Blackwater first indoor grow

[Fiddynut]

oh man, these look great!
good job

you could prob pick them a week from monday if you wanted
i know people who pick when they look like almost what is in your pictures, so in a week you should def be good
you could also pick the larger main colas first and leave the lower branches in an extra week or so to ripen up

lookin good!

Thanks pop_rocks! When comparing the pics from this morning with the ones from 5 days ago I can really see a difference in trichome coverage. I ordered a 60x scope and should have it in a couple days and I should have a better idea once I get a closer look. I've been loving these girls since May so it would be stupid of me to rush them at the end just because I was impatient.
I was thinking about harvesting tops first but I really need to dry in my flowering tent so I think I better just keep it simple and wait until there all done. That should give me some variety in finished product I think.
I'll be doing my first "in tent" watering on Monday night so that should be fun. I will post another update and some pics on Tuesday.

 

[pop_rocks]

yeah man, thats what i would do too
whats another week or so when you ahev come this far

i know we sometimes set time tables based on our schedule or what others recomend, but the only one who can really tell you when to pick is your plants
your extra patience will def pay off

plus you always have your early picked branch to smoke for your bday
/seriously, take the best part of that branch and give it a proper dry and a decent cure
smoke up the smaller buds while you wait but save the top for your day

 

[Fiddynut]

yeah man, thats what i would do too
whats another week or so when you ahev come this far

i know we sometimes set time tables based on our schedule or what others recomend, but the only one who can really tell you when to pick is your plants
your extra patience will def pay off

plus you always have your early picked branch to smoke for your bday
/seriously, take the best part of that branch and give it a proper dry and a decent cure
smoke up the smaller buds while you wait but save the top for your day

I am beginning to see that these plants don't really care about a schedule. The seed pack said 55-60 day flower and we are getting close to day 70. I suppose that they could be delayed due to stress and under feeding or maybe they are just on there own schedule. I will have a more powerful scope tomorrow and I'll evaluate them at that point.
It seems my dehumidifier has failed in the last day or so and my humidity has risen above 60%. I have to replace it after work tonight right away. I have heard about problems like PM and bud rot and I don't want anything to do with that. My soil is not drying as quick with the humidity so I will probably hold off watering for an extra day.
The branch that broke on Friday is drying nicely and looking good.

 

[pop_rocks]

i wouldent worry too much about 60%rh at flower, esp if its jsut for a short time
i live by the coast brother and 60%rh is just your avg day, here in paradise

one thing i do recomend is make sure there is plenty of air circulation
that helps move the stale air out and keep things fresh
also, pm thrives in cooler conditions so as long as your temps arent too low( or dropping too mcuh between light/ dark) i ithnk you should be ok for a few more weeks

yeah i usually add and extra week or so to whatever i see like that
there are a lot of factors that go into that number you see on the pack, maybe they are using more intense light or really pushing their plants with the feedings
ive heard fewer tops per plant will ripen faster...
who knows ( i ouwld like to find out more on this!)

but like you said the plant dosent care about anyones schedule but their own
its her dance buddy, we are just following along

 

[Fiddynut]

i wouldent worry too much about 60%rh at flower, esp if its jsut for a short time
i live by the coast brother and 60%rh is just your avg day, here in paradise

one thing i do recomend is make sure there is plenty of air circulation
that helps move the stale air out and keep things fresh
also, pm thrives in cooler conditions so as long as your temps arent too low( or dropping too mcuh between light/ dark) i ithnk you should be ok for a few more weeks

yeah i usually add and extra week or so to whatever i see like that
there are a lot of factors that go into that number you see on the pack, maybe they are using more intense light or really pushing their plants with the feedings
ive heard fewer tops per plant will ripen faster...
who knows ( i ouwld like to find out more on this!)

but like you said the plant dosent care about anyones schedule but their own
its her dance buddy, we are just following along

Good morning pop_rocks. Things are looking good. Got new dehuey last night and back in the good zone. Never below about 75 deg lights off and I have 100 + cfm air moving through tent at all times.
The bud that snapped off Friday night is dry and went into glass this am. It looks great but needs to develop scent. Going to give at least a few days before sample.

 

[Fiddynut]

Update and pics

Update and pics

Girls were thirsty this morning so they got water and budswel. They had gone an extra lights on cycle than normal without h2o and were getting a bit dry. I carefully moved one out of tent and left the other 2 in place. I gave them 2 cups less than I use to since I don't want to have to suck out runoff with a turkey baster. Buds are getting really heavy.
My new 60x scope came a day early and I got to play with that a bit. It is going to take some practice since it's hard to get focused and stay still enough to get a clear view. After looking at a few buds I'd estimate that the trichomes are about 50/50 clear/cloudy. Really nice to see in such detail. Definitely not ready yet but I feel I have the tools to tell when they are.
My old dehumidifier stopped working over the weekend and humidity was up to near 60% when I got home from work yesterday. I got a new one that is 2-3 times more powerful and it seems to be kicking ass. The new dehuey brought rh down from 60% to 41% overnight. Only down side is it makes more heat and I saw my highest lights on temps of grow this morning (83 deg). It's been hot and humid so I switched on air conditioning and my basement should be down to 75 or so by time I get home from work.
On a side note the bud that broke off Friday night is dry and ready for cure. 3 1/2 days is pretty quick dry but it was only one bud and I'm sure that they will dry slower when there are a bunch of them hanging. Going to give them a few days before sample. I had a bottom bud that I sniped and dried a couple weeks ago and I did sample that and it tasted good. I'm sure the rest will be better since it was a very immature bud and pickled very early.
Things are looking good and I'm super happy with the way things are going. Not much to do now but watch trichomes and get a trim table set up. Big thanks for everyone who has stopped by and especially pop_rocks for continued advise and wisdom. Another update in a couple days!

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

I got a couple more pics this morning. It's going to be tougher to get good pics now that they won't be moved out of tent. I use to put them in my veg tent with t5 lighting which made taking pictures easy but now I have to take them just before/after lights on/off and use flash. The buds are getting frosty even compared to last weeks pics.

[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=68515&pictureid=1642630&thumb=1]View Image[/url] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=68515&pictureid=1642629&thumb=1]View Image[/url] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=68515&pictureid=1642628&thumb=1]View Image[/url] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=68515&pictureid=1642627&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

Dude, that main cola is sick! Looks like she's pregnant!

Hope my first run looks half this good. Keep up the great growing!

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[Fiddynut]

Dude, that main cola is sick! Looks like she's pregnant!

Hope my first run looks half this good. Keep up the great growing!

Tri_Cho_Me

Thanks Tri_Cho_Me! I'm super happy with how they are looking. I've made plenty of rookie mistakes but these lady's just keep growin. All the info you need is right here on icmag. I spent a few months browsing the forums and gathering info/making a plan before starting and it looking like it's gonna pay off.

If I can do this than you certainly can do this or better. Get some good seeds, love them and keep them happy and in a few months they will reward you. Good luck and happy growing.

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Thanks Tri_Cho_Me! I'm super happy with how they are looking. I've made plenty of rookie mistakes but these lady's just keep growin. All the info you need is right here on icmag. I spent a few months browsing the forums and gathering info/making a plan before starting and it looking like it's gonna pay off.

If I can do this than you certainly can do this or better. Get some good seeds, love them and keep them happy and in a few months they will reward you. Good luck and happy growing.

I started a grow diary in the Grow Diaries section. Follow along!

 

[Fiddynut]

I started a grow diary in the Grow Diaries section. Follow along!

I'm in! Looking forward to seeing your grow start to finish. Don't worry so much about veg cabinet yet you won't need that until your first grow is close to finished. Pop some seeds and get some hands on experience.

 

[pop_rocks]

does the stem snap when bent?
3 1/2 days is pretty fast to dry
im usually see at least double that (i try for a good week to ten days dry)
is the rh in your drying area about teh same as in the grow (~4oish?)

these are looking great man!
they have really swelled up and are ripening really nice

i agree wiht cutting watering back and i actually stop watering the last week before i pick
i want to believe it encourages them to kick in that last bit of juice and it def helps them dry faster
does your 60x have ability to take shots or is it jsut a pocket microscope?
i remember the first time i saw a close up of a bud/ trics
spent the better part of the night zoned out exploring the foreign world in my hands, then i smoked it!

keep it up brother, you are doing great

 

[Fiddynut]

does the stem snap when bent?
3 1/2 days is pretty fast to dry
im usually see at least double that (i try for a good week to ten days dry)
is the rh in your drying area about teh same as in the grow (~4oish?)

these are looking great man!
they have really swelled up and are ripening really nice

i agree wiht cutting watering back and i actually stop watering the last week before i pick
i want to believe it encourages them to kick in that last bit of juice and it def helps them dry faster
does your 60x have ability to take shots or is it jsut a pocket microscope?
i remember the first time i saw a close up of a bud/ trics
spent the better part of the night zoned out exploring the foreign world in my hands, then i smoked it!

keep it up brother, you are doing great

The stem didn't exactly snap but they were pretty crispy and I spent all day at work worrying that I over dried them. I have a stem that came off two weeks ago that still doesn't snap today but just folds over so maybe something about this strain. When I got home and checked them I found them to be in great shape, not wet or soggy and not crispy either. To be honest I almost forgot to check them this morning and they were not looking anywhere near ready last night. I'm glad I didn't because they would have been over dry I think. They were in a 4x2 tent just the one branch with a 4" duct fan moving air and I'm sure that they will dry slower when there's a bunch drying. I also was testing the new dehuey so rh was below my normal 50%. I move a ton of air throughout the tent so only way to control rh and temp is to control in in my basement as a whole.

I like the tip about not watering at the end of grow. I have read some posts about that but it's nice to here from someone who is using that technique. Another thing I have read about is leaving the light off for 24 or so hours before harvest. Do you have any experience with that?
60x is just pocket scope. Maybe I'll get a laptop and USB scope someday but for now I'll have to practice holding really still and being steady with it. Your right it's a pretty cool close up and I could stair at them for a long time.
Thanks again pop_rocks. Time to check on the girls.

 

[pop_rocks]

yes, i turn the light off for 24h before harvest

im kind of on the fence about this one
in my outdoor days i always cut as early in the day as i could
the thinking goes that at night the plant loads up on terps and as the day progresses the glands dry out a bit
so you would want to harvest as early in teh dayas you could
/plus it was more stealth to get in early,when everyone else is asleep

its something i still do, turning off the lights the day before and giving the plants 24h of darkness
ive even left them in darkness for over the 24h when things come up and i just cant get to them in time
im not sure that it really changes anything but you know, old habits and all

that 60x scope sounds rad
say hi to the girls for me,brother!

 

[Fiddynut]

yes, i turn the light off for 24h before harvest

im kind of on the fence about this one
in my outdoor days i always cut as early in the day as i could
the thinking goes that at night the plant loads up on terps and as the day progresses the glands dry out a bit
so you would want to harvest as early in teh dayas you could
/plus it was more stealth to get in early,when everyone else is asleep

its something i still do, turning off the lights the day before and giving the plants 24h of darkness
ive even left them in darkness for over the 24h when things come up and i just cant get to them in time
im not sure that it really changes anything but you know, old habits and all

that 60x scope sounds rad
say hi to the girls for me,brother!

Good evening pop_rocks. I'm defiantly going to go ahead and give them a nice long night before harvest. Sounds like it can't hurt, and if it can contribute to better flavor it's worth doing. I guess once you have determined that they are done they don't need anymore light. I've been reading that it help in a lot of ways. Some say increased trichomes. Others say that the starches and stuff stay in the roots in the dark and it tastes best when cut before it sees light. Now you say possible increased terps and I'm in for sure.
Just said hi to the girls for ya. They are really getting fat last couple days. Going to have a nice look at the trichomes at lights out in the morning.

 

[pop_rocks]

yeah ,man
like you said, to the plant its just one long night

keep the fans/dehumidifier running tho
you want to keep the air moving, but as far as i can tell they can stay in teh dark for quite a while on thier own

so how dark are the glands looking through that 60x?
im tihnking if they were cloudy a few days ago, you should start to see some browner bulbs anything now

 

[Fiddynut]

yeah ,man
like you said, to the plant its just one long night

keep the fans/dehumidifier running tho
you want to keep the air moving, but as far as i can tell they can stay in teh dark for quite a while on thier own

so how dark are the glands looking through that 60x?
im tihnking if they were cloudy a few days ago, you should start to see some browner bulbs anything now

Cool pop_rocks. I have a separate fan for my filter and for my light so ventilation fan stays on 24/7 since plants went in tent in May. I also have a little fan inside to keep air moving around and it seems to work best when I have it just above soil blowing on middle part of the plants. Lots of air moving through tent the sides always bowed way in. I have humidity at 45% now but will probably let it come up to at least 50 or so to get a slower dry when I chop. I'm sure the bigger buds will dry slower so that will take some close watching and I'll take individual buds as there ready. The ones from last week are in jars and coming along. The ones from the top of branch were a little moist so I left the lid off for a couple hours last night and again this morning. I am going to estimate it Al least an 1/8th maybe close to 1/4 oz. when is harvest I will label each jar as plant 1,2 or 3 and top, middle and bottom so I can compare and see what my preference is.
I looked at trichomes just after lights off this morning and I'm seeing more cloudy than a couple days ago but have not spotted an amber yet except on the brown pistils. I'm going to wait until I see a few amber mixed in then go for it. Might be better to do first trim mid week so I can have the weekend for secondary trim and starting cure.
It's getting close and I'm really excited to learn about this final part of growing. I'm also pretty excited to get the tent cleaned and get my next batch started. I have some Larry OG fem seeds and can't wait to get going on them.
Almost there pop_rocks! Thanks a ton for keeping me on track and all the wisdom you are sharing!

 

[Fiddynut]

Smoke report

Smoke report

I decided to hold off watering until tonight so there will be an update and pics either tonight or tomorrow morning.
One week ago I was moving my #1 plant and a lower branch snapped off so I trimmed and dried it. About 3 1/2 days later the buds were getting crispy so I did a secondary trim and cut the buds off the stem. They went into glass and have been opened for a few min a couple times a day. That branch had just over 2.6 grams of lower buds on it and a small cola that I didn't weigh out yet but must weigh twice as much as the few lower buds. I'll estimate it at about 5 grams for a total of over 7 g. Not bad for a little branch. This plant has 11 more of those branches, many of which are bigger, plus all the buds on the main stem including a softball sized main cola.

Last night I decided to sample one of those bottom buds and was happy with the results. The scent has a way to go it smells pretty green and sweet with a touch of skunk. Only a 2 day cure so expecting scent to improve with time. The buds are very sticky and pretty dense. Defenatly more on the dense side than the airy side. I cleaned a bong so I could get a good idea of taste and was pleasantly surprised. Flavor was skunk/fuel/pine/lemon. Tasted way better than it smelled. I hadn't smoked in over 10 hours so I was also able to evaluate the buzz a bit. It got me really high. I had a pretty cerebral buzz that was fairly energetic. I am really looking forward to testing some buds that are mature and higher up on the plant. Should be very nice. My bro showed up with some new stuff he just got, I think a WW cross, and we smoked some of each. Both of us thought that the home grow was better than the stuff he brought. Needless to say I'm super happy with the quality and if scent improves a but I'll be stoked. I'll post some pics of the buds this evening.

 

[Fiddynut]

Pics

Pics

Here are pics of the buds I got off of the branch that broke off a week ago. I weighed out the top part at 4.9g and the lowers weighed 2.6g.

 

[pop_rocks]

yeah man!
that looks dank!

glad to hear you got a puff of your own grow and are happy!
to me there is a feeling of pride and accomplishment that comes wiht smoking weed you grew yourself
the fact that it is good is just extra gravy
what you smoked at this stage, it will only improve in flavor and potency
its still very green
as it dries/cures it will loose that and the other flavors will come to teh front and the smell should develope more
plsu the high changes some

this is actually where you can have fun and experiment
like x-days drying then to the jar
or y-days drying then to the jar
have fun and take notes
this makes a big difference in both the look and teh flavor of the final product

also, this is a good time to break out that 60x scope you got and have another look at your bud
you can see all sides and evaluate the plant much more closely
make mental notes or even write them down
compare them to your impressions of what you thought while the plant was still growing

doing a great job there man!
pass the pipe this way!!

 

[Fiddynut]

yeah man!
that looks dank!

glad to hear you got a puff of your own grow and are happy!
to me there is a feeling of pride and accomplishment that comes wiht smoking weed you grew yourself
the fact that it is good is just extra gravy
what you smoked at this stage, it will only improve in flavor and potency
its still very green
as it dries/cures it will loose that and the other flavors will come to teh front and the smell should develope more
plsu the high changes some

this is actually where you can have fun and experiment
like x-days drying then to the jar
or y-days drying then to the jar
have fun and take notes
this makes a big difference in both the look and teh flavor of the final product

also, this is a good time to break out that 60x scope you got and have another look at your bud
you can see all sides and evaluate the plant much more closely
make mental notes or even write them down
compare them to your impressions of what you thought while the plant was still growing

doing a great job there man!
pass the pipe this way!!

Yep pop_rocks, I'm grinning from ear to ear. This is so cool and such a long time coming I love it. As I mentioned in an earlier post I have been puffing 30 years and I grew up around my patients and aunts and uncles smoking all my life. I have come close to starting a grow several times over the last 10 or so years. You said it perfectly "feeling of pride and accomplishment". And these are the very bottom buds I've tried and immature at that but they are great. I've had plenty of great buds over the years, particularly when I lived in the sf Bay Area in the late 90's and early 2000's, so I'm not comparing this to some ditch weed crap or something (I did smoke a lot of really shitty weed in the 80's cus that's all we could get here). So stoked that it will only get better and if scent comes around that be great.
Looking forward to experimenting with the harvest and comparing the cured buds from the different plants and different parts of the plant. Going to try some different things during harvest and keep good notes so I can tell which is which after cure. I'll have a look at the dried under the scope tonight in a little bit. I have to water and have a close look at the girls in a few minutes and I'll post an update in the morning. I'm hoping to see cloudy trichomes and even an amber or two if I'm lucky. I'll say hi to the lady's for ya. Pipe is headed your way!