Zkittlez Autoflower

August 23, 2023 Day 106 Harvest Harvesting was as simple as cutting at the base. My concern was with the Zkittlez One size. I was afraid she wouldn't fit in my dry tent, but she did. Now I've got both ladies happily drying. Zkittlez One is a mostly dry trim harvest. I took all the fan leaves off and some of the larger sugar leaves that were easily accessible. Not too much though. I should have, but I want to get the absolute best out of this lady I can. Zkittlez Two was harvested as a wet trim. There are no leaves on her at all. A couple sugar leaves that I didn't bother with. They will fall off after drying. So yep. Everything looks fantastic! Zkittlez One: 50 oz harvest weight Zkittlez Two: 12 oz harvest weight August 24, 2023 Drying Stage Day 1: Fighting RH already. First it was too high for the grow around 60% to 65% for the last couple weeks. Now I'm fighting 75%. I have absolutely no idea what is happening. Why is the humidity just increasing? It's maddening. Temp is a bit high as well. I believe my air conditioner just sucks. Cheapo on Amazon. Either way, humidity is absolutely insane now. Not to mention it's literally been over 80% outside for days. I feel like we had a much drier summer last year. Anyway, Zkittlez One is a bit too crowded by her own self. I may have to go in and cut all the branches and hang them on the drying chandelier. I'm mostly concerned with mold. Very humid for a small space with a big plant in it... Even if it's partially trimmed, I'm still concerned. I actually have a dehumidifier in there to help keep it down a little. It seems to be helping. But of course it's also increasing the temp. I gotta get a handle on my room environment. All that being said, I'm gonna have to keep an eye on them. Not really sure how, but I really need access to the main tent for this one. Zkittlez Two is not over crowded. Still fighting the same environment of course, but as a full wet trim and plenty of space for her, I'm not all that concerned. I'm sure the humidity will drop after a day or 2 of drying. Hopefully I can get the climate fixed ASAP. Dry System Environment: Temp: 67.6° RH: 72.3% VPD: 0.64 kPa August 25, 2023 Day 2: The effing outside humidity is 96% today!!! What is this nonsense? Anyone from NY here? What are you doing to fight this madness? Seriously?! This has been the weirdest summer. And since when did the weather get warmer and wetter closer to autumn. Am I missing something? This was not the case last year. Argh. I decided to quickly cut Zkittlez One apart today and hung the branches from my drying rack chandelier thing. There's open space now. Some of the branches are so big, they make Zkittlez Two look like a branch and not an entire plant. Hahaha. Dry System Environment: Temp: 67.3° RH: 70.9% VPD: 0.66 kPa August 26, 2023 Day 3: Ok, so I have the dry tent door open and an AC blowing directly at the plants. To keep them cold and to help drying a bit faster for the next day or so, unless I can get the RH to drop to 60%. Anyway, it's another 90% RH day today. So this will be fun. The RH of the tent is currently 75% with the door open. Wtf. I swear this week is trying to cause failure. Screw this weather. Anyway, that's my battle for the day. Happily, I weighed Zkittlez Two and she's now 5 oz. That's a 42% loss so far. Looking good I think. I wonder how much the high humidity is effecting the drying time. The plants are quite wet still and I'm guessing these will start curing before they are fully dried. But the humidity is still a major concern. I'm starting to think the probe is in the wrong spot. It's in the very middle of the plants and may be throwing a high number because of that. Either way, it's still really high. I moved it so we shall see later on. Dry System Environment: Temp: 67.1° RH: 71.4% (WTF) VPD: 0.65 kPa August 27, 2023 Day 4: Some decent shrinkage today. Nearly noticable. I've managed to bring the temp down to around 62°, but the RH is still out of control, but getting better. I ended up cranking my AC to 58° and let it run for 24 hours so far. My room is 63°. Comfy with a hoodie on. It's still over 90% RH outside. Insane. The temp outside is decent today. High of 71°. This should definitely help, and the RH is dropping now. Let's hope it drops to a reasonable level. Then I can open the door and let fresh clean air in for an hour or so. Dry System Environment: Temp: 63.1° RH: 69.9% VPD: 0.59 kPa (I feel like this actually matters. I wonder what it should be for drying plants.) Apparently it's between 0.55 and 0.65 kPa. Good to know. I'm on top of the VPD, but still the humidity is ridiculous. August 28, 2023 Day 5: The temp and humidity are getting better now that the ladies are less wet. So now we have 62 to 63% humidity and the temp is around 63°. I weighed out Zkittlez Two as well today. She is now 3.5 oz. That's 29% weight retention so far. That would mean so far Zkittlez One has a weight retention of 17.8 oz. Doing some quick math, I'd say another 25% comes off when she's done drying. Then take another 50% off for trim and stems. So a rough mathematical estimate would be about 6.67 oz. Trimmed and jarred. That's my estimate. Zkittlez Two is wet trimmed, so she will retain more weight. I'd say about 2.5 oz. total trimmed and jarred. Anyone have any guess? Today Day 4 Drying Zkittlez Two wet trim, 12 oz to 3.5 oz. Can you come up with your own estimate? I'd love to see in the comments, even after this diary is complete. Dry System Environment: Temp: 62.2° RH: 66.1% VPD: 0.65 kPa August 29, 2023 Day 6: Everything looks fine. Plants are drying, humidity is ridiculously high again, temp is nice and low. It's driving me insane. They definitely have at least a week left for drying. Maybe 5 days. But either way, they have a long way to go and because of the humidity, they will take even longer. I'm not exactly sure if this is going to turn out good or bad. I plan on doing an inspection later today to check for mold or any signs of issues. I weighed Zkittlez Two again. Today she is around 3 oz. Her buds are still pretty fat though. Although quite soft. On the other hand, Zkittlez One without being touched has smaller buds, but much tighter and more solid looking. Now it's just a matter of time. Hopefully this stupid humidity backs off a bit and I can get the dry tent back down to 62%. I also have had my AC going for days at full blast and I cannot for the life of me get it down to a reasonable temp now. I don't understand. And what I really don't understand is how this piece of shit AC blows more wet air than dry conditioned air. It makes absolutely no sense to me and I cannot figure it out. I'm very frustrated at this annoyance. So it's another super humid day as well. 86% outside. Temp is currently 66° and I have no idea why my room is still too warm. Argh! Grumble grumble. I gotta go smoke a bowl. Dry System Environment: Temp: 60.9° RH: 68.3% VPD: 0.58 kPa August 30, 2023 Day 7: Well, it's been a week of drying so far. We still have quite a few days left. Maybe 5 or 6. Everything is coming along super nicely. Even with the humidity being as wonky as it is, I have at least managed to keep the temp well below 70° for the most part. Haven't gone over 70° though, so that's really good. I had a really good look at the buds today, just to make sure they aren't getting mold or mildew or fungus or anything. So far everything looks good. I'll be double checking later on today. Dry System Environment: Temp: 64.9° RH: 65.9% VPD: 0.72 kPa August 31, 2023 Day 8: It's been over a week now in the drying stage. I started the bend test today. Definitely not ready. I'm thinking another 4 to 6 days. Maybe 3. I finally think I got the RH under control. So it should be good until the dry is done. Other than that, I don't see any signs of issues. No mold, no mildew, no fungus. Everything looks great! I cannot wait to see how the cured product comes out. Dry System Environment: Temp: 62.6° RH: 66.8% VPD: 0.65 kPa September 1, 2023 Day 9: the humidity outside has dropped a bit and the weather is pretty nice. So the dry tent is looking good environment wise. The ladies are drying out quite nicely now I think. Definitely a few more days left. I'd say between 3 and 5 days. Happily, I'm getting no grass smell at the moment, so that's an excellent sign. It can only get better from here. Dry System Environment: Temp: 66.5° RH: 62.7% VPD: 0.83 kPa September 2, 2023 Day 10: just a couple days left. I did find a small branch with a bunch of popcorn on it that snapped. So I trimmed that up. It weighs a gram, so there's one to remember for the final weight. It's not quite dry enough, but I figure trimmed and outside of the tent, it will dry pretty quickly. May not taste the best, but will give me an idea of what the high is like. Anyway, a few days left. It's coming along quite nicely now. And the wave of humidity seems to be over for now. I'm having no problems keeping the temps in the mid 60s and the RH between 58% and 62%. Hopefully it sticks for the next week or 2. I still have other plants to chop and dry. Dry System Environment: Temp: 66.9° RH: 61.4% VPD: 0.87 kPa September 3, 2023 Day 11: Yet again another effing humid day. Seriously?! Well the dry tent is stuck up in the high 60s to low 70s for RH. Temp is also a bit high at 68°. I have the AC blasting but it's doing very little in regards to cooling. Hopefully in the next hour or 2, it will acclimate and my room will be back down to 65°. I can't do anything about the humidity. I have learned that. Not with a portable AC. I need a wall or window unit. Alas, those aren't options for me without cutting a massive hole in my wall and trying to install a window first. Just a big fat nope. I grow weed. And I definitely do not do construction. Anyway, I started the snap test. One branch snapped yesterday a bit, but I left it. The rest are still bendy. 2 or 3 more days. Maybe 4 with this damned humidity. We shall see. Dry System Environment: Temp: 66.7° RH: 63.4% VPD: 0.82 kPa September 4, 2023 Day 12: We are on the final stretch for these ladies. Another day I'd say, maybe a day and a half to 2. Some of the smaller branches are crunching, but not quite snapping yet. The larger branches are still bending. But not as much as they were. I can feel it. They are almost ready. No more grass smell, just clean wonderful sweet weed smell. Dry System Environment: Temp: 69.8° RH: 67.8% VPD: 0.80 kPa (Another very humid day) kinda hot today too. 80° feels like 84° Outside humidity is 69% September 5, 2023 Day 13: I think I'll start trimming tomorrow. 14 days of drying and then 2 to 3 weeks of curing should finish off whatever happens to be too moist. Or, somehow, too dry. They are almost snapping now and more crunching of stems. The rest of the full day and sometimes tomorrow evening after dark will be trimming time. Outside climate is still a nightmare. Temps are at 80° and Humidity is 71%. Yet another day to try my best to keep the RH down. Currently, the RH of the tend is 73% and will drop to maybe 65%. The temps is fine though. It's a bit warmer than I'd like, but within range. Dry System Environment: Temp: 68.2° RH: 68.9% VPD: 0.73 kPa Yield Update: I pulled a branch from Zkittlez Two. It weighs 8 grams trimmed. One nice sized cola out of it. Even though the foxtails make it completely loose and larfy. I'll start trimming tomorrow night I think. Just to give it a bit more time to dry, especially with such high humidity. September 6, 2023 Day 14: Zkittlez One is nearly dry. Not enough snap and more bend in the branches, but I won't be trimming until tonight anyway. It's too hot to trim during the day. Zkittlez Two has been trimmed and jarred. Dry weight is 53 grams. Nearly spot on with my estimate. 13% weight retention vs 15%. Not too bad. This stuff is pretty good, but I will say trimming was a bit of a chore. Luckily I wet trimmed her because of all the foxtails. Trimming today was very delicate. I also cut off the top foxtails and put them with the very small amount of trim. I'll update this with the smoke report and full yield after everything is said and done. These buds will certainly need a couple weeks of curing time. September 7, 2023 Day 15: So the trimming was cancelled last night. I trimmed up a few of the smaller branches and it's just still too wet. This humidity is going to destroy this whole crop I swear. Wtf. Anyway, the humidity out today is 91%. I have all 3 dehumidifiers running and it's doing absolutely nothing. No clue what to do. I'm also burping Zkittlez Two a few times a day for around 5 minutes. Those buds are still wet too. So I'm just going to keep burping until the buds get to the right place. Dry System Environment: Temp: 67.3° RH: 69.6% VPD: 0.70 kPa UPDATE: I ended up moving everything over to the main tent. I needed room somewhere for new seedlings to come. September 8, 2023 Day 16: everything looks great in the main tent now. Temps are nice and low. RH is bouncing between 58% and 65% where it mostly hovers around 62%. Definitely not ready yet. Maybe a couple more days. Zkittlez Two is curing now. I'll have to burp quite a bit for the week. These buds are not dry yet but slowly getting there. RH has been dropping a bit over time. So that's good. I'll continue to burp until the RH is around 62%. Currently the jars are around 67% RH with temps at about 65°. Dry System Environment: Temp: 67.7° RH: 64.6% VPD: 0.79 kPa September 9, 2023 Day 17: Another day and this lady isn't dry yet. I'm getting a bit concerned with my inability to drop the humidity to a reasonable level. I believe it's preventing the plant from drying completely. I may have to put a second dehumidifier in the tent. I'll ask a question and see what everyone else thinks. All the branches are still bending. None of the buds are snapping off. Just no snap. Annoying. Update: So I think I figured out my humidity issue. Not only is it super humid out, but the AC I just bought is defective and is blowing the condenser moisture back into the room. So as it removes the moisture it only drains a little and the condenser gets all wet and I'm assuming a bit frosty at first. It only happens when the condenser turns off so it's got to be that. Not to mention, the house AC kicked on and now my humidity is at 60% and temp is 65°. Hopefully I'm right. Dry System Environment: Temp: 66.5° RH: 64.2% VPD: 0.78 kPa September 10, 2023 Day 18: Trimming Day and final weight! Smoke report coming soon! What a satisfying grow. I'm pretty sure I'm trimming too early, but I need the space, so more burping and a couple Grove bags. I'll get 1/4 pound bags for the next grow. Check out my newest diary: Strawberry Gorilla and Gorilla Cookies Autoflowers. So it took me 14 hours to trim Zkittlez One. Lots of bud and a ton of leaves. But after everything is said and done, I'm using 10 jars and 4 Grove Bags which are now all half full for curing, except for the bags. Those are full. I'll be doing a 3 week cure on these plants. It should be long enough to get all the extra moisture out. September 11, 2023 Curing Stage Day 1: I'll be burping the jars 5 times a day for about a half hour at a time. I'll do this for a week. The buds are still a little wet. At least most of them. Hopefully by the end of the 7 days, I'll only have to burp once a day. I'll do a single burp for 30 minutes per day on week 2. Week 3 will be the same half hour, but only 4 days in the week. By the end of week 3, curing should be done and it only gets better from there.