11/30:
I harvested the first 6 today, flushed 5 more for the second time, and fed everybody else for the last time.
I washed all the branches using the 4-step method ascribed by Doc Bud at High Times/420magazine and many other notable cannabis connoisseurs, with slight modifications:
4 x big plastic totes/bins
8 x ounces of 12% hydrogen peroxide (or 32 ounces of 3%)
2 x cups of concentrated lemon juice
2 x cups of baking soda
10 x gallons of water in each bin
Unless your tap water stinks, you're safe to use tap water for the procedure, but I used an inline carbon hose filter to fill my buckets.
Bin #1 - 10 gallons of water mixed with the hydrogen peroxide
Bin #2 - 10 gallons of water mixed with the lemon juice and baking soda
Bin #3 - 10 gallons of water as hot tap water
Bin #4 - 10 gallons of cold tap water
I was mainly concerned about removing as much lint and cat/dog hair as possible, but also rinsing off any residue left from all the various foliar applications of humic/fulvic acid, kelp, axiom, big bloom, and tiger bloom I did. First, I put my leaf blower on low speed and blasted my plants thoroughly, one at a time, replicating 50-60mph winds for about 10 seconds and watched as a whirlwind of debris and hair flew out the back door.
Bud-washing:
Pluck any necrotic plant material and any old fan leaves off while they're still on the plant. Then, take a handful of branches and submerge them in Bin #1 for about 30 seconds, agitating it, removing from water, submerging again, agitating, etc...then remove it and let it drip out for a few seconds...then repeat the process with Bins #2-4. Let it drip dry overnight with a little bit of airflow, then dry as you normally would...baskets, boxes, etc..
I hadn't watered these plants in a few days, so they were almost in draught, but after doing this procedure, they were fully hydrated(turgid) and seemed to have brighter colors than before. Nice!๐
12/1:
The bottom part of the closet seems empty with only 9 plants in there.. ๐
I cut the harvested plants up and put them into drying baskets in the top of my closet with a small oscillating fan on. I've got the temperature fluctuating between 68f and 75f and the RH is staying between 48% and 52%.
To do that, I had to take down the small light in the top of the closet to fit the drying baskets up there. So, I moved the 3 shorter plants still up there down to the bottom and put them on top of buckets. Now the bottom of the closet looks full again!๐
I'm anxious to finish up this grow so I can get busy growing the Fastbuds Fast Flowering Photo Testers!!! When I harvest the next 5, I'll flush the remaining plants really well and that will be all the flushing they'll get..I'll let them dry back out for a few days and harvest them. I've got to make some minor improvements to the garden (adding UV, blue and red/far red booster panels and intake fans) That should put me on track to start germinating them by mid-December if all goes well.
12/3:
...early a.m...
The harvested plants are already dry!?!?? And have excellent texture??? Wow..bud washing is for real..roughly 48 hours after I hung them to drip dry, and 40 hours after I put them in baskets in 50% RH/70f conditions with moderate airflow...usually takes 4 or 5 days to get a good slow-dry in the same conditions, so I'm convinced that this must be attributed to the bud-washing procedure. I'm sold!
Here's the talley so far:
plant #1 - 115g (plus 13g larf) - Candy Cane [F2]
plant #2 - 108g (plus 18g larf) - Candy Cane [F2]
plant #3 - 119gย (plus 15g larf) - C4ndycaine [Candy Cane x C4]
plant #4 -ย 92gย (plus 6g larf) - Candy Cane [F2] - the smallest plant in the main area
plant #5 -ย 112gย (plus 22g larf) - Candesia [Candy Cane x Amnesia]
plant #6 -ย 75g (no larf) - Candesia [Candy Cane x Amnesia] - grown in upper area under 200w
...afternoon:
I flushed 6 of the last 7 plants for the first time today and harvested 4 more of them. I washed them and hung them to dry.....my dripping wet bathing beauties!๐