First Grow: ‘Ophelia’ Orange Bud (Auto)

I have come to the end of my grow diary as I am now at harvesting stage. However, I want to record the drying and curing stages too and it doesn't look like the 'Harvest' page is set up to do that. So I have decided that I will record these stages via the normal method, even if they aren't 'flowering' any more. So if you want to see how I coped with the drying and curing stages - read on, but if you don't - then wait until I am a little further down the road and check out the Harvest page 😊 Nov 14 (day 85): So its D day. Today I will be chopping her down and doing a wet trim. I feel quite emotional, but that has been offset by exhaustion! I've spent the whole weekend clearing out, organising and cleaning (within reason) my cellar. I have also set up my new tent and equipment for drying. It worked out cheaper in the end to buy a kit, as the items individually cost almost as much as the kit and I got a Spider Farmer 400W light included 😍 which I can use for my next grow. Equipment included in the kit is as follows: Grow Tent 120 x 120 x 180, Spider Farmer SF4000 450w LED Dimmable Light, Heavy Duty Timer, Pair of Rope Ratchets, Clip Fan, Digital Min-Max Thermometer/Hygrometer, 4 Quick Release Clamps, 6” Acoustic Ducting (5m Length), Rhino 6" EC Fan (594m3/h), Rhino Pro Carbon Filter 6" 300 (600m3/h), 6" Padded Clamp. I also added: Oil Filled Radiator, Inkbird Temperature Controller, Electriq 12L dehumidifier, Trim Bin and a LightHouse Round DryNet - 75cm (30"). I started putting up the tent and realised it was too tall and I had accidentally been given the 120 x 120 x 200 one 😫 I would have kept it, but it was too tall and wouldn't fit, so I had to go back to the grow shop for them to swap it for the 180 high tent. Got that up and then started on the extraction kit. Watched some YouTube videos on how to put it together and realised the grow shop had also accidentally forgotten to give me the padded clamp 😒 I gave them a call and this time they had someone drop it round for me. All in all, they have been great so I didn't kick up a fuss and I am really relieved they are open on a Sunday!!! However, I did lose a couple of hours with the setup. Finally got the extraction kit up, which wasn't easy to do on my own, but I managed 💪 By this point it was nearly 10pm and I have work in the morning! Still, I persevered and cut her down and did the trim. So much resin OMG 😷 My pal at the grow shop had given me some tips - he said to trim into nuggets and put on the drying rack rather than hang upside the whole plant or branches upside down. He also said to cut off the fan leaves, but leave the sugar leaves so when they dry they put sugar into the buds which improves the taste. Also, when I cut them off for the dry trim, I will get a load of pollen at the bottom of the trim bin which I can then use. So I left as many little sugar leaves as possible, even if all I get from them is the pollen. I'm sure there will be many opposing opinions to this method (as always), but he has a lot of experience so I am going to take his advice. I can always use a different method for Orla and Wanda if I want to, who are about 10 days behind. I was glad I had some gloves and my trimming shears worked well. Got quite a lot off her as she was a short and stocky plant, but that is by my standards for my first grow and I think other people would be disappointed. I don't think it will tip the scales much at all. Even so, its only for me and will last me a good while and if I am honest, it was more about the process of growing rather than the end result in some ways. I also now have a complete set-up inside the house to do a grow for a comparison against the greenhouse and will definitely work better for the winter and spring when its cold. Exhaustion Level: 10/10 😴 Nov 16 (day 87): New set up is working well. Temperature is a steady 19C and humidity is 60%. I am following this advice from the Dutch Passion website “One drying tip is to start at 60% for the first few days, slowly working your way down to 55% again for a few days. After a week (max 10 days) set your dehumidifier to 50% to dry the buds a little further. As soon as the branches start to snap (or almost snap) this is a sign that the buds on those branches are just about ready to put into the jars.” They don’t stink as much as I thought they would at this stage, but I guess it’s early days and the carbon filter is likely doing it’s thing. It’s a massive difference from walking into the greenhouse and that warm sticky smell slapping you in the face. They have shrunk a bit already but all seems fine. I was told to give them a swish around the drying rack with my hand each day as they aren’t hanging and need turning. Did that and the smell hit me 😷 I have no idea how much they weigh or what my final amount will weigh, but it doesn’t look like much Never mind, it was my first grow and the experience was invaluable. I still have Orla and Wanda going in the greenhouse too. I will have more than enough for myself and that’s all that matters harvest wise. Nov 18 (day 89): All good so far. Turned the dehumidifier down to 55 degrees. Glad I went for the ‘silent upgrade’ on my kit. The extractor is so quiet. I can’t wait to try another grow in here. Nov 20 (day 91): All good still. Been doing a swish of the buds every day in the net to turn them over. Turned the dehumidifier down to 50 degrees. Nov 22 (day 93): They're ready! They feel quite hard and crispy to the touch and when I snap one of the small branches, it makes an audible 'snap'. Time to start the curing process. I got my trim bin and transferred the buds from the net into it. I have bought a new pair of pruning scissors with a curved edge in the hope that it will help with this stage. I started by trimming off the leaves still attached to the bud. I had only left small sugar leaves on the buds when I did the wet trim and now they are very small and hard to cut out. The bigger the bud, the easier this was to trim. The main cola for example made the process much easier. I was however left with the question as to how much I should trim off and I was being left with quite a lot of waste. I decided to keep all the excess trim as all the leaves are covered with trichomes and I am sure I can find a use for them. Perhaps they may not be the best for smoking, but could be used to make edibles or some other derivative so I will do some research. I bagged up the buds and the excess trim separately in grove bags. My pal at the grow shop said that the bags are a very popular method for curing as they don't need to be 'burped' and maintain the right humidity for curing (no idea how?!). I probably don't need to cure the excess leaves, but it won't hurt for now until I do my research on what to do with them. I will transfer the buds into glass jars post the curing process for long term storage. I may even put Orla and Wanda into glass jars for curing as a comparison. One of the advantages of the trim bin is the amount of pollen that is captured as part of the process. I've been told that this can be used by sprinkling it on top of a vaporiser bowl, so I may give that a try. Will also do some more research on what I can use it for. Obviously I am not going to use it for its actual purpose, which is to pollenate plants. I swept the pollen up using the little brush that came with the trim bin and eased it into a little black container. I read that storage of pollen should be in an airtight dark container, so thats where I have put it. Time will tell if its a useful addition! I'm a little disappointed with the final yield, but I'm not surprised either. The plants were short and stocky, even though the buds got nice and fat. However, as I have said before it is my first grow and I have 2 other plants to harvest yet who are looking bigger. There will be more than enough for me and I have learnt a lot which is the main thing. Nov 26 (day 97): I emptied the airpots today to look at the root ball. The roots didn't reach down to the bottom of the pot and didn't fit up the area AT ALL! In hindsight, I took my suggested pot size of 20L before I knew the difference between photos and auto flowers and I assume the 20L was recommended for photos. It was way too big for the autos and in future I will use a 9L or 12.5L airpot. It also explains A LOT! I had been waiting for the pot to get completely dry, but if the roots were not filling the whole pot, then they would have been dry earlier and I was essentially waiting for wet soil with no roots to dry before I watered again 😱 No wonder I had watering issues, they must have been so thirsty the poor things 😢 NOTE: Nutrient amount is the total amount of nutes given during the week.