ECSour Diesel clone Harvest/drying thread

I like marijuana. I especially enjoy thick-resined marijuana.

ECSD is tied with Sharon for the most potent, great-tasting herb I've grown. So much breeding attention is paid to bud density, smell, yield, potency, that few breeders have a truly awesome smoking strain in their stables. It's not just how much resin is there, it's what type of resin is there that will make or break the quality of a smoking experience.

There are plenty of really good strains that can blow your mind, taste pretty nice, or yield a ton indoors, but I prefer to pay attention to potency, taste, and burnability.

The tastiest buds seem to grow with thick, wax-like resin, that doesn't easily wipe off onto your finger when you touch it. It seems to me that these thicker resins dry better than the thin, wetter resins. The thicker resins (like with the ECSD and some of it's offspring) translate into joints that burn extraordinarily well, and taste like what the resins smell like.

My Sharon clone's resins are about 75% as thick as the ECSD's, but has a more glue-like consistency. Her smoke is thick and almost blue-hued, and joints burn about as well as the slightly thicker-resined ECSD. Sharon's taste is also very much like the smell. I notice that many buds with wet resins don't taste like what they smell like. The fact that there's a higher resin-to-plant matter ratio in thick-resined strains will help the smoke taste like the smell. A bud with wetter resins (which lose lots of weight during the drying process) will have a low resin-to-plant matter ratio, and therefore taste more like burning plant matter than burning resin. Of course, we're looking to taste burning resin, so plants like ECSD DSD2 and Sharon, with their thick resins ROCK!

Very nice detailed infomation CC, As you know I'm growing all three at various stages of life. And I'm gonna look for all those traits that you exposed here. Very timely for me. I hope all is well with you and yours, and have a Happy Holidays. Smokey.

ECSD

ECSD

me likes! me wants! i gots to gets those. LOL...

sweeeeeeeeet!

There is no way I could have said that better.....I whole heartedly agree...Sour D....hands down worldclass smoke....very unique do not sleeep!



"ECSD is tied with Sharon for the most potent, great-tasting herb" ~ CC

Very interesting thread. Any more observations on this resin characteristic? More prevalent in sativa or indica? Does the trait pass on to sour diesel crosses? Any other strains that exhibit this? Is this taste related to the "hashy" taste of some strains; I believe that is what you are describing.

:takes a hit:

Very nice bud shots CC! I hope my Rez Galadriel (c99 x SD) turns out that good.Here is a pic of my mom and one of her offspring clones

boiiiiiing!
Them pics just gave me a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge ...

mmmm...
This is a beautiful pic my friend

Drying up, getting ready for the rest of the process

People often ask me how I get my buds to dry up so lime-green, and look more like they did while alive than most buds they see. It's all for the same reason that our herb burns and tastes nice... The process...

I like to cut buds off the plant to dry them. This allows a 3-4 day dry. The 3-4 day drying time will help keep the herbs looking, smelling burning, and tasting better than a long dry. Long-dried herbs (week+) are usually a darker green, and don't taste as nice - especially if the herb is dried on the stem. I remove the buds from the stem because the stem contains moisture (which slows the dry too much) and plant resources (nutrients and starches which reduce the taste and burn quality). Most plants will move starches and nutrients down to the roots during the dark period (night). That's why I like to harvest first thing in the morning, before the lights come on - before the plant's internal resources move back into the stems and the buds. Killing plants while asleep is much more humane and respectful anyhow.

The English use an extreme version of this harvest method for rhubarb. They call it "forcing". Rhubarb is put into complete darkness where it lives out its entire life. The lack of light almost entirely eliminates the presence of chlorophyll (the green stuff in plants that burns like shit). Leaving a plant in the dark for 12-24 hours will effectively move the chlorophyll and starch levels (in the buds) way down. Some people like to go 48 hours or more! It's all for the same purpose - tasty, great-burning buds.

Another trick for producing the greatest herb is: harvest only dry plants. A plant that has been allowed to dry out completely, will have no moisture with witch to move plant resources to the buds, AND the distress caused by the dry conditions will spark the cannabis plant's #1 stress response - RESIN PRODUCTION!

So, a plant that is allowed to dry out completely (leaves begin to droop) that is put into at least 12 hours of darkness, harvested before the lights go on, cut from the branches and allowed to dry in warm garden-like conditions for 3-4 days, will yield a superfine product As long as the soil is nearly devoid of nutrient at harvest time.

After the 3-4 days, I will check to make sure they are dry enough to go into a curing box. Dry enough means that there is still a barely noticeable amount of moisture in the very centers of the stems - we don't want it too dry before going to the box. The curing box is NOT A SEALED CONTAINER. It's made of wood and can breath through the walls. This is what we want now - we want to slow the drying process to a crawl for a couple days. The slow drying in the box will cause the remaining moisture in the stems to move outward into the rest of the herb - which is good since the outsides of the nugs are already completely dry before going into the box, and need some moisure replenishment.

After a few days of letting the remaining moisture do it's magic in the box, and ONLY after the moisture is equally distributed throughout the buds in the box, it's time for a long-term, sealed cure, or to place in storage containers for use. A long cure is preferred, but let's face it, most herb will never get a chance at a perfect cure before it's smoked.

This method makes for tasty, smokeable herb in about a week. Herb that will cure up into magical little nuggets of supreme happiness

Cannaseur, that's cool! Where'd you get yours from?

SmokeyPufmaster, yeah bro! You've got some serious shit in flower! You'll flip when you get to smoke Sharon! NOT IN THE MORNING!

Rezdog, thanks again for the clone

Rolando Mota, yeah, it's got a really nice, hashy taste to it, that's for sure. As far as passing this trait to the crosses... I have had Double Sour Diesel 2 turn out almost exactly like the original mother, but HUGE! Same smell, same resin pack. Nothing beats the original though Nothing I have seen or heard of - that is.

flipmastermike, I've smoked Rez' c99, it's kickass!!! Awesome taste, and it damn near buckles my knees. If the taste of the c99 can be combined with the resins of the sour diesel, we could be witnessing the birth of a new supermonster!!! Treat her well.

:friends: :friends: :friends: :friends:

that dryin process needs to be a sticky. think I may give it a go this harvest, few more days

the breakin there necks worked out pretty good.

CBF

haha

you got it CC.

got some drying now, using your method and hope to get those bright lime green buds you always have.

peace

Thats for posting your process. Ive always wanted to know more about the subtleties of harvesting bud, you summed it up quite nicely CC.

Enjoy all your great herb Happy smokes!

I'd kill for some of that stuff. Great harvest, bro... been waitin' for this one. Good luck with future ECSD grows, it's a killer strain.

I had a couple of questions about your drying method, Crazy Composer. Since the buds are no longer on the stem, are you drying on screens? It's my understanding that if dried too quickly, the chlorophyll get "locked in" and doesn't break down - is this an issue for you?

Drying has been the weak link in my system. I've always just rigged some lines up, which works ok, but I know the buds could taste better. Planning on building a closet with exhaust fan to regulate drying times, but can't decide between screens or lines; thinking screens would be more efficient. Any ideas?
Thanks!

looks good CC. Mucho resimo!

I'd love to get my hands on one of them clones


THC

Rolando Mota, EXCELLENT QUESTION!
This is how the chlorophyll situation goes... We dry them fast - as I described above. This fast initial drying gets the bodily fluids out of the bud. Much like mummifying a person, we want the majority of the juices removed FAST to avoid the consequences of having a dead body full of moisture! Once we get them into the box for the last few days of drying, the remaining moisture will work it's way through the areas that have become too dry, and rehydrate things enough to continue breaking down what needs to break down. It's important to capture that small amount of moisture in the box, because of the 'softening' of the smoke that takes place during these few days. If you allow the buds to get too dry before going into the box, you have accomplished nothing, and they'll just sit there being dry. If you put them in the box with too much moisture, they might mold, or at very least cause them to get dark green and smoke like hell - in comparison.

A slow dry is GOOD. As long as it slows down AFTER the great majority of the moisture has been evacuated (3-4 days). Again, you won't get a very nice mummy if you slow dry it as soon as the dude dies! You need to get rid of the majority of the bodily moisture - then slow it down in a wooden box, or in thick (or multiple) paper bags. Even a closed drawer is good for slowing the last few days of drying down.

And yes, I use screens. I place them high, close to the grow area for temperature and humidity. The higher temp facilitates quick evacuation of the majority of the moisture, and the higher humidity helps the buds NOT get too dry too fast on the outsides. Of course, you don't want a shitload of either heat or humidity, but a healthy garden atmosphere is perfect.

Great info CC. Killer looking buds.

excellent!!!

excellent!!!

:friends:
very nice
i can say this dry/cure method CC has come up with is a great way to get em where ya want em!
CC turned me on to this tek a few harvest's ago, and i have since employed this on all havies since, with better than expected results. the humidor box is worth it's weight in bud!!

i have this thread bookmarked!

BTW CC, have ya explained your soil-less mix? i.e. , whatcha have in it and the fertz that you use, ect??
that would be a super thread that iam sure lots of folks would benifit from...

i know my next "project" will have a few soil-less in there, with a little help from my friends :wink:

respect
S2L

Hello CC,
Thanks for sharing your drying method, I will have to give it a try on my next harvest and compare it to the line dry, bag sweat, and jar cure method I use. That's what's so great about places like this, the ability to share and try new ideas.

Nominated one of your pics for POTM, I checked the rules... you are eligible, and it is a picture worthy of the contest, so good luck!

Abby