles for a day before I even add the tea/microbes (dechlorinate). That’s basically how I feed, and I do it every Tuesday and Friday now.
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Yikes, sorry to hear about the melons, you know I feel your pain…Hopefully those sweet looking buds are filling in the hole. Bummer though bro.
Very beautiful countryside, a reptile hunters dream!
Appreciate the tea breakdown, I think I have most of that laying around and need a better way to feed my beds, gonna get something going this week. Thanks again!
Wild storm here last night: Huge wind gusts, downpour rain for an hour. Was worried the girls wouldn’t make it out well. Sunday I had done some more support work on them, but definately didn’t think last night would result in anything other than knocked over plants and broken limbs.
They’re fine. They were flatter than this earlier when I went out to assess the damage, they are already perking up in the sun.
The Hawaiian Snow was completely unfazed by the storm. Looks like she slept well last night
You can still see the smaller ladies got a bit sideways. They were almost flat when I went out a few hours ago, before the sun was up. They seem to be recovering, and the bamboo rods are straightening as they dry out. Hella Jelly was the worst hit back in the corner, I moved it out into the sun to gather some energy. Some minor stem splits I’ll treat once everything isn’t dripping wet.
I have been starting on the Dragon Hashplant clean-up trimming/training effort. It’s a little bent sideways, but doing OK. The stem on the left was kinda trained sideways to start, but it’s definately lower than before.
Hope everyone else’s girls are faring OK in the storms, seems to be across the country right now.
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Bro, you had me worried! Those girls just threw a crazy party last night is all, maybe alittle hungover this morning but if they made it through that, I’d say you’ve got some extremely healthy and beautiful ladies there that are gonna be hooking you up very soon for all the love you’ve been giving them. Hell yeah man, they look good! 
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Trim jail this morning!
Critical Kush Auto is on the left, right is SAD Fast.
Yield about 1.5oz CK, I wound up leaving the SAD for another week of dry. Not quite ready yet. Starting to get a feel for the right level, where the leaves are almost snapping off on their own.
Jarred up and smelling amazing!
Fed the girls early this morning, need to take care of some other chores and I’ll post pics of the girls following their flowering. They are pretty and smell even better!
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Excellent way to start the day bro! Looks yummy! Hows it hitting? Or are you gonna cure for awhile? I cant ever wait, its just the last buds in the jars end up getting a cure eventually lol but I respect the cure for sure!
Love a staggered harvest myself. Can only take so much trimming at once. I like your style homie!
Congrats brother! Got to love that successful feeling, making my heart swell even more, Happy for you and your accomplishments! Thank you so much for all your support and for sharing so much helpfull info as well as your heart and truth. Getting back to ya asap, had a long day yesterday, was cool to see this here post as soon as I connected, that synchronization in effect.
Let me know when we’re lighting up again?! Heck Yeahesss!
It’s good man! I’ll let this cure up for a few weeks, I’ve been puffing on the SLH and Runtz. Lit up a few minutes ago
Dude, I’m seriously worried about when the photoperiods grow up. Just looking at the pile from the SAD Fast was scaring me. I guess I’ll get better with experience
Took some pics of the remaining ladies today.
Hella Jelly, each cola has a stake and moderate defol.
Avenue of the Giants. This one has a longer internode distance, so I haven’t been as aggresive with trimming. Looks like it’s going to be a little lighter in the yield department, maybe I’m just hesitant to cut much because this one smells the best of the whole lot. Looks like trim city though
She suffered a split, wrapped in wire and just left alone. Everything is healthy on the limbs.
Dragon’s Hashplant has been getting pruned back pretty aggressively (per advice). Seems happy with that, still lots of fans to go but much more open than before. She had a split as well from the storm, wired like the AotG.
Snow-G, need to put better supports here. Pretty well-trimmed, the structure of this one has been easy but the stems are not very robust. They’re pliable, not as hard as the others. Just kinda thin and noodly, so she just turned into a pancake during the storm and popped right back up when the sun came out and I shook the rain off.
Hawaiian Snow. She’s a fuckin tree, the stems are essentially wood at this point. Can’t wait to see how this is looking come November.
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Yo homie, been drooling over those pretty ladies for a few days now, they are looking sooo great! The spread on each of the girls is impressive and I can see the excellent defol work. Feading and watering not an issue at all! A well thought out grow that is paying off. Looks like your coasting through to me…just amazing brother! Am patiently waiting for your next installment to see how the splits are looking? If there is still any problem at all, lmk, I have a fairly good/easy solution for some more support but its kind of hard to descride here and it looks like you got them fixed up, just hmu if you are still having any troubles with branch support, everything looks absolutely gorgeous bro! Really an impressive grow, I bet those buds have doubled up just in the last couple of days…keep us posted! Thank you so much for all your kind friendship, encouragement, and the many unique contributions to the community! I cant show it but I did steal your space blankets idea but I swear Im not the one who ripped yours all up…hooligans!
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LOL thanks!
I’ll take some pics today for an update. Splits seem to be doing OK but they are hungry girls, coming as a surprise to me how much food they want. I figured in flower I’d be tapering down by now but they just want more. I have tried to avoid the over-feeding issues but the price I pay is signs of under-feeding. Bigger pots next year and fewer beasts to feed.
The space blankets don’t hold up as well as I expected them to. It’s windy and hot here, they are getting brittle and breaking up.
Cheers man, thanks for the positivity this morning, and your friendship/help as well!
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Pictures!
Hawaiian Snow: She’s a beast!
Avenue of the Giants: Stinkiest girl on the farm. Stoked about this one. I like the small leaves and powerful smell, she’s got quite an appetite though and pretty temperamental. Not as robust as the other strains (wilts first, yellow leaves first, crappy structure) but holy F does she smell good. It’s like the super hot crazy girl everyone dates once in their life
Hella Jelly:
Dragon Hashplant: Little slower flower compared to some of the others, but I bet the yield will beat everything else.
Snow-G: Liking this one. Great smells and nice thick colas, structure is good in terms of branching but they are a little weak.
At this point if I could only keep 3, it’d be the Hawaiian Snow, Avenue of the Giants and Snow-G. Thinking I’m going to keep it to 3 next year. As I write that, I remember 2 of those 3 are from Twenty20, they certainly have some winners there, or I’m just super lucky (the rest of my life doesn’t suggest that ). They definately make some stinky selections, although both of them aren’t as robust - they both need quite a bit more care than the others. Those seeds were the first to pop too, they are just a little frail in my environment. Taking a better look at their catalog for next season for SURE. I’m willing to deal with high-maintence for good buds. I’m already dead-set on filling my sativa slot with Ace Honduras x Panama, I wanted to run that this year but I didn’t want to order it from Europe. Now I can just pick it up at Multiverse or a few other domestic banks.
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