EarthBox [LOS] - Seedsman - Black Sugar

[This combined entry contains weeks 18-20 which logs the post harvest for this grow] ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓ Introduction - Week 18 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100258.25, Week 1 of drying has been completed! Temps have been a struggle all week (way to high). But no signs of mold so I'm happy! Did a bit of vermicomposting and fed the worms too. Oh! Also did an EarthBox re-amend for the next grow! That's about it for this week! [START OF WEEK 18] ========================================================== Drying Wk1 [Post Harvest] 08/29/22 → 09/04/22 This Week's Meter Readings & Averages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VPD: 1.40 kPa ========================================================== Day 01 - Monday - 08/29/22 - Total Days: 110 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 79.4°F [26.3°C] - Humidity: 63.6% - VPD: 1.22 kPa ----------------------------------- - [Supplemental Entry]: Harvest day was yesterday! --- Wow! --- Had a few hiccups, but for the most part, everything went pretty smoothly. --- Today starts.. Day 1 of drying! --- Plan to do nightly checkups to make sure there are no signs of mold. - [21:18]: Time for the first checkup post harvest! --- As expected, everything looks more wilted. --- Odor smells like grass clippings. I hope that is the chlorophyll evaporating away. --- No signs of mold. Great! Day 02 - Tuesday - 08/30/22 - Total Days: 111 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 80.6°F [27.0°C] - Humidity: 60.5% - VPD: 1.37 kPa ----------------------------------- - [17:04]: Time to check the worm bin! --- It's been 16 days since the last check up. --- The brown paper was not completely broken down. --- The soil substrate was still quite spongy and fluffy. Moisture was still pretty good. Not muddy at all. --- Great! --- The mango seed was still there! Worms were clearly inside. A few were crawling out of the crevices. --- Setting that seed aside and digging down revel a few healthy worms! --- Not trying to mix the bin quite yet so just going to feed. - [17:08]: Time to feed! --- Giving half a peach along with some spinach. Also adding more bokashi. --- Layered spinach first. --- Sprinkled 1 tsp of Kashi Blend. --- Placed the whole half of the peach into the bin. --- Sprinkled another 1 tsp of Kashi Blend. --- Placed the rest of the spinach on top along with the old mango pit. --- Added the old paper on top and added a bit more. --- Covered everything with a sheet of brown paper and misted the top with a bit of distilled water (just enough to wet the paper). --- Finally covered the bin with a freshly cleaned lid. --- Done! - [21:28]: Looking good! --- Day 2 of drying! --- That grass clippings odor is a bit stronger. --- Still no sign of mold! --- Temps aside, I think I have the RH at a stable level. --- Not much else to report. Day 03 - Wednesday - 08/31/22 - Total Days: 112 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 80.0°F [26.7°C] - Humidity: 60.4% - VPD: 1.36 kPa ----------------------------------- - [21:13]: Okay another nightly checkup! --- Day 3 of drying! --- Nice! --- No signs of mold! Great! --- The grassy wet odor is less present, but still there. --- Branches and leaves still feel like they have moisture (feels soft and flexible). Nice! --- Going for a slow dry of 14-16 days so at this time, glad that nothing feels overly dried and crispy. --- Have the RH at a pretty stable 60-62% so humidity is perfect! --- My main issue is temperature. The current average is in the 80s so yea. Probably loosing terpenes since most tend to evaporate or go volatile at temps above 75°F --- Oh well. [*smokes a bowl] Day 04 - Thursday - 09/01/22 - Total Days: 113 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.6°F [28.1°C] - Humidity: 61.1% - VPD: 1.44 kPa ----------------------------------- - [Supplementary Entry]: Planning out the EarthBox's re-amend! --- [*smokes several bowls] --- Okay! To prep for the next grow attempt ('NYC Diesel' auto from 'ILGM') going to be top dressing in a cup of BAS Craft Blend. --- Why not. Adding in a few extras amendments as well! --- As a form of bio-fumigation, adding in some mustard seed meal. While provided a bit of nutrition, this should help to fend off thrips, aphids, and gnats. As the seed meal breaks down, glucosinolates start to release chemicals known as isothiocyanates which have fungicidal benefits that can help to prevent root-borne diseases (such as pythium - root rot). --- For added chitin, going to add some insect frass. This will help to rev up the plant's immune system to fend off root pathogens. Chitin basically tricks the plant into thinking it's under and insect attack so the plant will focus more on strengthening cell walls and the production of natural insect toxins. --- Alfalfa meal for added nitrogen. Alfalfa also contains a natural growth hormone known as Triacontanol which helps to promote plant growth and vigor. --- Kelp meal is being added for more natural growth regulators including auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinins. More importantly, the cytokine hormone helps to improve chlorophyll development and cellular growth. --- Of course to jumpstart the whole process, adding in some bokashi and soil microbes. This will initiate the break down all of the above amendments into a form that can be absorbed by plant roots. --- This process takes time, so going to let the soil to 'cook' for about 2 weeks before planting (covered with the plastic mulch cap). This should be enough time for the drying of this current grow along with the germination of the next grow. - [16:42]: Okay! Time to start the EarthBox re-amend! --- Removed the top cover of the EarthBox. --- Before top dressing, I went in and broke up the top soil a bit. --- Broke up the 'worm pie' chunks at the top and dug in about an inch or two to really churn things up. --- I left the original stalks undisturbed. --- The top right quadrant felt a bit moist, but the rest of the top soil was pretty dry. --- Aside from the 'crust,' the top soil felt pretty fluffy and aerated (not muddy at all). - [17:12]: Filled a pitcher with the following ingredients. --- 1/2 cup (8tbsp) of Alfalfa Meal --- 1/2 cup of Kelp Meal --- 1 cup (16tbsp) of Craft Blend [Nutrient Pack] - [very dusty] --- 1/2 cup of Milled Mustard Seed Meal - [sort of moist] --- 1/2 cup of Premium Insect Frass [Black Soldier Fly] --- 1/2 cup of Kashi Blend --- Carefully mixed the ingredients before evenly sprinkling everything onto the top soil. --- Using my fingers I went in and worked the amendments into the top soil a bit. - [18:01]: Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/8tsp of Mycrobe Complete --- Added 2 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and poured it into a spray bottle. --- Misted everything evenly. --- Placed the mulch cover back on and done! --- Not going to add any water to the reservoir. - [22:43]: Nightly bud check! --- Day 4 of drying! --- No signs of mold. Great! --- Humidity is looking pretty good too. Can't do anything about temps. Day 05 - Friday - 09/02/22 - Total Days: 114 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.1°F [27.8°C] - Humidity: 64.4% - VPD: 1.30 kPa ----------------------------------- - [Supplemental Entry]: Been thinking about how I am going to transplant after the initial germination (via cup of water technique). --- Since the living soil will be pretty 'hot,' going to buffer her roots in a pocket of BAS Light soil. --- Plan to use about a solo-cup (or two) worth of soil inside of a brown paper bag. --- The paper bag will be planted into the EarthBox. The germinated seed will be planted into the bag. --- The paper of the bag will be a temporary barrier that can easily dissolve into the soil and should not hinder any root growth. At least that's the idea. --- Also for the next grow, I think I might just leave the mulch cover on the whole grow. If so, then no cover crop. - [21:58]: Another night check! --- Day 5 of drying! --- Again, no signs of mold! --- Buds are smelling less like grass too! --- Nothing else to log for now. Day 06 - Saturday - 09/03/22 - Total Days: 115 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 84.3°F [29.1°C] - Humidity: 60.4% - VPD: 1.55 kPa ----------------------------------- - [21:19]: Hello my beauty! --- Nightly check for mold. --- This is day 6 of drying! --- Nice! No signs of mold. - [Supplemental Entry]: In preparation for curing, got a few wide-mouth mason jars. --- Decided early on to cure in multiple smaller jars instead of one large container or bag. --- For future harvests and depending on yield, I am considering a 5 gallon (food grade) bucket for the initial cure. This way moisture can be distributed a bit more evenly throughout the entire harvest before being placed in the mason jars for the final cure. Day 07 - Sunday - 09/04/22 - Total Days: 116 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 85.4°F [29.7°C] - Humidity: 61.5% - VPD: 1.57 kPa ----------------------------------- - [20:45]: Yet another bud check! --- Today is day 7 of drying! --- No signs of mold! --- Tried the 'stem snap' technique. Pretty straight-forward. Took a small branch and bent it. --- No snap sound. --- Being a week into the slow dry, this is great! --- With 8-9 days left, I'm glad the buds still have moisture. - [21:17]: Logging this week's tent controller settings. --- Adjusted the humidifiers controller HSV from 59% down to 58% which is not much. Adjusting the differential value from 5% down to 2.5% has also made the RH in the tent way more stable. --- As for the exhaust fan's controller, adjusted from 72°F/65°F - 63%/50% to 75°F/65°F - 62%/50% [temps HIGH/LOW - humidity HIGH/LOW] so not much change. --- 'Low and slow.' Well, in my case, it more like 'high and slow.' --- Temps are just horrible. --- Of course, this has to be the hottest week of the year (damnit). --- But the relative humidity has been pretty good at percentages above 60% throughout the whole week! --- The next harvest should be in way cooler conditions so this will just have to do for now. --- Temps aside, been a very easy week of drying! [END OF WEEK 18] ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓ Introduction - Week 19 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100276.03, Wow this week was another hot one! This is September right? Feels like July. Even the nights were toasty. Of course this happens to be while I require overall temps to be at an impossible 60°F So.. Similar to last week, humidity has been spot on, with temps being way too (damn) hot. Early in the week I noticed that the humidifier's tank was getting a bit low, so I refilled it. Top dressed a bit more bokashi onto the top soil of the EarthBox. Did more vermicomposting and fed the worms. Also transplanted a few into the EarthBox. Anyways, to my surprise, all buds have no mold! With a few days left for this dry, stoked for the trimming and final dry weight! Really wish that during this harvest, I had a scale to weigh the freshly harvested wet weight, meh, oh well. [START OF WEEK 19] ========================================================== Drying Wk2 [Post Harvest] 09/05/22 → 09/11/22 This Week's Meter Readings & Averages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VPD: 1.56 kPa ========================================================== Day 01 - Monday - 09/05/22 - Total Days: 117 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 83.7°F [28.7°C] - Humidity: 59.8% - VPD: 1.55 kPa ----------------------------------- - [20:08]: Nightly bud check! --- Already day 8 of drying! --- Just about halfway through the dry! --- Still no signs of mold. Great! Day 02 - Tuesday - 09/06/22 - Total Days: 118 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 85.2°F [29.6°C] - Humidity: 60.6% - VPD: 1.59 kPa ----------------------------------- - [14:42]: Checking the EarthBox! --- Removed the plastic mulch cover to reveal the top soil! --- Nice! Had a bit of white mycelia growth (white fungal fuzz) and soil moisture was nice and damp. --- Not going to add any more moisture. But will add more bokashi. --- Sprinkled 4tbps of Kashi Blend onto the top soil. - [14:52]: Giving the worm bin a checkup as well! --- It's been 7 days since the last checkup and feeding. --- Plan to transplant a few wormies into the EarthBox. --- Opened the bin. --- The brown paper had clear signs of decomposition, but was mostly still there. --- Nice! Worms were visible underneath the paper. --- The worm bin's moisture levels were also pretty good. --- Scooped up some worms and placed them into a small plastic container (about 10 worms). --- There should still be worms in the EarthBox so don't need to add much. - [14:56]: Dumped the container of worms into the center of the top soil (EarthBox). --- I did not mix the worms in, I just let them naturally wriggle down into the soil. --- Shortly after the worms disappeared into the soil, I re-covered the top of the EarthBox with the plastic mulch cover. Done with the EarthBox! - [15:00]: Back to the worm bin! --- Both the mango seed and most of the peach was still there. But the rest was gone! --- In preparation for another feeding, I dug a hole in the center of the bin. --- The bin's soil substrate felt very fluffy and aerated. Worms also were everywhere! They seem to be liking the current soil/coco blend. - [15:03]: Feeding time! --- Since most of the peach was still there, just going to give them some overly ripe spinach. --- Pretty straight forward. Just filled the hole with the spinach. --- Then covered that with the peach. I tried to soften and broke it up a bit with my hand. --- Sprinkled 1tbsp of Kashi Blend on top of everything. --- Placed the old mango seed and brown paper on top of the peach before covering everything with the surrounding soil. Sort of had to mound it. --- Added freshly shredded brown paper on top of the soil along with a cover sheet. --- Misted the top with a few sprays of distilled water. This was only to wet the paper. - [15:21] Cleaned the lid and covered the bin. --- Done! --- May wait a bit longer before the next checkup. Eat on my little worms! - [21:04]: Nightly bud check! --- Day 9 of drying! --- Passing halfway point through the dry. Nice! --- Still no signs of mold! --- Did a stem snap and still no snap sound. Good! Buds are not overly dry. - [21:05]: Humidifier was getting a bit low. --- Refilled the tank with more distilled water. Also added a bit of Hydrogen Peroxide (~30ml). Day 03 - Wednesday - 09/07/22 - Total Days: 119 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 85°F [29.4°C] - Humidity: 60.0% - VPD: 1.61 kPa ----------------------------------- - [22:12]: Nightly mold check! --- This is day 10 of drying! --- Sweet! No mold. --- Hmm. The hay smell is significantly less too. --- Did another snap test and stems still have moisture (no snap). --- Not much else to do but wait! Day 04 - Thursday - 09/08/22 - Total Days: 120 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 86.4°F [30.2°C] - Humidity: 59.5% - VPD: 1.69 kPa ----------------------------------- - [21:54]: Another quick mold check! --- This is day 11 of drying! --- Still no mold. Great! --- Nothing else to log. Day 05 - Friday - 09/09/22 - Total Days: 121 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 83.0°F [28.3°C] - Humidity: 62.1% - VPD: 1.42 kPa ----------------------------------- - [21:37]: Mold check! --- This is day 12 of drying! --- No mold. Cool! --- Stems are looking more brittle, but still not snapping. Glad that there is still a bit of moisture left. --- Nothing else to log. Day 06 - Saturday - 09/10/22 - Total Days: 122 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.4°F [28.0°C] - Humidity: 60.4% - VPD: 1.45 kPa ----------------------------------- - [19:41]: Day 13 of drying! --- Mold check! --- No mold. Cool! --- Wow! --- Only 3 more days until the big trim day! --- Countdown begins! --- Plan to use trim bin and already have the jars. --- Also have a trimmer, a silicon brush, and plenty of disposable gloves and isopropyl alcohol on standby. --- Will probably practice trim on the smaller plants before starting the main one. These smaller plants are extra and won't be included in the final dry weight. Day 07 - Sunday - 09/11/22 - Total Days: 123 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 84.3°F [29.1°C] - Humidity: 58.8% - VPD: 1.60 kPa ----------------------------------- - [20:43]: Another full board! --- Time to wipe and reset for another month! --- Getting hyped for the next grow! --- Growing autos for the very first time is going to be interesting. What can go wrong!? --- Also, if everything goes smoothly, the next grow will have a winter harvest (about 15-16 weeks from now), so very hyped for the cooler drying and curing conditions! - [20:26]: Two more days until trim day! --- This is day 14 of drying! --- Another quick check for mold. --- Great! No mold! [END OF WEEK 19] ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓ Introduction - Week 20 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100296.55, This final week was a short one and was all about the trim! Bud trimming was overall an exciting experience! Trimming took the entire day and have to admit that towards the end, it did get a bit tedious. But wow what a difference! Once the leaves were trimmed off, I did not expect the terps to be that loud! Ooowee! Into the jars for a good 3 week cure! Plan to later update this post with the final post cure smoke (see final post 3-week cure update). Obviously, had to sample and smoke a bit of the initial dry flower. Wow! Definitely not top shelf kush, but very surprised on how smooth the smoke was! I was completely expecting 'brick weed' hay or mids, but instead I got a decent chronic smoke profile! As far as terpenes, although not overly pungent, the sweet grape myrcene profile was present (similar flavor profile as Granddaddy Purple or Grape Ape). This will hopefully improve after the 3 week cure. In the meantime, I have a good 18-19g of extra shake to keep me nice and medicated! I'm just relieved the hot drying conditions did not completely ruin the harvest. Pretty sure that the stable 60-62% RH along with the slow dry time helped a lot. For this grow run ('Black Sugar' by 'Seedsman'), the final dry processed weight is 64.2g (this does not include any extra trim shake or the smaller harvested plants). This is less than my 3-5oz goal, but hey, I'm completely okay with the results! After over 2 years of utter failure, even a slight success is huge step in the right direction. Already have the next log in the works with a bean of 'NYC Diesel' from 'ILGM' planned for germination in a few days (via glass of water method). Overall, very pleased with this round, but I'm already onto the next! Always growing, always logging, always learning! PEACE & LONG LIFE 🖖 --------------------------------------- - [Final Post 3-Week Cure Update]: --- [Pending Log Update] --------------------------------------- [START OF WEEK 20] ========================================================== WEEK 20 - Drying Wk3/Trim [Post Harvest] 09/12/22 → 09/13/22 [END] This Week's Meter Readings & Averages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VPD: 1.51 kPa ========================================================== Day 01 - Monday - 09/12/22 - Total Days: 124 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.3°F [27.9°C] - Humidity: 59.4% - VPD: 1.49 kPa ----------------------------------- - [22:28]: Day 15 of drying! --- Last day for mold check! --- Great! No mold! --- Wow! Tomorrow is TRIM DAY! --- For practice, plan to start with the smaller plants first before the main one. Although I'm only logging the dry weight of the main plant. --- Not sure what to expect, but still hoping for 3-5 ounces of smoke-able flower. --- Gonna start early afternoon, and plan to trim all day long! Day 02 - Tuesday - 09/13/22 - Total Days: 125 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 82.8°F [28.2°C] - Humidity: 58.8% - VPD: 1.54 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:26]: Good morning! --- TRIM DAY!! --- [*smokes a dab] --- Ending this dry and starting the trim a bit early! --- Everything has been drying for a solid 15 days. - [09:28]: First I had to gathered the supplies! --- Trim bin (with kief brush). Check! --- Silicon brush. Check! --- Pair of trimmers. Check! --- Also have isopropyl alcohol on standby. --- Not going to use any gloves and will hand trim every bud before jarring. --- [*smokes a dab] - [09:30]: Before I begin trimming the main plant, going to practice on the smaller ones. --- Ha! --- All 3 of the (significantly) smaller plants easily stacked in the trim bin. Compared to the main plant, they looked like branches. --- First, I plucked off and discarded the dried fan leaves. --- Then, while over the Trim Bin and using the silicon brush, I gently brushed the buds and the sugar leaves just fell off. Nice! --- Had to also use my fingers for the more stubborn ones, but overall a simple way to trim! --- Surprisingly, I did not need to really use the trimmers. These were only used it to cut the buds off the cleaned stalks. --- It was mainly the brush and my fingers to clean and manicure each bud. --- Really glad that I opted to use a trim bin because this would be quite a mess trying to do this on a table. Plus after trimming is all done, the built in kief catcher rewards a bonus dry sift hash of kief. --- For the smaller plants, I ended up grouping them based on terpene profile. There were 2 distinct odor profiles. One was similar to the main plant (grape profile) while the other was an earthier funk. --- Final dry weight for the trimmed buds was 4.4g (0.7 grape + 3.7 earth). Not much, hey! Extra medication. Placed them in separate half-ounce mason jars (each with a Boveda 62% two-way humidity pack) for a 3 week cure! - [12:46]: Okay time to tackle the main plant! --- [*smokes a dab] --- Also still have the branch that was accidentally cut off a few week earlier. --- Trimmed that one first and will add it to the final dry weight. --- Each branch I trimmed got a bit easier, but the overall steps were the same. First pick off and toss the fan leaves, then brush off the sugar leaves into the bin. Occasionally using the trimmer to cut the buds off of the branch (mainly the uppermost bud of each branch). --- At least for me, this was a very therapeutic and gratifying process. --- Wasn't in any hurry and just took my time! --- [*smokes a dab] --- Okay, now time for the main plant! - [13:00]: Round one! --- Great! --- [*smokes a dab] - [13:55]: Round two! --- Getting faster at this (I think). --- [*smokes a dab] - [15:12]: Round three! --- Cool! --- Another batch done! --- Been also starting to smoke the extra trim (shake) on the side. --- So far the smoke is surprisingly terpy! - [16:15]: Round four! --- Another batch complete! --- Wow, these jars are filling up! Already have 3 jars full! Not sure on the weight but am stoked! --- [*smokes a bowl] - [16:59]: Round five! --- Another batch done. Keep going! --- [*smokes a bowl] - [17:39]: Round six. --- Going for larger batches for the final rounds. --- Think maybe one more round to go after this one! --- [*smokes a dab] --- [*smokes a bowl] - [19:29]: Round seven. Last batch! --- [*smokes a dab] - [21:35]: Done! --- Ooowee! Wow! --- What a trim! --- After all the trimming was complete, I mixed the entire harvest (only the main plant) in the bin for a final dry sift before placing the buds into one-ounce mason jars for curing. - [21:54]: Time to weigh the whole lot! --- Had to weigh each jar separately. To this, I placed an empty mason jar on the scale and zeroed-out the weight. Then I carefully emptied each jar one at a time and took the readings accordingly. --- First jar had 10.4g --- Second jar had 11.4g --- Third jar had 10.6g --- Fourth jar had 11.5g --- Fifth jar had 10.3g --- The sixth jar had 10.0g --- This gives a total dry processed weight of 64.2g! --- This is 2.26oz of fully dried flower. --- Hmm. --- Less than I was expecting based on the jar count, but still very happy! --- Also did not make the 3-5 ounce goal, but oh well. --- My first harvest trim was a good one none the less! - [22:00]: Each jar got a Boveda humidity pack (62%) before being sealed. --- Also, to measure the actual RH inside the jars, added a hygrometer. --- Unfortunately, only one jar got a meter, but plan to have more for the next harvest. - [22:02]: Time for the big cure! --- During the cure, the internal moisture from the buds is pulled out and distributed evenly throughout all of the biomass which will give an even and clean smoke. Unfortunately, during this curing process, stagnant moist air can accumulate in the jars which can eventually lead to mold. --- Plan to open the jars to release the built up moisture and to cycle in fresh air. This process is more commonly known as 'burping the jar.' --- This is going to be a 3 week cure. --- Going to 'burp' each jar daily for the first week. --- For the second week, will burp every two days. --- As for the third and final week, every three days. --- After these three weeks, depending on how the RH has been, I should no longer need to burp the jars (monthly burps at most). --- The hygrometer (placed in one of the jars) will help to keep track of average RH within all of the jars. This is not the most accurate and will get a meter for each jar, but this will have to do for now. --- The ideal environment for a good cure is dark cool place with the jars kept at a relative humidity of 58-62% --- These jars all have humidity packs to help keep the RH even and will be kept in a dark plastic tote in my room (currently the average temp is ~80°F). A bit warm, but this is the best I can do. --- Okay! --- Now the only thing left to do is wait! --- For 3 weeks. - [22:06]: Glad I saved the trimmings which have of all the sugar leaves and larfy buds. Been smoking it throughout the day and still ended up with 18-19g of extra trim shake! Nice! This shake does have a bit of a chlorophyll funk to it, but this is not in the smoke which has a slight grape terpene profile. - [22:07]: Oh yea! Time to check the bin for some dry sift kief! --- Wow! Got a decent amount of kief! --- Using a business card, I scooped the kief up and placed it in a plastic joint container (pop-top kind). Not sure what to do with it (a good problem to have). Probably will use this a bowl toppers. --- Anyways, - [22:17]: Time for the final trichome check! --- During the last round of trimming, I made sure to set aside a bud that was cut from the main center cola. --- Wow! --- All trichomes were cloudy and amber! --- Barely any clear heads with a ratio of around 35/65 amber to cloudy. --- Not bad! - [22:26]: Time to smoke it! --- Took the same bud and packed a fresh bowl! --- Wow! --- Not top shelf, but hey, smokes a lot better than I ever expected! --- The grape-like myrcene terpene is a lot louder in the buds whereas the shake has less of a flavor profile. --- Thought the heat destroyed the buds and was expecting the terpenes to be hay-like and harsh. --- Nope! --- Of course, I'm pretty sure if the temps were lower, the buds would have been even better but so far, the smoke has been nice and smooth with a hint of sweet grape! --- Hopefully this flavor profile will ripen a bit more during the cure (flavor could be more terpy) but initial post harvest smoke is un-harsh and smooth! --- Let the cure begin! Engage! 🖖 Day 03 - Wednesday - 09/14/22 - Total Days: N/A ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: N/A - Humidity: N/A - VPD: N/A ----------------------------------- --- [No further entries were logged for the remainder of the week] [END OF WEEK 20]

Two-Week Cure - Cure time: 09/14/22 to 09/28/22 Final Smoke Entry - Post Cure Update - Ensign's log, stardate 100340.33, Was planning on a three-week cure, but ended the cure early at about day 14. I figured that this dry cycle was not the most ideal (way too damn hot), so not going to waste an extra week or two of curing. Plus, I'm curing in separate jars, so by the time I get to the last one (6 jars total), it should be well over 3 weeks or curing (may revise this entry later to include a 'last jar' smoke update). The RH was kept at around 57-60% throughout the whole cure with regular burping. Glad to say that there's no mold! This being my very first cure and personal harvest smoke, I wanted to make sure to include a few details for future drying and curing cycles. This log will include both the smoke of the trim 'shake' along with the cured buds from the first jar. During the entire bud curing process, I was smoking on the trim shake. I didn't see a point to curing the sugar leaf trim. Plus after a two-year struggle, err, I mean journey to my first harvest, I really just wanted to start smoking! Well have to say that flavor from the shake was a bit bland at first, but over time, got better and slightly more terpy. It wasn't harsh and am enjoying the smoke. Started with 18-19g and even after the two-week cure, still have some left. Nice! Supplementary entry, I did not end up burping the jars as often I originally planned. Even with the Boveda two-way humidity packs in each jar, the RH did not reach above 60% so I did not feel it was necessary to further dry out the buds by opening the jars. Now for the bud smoke! As a regular smoker, straight up, this is not top shelf product. But it's not the worst (I've easily smoked better, but I've also had way worse). Yet as far as the cured bud smoke, to my utter surprise, no hay flavor! I think the stable RH of 60% during the slow 15-day dry, helped with the removal of the chlorophyll (which is known to be the cause of the hay smell and flavor). Throughout the drying cycle, temps got above 85°F so I am almost certain that if temps were lower, terpenes and flavor would be a lot louder (some terpenes go volatile and evaporate at temps above 75°F). Yet the smoke is not harsh and has a hint of a sweet terpy grape or berry profile. Considering the sub-ideal grow and hot drying conditions, I'm quite pleased with the final product! Of course, any quality issues are not due to genetics and has everything to do with how I grew her. As stated earlier in my log, being a beginner, I (still) feel like I did not grow this one to her fullest potential. The bud structure is not dense and quite fluffy which from what I've researched, is due to the warmer grow conditions. Also most terpenes are best preserved at lower temperatures. So for the next grow and especially for the drying, I need to keep temps cooler! Lessons learned and will apply what I've learned to future attempts. Onto the next grow. Engage! 🖖