Week 16 – Harvest
Today, March 18th, I decided to harvest after getting advice from several people.
It turned out to be quite a job just getting the plant out of the tent. Removing the trellis net without cutting it apart was more difficult than expected, but in the end I managed to free the plant intact.
After that, I trimmed away everything that wasn’t covered in trichomes. The plan is to use all the sugar leaves and popcorn buds later for edibles, so nothing goes to waste.
Next step was taking down the light. I had it zip-tied up, so I had to cut it loose before continuing. Then came the actual harvest cut — I cut the plant at the base. That took a bit of effort, as my pruning shears couldn’t quite get around the thickness of the stem.
Once cut, I decided to hang the whole plant intact. My humidity in the tent is relatively low, so this should help slow down the drying process and preserve terpenes better.
Seeing the plant from all angles for the first time gave me a different impression — it actually looks like a larger yield than I initially expected. Up until now, the plant has been locked into the trellis, so I’ve only really been able to view it from one angle.
Detaching the net pot from the root mass was another small challenge, but eventually I got it done.
Now the plant is hanging, and I’ve set up good airflow in the tent. We’ll see what the final yield looks like in about a week.
I will be honest and say the result (though I don't know yield) is not what I had hoped for. The trichome development seemed to stall, and I couldn't get the amount of milky ones that I wanted. I think two things came into play: first of all I had the accident later January. Second of all, the plant seemed to struggle at the end. I think it's because I use very hard tap water, and the large quantity of calcium locked out magnesium uptake. Added calmag had no effect (since that's also adding calcium). I can't be certain at the end of the day, but I've bought a RO system for my next grow.
Finally, I found a small bud hanging limply from a branch. It was totally dry and must have hung there for a while. Of course I grinded it up and made a small joint, and it got me nice and baked. So it's looking promising!
After dry:
About 6 days dry time. 70g of a plant is not bad. It's more than double of what I got from the last plant. So in that way the grow has been a success. I got more than I expected, but it's all a bit larfy, sadly. Vaped some and got super high, so no complaints. Smoke was a bit harsh, so gonna let it cure some more before I start smoking it. The high is more cerebral than I usually prefer. It doesn't get you couch locked. Just gets you nice and relaxed with a high that goes more to your head than in your body.
It has a strong smell of berries that have been cooked. Very sweet and almost like caramel. Underlying is the diesel smell.