I have done around 5 or more indoor harvests roughly 10 Years ago but this is my first outdoor grow and first time growing in 10 years So I’m definitely a beginner and rusty as shit trying to relearn and research some of things I forgot. Way back then I used this site to post and get tips but lost the account who knows when but wish I could see what I posted, might be kinda funny or sad depending on what I thought was good at that time haha.
With it being legal in my Northeast state I decided to put two clones outdoors back in early June. I was told they were lemon cookie hybrid? The plants are starting to flower and I’ve read that during this time mold is at high risk and they should be covered during rain. What do people do during this time to cover? Tarp or like a porch umbrella? Or is this overkill and not needed?
Also read about people cutting away the fan leaves during this time. I get the logic of doing this but everything in me says that’s not a good idea and that the fan leaves are responsible for energy. Am I wrong here, is that a normal process or is this typically saved for a few weeks before harvest?
lastly I’m concerned with harvest. I know my plants are probably 6+ weeks away but I do not know where to dry. I have sheds, seems like a really bad idea, garage maybe would work but I foresee it not going well for some reason. Basement is available but my wife does not want the smell. Totally cool with growing and smoking but just doesn’t want guest over with the house smelling as strongly as it will. I do have a small green house I could hang in but wouldn’t it be hard to control the temp and humidity in there? Paper bags in the basement? Would that help control some of the smell?
Thank for any input
Congrats on getting back into growing……I’m kinda in the same boat. I grew only outdoor many years ago, decided to start growing indoors just a couple yrs ago, and recently fired up my first outdoor plants in over 20 years.
You’ve gotten some excellent advice so far and I don’t have much to add. As u probably know, the dry and cure can make or break a grow.
IMO keeping a fairly steady temp is crucial to the dry.
My last harvest was a couple of tiny autos that I was messing around with while vegging some photos. I quickly figured out that middle of summer in the SE (US) was not an ideal place to find or create the best conditions for drying.
I shoot for 60F and 60% rh……but I couldn’t get any space below 69-70F no matter how hard I tried. Dialing in the 60% rh was no problem, using one inexpensive humidifier.
Anyway, based on the smallish size of the plants, what should have taken around 11-12 days only took 8-9.
They still turned out ok, just finished a month cure, and are smooth as silk….the nose suffered a little though. One strain is still super strong but the other lost a notch……but no grassy/hay smell, which is totally unacceptable.
So put some thought into where you can hang and have the coolest temps (down to 55F) along with the least amount of fluctuation…..ideally less than 5F degrees. You can generally pump in more humidity so that’s usually less of a hurdle for me.
One more thing, I would follow the advice given and take a few leaves out of the middle of the plant. I will leave all the big fans on the edges and even the ones lower down. They don’t block anything and can really fortify a plant’s internal reserves as time passes.
I’ve always had the best all around bud development when they have a bit of space to themselves. Thick bushy plants seem to be the gold standard and are what I shoot for….but allowing each branch of bud sites to breathe and grow freely results in a nicer finished product….IMHO that is.
Good luck and these last few weeks are exciting as hell…..what a great hobby.
