Penultimate update, sans pics. I kind of lost interest in blogging about my grow, due to the fact that it was just making the time pass too slowly. Mainly, though, because my fucking camera just can't handle that HPS light anymore.
Here's what I've been up to:
I mostly used Advanced Nutrients' Sensi Bloom A+B, in addition to Super Plant Tonic and molasses. I also threw a bottle of Blue Mountain Organics' Flower Power in weeks 6 and 7 of flowering. For the final week I flushed with PH'd RO water for two days and for the next three days I flushed with Clearex. I stopped feeding them yesterday, and I decided to leave them in the dark for a full 48 hours prior to harvest. I'll be chopping them tomorrow morning.
Out of my five plants, I had to chop one a couple of days early because it was starting to dry out. I didn't think it could handle another day of light. The weather was ridiculously hot this week(102!). I harvested a good amount of tasty-looking nugz. They've been drying since yesterday. I placed them in a bowl that is now sitting in the grow box. They should be good to go in a few days, at that time I'll weigh them. I don't want to torture myself by seeing my wet weight shrink to 25%. I'm hoping to get something close to two ounces from the first one. We'll see how the others go. I'll be sure to post a few pics of the harvest now that I can use some regular lighting that my shit camera might be able to function under. I won't be doing another grow journal until I'm able to get a decent camera.
By the way, about a month ago I had three plants die on me. I ended up harvesting about a half ounce of dry bud. My guess is that it was only half as strong as the final product will be. Some of the buds were fat with orange hairs but they just weren't resined up at all. What I learned from that micro-harvest is that the benefits of slow drying and curing aren't the least bit exaggerated. They dried in about 4-5 days, but the extra two weeks of curing helped tremendously. Not only did the smoke get smoother, but better tasting and even better smelling. That certainly helped because the buds were loaded with fertilizer. I've had much worse, though and I really started to enjoy the shit after a while. The stone kept getting better and better like a green banana that's left alone to ripen.
I want to try and wait as long as possible before I start smoking my harvest. I'm sure that I'll be able get a nice cure for at least a few ounces. I predict that I'll be smoking some of the early harvest by Wednesday. My will is strong, but the flesh is weak.