Cariboo_OG's Utopia Haze

Utopia Haze is a rare heavily sativa dominant hybrid (90% sativa/10% indica) strain created through back crossing Brazilian Sativa strains. This tasty little bud took home 1st Place for Best Sativa in the 2008 High Times’ Cannabis Cup and for good reason – with its potent 18-22% average THC level and long lasting cerebral effects, Utopia Haze is one powerhouse smoke. The Utopia Haze high comes on soon after you finish your first toke, hitting you with a strong cerebral lift that infuses you with a sense of hazy relaxation. Type: Feminised/Photoperiod Cultivation: Indoor/Outdoor Flowering Time (days): 70-75 Indoor Yield (g): Up to 650 Feminised Outdoor Harvest Month: October Feminised Outdoor Harvest Month Week: 3rd-4th week Aroma: Citrus, Woody, Pungent, Mint Effect: Cerebral Lift, Hazy Relaxation, Sleepy Welcome Everyone to the Final Entry of my Utopia Haze Grow ! There is so much to discuss ! I have been extremely busy as of late trying to get this Harvest together, but i am happy to have it here for you now ! I Seriously under estimated the amount of time, help from others, and my own necessary skills to pull this off.. and i still kind of screwed it up lol ! But its worth noting i have never actually done this before and trying to document it during....was extremely hard. It is next to impossible to work an iPhone with rubber gloves on ! First I want to discuss everything step by step so before you jump straight into the comments on how the end product is so small in "quantity" Rest assured i am happy with its"quality"...and thats all that matters to me because Life is a journey not a destination! and i have learned so much from this grow that I couldn't be any happy even if i messed some things up :) But at the very least I hope you read through this entry in its entirety with an open mind and focus more on the process, rather than just the outcome! I ran out of Ice & i was only able to wash three times..(normally I've heard you should go sometimes 5-6 washes) Preparation is Key & things will be much better next round :) Photos 1-22 These are pretty self explanatory but for those of you just tuning in now.. this is what happens to a very happy plant when you don't have the necessary tools to monitor key components of growing cannabis.. Ph, as well as EC levels play a very key role in the outcome of your grow lol that being said I was just able to save this plant by purchasing both tools but that doesn't mean the plant didn't suffer because of the prior events.. This was a Huge reason behind me choosing to turn this harvest into what i would consider "Solventless Hash Rosin" from "Ice water extracted Bubble hash". Pictures 23 The idea here is the process of using "fresh Frozen Cannabis" this has been discussed many a time online on such sites as instagram and here on grow diaries as well.. I personally have Never tried the process so i decided to try it out and make a judgement for myself.. Video 24 The Cannabis has now been in the freezer for 72 hours making it very well frozen.. as you can tell i struggled getting it all into the 25u Screen Wash Bag. One thing of note i would do differently is i will de-stem my next batch as i also believe this played a part in the amount of plant matter that escaped through the sieves. Photo/Video's 25-28 The idea here is "ice water Seiving" & especially with the bags that I am using here that are only have screen material on the bottom portion of the bag it is very important to have spaces in-between the screens to allow the water to pass directly through the screens into the bottom bucket with the least amount of resistance.. because the hash is so extremely temperature dependant if it gets warm on the side of the bag.. it will stick there and not make it to the bottom to become use able product.. 29 You do not need to use as much Ice as i used here lol... the idea is to keep everything very cold..i certainly achieved that but at the sacrifice of using so much that i ended up grinding product and producing "contaminants" but in the end they are just plant matter that i would be smoking when i rolled up my joint either way so.. I'm not super disappointed.. But it should be noted that what you want to achieve here is a Layering effect where you have the wash bag between two small layers of ice while the "water current" washes the Trichomes away allowing them to be separated by the screens setup below :) Before Starting the machine you should allow some time (i.e.;10-12minutes pre soak to allow the product to become saturated) before the first cycle. By video 32 I have just ran out of ice lol.. Video 33-34 Here I have a tip for you.. to separate the screens that you sieve through.. cut 5 gallon buckets to stretch them across nice and tight.. it'll make scooping your Bubble that much easier ! i learned this from the many "Frenchy" videos I have watched :) Picture 35 Here in lays the problem for most people.. drying your hash without loosing vast amounts of "Terpenes" whilst also stay ever vigilant against mold ! Thanks to all those videos I've watched on youtube.. id like to think this was one of my most successful parts of this process.. Things to Note; Terpenes start to seriously evaporate at temperatures 68F or 20C you need to stay as cold as possible whilst bringing the Relative Humidity in the space down into the 40-30% to stay away from that nasty mold ! I used my cold storage room in the basement.. with a dehumidifier running to keep the space at 45% RH & staying at a constant 15c. All while spreading the hash as thin as possible across parchment paper, on top of the white screens with a fan moving air across both sides of the paper. Pictures 36-38 These are some macros i took in the middle of my drying session I fell in love with the colour. Yes i know the black spots are plant material but they will get caught when i bag the hash & squish the oil out. Thing to Note; at this stage it is important to ensure you 'micro plane" the hash down as fine as you can whilst staying weary of the temperature... any "chunks" will hold pockets of moisture.. that lead to potential problems..ie; mold ... Picture/Video 39-41 Successfully planed bubble hash ready to be bagged and Squished ! Picture 42 Ive decided to follow Pedro.. from Pedros Grow Room and double bag to be on the safe side so i don't have any blow outs. So thats One 25u bag inside one 160u bag ! :) Pictures 43 This is almost 3 grams of the bubble hash from above, already melting in the bag.. this is where i ran into trouble again lol things started getting to warm in the house and i was only able to get one of the three squish's i did on video :( things started getting sticky. Picture 44 This is basically just a photo of the equipment I'm using; 3x5 LowTemp Cage in the frame I built myself, with a 20Ton bottle jack. Something to note here is this is an older Lowtemp model with only a single heating zone which is which i have it closed here heating Both sides of the press :) As well as the importance of having adequate pressure on your plates.. my rig is very overkill for the size of hash bags..lol Video 45 Here is the lovely press video.. its didn't quite work the way i wanted either lol my directional folding wasn't quite tight enough for a big "drip" :) &the Press was set to 65°c Photo's 46-50 are pretty self explanatory :) I had a blow out.. but still managed to pull an 80% return from the hash once squished...& yes it tasted amazing :) Was it worth it in the end... that could be debated.. for some..i understand..its not your thing, but for those of us that are interested in making our own concentrates.. free from Solvents... I wouldn't make it any other way :) If even ONE of you reading this diary finds it helpful to reference for ANYTHING.....even if its "what not to do" ill consider it a success ! Thanks again for tagging along on this garden adventure.. its been one heck of a journey ! Much Love from B.C. Canada, Until Next time, Cariboo