After 10 long weeks of flowering my blue dream plant under a 400 watt light she has finally been dethroned from her pot.
it took 8 and a half to 9 weeks of flowering before around 85% of the trichomes were milky white so i began my flush. after a few pure waterings my fan leaves were yellowing as the plant absorbed the last bit of nitrogen and other nutrients that it had stored in them. During these final 2 weeks i kept the humidity low at 45-50% using a heater to boost trichome production but also a fan was blowing air from the outside to keep the temps below 70 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) when the lights were on and i dropped to the low 60's (17 degrees Celsius) during night cycles to bring out more colors as after a lot of research I've read these to be the ideal conditions to do so however i have little actual experience since this is technically my first ever grow.
Once i noticed the leaves were almost totally yellow i knew my flush was working and i trimmed them off so that the plant would look to burn up any remaining nitrogen or nutrients it may have stored the stems or sugar leaves closer to the buds so that i could be sure to have a clean smoke as well as save me time in the trim later on. Following this yellow fan leaf trim i gave her one last watering during her dark cycle, as i heard the plants will store nutrients in their roots in the night cycle and they uptake them again when light hits the plant to begin photosynthesis so i did this in complete darkness so my idea was to give it one last flush while in dark to try and clear out anything that the prior flushes might have missed. Yes it was a bit uncomfortable especially with my impatient nature it was hard to sit in the dark and wait for the water to soak into the pot in between each pour. I also had to feel for the stem to even find the plant as i had the room in complete darkness before i opened the grow chamber door and I'm not sure if this is even an effective technique as i'm implemented it on my own based on that research. The way i figure after all that time growing it i want to do all i can to ensure a cleanest tastiest smoke possible. After that i let the soil reach the point when i would be a day from watering and then at the end of that light cycle i turned off the timer for my light to give the plant 24 hours of darkness before harvesting as i heard this increases trichome production as a last ditch effort to protect the plant as i read they actually create the trichomes we know and love as a way to protect the plant from harm so theres a weird sense of irony in our love for setting them on fire.
i kept the temps low 60's (17 degrees Celsius) and the humidity around 50% or bit lower for her final night, which pissed off my girlfriend a bit that night since its adjoined to my room but if she made me choose between her or mother nature she already knows what my decision would be so she didn't complain much. However, I might give her this bouquet to make up for it...
I enlisted the same darkness technique as i did when i watered during the night cycle flush, i made my room completely dark before opening the chamber so dark i couldn't even see the back of my hand, i felt for the stem and cut it off while in the dark to prevent the plant from uptaking any nutrients it may have stored in its roots. I had a string prepared to hang the plant upside down right away while i got to cleaning my grow chamber with a hydrogen peroxide solution to kill any bacteria in there before i did a light trim and hung the plant to dry. After clean up i began to cut the plant down to more manageable branches even though my intent was to hang the plant whole, the branches seemed to want to collide with each other when i hung her upside down and it didn't seem like a good idea to have that much moisture concentrated. I took some pics here when i got my wet weight of all the branches.
As you can see in the final photo of them hanging i decided to go with a wet trim for better show and to try to deter any leafy straw smell or taste from harming the pungent aroma shes putting out. Some growers swear by a dry trim but other the opposite and i feel as long as the humidity and temperature is kept within the ideal range i shouldn't have any problems and be left with a superior looking and tasting product. Again this is from research and not experience so ill have to find out how it all turns. ill give an update with the drying and curing process once shes ready to be smoked.
My total wet weight of the 8 branches not including the main stalk was 616 grams, from what ive read im guestimating to get 1/4th 1/3rd of the wet weight in dry weight so im hoping for anywhere between 5-8 ounces. does anyone have a better idea on estimating wet weight from dry weight? if so please let me know!
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