End of Week 9 of Flower. I can just taste those buds now! The smell is intoxicating and the view is picturesque. There is definitely a noticeable difference between the two pheno's but I suspect both will pack a good punch. There has been some purpling in some of the top leaves which I expect will increase with the drop in temperature the last week or so. I cant wait to get some good pictures at the end of the week as Ive decided the chop day will be this coming Sunday. The clash of yellow, purple and green is always my favourite so I plan to capture as much as possible since the next update will be jam packed with pictures of the girls just before their chop and after 48 hours of darkness to get the last of that resin production from the plant. I will also take some pics of the hanging plants in the drying cupboard. The reason I am leaving my plants in darkness for 48 hours before they get chopped, is that it has been long belived that this practice will increase the last of the thrichome production and some say increases potency. There has been a recent study in the Netherlands which does confirm increased resin production for plants left in 48 hours of darkness (they also tested 24 hours darkness but found 48 was better) at the end of their flower cycle. The chop has been planned to be pretty straight forward where I will just be taking off the main fan leaves and leaves with no thrichomes as well as chopping off the larfy/popcorn buds which will go straight in the freezer for a fresh frozen bubble hash run. I dont bud wash my flower as my tent gets a regular clean each week and always gets a full deep clean when every harvest is over and besides, its only me and my friends that smoke it! The drying cupboard I use for drying is a small cupboard designed for storing and drying clothes which I have put a carbon filter and fan as well as a small desk fan to circulate the air as well as a small dehumidifier just incase there is an increase in humidity. So the basics of drying is that you want the area where you are drying to be dark and fairly cool (its recommended to be between 15 and 22 degrees C), have a humidity level between 45% and 55%. I aim for around 21 degrees C temperature and 50% humidity. The drying time can vary depending on strain but its recommended to dry the buds for 7 - 10 days and I will explain further about how to tell if your bud is done drying and is ready to be cured on the next post. Drying is very important as you can affect all your hard work if the conditions arent right and the bud ends up too dry (luckily these days there are ways to fix bud thats too dry) or you end up with mouldy ganja which isnt save to smoke. Its also believed that a good long dry in good conditions helps increase potency and also has been shown to reduce anxiety. Anyway thats it for this week and I hope to see you all on the final post for the end of Week 10 of flower and the harvest! Until next week. ✌️