My tents hovering close to 80 these days with an intake, outtake and two fans inside. In thinking about adding in a refrigerator fan. http://ift.tt/2oxi7l5 Anybody tried this before? Any ideas on how I can power it?
Thoughts?
Manicuring, Drying, And Curing marijuana
Right after all the plants have been harvested, it is time to manicure them. Manicuring is simply cutting off the leaves that were growing from the buds. Cut off all the leaves surrounding the bud, so that just the bud remains.
Work over a glass table or some kind of smooth flat surface. This will make it easy to collect all the material that has been cut away from the buds. It is lower in THC than the buds, but rather than throw it away, you can use it to make hash oil.
When manicuring the buds, use a pair of scissors with small blades (to reach hard to get leaves) that is comfortable on your hands. If you have a small crop, you can handle the plants with you bare hands. With a large crop, wear powder free latex gloves.
The latex gloves will collect trichome resin in a similar manner to the way live marijuana plants are rubbed to make hashish. The latex gloves have to be powder free or the powder will get mixed into the resin.
Do not touch anything other than the plants once you have put the gloves on. If you have to do something, remove the gloves you are wearing and put them in a plastic bag, prior to doing whatever it is that has to be done.
When finished, put on a pair of new gloves. Material on the first pair can be collected later. When you are finished manicuring all the plants, remove the gloves and place them in a plastic bag (to catch resin that drops off).
Put the plastic bag with the gloves in a freezer for 2-3 hours. The trichome resin can easily be peeled from the frozen latex gloves and consumed the same way you would use hashish.
If absolutely necessary, you can wait to manicure the buds. However, the job will take more time if you wait. Manicuring right after the plants are harvested will also speed the drying process.
Instead smoking marijuana directly after it is harvested and manicured, it is best to dry and cure it. Some new growers might be in such a rush to try the marijuana that they don't want to dry the crop, or they might be tempted to put buds in a microwave oven to dry them out.
Drying marijuana After Harvest
You probably don't want to smoke marijuana that is harsh and bad tasting. If you do not take time to dry the bud, you will not get the best possible smell and taste your crop is capable of producing.
Proper drying and curing will also ensure maximum potency of the marijuana you have grown. marijuana is not potent just after harvest. Some of the THC is in a non-psychoactive acidic form. Drying marijuana the right way will convert the non-psychoactive acidic compounds into psychoactive THC.
The area where the drying is done should be dark. Light and high temperatures (higher than about 80 degrees) will cause THC to break down into less desirable chemicals, this will lower the potency of the finished product.
A good way to dry the crop is to hang the buds upside-down by the stem, from some string or wire. The drying marijuana must have some circulation blowing over it at all times. A gentle breeze that circulates over all the plants is necessary.
A fan or two will circulate air within the drying room. Fans will aid in drying the plants evenly, and reducing the chances of mold.
If mold starts and is allowed to grow, it might ruin all of your crop. Mold looks like white fuzz and has an odor that is unpleasant. You will have to keep the temperature and humidity within a certain range for optimal results.
Conditions should remain constantly somewhere within the following ranges, temperature should be between 65-75 degrees F, relative humidity should be between 45%-55%.
At temperatures lower than 65 degrees, drying time will be lengthened. At temperatures higher than 75 degrees, the heat will cause the outer portion of the bud to dry quicker than the inner part, and the taste will suffer.
At humidity levels lower than 45%, the marijuana will dry too fast and the taste will suffer. At humidity levels higher than 55%, the marijuana will take a long time to dry, and it will be prone to mold.
Keep a hygrometer and a thermometer in the drying area, close to the plants. A hygrometer will allow you to keep an eye on the relative humidity level in the room and a thermometer will display the temperature. Some hygrometers have built in thermometers so you can measure the temperature and humidity together.
Depending on the time of year and your location, a heater or an air conditioner may be necessary to adjust the temperature. To control humidity, a dehumidifier can lower humidity and a humidifier can be used to raise humidity. There are warm mist humidifiers and cool mist humidifiers.
A warm mist humidifier will raise the temperature while a cool mist humidifier will not affect the temperature. There are also humidifiers that allow you to switch between warm or cool mist. If you are going to purchase a humidifier for this purpose, take your climate into consideration and buy an appropriate humidifier.
Warm mist models will actually heat the water and release warm humidity. Cool mist water isn't cooled, it just means that water is not heated. In most cases a cool mist will work best. To be safe you can get a humidifier that lets you switch between warm and cool mist.
Curing marijuana
It will take at least a week or two to dry the crop with temperatures between 65-75 degrees F and relative humidity between 45%-55%. You will know when the marijuana is dry if the stems snap or break (rather than fold) when they are bent.
Try smoking a small bud (1/2 gram or less) in a joint to be sure it is dry enough.
At this time, small buds will be dry enough to smoke. But larger buds should be cured (slow dried) to ensure that the marijuana is as potent and tasty as possible. If necessary, you can set aside buds that are less than 1/2 gram for smoking, while larger buds cure.
The cure normally lasts a week or two but some strains will do better if left longer. The aim of what you are doing is evenly finishing the slow dry process, so that mold will not grow when the buds are stored long term. Also, by the end of the cure, any remaining inactive THC will be converted to active THC (that increases potency).
To cure the crop, you will need one or more containers made out of glass or plastic. Some people say plastic can impart a taste to the marijuana. Some say plastic containers that some types of roll your own tobacco are sold in, have no negative effect on the taste. You decide.
Containers that have a rubber seal work best, but any type of container with a tight fitting lid will do. One quart canning jars do a very good job if you are curing a few pounds or less. They have a rubber seal and hold 2 or more ounces of marijuana per one quart jar.
When curing quantities in excess of a few pounds, large (over 40 quarts) plastic storage boxes are recommended. They are not air tight, but will do the job when smaller air tight containers are not practical.
Gently place your marijuana in the containers (cut buds to size if the are too big to fit in the container) and put the top on.
Store the containers in a dark area where the temperature is between 50-65 degrees and the humidity is between 40%-60%.
You will have to open the containers for a few minutes to allow moisture to escape by fanning with your hand. If any moisture builds up on the inside of the cap on your container, wipe it off. Do this preferably 2-6 times daily, at regular 4-12 hour intervals.
You should also re-arrange the buds by giving them a quarter-turn once a day. This will ensure that different parts of the buds are exposed to the air in the container.
Keep up this routine for 7-10 days.
When properly dried, marijuana will burn evenly when smoked in a joint (if stems are removed). The taste will be as good as it can be, and the THC will have reached a point where it is ready to be ingested or stored.
You can keep any marijuana that will be consumed within a few months (1 year maximum) in the same containers used for curing, without having to keep opening them to release moisture.
If the marijuana is to be stored for more than a few months, you can use a vacuum sealer (designed for storing food) to seal the marijuana in an airtight environment. If stored in a dark area that is between 40-55 degrees F, the marijuana in vacuum sealed plastic will remain potent for up to 5 years.
Dry marijuana can be stored in a frost-free freezer, but some of the THC on the outer part of the buds may be damaged when frozen.
A refrigerator is in the right temperature range but they tend to be humid (unless you can control the humidity).
If stored in an area of high humidity for months or years, even vacuum sealed marijuana can eventually become as humid as the surrounding air. This will necessitate drying it again before smoking. But, unless mold develops, humidity itself will not degrade the THC or make the marijuana any less potent.
Light will degrade some of the THC, so dark containers can be used for storage. If you place the marijuana in a see through container, it will have to be located in a dark area that is not exposed to light or high temperatures.
Always make sure to properly dry your marijuana prior to storage, if you grow your own or if the stuff you have is very moist. And remember that to preserve marijuana potency at a maximum level, keep any exposure to air, heat, and light at a minimum. I didnt write this, but i found it here
Most all Marijuana these days are hybrids, sure there are mostly sativas and mostly indicas but I find the high from them are all similar with some strains having more of a medicinal effect. These days it seems the main variations in strains is flowering time, smell/taste, yield and size/growth with the high being forgotten about.
It got me thinking... What strains have truly stood out to you ? That were so different that they etched a place in your brain ?
Landraces. I've had the chance to grow and smoke some very unique landrace varieties.
Mexican : Seeds were obtained from the finest brick weed I'd ever seen. It was green with red hairs, slightly seeded but very kiefy. The seeds produced some good sativas that smelled of sourD/chemdawg/chocolate but took until late October/early November to finish. They easily turned purple from the cold. The buds were a bit airy and foxtailly but produced a lot of them. A few plants were coined "slap you in the face" as the high they produced caused an intense headrush that made you sit down. I saved a male and seeded a female that smelled of chocolate and skunk. The result was the 'choco taco', some plants took on a unique smell that can only be described as bread and butter.
South African : Seed originally obtained in South Africa then brought to NorCal. Plants were sativas with more variation than the mexi. Buds ranged from foxtaily to decently dense. Despite being pure sativa it's flowering time wasnt too crazy. It had a 1/5 chance to show purple almost becoming black. The smell was sweet/turpentine/earthy. The high from the plant was the most energizing Marijuana I've ever smoked being much stronger than my daily cup of strong coffee. It also didn't do well indoors as it preferred real sun, it was noted that the plant vegged better in a windowsill than under T5s. A HPS was then used to veg and flower them, despite all clones coming from the same mother every cut was different and had a tendency to hermie which it never once showed outdoors.
Purple Haze : Not the purple haze from the Dutch. Rather these seeds were obtained by some deadheads who claimed they obtained them in the very early 80s, they were stored sealed in a refrigerator. While most didn't pop a few did ! It produced a true haze taking until mid January to finish. The plants were 14ft tall with the lower branches as big as me (6ft). The bud smelled slightly like berries but no purple hues were observed. The high from this strain was one of a kind and easily the most psychedelic marijuana I've smoked. I felt sober but at the same time colors were brighter and vivid. It was very heady.
Non land races.
Snowcap : or snowcrack. Most snowcap doesn't compare to this cut I had tried. Intense high that vanished in 15minutes or so leading you to want to smoke more.
Secret Agent Kush : A cross of the most potent cutting of bubba I've ever encountered with a landrace mazari shariff. Produced a nice indica with a short flowering period, great for guerilla grows. Since it was an F1 The plants were mostly spicy but one plant smelled of lemon rind and tomato vines, very unique. Most of the plants had some sort of purple to them whether it was green buds with purple calyxes or all out purple buds. It had a tendency to also produce purple trichome heads, with one plant making pink trichome heads.
Orange crush x Grape Ape : While other plants from this cross chose to smell like grape soda or Tootsie rolls one plant was truly disgusting. It smelled of dirty socks.
I tried searching, but AlienBlue isn't being friendly this morning.
I have a great little stealthbox, but I've gotten greedy and added my 400hps to the box. I'm now trying to find a happy balance between noise, temps, and growing.
I think adding a cooling duct directly to my cool tube for the light is the best option.
Does anyone have a personal A/C type of solution for this?
I was also thinking of porting directly from a refrigerator, but wanted to ask before ruining my fridge.
After taking some advice from sidebar on this sub I created an Alternate account so please don't let my noobish appearance fool you. I've been on here for over three years now reading and watching, learning and observing.
I currently have two, week old trees that I think are looking for some extra love and care. The seem healthy and they surprise me everyday. It's my first grow and I worry that time is creeping up on me and these will require some proper lighting and nutrient sustenance before I'm ready.
I've done quite a bit of reading, a lot of watching videos, and talking with a buddy of mine who are outdoor growers mostly.
I own my own house, with a garage and fortunately I have an old refridgerator that I want to convert to a grow closet. I will have this refridgerator in my garage and I have tools so that it can be modified. Looking online has given me some ideas but I wonder what pieces I might be missing.
I haven't purchased anything other than Promix for soil (though after watching Ready Set Grow I want to go for the 1/3 peat 1/3 Vermiculite 1/3 perlite)
Lighting and Ventilation are really my concerns right now. I wonder what light sources I should go with (after recent discoveries, it seems that CFL's don't provide best spectrum lighting), if ventilation is a major factor and what purposes does a Co2 container provide my grow. I would think that if I have enough ventilation, 2 in 2 out, I won't need to worry about whatever the Co2 nonsense is.
If I have understood correctly, I'll be another week or two before my little trees are several leaves tall and need to be provided some proper growing space to ensure bountiful, powerful bud.
Mine refrigerator is an old style, two compartment. The freezer is 18" x 23" x 18" and the Refrigerator is 18" x 22" x 37". This fridge is old and is of no use to me or anyone anymore and I'm tired of paying for my grass, this is a great opportunity for me.
Hope someone picks up on this, I would appreciate any and all sorts of help
Hey guys/gals. I'm getting ready to start a SOG grow in a 4x4 gorilla lite tent. I was going to purchase another mother/clone space but have an old refrigerator I was hoping you guys could help me repurpose instead.
The part I would like to use for the clones is 18" tall x 17" deep x 26"wide. I have a clone king 36 cloner which measures 12" tall so I think height may be an issue here. Any recommendations on a light for this chamber? Something thin?
The other chamber will be used for mothers. It is 35" tall x 26" wide x 17" deep. I think for the most part I can fit all my equipment i need in this compartment. But if you have any ideas shoot them my way.
Now the big question. Ventilation. I'd like to keep this chamber as inconspicuous as possible so would prefer any intake exhaust to be on the back. No clue how to go about the ventilatiion for this thing. Any suggestions?
Here are a few pics: http://ift.tt/1Ux3mr5
Thanks in advance!
Wuddup MG.
Haven't ran into this before because I usually only run 1 media and can mix up just 1 gallon for a while.
Doing a side by side with coco vs super soil and I'm having a lot of leftover mixed nutes after watering.
Super soil water: calmag, silica, biocozyme, and Recharge(microbe product)
Coco water: canna coco a+b, calmag, silica, biocozyme, and recharge.
Am I able to throw the 1 gallon jugs in the refrigerator for a couple days till the next watering? Or would they go bad? Really don't want to waste 1/2 gallon of good nutes every time I water haha.
I have a marshydro old style 300w LED light. Haven't got the light installed yet. I have two 100cfm fans for intake and exhaust. I dont really understand positive air pressure and negative air pressure. Should i have 100 cfm intake and exhaust?
My seeds arrived today! I got 5 autoflower feminized blue mystic seeds (plus 10 randoms). I am going to germinate in rapid rooter plugs. I read today that happy frog ocean forest soil has the potential to nutrient burn the seeds. I have read several people counter that and claim that it has never happened to them. I know autoflowers are a bit more sensitive to nutrients and so maybe I should play it safe and get some plain potting soil while they are seedlings (planted in a cup) and transfer it to the ocean forest blend after it has grown a few sets of leaves? What do you ents think?
Also, should I store the other 4 seeds in a plastic container in the refrigerator? I am growing one at a time for now (in a space bucket).
Hi r/microgrowery! I was referred here by a member of r/trees and I've got a question about curing!
So, I just cut my first little plant (had it growing outside with my peppers and it actually turned out to be female! Lucky me...) and dried the buds for about about a week. Now they're ready for curing. I've read conflicting opinions about curing the buds in a refrigerator, so I was wondering if you guys had any advice? Obviously the buds are now in an air tight jar, but with the low temps in Northern CA around 80 at night, its hard to find a 'cool, dry, dark' place for proper curing (for reference, its about 89 in my closet right now). I've read that the fridge can cause mold, but only if the buds arn't dried or arn't in a jar. I've also read that the fridge is a great place, regardless of climate... so, if anyone has an experience with with warm climate/fridge curing I would appreciate the advice. Thanks guys!
Hello MG, Going to start my second grow. New to LEDs but I have acquired 2x300w MarsHydro old style LED panels for 50$. I have gutted an old 26 cubic foot Refrigerator for my stealth grow. I understand these panels actually only draw 180w each. I have both of them inside of my grow cabinet. Temps are 72f and humidity is about 50%. My biggest question since I only have experience with HPS. Is this to much LED for my space? I have read that they only cover a 1.5sqft area for flowering. I see a lot of people only running 1 panel in a larger space than what I have. (32"Lx24"Wx57"H) I plan for 2 plants in a Scrog. Any advice?
Hi, Microgrowery! For the first time in about eight months of growing in my apartment, I have an electrical problem that I can't seem to work around. I have a 1000W Phantom II digital ballast that's always turned down either 750W or 600W, a total of 12 T5 bulbs, an 8,000 BTU air conditioner and a bunch of different fans (plus a refrigerator and computer that I need to keep running). I quickly figured out that I couldn't use my microwave, coffee maker or anything else that produces heat while the AC is running (figured this out long before I even started growing) and everything is spread out evenly between two circuits.
For the past eight months, I've been able to run everything simultaneously (even though I stagger lighting times so that this doesn't happen). But, starting yesterday, it looks like I can't even pull 600W for my main light anymore. After about 20 min. of being on, one of the two circuits will flip off (not necessarily the one the HID light is on, but that one will eventually flip too if I don't reset everything). I've tried rearranging everything and even turning everything off EXCEPT the HID light (2.7A total @ 600W) and the breaker still flips (just me sitting in the the dark playing on my phone with the fridge, computer, television, all other lights, and AC turned off). Conversely, I tried turning everything else to full power and left the HID light off, and it's perfectly fine, so I've definitely singled out the problem. However, I have a 4' x 4' tent filled with large plants (about to switch to flowering) and they've just been sitting in total darkness for most of the last 24 hours, which is extremely troubling. My neighbors also see me running out behind the building to the breaker box over and over, which doesn't make me happy.
Other than going out and spending more money that I don't have on a 400W ballast and lamp that I don't want just to try an additional experiment, I don't know what I can do to continue growing without moving (got laid off and can't immediately go and sign another lease without a current job). I should note that it just started getting hot where I live in L.A. yesterday and it's supposed to be 93°F today, so my guess is that a neighbor might've gotten a new AC unit or something, but would that be robbing some of the available bandwidth (or whatever) from my own separate breaker? Once again, it's not a matter of overloading the circuit, just running a single 600W lamp (I was running it at 750W with no problem earlier this week).
Sorry for the essay, but I'm just wondering if my best option is to go put a 400W ballast and lamp on my credit card (do not want) or just contact my landlord about the power issue and open myself up to unwanted scrutiny. Thanks in advance for your advice!
So all the tap water, refrigerator, and water bottle water comes out to like 8 according to my pH tester. My only concern is that I'm doing an organic soil grow, and from what I know can't use pH down. How do I lower the pH?
Hello everyone. So my development has been taking somewhat longer than expected and I am going on vacation day after tomorrow. I have decided to drop and prune the trees a few days earlier than I normally would so that I wouldn't have to ask someone to attend to them while I am gone. My question is as follows: seeing as that i will be gone for almost three weeks, what is my best option for storing the bounty? Should I hang the goods out to dry in my room with the heater on low? In that case should I make sure to ventilate with a fan to keep the moisture down? I looked in my book and it seems to indicate that it should be possible to just put it all in the refrigerator in bags without worrying about molding. Would this be an option for delaying the drying until i get back? Thanks for any advice you guys would be willing to provide. I will gladly post more info about the grow, should it deem necessary.
I have a 2'x2'x4' refrigerator. I plan on doing an LED grow box. I was thinking of trying aquaponics on the bottom in a sealed compartment. Roughly taking up 12". With only 3' left I was thinking autoflowers. I was thinking LED for light. What's a good brand/ product to try? I have always done hydro in the past but I dont think it would work in this situation. I plan on adding 2 fans for circulation. Is this even doable? Or will I fail miserably? Are LED any good?
