First Time Growers Harvesting Thread

BCBuddy420

Well-Known Member
Welcome first timers :) This is a thread dedicated to the joys of harvesting your first crop. I have recently had a thread growing for flowering but as upon request created this thread as many of the posters from that thread have or are going to be harvesting in the near future.

The idea behind this is to share info on drying, curing, trimming and making great things like oil and hash, even cooking with cannabis. Oh and of course pictures of our bounty :D

~ BCbuddy :leaf:
 

passthatsh!t23

Well-Known Member
Hey Everyone!

First to post~woohoo!

ICE HASH~ This is the method im gonna be using for making hash outta my plant material.
Anyone have any opinion on the best way by going about this method.
 

BCBuddy420

Well-Known Member
Hey Jondamon :) It's been a while. Thanks for the jump start to info on an effective drying box... perfect post man

~ BCbuddy :leaf:
 

BCBuddy420

Well-Known Member
Hey Everyone!

First to post~woohoo!

ICE HASH~ This is the method im gonna be using for making hash outta my plant material.
Anyone have any opinion on the best way by going about this method.
How To Make Ice Hash Cheaply:


Electric mixer (or 2 x tireless arms)
Refrigerator (or if you are in the bush, substitute the refrigerator with a bucket of take-away ice and water)
Ice cubes
Glass bowl
Soup ladle
Teaspoon

3 or 4 tissues
Blow dryer (or let naturally dry)

A piece of polyester monofilament fibre mesh - 30 cm x 30 cm, (1 ft x 1 ft), 100 lines per inch mesh or " 100 mesh " (approx. 155 micron size), available from all screen printing/art shop supplies and from online ....

Note:
Don't use pantyhose material or silk scarves because the hole openings may not be the right (consistent) size to allow all the resin heads to fall through and keep most of the vegetative matter out ....the correct screen mesh with monofilament fibre strands is the most important aspect of any ice hash collection method - get the correct mesh, a small piece will last for years.

Wet or dry leaves, manicuring trim and/or lower fluffy "pop corn buds" ...at least two handfuls

How to make it:

Place the fresh or dry herbs in a sealed plastic bag in the freezer for at least an hour.

Put equal amounts of freezing cold water, ice cubes and herb (Put herbs in last)into an electric mixer, blend on low speed for 2 - 3 mins
or
Use a medium sized glass or plastic jar with a screw on lid and manually shake vigorously for several minutes.

(Note: "disappointing green slop" instead of "tan coloured wet sand" can occur with too much mixing and poor starting material)

Slowly pour the green liquid through the mesh screen into the glass bowl, the vegetative matter is caught on the mesh as the resin loaded water passes through the small mesh holes.

Put the glass bowl into the freezer section for about 45 minutes, tapping the bowl occasionally to allow the frozen resin heads to fall and collect on the bottom of the glass bowl as they are heavier than the leaf matter that floats to the top.

Very carefully ladle or siphon out, 95% of the liquid from the bowl, take care not to muddy up the water otherwise you'll get more contaminates in there ....then slowly teaspoon out the last water and use a tissue to suck up the remaining moisture.

Blow dry the remaining moist ice hash on medium for a few minutes , then collect it all together into a lump with your index finger. Or place the bowl in a warm place for a day to let the resin dry out.

The remaining sticky "grit" is mostly pure resin - Ice hashish!

Please note:
The results may vary with longer or shorter mixing times, slow or fast mixing speeds, using hand shaking, drills or electric mixers, wet or dry material, letting it sit longer or shorter, by using another smaller sized mesh to separate the resin from the water etc - read and experiment, this is just a very low cost method of ice hash extraction, there are many methods.

You can also repeat the whole process with fresh ice cubes to get a little extra ice hash as well.

With all things being equal ...this method will get you same amount of "ice hash" as any other more expensive ice hash extraction methods and "kits"

....the only thing different is that all the ice hash extracted will end up as a single grade lump ...not in 3 different grades like the bag kits ....I can live with that! especially that this method can be done with small amounts of harvest "trim" to start with which is ideal for the average small grower who gets only a shoe-box or two full of trim for each year.

This might be a good method for those who want to try out ice hash extraction before splashing out and buying a set of professionally made ice extraction bags.

Recently AF flat screened a small amount of high quality trim and got a small amount of lovely sticky resin that pressed into "hash" very easily and set that aside. AF further "worked" the remaining trim over and over the screen until there seemed to be no more resin passing through, just more broken up vegetative matter and worked that powder into a ball with a bit of spit and thumb pressure in AF's palm. The remaining trim was "shaken, not stirred" in the above ice method and returned a small amount of pure light coloured, sticky ice hash.

This an alternative to the extractor bags you can buy for upwards of 150 bux.
 

SensiStan

Well-Known Member
Ok, so i hope what i have to write in here will help everybody else out. it will be MY methos of prepping the plant for drying and curing, i have read into this thoroughly and followed the teachings of some extremely smart growers :


  • Obviously Flushing is always good to clear out any old nutes and to clear any old uneccecary elements from the buds before the chop.
  • Next, in the last 2 days of flowering i will completely drown my root mass for 48 hours, starving the roots and the plants of oxygen (this prevents oxidisation of my buds while theyre drying offering me a more potent finished product. It also helps with the "slow dry" i'm looking to achieve by waterlogging the plants and buds :D
  • I will then leave them in the dark in their waterlogged state for 48 hours allowing all starches and the crap plants use in the "day" to recede back down to the roots , also resin quantity and trichome quality are always best just after sunrise.
  • I will then finally chop my girls down taking off the fan leaves but leaving the small leaves on the buds (the best curing techniques involve the plant still having a high nitrate content whilst drying and curing as this is used up to make the bestest buds ) .
  • Once slow dried until crispy on the outside into the airtight curing jars until they feel wet again, then up to dry again (at this point i would remove dry leaves for cooking etc, its a matter of preference though)
  • Burp air out your jars and gently rotate buds until they are they way i want to be :D
Thats my method , if any1 wants to use it i will gladly send you to the guy who taught me as he knows his shit and he can explain each point in detail... i've left a lot out or i would have been typing all night, i hope you all get the jist of it :bigjoint:
 

Dr. Greenthum

Well-Known Member
I thought i would add my two cents in on this thread on how i like to harvest. I harvest when the trichomes are half cloudy and half amber. I flush out 2 weeks prior to harvest. If you break off a fan leaf and taste where the leaf stem meet the branch it should taste like water. If it is bitter sweet there is still to many fertilizer in the plants system. I like to take a I cut my babies down in the early mourning before the sun comes up because that is when the trichomes are at peak production. I usally trim right when they a still wet and green. then hang them upside down in a 70 degree room,slight fan for air circulation,and 30% humidity.
 

BCBuddy420

Well-Known Member
I have some pics from a pre-harvest I've done on two plants. The rest will be harvested very soon.

First one is two bigger top buds sitting beside the lovely Ms.Biel ( thought this would be fitting ) These smell dank and are heavy sticky, they were harvested yesterday;




this is one plant that has has been hang drying for 3 days



and here is one plant I harvested yesterday drying in a drawer



Here are some random shots I took yesterday



 

BCBuddy420

Well-Known Member
great info on flushing, drying and curing guys :) This is a great start to the thread :cool:

My plan is simple as alot of this weed needs to be in smokeable form sooner than later. They are flushed, I am going to be trimming them and hang drying them for 6-7 days at room temperature then placing in swingtop sealable jars for a 8-10 day cure. This is just for the first 25 % that gets cut down. The other 75 % will be trimmed with a machine and dried for 4 days on screens than cured for 2 weeks or more. All takes place in pitch dark around 68-73 degrees with a small fan circulating air and my exhaust running on low through my carbon filter for no smell,

~ BCbuddy :leaf:
 

passthatsh!t23

Well-Known Member
Hey guys wouldnt it be easier to trim the buds while the plant is still alive then chop when done. To avoid touching the buds and destroying those trichs.
 

sensisensai

Well-Known Member
It would be, however, when this is done u end up with an overwhelming smell of "fresh cut grass" that tends to drastically overwhelm any natural flavoring the bud may have, by letting the chlorophyll evaporate at a very slow rate then trimming when dry ur keeping that magical smell we work so hard for, this smell can also happen if you dry too fast, imo drying should take 8-10 days, the slower the better, however if I'm in a hurry I will let my pots dry completely, I mean DRY. Then harvest, it will dry a bit faster without impacting the smell and flavor AS MUCH. Many of the people I know call this their secret weapon, Slow dry then trimming when dry. As there is a lot of mis information on harvesting manicuring dryin and curing. I can personally attest to this method. I've tried most any way I can think of and chopping the plants whole at the trunk, removing biggest fan leaves (not even all of em sometimes, for fluffier buds at least) and hanging the whole plant to dry, this should take about 9 days at 70.3 degrees and 33% humidity. And as said a million times now (sorry lol) trim when dry and throw into jars. Since then I can't keep my phone in my pocket, and I don't even sale it lol.
 

passthatsh!t23

Well-Known Member
So chop the plant as whole. trim off bigger leaves only, let the buds with leaves and all dry. then trim.? could you explain a little bit further. thanks sensisensi
 

BCBuddy420

Well-Known Member
He doesn't need to... from what I'm getting you take off most fan leaves, leaving a few on the plant to curl around flower matter. You hang dry in a ventilated dark area at around 68-73 degrees for 8-10 days depending on how dry your preference is and how wet the pots were upon harvest. Then it's into sealed jars allowing air in and out a couple times a day for a week or 2, longer if you really want to mellow it out. That's the best way to maximise your finished product is what I've gathered from reading for months on this subject. There are slight variations, some people use automatic trimmers and manicure immediately, then placing individual buds on screens, temperature up in the high 80's and 90's, it dries fast. This is called Flash-Drying, strictly a commercial method as it's ready for sale within 5 days, it's effective enough nonetheless but not as pleasant as the slow cured stuff. I recently chatted with a guy who says he begins curing after one day of hanging, says it's the ultimate in flavour, aroma and smoothness, maybe it is, I will have to try that. Sounds like it would go mouldy real easy that way though. All in all I'm sticking with Sensai on his mentioned method.
 

BCBuddy420

Well-Known Member
Here's the finished product!! This bud is better than alot of the stuff I can buy around here. I am very, very pleased with the outcome :) Fuck yeah. It burns clean, nice crisp earthy skunky flavour with a hint of sweetness, gotta love that molasses eh? :weed: lovin' these fat joints :bigjoint:


 

StaySmokin206

Active Member
Here's the finished product!! This bud is better than alot of the stuff I can buy around here. I am very, very pleased with the outcome :) Fuck yeah. It burns clean, nice crisp earthy skunky flavour with a hint of sweetness, gotta love that molasses eh? :weed: lovin' these fat joints :bigjoint:


Ahhh lookin good BC :D Is this your first real harvest then? And I will post as soon as my endless sativa gets done -.-
 

BCBuddy420

Well-Known Member
Ahhh lookin good BC :D Is this your first real harvest then? And I will post as soon as my endless sativa gets done -.-
Hey thanks Smokin :) Yeah this is my first harvest man. Yeah I'm sure I have to try a couple 12-14 weeks strains just for the sativa lift. I was thinking Durban, maybe some SSH, kalimist, C99 or good ol skunk #1. All real heavy on the sativa side if not pure sativa.
 

StaySmokin206

Active Member
Hey thanks Smokin :) Yeah this is my first harvest man. Yeah I'm sure I have to try a couple 12-14 weeks strains just for the sativa lift. I was thinking Durban, maybe some SSH, kalimist, C99 or good ol skunk #1. All real heavy on the sativa side if not pure sativa.
Yeah I also noticed there is smaller buds kinda like popcorn nugs growing off the top of the top cola. Made this thread and am gonna take some pictures later, it may be normal I am not sure.

https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/345988-anyone-ever-heard.html
 

passthatsh!t23

Well-Known Member
HEY everyone!
I CHOPPED TODAY~~~FIRST HARVEST WOOHOO!
50.2grams wet! How much should i get dried..guesses anyone!
Got them drying in my closet and its a steady 66-69 temp wise with awesome ventalation. Pics tmmr.
 

BCBuddy420

Well-Known Member
HEY everyone!
I CHOPPED TODAY~~~FIRST HARVEST WOOHOO!
50.2grams wet! How much should i get dried..guesses anyone!
Got them drying in my closet and its a steady 66-69 temp wise with awesome ventalation. Pics tmmr.
I would say you just got yourself a nice half ounce or a lil more. Good job man. What do you have in line for next grow? as in wattage or anything in particular...
 
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