The James Gang

[H.A.F.]

It smells like terrayaki beef jerky. That kind of sweet/sour/tangy smell.

I have only had a few plants that smelled like something in flower, then still smelled like it after harvest. They change from chop to dry to cure as well.

Some are best somewhere before full cure, but you only get to enjoy that once in a while, cured is what matters unless you smoke the whole plant in a big fat joint.

The best smoke yanks that just dried smell out of old bud every time you bust a nug open.

 

[BSGrows]

Truth, I would classify myself as a "Journey over Destination" guy. What I mean by that is I think the changes these plants go through is fascinating. While we're on the topic...what do you recommend for drying/curing techniques?

 

[H.A.F.]

Truth, I would classify myself as a "Journey over Destination" guy. What I mean by that is I think the changes these plants go through is fascinating. While we're on the topic...what do you recommend for drying/curing techniques?

60F or as close as you can keep it, colder is better but not fridge cold. And the closer you can keep it to 60% rH the better. If you can do that, without having to use a humidifier. Real low humidity here so I use minimal ventillation in the dry space, and "burp" it every time I take a peek. I have a little fan on the floor moving air and if the humidity is too low I'll set a pan of water in front of it and that actually helps a lot. I just don't want to put a humidifier in there - mold.

Best trick is to weigh it wet. If youhang the whole plant it's gonna lose 70-75% of it's weight to get to that 62% moisture we try to maintain with the packs. Then it has to 'equalize' that moisture content so it's the same throughout the bud, not dry outside, wet inside. The longer you can just let it hang in a perfect environment the better. Let it cure on the stalk. For me with the humidity 40 or less in winter I watch the weight. When it gets around 30% of the wet weight it slows down on the weight loss. at some point it weighs the same thing for a whole day, then I jar it. Burping and such goes on until 3-4 weeks from chop, not from me putting it in the jar - since some hang longer than others

 

[BSGrows]

60F or as close as you can keep it, colder is better but not fridge cold. And the closer you can keep it to 60% rH the better. If you can do that, without having to use a humidifier. Real low humidity here so I use minimal ventillation in the dry space, and "burp" it every time I take a peek. I have a little fan on the floor moving air and if the humidity is too low I'll set a pan of water in front of it and that actually helps a lot. I just don't want to put a humidifier in there - mold.

Best trick is to weigh it wet. If youhang the whole plant it's gonna lose 70-75% of it's weight to get to that 62% moisture we try to maintain with the packs. Then it has to 'equalize' that moisture content so it's the same throughout the bud, not dry outside, wet inside. The longer you can just let it hang in a perfect environment the better. Let it cure on the stalk. For me with the humidity 40 or less in winter I watch the weight. When it gets around 30% of the wet weight it slows down on the weight loss. at some point it weighs the same thing for a whole day, then I jar it. Burping and such goes on until 3-4 weeks from chop, not from me putting it in the jar - since some hang longer than others

I appreciate it

 

[H.A.F.]

I appreciate it

As a general rule, if it gets a little too dry it not an issue. Adding an rH pack helps keep the environment in the jar at that 62% and the buds will be fine. Usually if it dries quick there's still moisture inside the buds and jarring it evens stuff out. Burping being very important so the buds don't just lose moisture into the jar that just stays there.

If you jar it too wet the proplems are obvious. Watching the weight helps there. It might feel dry but have a lot of moisture to lose

I have gotten pretty good at this just from practice and seeing the fails. Since I drop beans almost every month, and flip them all the next month, I get a pretty regular harvest. Even doing that it comes in waves where longer and shorter flowering strains end up making what was flipped when moot.

 

[H.A.F.]

I was going to hurry and water before a podcast with Luna comes on but I want to take some practice glamour shots of the contest plants. So I have a bucket of water soaking with some castings, coconut powder and that freebie "Ion-14" silicone powder. Supposedly all organic - who knows - but the guy that makes the stuff is pretty smart and talks a good game. So using the free stuff is worth a shot. It's humic/fulvic based powder and with the stretch I'm seeing silicone can't hurt. I have to put the bondage on a few girls tonight too.

 

[H.A.F.]

I want to take some practice glamour shots of the contest plants.

And the only decent pics I got were just posted in one of the contest threads. Pretty sure I'll have the best plants out of everyone and also pretty sure I'll not win a thing because my camera is old.

 

[H.A.F.]

i've only been at this two days since the cold snap passed, and it's like how you eat an elephant - one bite at a time. The oak branches poke in every direction at once so they don't stack nice or lay flat. Probably be a bitch to try and get through a chipper too. But that's the plan for the piles like this

Then there's the Hugel size logs. Lots of these and I'll never be able to shovel enough dirt to make that many completed mounds, but I can get them laid in place and work on it gradually and let nature do some of it.

And there's actually more of the logs than the sticks. I worked a path through the middle then tackled the short side over the past two days, the rest has eventual mushroom logs in it I plan to innoculate and position around my woods. The stuff is stacked odd enough that cutting it shouldn't be bad. The biggest trunks are not going far though. I only have the battery-op chainsaw to break them down.

 

[H.A.F.]

For what it's worth, the battery chainsaw rocks for anything 6" or smaller, The larger ones it'll stop halfway through and you have to start it back up and finish. Like a disconnect if the resistance gets too much. But you pull the blade out and push the button again and keep going. Doesn't seem to drain the battery or anything, just a design feature that probably has a purpose. Maybe so the batteries don't go all Tesla on you and blow up.

But for cleaning up the small stuff it's perfect. The chainsaw weighs half what a gas one does, and it's spinning the same blade at the same speed on the same bar etc. Just loses a little when it comes to torque. The big trunk logs I have are about 6-8' long and probably wont get much shorter. But they had to take the thing down in controlled chunks because an escaped log rolling down the hill to my house would have been expensive. They were manageable by two guys with a rope draped across a neighboring tree, so they're rollable for me.

 

[Fiddler's Green]

You can dig rows a couple spades wide and deep and toss the logs in, chop the branches and cover with the dirt. Unless you have rocky soil then good luck vato.

 

[H.A.F.]

Unless you have rocky soil then good luck vato.

Didja happen to notice the assorted BOULDERS in the pictures??? You come dig the trenches. I'm building up from gound level LOL

 

[H.A.F.]

And there's plenty where those came from!

 

[H.A.F.]

For my tall chunk plants I have two phenos.

The taller one is almost purple to black on the oldest fan leaves, bt the rest is still green like the shrub.

The topped one I posted a top from in the other thread, and it has the purple colors like the giraffe lowers here

The other tall one is all green

In here I have the three Raspberry Boogie

The middle of the three has a mottled purple leaf thing, the other two are green.

I rearranged to mess with bondage on the Blue Jack City so not great for pics. I'll keep tightening those up as it flowers.

Headline Number 2 is looking stellar. Perfect symmetry, 2 tops on each corner and a nice little stack starting in the middle.

 

[H.A.F.]

Veg is creeping along. Everything seems healthy though

Crazy thing is that both of the Comet Fuel - ChemD x 707 OG Kush - had mutant leaves where the 3-blades should have been

This one looks like a damn oak leaf, but the 5-blades and above are all normal

 

[H.A.F.]

I think having that oak tree mess was good to get me off my ass. Hard work but there's lots of thinking and planning while you are doing it. They left me a monkey-fuck puzle of YUUUUUGE logs that are/were intertwined and laying on each other in ankle-breaking fashion, waiting for gravity to fuck it up. With my lack of a real chainsaw that can cut a 20" diameter tree they are staying 6'-8' long, and I'll be rolling them to wherever they are gonna rot.

I have been waiting on trying to sit up in bed and not being able to but so far so good. I love weed!

 

[H.A.F.]

I forgot to mention that if one of those logs gets rolling there's a 6' tall ridge between there and my house, with maybe a 15' flat area before the house. And the slope is at a proper angle to get the log rolling quick.

 

[H.A.F.]

Lots of wood, from the roof there's a good perspective of the big logs, the hill, and the proximity to my house. I almost have it separated into the three sizes. Tomorrow I shred sticks.

My "just rake them in a pile and let them rot" idea is working. I have added shredded cardboard and coffee grounds, and after the deep freeze I tossed in some winter wheat and vetch. If there's not dirt yet there will be.

 

[H.A.F.]

The Chem91 (close) and Bombthreat HP (bigger) have passed their 4 week mark. The Bomb will get flipped tiny and will probably stay tiny but I had to see if having the HP13 mixed in would stretch it up a bit. The Chem91 is vegging until I can take good clones, it was the one that starrted out growing sideways under the soil. The rest were at 2 weeks with the full moon and will be flipped about the 10th with the next drop. They all need sexed so no up-potting needed yet.

 

[H.A.F.]

If any of you are blessed with an abundance, a hand grinder can suck for bulk. I got one of those Wak-it grinders that's just a spinning ball-chain, it's a great tool for a coarse grind. It was $45 on 4/20 but regularly over 50.

If you de-stem the flower first you can go right to a pipe or paper, but you might need to use a grinder before packing a cone. If you don't de-stem you can pick them out easy. the chain rips every calyx off separately and leaves the bare stems. If you missed some in de-stemming this is what can fuck up a cone.

Anyway, with the new economy they have gone up to $75. I found this out when shopping for a spare to have on hand. But the other thing they offered was for companies to put their own advertisements in them. I found the "King Palm" version still at the old price (for now)

Amazon.com: King Palm Electric Spice Grinder - USB Rechargeable Electronic Spice Grinder - Automatic Spice Mill: Home & Kitchen

The other rthing I use with the Wak-it is a stainless grid. I put the bud in the grinder, then put the screen over it. The chain won't get caught in the wire, and it keeps the flower from getting beat to shit. You just pulse it and let it stop a few times. This is way cheaper than the plalstic funnel-screen thing they offer with the 'high end' model, but that's where I got the idea.

Amazon.com: ASR Outdoor Gold Rush Sifting Classifier Sieve Mini 6 Inch Prospect Pan 10 Holes per Sq Inch : Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

[H.A.F.]

I'm pulling one of the Heisen plants that could maybe go a few more days, but it's done enough. Turns out I need closet space for two LOL
I check stuff each evening to see what needs what and make a plan, then wait a bit to do anything until they've settled in to "lights on" mode before watering or whatever. I could easily stick the Chunkadunk in here, but I am gonna have a lot and this one smells done LOL
The Blue Jack City and the Flamethrower are beasts.