First Grow, Is It Chop Time?

First grow, caregiver and patient, OG Kush (unknown origins for cutting) DAY 57.


Some fan leaves yellowing on top, some fox-tailing going on, mostly orange, might even be a few amber trichomes in the last pic but they are the only ones I've seen so far.. Should I start cutting, wait, cut over the course of a few days or over the course of lots of days (say10-15), other?
Earlier pics Here

Nice looking grow mate, buds are looking lovely!!
I would wait a few more days yet though, buy a jewellers loupe so you can see the trichomes properly

yea i still see a lot of clear trichs definitely wait a little longer and like @Bushbaby11 said get a jewlers loupe. It's looking like some fire though

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Those are some beautiful buds XG! Unbelievable trichome growth & great pics.

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Bushbaby11 said:

Nice looking grow mate, buds are looking lovely!!
I would wait a few more days yet though, buy a jewelers loupe so you can see the trichomes properly

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Thanks! I'm worried that by the time a loupe gets here it'll be too late at this point, I should have gotten one earlier. I think if i get out a tripod and use the zoom I can get closer and better lit trichome shots with the camera I'm using, I'll try that here in a few hours after lights come on.

Kap’N’Kush said:

yea i still see a lot of clear trichs definitely wait a little longer and like @Bushbaby11 said get a jewelers loupe. It's looking like some fire though

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I saw most clear too as far as I could tell, a little bit of camera shake goes a long ways to making them look cloudy. Hoping the tripod helps that a bit. Will buy that loupe asap. I knocked off an under bud about a week ago and tossed it in a jar with shake and scraps, smoked it the other day, tasted definitely a bit green but was a smooth tasty maybe spicy and as effective as the headband I can get, by no means though was it really very impressive, I'm hoping the tops have some extra punch and less meh. Thanks, but I'm still hoping against my luck that it doesn't end up prettier in these pictures than it is as smoke, I've still got to figure out being a first timer curing it as well.

Hobbes said:

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Those are some beautiful buds XG! Unbelievable trichome growth & great pics.

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Thank you! I'll only believe their look when I smoke a bunch of finished ones though, I'm hoping the trichomes are on board with that plan. It is not easy to wait. My DSLR photography class teacher from 20 years ago should get most of the credit for the photos for being both strict and knowledgeable.

I'm looking forward (while staying focused on this first harvest all my waking hours) to trying to flower a variety of other strains in a month or two; I have plenty more of this OG Kush ready to come out of veg slots asap... and some just rooted clones headed to flower to sex test seedlings.

Edit: These loupes any good?

XtraGood said:

I've still got to figure out being a first timer curing it as well.

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i dont know how you plan to cure them but have you thought about getting some of those boveda 62% humidity packs i hear they work really good im gonna try them out

Kap’N’Kush said:

i dont know how you plan to cure them but have you thought about getting some of those boveda 62% humidity packs i hear they work really good im gonna try them out

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There's more than a few of them to cure and I'm looking at more in the future at regular intervals so I am thinking cure room or at least large closet. Currently trying to fight one of these AC's into submission then I'm piping it through a wall then adding dehu and pond fogger w/ top off both on inkbird controller. I want it running for a couple days before anything goes in and time is getting short. Trying to slow cure 2-3 weeks targeting about 62F and 55->60%RH. I have some of the packs and a bunch of jars, never done curing with them though.

Edit: the fight ran long, maybe tomorrow

I am still fighting this curing room, I think I'll be able to get it to sit in the zone or at least I hope so! Need to get a few last things taped up then testing today. Might do a few early cuts tomorrow, there are a few amber in the pictures but not a ton. The pictures get compressed a bit I think, at least I can see them a bit better from the hard-drive than on RIU.






I saw a trichome taking in purple pigment with a cool swirl in it while sorting pictures late last night, it had nice focus too. I didn't mark it, and trying to find it again is more difficult than where's waldo.

Really hoping this first harvest works out, any advice is welcome.

I am trying to plot out this cure. I need advice for hangers/clips to look at buying. I've got a few circular hanging screen shelves for smaller bits and some office clips and other make shift hangers but need more.

The room will do 64-66F and 60-55RH (adjustable in +/-5RH increments, might need a second inkbird to get finer control or push more humidity against the dehu) steadily on a day with widely variable weather and I left some leaks just to let it move in some air, AC exhaust gets filtered on its way out. I'll probably load up a wire shelf or few with hangers and office clips. I am still reading about curing:





Thinking about chopping a few tonight but will probably be still watching the Ecowitt display and thinking about it when tomorrow's wrapping up.

If I start with just a few branches should I hang them inside paper bags, not just off a shelf in the cure room? Any idea about the best way to use the room both when I just get a few in there (besides just stick them in there, that's my plan!)?

I say 10 days ... beautiful girls btw. They are definitely bulking and that’s why say 10 days.

Budzbuddha said:

I say 10 days ... beautiful girls btw. They are definitely bulking and that’s why say 10 days.

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Cool that'll give the cure room time to balance out a bit better and then some. The plants and RIU information sharing did most of the work, I just try not to screw up.

I've read a lot about needing to wait for the last bulk up but not much of anything about when that happens relative to other harvest timing plant events. I like to know it is happening now before there are lots of amber trichomes on them, I was thinking it had already happened. I hadn't read anywhere, so bulk up is usually ~10 days after mostly orange pistils/stigmas or mostly cloudy trichomes or how do you tell they are bulking(the camera angle change between shots hurts my brain trying to spacial estimate them)?

I was thinking of harvesting over the course of a week and I'm not really looking to make all/mostly sleep medicine if that changes the timing recommendations.

In the end ... you are one pulling trigger , look over multiple tops , then judge.
Many growers harvest in “ stages “ ... chopping the most ready , then letting lowers “ finish out “.

GL ... keep us posted.

Will do, thanks for the help!

I don't really trust this curing room I put together with Inkbirds but its getting to the correct temperature and humidity ranges, I am a bit worried I need another relay to run the ac without overloading the Inkbird 10 amp temp controller but its working for now. I also don't trust myself to make wise curing decisions. I want to test it out by putting a few early/test cuts in there, maybe also hanging in a loosely closed cardboard box to slow drying a bit if that's a good idea? It's 62F and 60RH and I can control it in small increments pretty well now.

you did a pretty good job for your first grow. You could probably let it go another week but I don't think you will regret it if you had to chop it sooner.

I am still fighting my cure room into shape, more pond foggers will hopefully up the humidity so that I do not have to load it all at once, I was going to rely on cardboard boxes and paper bags if it is not humid enough in the open air.

Still seeing mostly clear some cloudy and a few amber, some parts look less ready than others to my untrained eyes. They do seem to be bulking up more than fox tailing over the last few days!:


I also watched this video and am now interested in this sort of bucket system to use after having harvest and about 5 days in the cure room, I have most of the parts sitting around here.:

I would like to start an 8 day harvest, so that I can get some idea of the effects spectrum based on ripeness, some time over the next few days, not today maybe not tomorrow, the curing room and process will not get worse from another day of work on them. Might leave one of the four plants, or half a plant, to run an extra week or two...but that's a big might. I think I might need a second room...

XtraGood said:

I am still fighting my cure room into shape, more pond foggers will hopefully up the humidity so that I do not have to load it all at once, I was going to rely on cardboard boxes and paper bags if it is not humid enough in the open air.

Still seeing mostly clear some cloudy and a few amber, some parts look less ready than others to my untrained eyes. They do seem to be bulking up more than fox tailing over the last few days!:
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I also watched this video and am now interested in this sort of bucket system to use after having harvest and about 5 days in the cure room, I have most of the parts sitting around here.:

I would like to start an 8 day harvest, so that I can get some idea of the effects spectrum based on ripeness, some time over the next few days, not today maybe not tomorrow, the curing room and process will not get worse from another day of work on them. Might leave one of the four plants, or half a plant, to run an extra week or two...but that's a big might. I think I might need a second room...

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lolol seems like the dude in the vid would fuck the plants or you when u feel asleep

Drying room..I guess it'll be more of a drying room, as long as it doesn't dry too quickly that sounds more correct. And some nice curing buckets with an air pump and probably some jars too.

Edit: this thread was helpful: https://www.rollitup.org/t/had-an-idea-for-curing-large-amounts-of-bud-is-it-just-a-highdea.1002958/post-15231570

It is all I can do to not chop everything and stuff it in the drying room now that it's stable and controllable. I'm trying to just take small nibbles to test dry with (seems ok so far, not dry after a day at least) until I'm at about day 67-70 or longer, 5+ days from today.

Day 63

@Budzbuddha Keeping you and anybody else that's interested posted with new pictures. Looks like a few have amber, most still clear or cloudy:


Using this Dry/Curing guide seem reasonable?:
Ed Rosenthal:

-”In an ideal situation, most of the moisture should evaporate from the bud during the first three days, and then the drying process should be slowed.

To achieve this rate of evaporation in the first three days, a temperature of 68° F (20° C) and a relative humidity of 55% will ensure that the buds get to roughly 30-40% water content. From this moment on, the temperature should be dropped a few degrees down to 64° F (18° C) to slow the drying process. This allows the chlorophyll to decompose and the starches to be used up. If the buds dry too quickly, more of the chlorophyll will remain, and the smoke will be bitter and have a green aftertaste.

The humidity of the air is also critical: If it drops below 50%, the buds will dry too fast. A timer and heater/air conditioner system with humidity control will regulate air. In total, the drying process takes around 10 to 14 days for a perfect taste.”

I'd be harvesting over 1-2 days instead of longer like I was originally planning.

Then jars and buckets with some Ecowitts after drying.

Room is staying within 1-2F and 1-2%RH of where it gets set. Monitoring it by using a couple of those Ecowitt gauges @TintEastwood likes. I own 6 now (and a couple soil moisture ones for fun) they all seem to work pretty well.