Mataro Blue

So she was chopped down on day 124 from seed. It was chopped with mostly cloudy trichomes, but a amber one here and there. We couldn't wait any longer as the main cola was incredibly dense, and we started to see some bud rot forming. That means... to the chopping block. Here is what I did, for no particular reason other than I had a ton of chores to do this week, and all of this was done in between a lot of other work that needed to be done for my gardens (and other random house work): On day 124, this Mataro Blue plant was chopped and hung upside down to dry in my cool (50-60F) garage for about 24 hours. The next day, the tedious washing process began. I try to wash all my outdoor crops, but it isn't always possible due to the time involved for some pretty sizable harvests, and the time I allow plants to be outside of a climate-controlled drying room. To wash plants I do the following, which is pretty common practice with maybe a little deviation...I have been doing it this way for years and I'm not sure where I learned it: 2 buckets, 1 with warm water, 1 with cold. I add ice to this second bucket to keep it cold, because, like I said, this is tedious. In the warm bucket, drop in 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of baking soda. I stir it around with a branch and you want to see bubbles. Make sure not to use that fake lemon juice crap that is made from oil or concentrate. Lemon juice and baking soda have anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties, and the oxidation from the reaction helps do a deeper clean. Remove branches from main stem. Cut in half etc if need be to be bucket height in length. Dip them into the warm water, swirl them around gently, remove and let drip, and then same thing in the cold bath. Then hang to dry, for 1 more day. Edit: after typing this out, I realized that it isn't that tedious at all. The tedious part is hanging each half or third (depending on the cut for bucket height) branch individually to dry again. The cleaning part is quick and easy. Why do I clean my buds? Doesn't this hurt them? I clean them because outdoor air pollution, bugs, bug poop, and other garbage that clings to the trichomes. A quick clean with a mild citrus wash will remove most of the funk, and you won't notice in the finished product if properly dried and cured. It won't ruin buds if you're gentle and don't knock trichomes off or handle the buds. I keep all fan and sugar leaves on throughout the wash. I don't want the buds exposed to too much during the post-wash dry. The next day after the dry, they are ready for the trim. I have a new mechanical bowl trimmer that I use for outdoor and I love it. The hard part is actually cleaning, and just because you have to dip each branch one by one in two buckets, and then hang them all cut off, cut in half etc...a lot of hanging. I need a better method, but good thing I am done with large outdoor grows this year. The pictures above are from the plant that was cleaned and chopped wet the next day, then fully dried on an herb drying rack. In the images, I just removed them from drying and I am weighing them before they enter the curing process. I haven't decided yet if I will run them through the dry blade yet with my mechanical trimmer to remove the extra leaves close to the bud. I think maybe I'll leave them on to protect the buds some and if need be I can remove them as needed on demand. I am pleased to say that 230g (8.13oz) for one plant that was thrown in a hole unattended for the whole summer, is a pretty respectable harvest. This plant, along with the Kiss plants from my other Kannabia diary, were part of an experiment I ran for the first time this year: I did not maintain this plant one bit: about a week old it was thrown outside in fairly early spring, to battle the weather and try to survive. The weather was brutal, especially throughout the summer, with record rainfalls. Again, the plant didn't get tended to by me. That means it did not get nutrients its entire life. Not even indoors. Never did it show a single yellowing or deficiency, not even in flower. It was also growing in a very sandy soil equivalent to masonry sand. This is not a high tilth black soil. It's blond, and it looks devoid of all value for plants. Yet, Kannabia's genetics made it 18 entire weeks, 17 outdoor, without nutrients or a proper growing medium. Impressive I'd say. Go Kannabia! I'll be back in 3-6 weeks after the cure for a smoke report