First Grow: Are My Girls Looking, Okay?

[manditroy]

No worries...ask away!
I vegged them for 8 weeks and they were around 19inches I think when I switched them over to 12/12. I had a small fan on them the last half of veg, but I don't know if that helped them get a thicker stem or just gave some good air circulation. I can't really recall for sure, but I think they bulked up during the initial stretch/growth spurt of flower. If you don't have height limitations, you can wait as long as you want to switch yours over. Usually, they'll double or more in height from when you change them, so allow for your lighting space requirements and then figure out how much grow room you have for the final height. If you've got 3 feet to work with, you don't want to risk running out of room by letting them get too tall in veg. Mine almost doubled, but not quite...they're 35 inches. The single cola one is the cloned top of the double cola plant, so it was a bit shorter going into flower - it caught up, since the double cola was having to send up two shoots versus its one. I have them in 2.5 gallon buckets that I got at a dollar store (drill a few drain holes and you have a really cheap but sturdy pot). They're tied to a fiberglass fence rod, but that's to support the weight of the colas as the buds are quite heavy now and they like to lean and sway too close to the lights. I don't think they'd actually fall over, but I don't want them to lean into the lights when I'm not there to save them from burns. Then only burn I want on my buds is the one I'm gonna put to them myself! -Mandi

Your plant looks so strong. How did you get the stem to look so healthy and strong? Did that happen before you flowered or after? I am wondering how long I should wait before letting mine flower. I think If I flowered now my plant may fall over. lol.

what size pots are they in? did you say 2.5 gallon? How tall is that plant?

Sorry for all the questions, I am a newb.

 

[medicalmaryjane]

wow, my plant is already over 19 inches. I just measured and it is 24 inches. I am worried she will get too tall but I will flower her outside on my balcony so height shouldnt be a problem. I definitely need to get a fence rod and fasteners. I have mine in a 3 gallon pot from home depot, they were only 3 dollars I think. I hope mine turn out similar to yours. I don't know anything about the cola thing, since this is my first time I am just going to hope for one and keep it simple. I am going to trim some clones tomorrow, I can play a bit more with those. I wanted to wait until the sun is a bit stronger here before flowering. I think if I give it another month or 2 I will be getting stronger sun for a longer period of time on the balcony. That's why I want to wait a little while. Otherwise I would flower now but the sun isn't very strong.

 

[manditroy]

Wow...another month or two and that plant is going to be a monster. Can you handle something over 6 feet tall, as that is likely what it will reach in flower if you veg it for another month or more. When you flower it, you need it to have at least 12 hours of total darkness anyway, so the longer sun time is not what you want. The longer you wait to flower, the closer to Spring (and longer daylight hours) you will be, so you're fighting the needs of the flowering plant. Keep that in mind when deciding...

Also, the 'cola' is the main branch or stem. If you 'top' a plant, you can get it to produce multiple colas - which is why I have a plant with two colas. I am vegging some that I topped to get 4 main colas. Topping will keep a plant shorter and bushier, and often increase yields by a significant amount. Here is a link to Uncle Bens thread on topping. He really knows his stuff, so maybe you'd want to keep it in mind for your next grow. -Mandi

https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/151706-uncle-bens-topping-technique-get.html

wow, my plant is already over 19 inches. I just measured and it is 24 inches. I am worried she will get too tall but I will flower her outside on my balcony so height shouldnt be a problem. I definitely need to get a fence rod and fasteners. I have mine in a 3 gallon pot from home depot, they were only 3 dollars I think. I hope mine turn out similar to yours. I don't know anything about the cola thing, since this is my first time I am just going to hope for one and keep it simple. I am going to trim some clones tomorrow, I can play a bit more with those. I wanted to wait until the sun is a bit stronger here before flowering. I think if I give it another month or 2 I will be getting stronger sun for a longer period of time on the balcony. That's why I want to wait a little while. Otherwise I would flower now but the sun isn't very strong.

 

[medicalmaryjane]

I think I better let her flower as she seems to want to. I am just worried she's skinny and not leafy. Does it matter? I am going to get some stuff at home depot or the hydro shop for cloning today. I am at the dealership now getting my car looked at. It is under warranty so I figured I might as well come here. The light isn't even on anymore. 6ft would be difficult to manage. I am only 5'3 lol. Plus it may draw attention t omy place and I don't want my neighbors stealing. oh and I would LOVE to trim the top but since this is my first, I am too scared. I will have to try with one of my clones

 

[CHIEF PUFF PUFF]

Hey Manditroy are your Blue Mystic regular seeds or autos?

 

[manditroy]

They're regular seeds from Nirvana.

Hey Manditroy are your Blue Mystic regular seeds or autos?

 

[manditroy]

Baby Mystic is 5 weeks old today Chief! Think I'm gonna put her (?) into flower with the other two next week when they hit 6 weeks veg. I'm getting a bit anxious to find out if I have some girls this time around, as the first try were so many boys. I clipped the main colas on my AKs today at 8 weeks flower. They looked to be half brown hairs and as I got quite a high from the test bud I'd cut a full week earlier, I was afraid to let them go too long and end up with mostly couchlock weed. I've got the bottom half of the plants still working on their buds, and they are building some pretty nice fat little colas about 4-6 inches long. The 3 big main colas gave a total 281grams of trimmed weight, but I know I'm going to lose plenty of that in moisture loss during drying and curing. The largest was 18inches long, and the other two about 14inches. I have them hanging to dry now, and I'm reading about different methods. How much time do you usually dry/cure yours? -Mandi

 

[bekindbud]

Baby Mystic is 5 weeks old today Chief! Think I'm gonna put her (?) into flower with the other two next week when they hit 6 weeks veg. I'm getting a bit anxious to find out if I have some girls this time around, as the first try were so many boys. I clipped the main colas on my AKs today at 8 weeks flower. They looked to be half brown hairs and as I got quite a high from the test bud I'd cut a full week earlier, I was afraid to let them go too long and end up with mostly couchlock weed. I've got the bottom half of the plants still working on their buds, and they are building some pretty nice fat little colas about 4-6 inches long. The 3 big main colas gave a total 281grams of trimmed weight, but I know I'm going to lose plenty of that in moisture loss during drying and curing. The largest was 18inches long, and the other two about 14inches. I have them hanging to dry now, and I'm reading about different methods. How much time do you usually dry/cure yours? -Mandi

View attachment 1407930 View attachment 1407929

Have you been checking the Trichs on them with a scope? Did you just chop the main colas of all? Looks huge, very nice Mandi.

 

[manditroy]

Yes BKB, I did check them with a scope...and cut just the three main colas. They totaled 281 grams trimmed wet weight. I've kept the bottom half of both plants so that the other colas and smaller buds can have some more time to mature and fatten up. This morning, I found one 6inch cola was heavy enough that it had flopped over - luckily it was close enough to the wall that it was stopped from falling far enough to damage the stem. I've got about ten similar colas on each plant, so there is still some decent bud left to be harvested. -Mandi

Have you been checking the Trichs on them with a scope? Did you just chop the main colas of all? Looks huge, very nice Mandi.

 

[bekindbud]

Yes BKB, I did check them with a scope...and cut just the three main colas. They totaled 281 grams trimmed wet weight. I've kept the bottom half of both plants so that the other colas and smaller buds can have some more time to mature and fatten up. This morning, I found one 6inch cola was heavy enough that it had flopped over - luckily it was close enough to the wall that it was stopped from falling far enough to damage the stem. I've got about ten similar colas on each plant, so there is still some decent bud left to be harvested. -Mandi

Nice, I hope you can get some better pics of those colas you chopped. Cant wait to hear a full smoke report on your girls. Good work bro.

BKB

 

[manditroy]

I don't know if I will bother with more pics of the colas, as they have now been drying for almost three days and don't look as fat and sexy as they did at harvest. I don't see much in the way of 'dried' bud porn, it's all the plump sticky buds...

So, am I the only one who gets a little bummed out watching their nice, chubby colas dry and shrink up to a fraction of theiry original harvest size? Of course, I'm glad to know that means I will be smoking it sooner, but it's still disheartening to see it losing so much weight on the scale. I'm already down to half the starting grams when wet. -Mandi

 

[manditroy]

Wow are they giving off some serious stink while drying! They didn't smell this much even near the end of flowering. They've been hanging for almost four days now, and they're looking a lot smaller and drier. Should I put them in a paper bag yet, or wait until they hang a little longer? I have a 2 quart size mason jar for curing, but I'll have to cut the colas down more for them to fit, as they are 14-18inches long right now. I had nearly 10ozs wet weight from the three main colas, but it was down to 4.5 as of the last weight check (damn, lol). -Mandi

 

[bekindbud]

Wow are they giving off some serious stink while drying! They didn't smell this much even near the end of flowering. They've been hanging for almost four days now, and they're looking a lot smaller and drier. Should I put them in a paper bag yet, or wait until they hang a little longer? I have a 2 quart size mason jar for curing, but I'll have to cut the colas down more for them to fit, as they are 14-18inches long right now. I had nearly 10ozs wet weight from the three main colas, but it was down to 4.5 as of the last weight check (damn, lol). -Mandi

Thats fine that they shrink up, also the smell will get stronger as you cure with more time. Its your grow and you should be happy you got to harvest something nice like that. I am sure the smoke might kick your ass, give it time and learn from this grow so that you can grow even better next run. Keep your bowl loaded with that nice bud you grew. Post pics and be proud.

BKB

 

[manditroy]

Thats fine that they shrink up, also the smell will get stronger as you cure with more time. Its your grow and you should be happy you got to harvest something nice like that. I am sure the smoke might kick your ass, give it time and learn from this grow so that you can grow even better next run. Keep your bowl loaded with that nice bud you grew. Post pics and be proud.

BKB

They're down to 2.6ozs already, but I hope they're almost done shrinking because they seem fairly dry now. I put them in a paper bag to see if there is still moisture to draw out from the inisde. I'm hoping the rest of the plants will end up giving at least another 2ozs dried. There are still a decent amount of colas on them and some are getting a bit heavy and falling over. They're probably going to be chopped at the end of the week, as it will be the end of their 9th week and they're looking about done. I'm quite happy to be able to smoke my own crop, and I have a couple friends that are anxious to try it out too... I've also got the next grow well on its way. The babies will be six weeks into veg at the end of the week and I plan to move them into the flower closet as soon as the ladies are completely harvested. They've been topped for 4 colas and their tops have already been rooted as well, so I hope I have at least a couple girls. Would really like my Blue Mystic to be female this time - Chief says its a great strain, and I want to give it a test (maybe cross it with the AK48 since I have pollen saved up too). -Mandi

 

[CHIEF PUFF PUFF]

Manditroy, that's a fine harvest of 2 oz just from the colas! You lose 2/3 of the wet weight when it dries, so 2-3 ounces sounds correct. Just think, you got 2 oz of some AK-48 with 3-4 more ounces waiting to be harvest! I love Blue Mystic, the smoke is the best I had so far. I can't wait to sample my own Master Kush I've dried my BMs like you are doing, I hung them for 4-5 days then put them in brown paper bags for 2. I then cut the buds and put them in mason jars for curing. Congratulations on the harvest!!

 

[CHIEF PUFF PUFF]

Oh yes they stink so good I would put them in the paper bags now for 2 days then cut them and put them in jars for curing!

Wow are they giving off some serious stink while drying! They didn't smell this much even near the end of flowering. They've been hanging for almost four days now, and they're looking a lot smaller and drier. Should I put them in a paper bag yet, or wait until they hang a little longer? I have a 2 quart size mason jar for curing, but I'll have to cut the colas down more for them to fit, as they are 14-18inches long right now. I had nearly 10ozs wet weight from the three main colas, but it was down to 4.5 as of the last weight check (damn, lol). -Mandi

 

[manditroy]

Yes Chief, I already cut them from the stem and put them in a 2qt. mason jar. After trimming, they were exactly 2ozs. I'm definitely going to chop the rest of those smaller colas tomorrow - should I do the popcorn buds on the very bottom, or do you think it would be worthwhile to give them more time? I have three small buds that I've pollinated right on the lowest branches, and I don't know if the seeds are mature yet or not. Do I need to wait until they actually pop out of the seed pods, or will that happen when they start to dry after cutting? Would be cool to have some spare AK48 seeds that I produced myself... -Mandi

Oh yes they stink so good I would put them in the paper bags now for 2 days then cut them and put them in jars for curing!

(2 quart jar)

 

[manditroy]

I've saved my AK48 trimmings to try the 'ice hash' recipe later. The stems left over from the main colas seemed a tad sticky in places...should I save them for the hash? Is it likely they've got enough on them to bother with? Only the smallest leaves with obvious resin are worth saving, right? The large fans are useless? I don't want to toss anything with value... -Mandi

 

[CHIEF PUFF PUFF]

The popcorn buds could go a little longer or you can use them for the hash. It all depend on what you prefer. I used the stems too if resin is on them. I used only the leaves with resin on them. When I harvest, I get rid of the big fan leaves first, then I keep the medium to small leaves along with the stems too.

I've saved my AK48 trimmings to try the 'ice hash' recipe later. The stems left over from the main colas seemed a tad sticky in places...should I save them for the hash? Is it likely they've got enough on them to bother with? Only the smallest leaves with obvious resin are worth saving, right? The large fans are useless? I don't want to toss anything with value... -Mandi

 

[CHIEF PUFF PUFF]

It's my understanding that once you harvest your plant, the pods should be open and you can just shake your plant and the seeds will fall out. Put a towel down so you can get all you seeds. Then leave the seeds out to harden for 2-4 weeks. Once the seeds are harden and dry, they are ready for use. Check out this thread:https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/20319-seed-production-tutorial.html

Yes Chief, I already cut them from the stem and put them in a 2qt. mason jar. After trimming, they were exactly 2ozs. I'm definitely going to chop the rest of those smaller colas tomorrow - should I do the popcorn buds on the very bottom, or do you think it would be worthwhile to give them more time? I have three small buds that I've pollinated right on the lowest branches, and I don't know if the seeds are mature yet or not. Do I need to wait until they actually pop out of the seed pods, or will that happen when they start to dry after cutting? Would be cool to have some spare AK48 seeds that I produced myself... -Mandi



View attachment 1417813 View attachment 1417812 (2 quart jar)