Our Continuous Harvest...more bud every 10 days!

Hey all, I thought it was time to start a new log, this one will be focused on our flowering plants. As you all should know, Harris7 and I grow together.:greenthumb:

This is a place where you can come for lots of bud pics, along with (hopefully) lots of debates and info on various harvesting/curing/trimming methods- from 24hrs darkness b4 harvest, to cutting off fan leaves.

We have now entered into our continous harvest faze, we will be harvesting a new plant about every 10 days.

We have a lot of strains on our hands: Champagne, Mud Bud, The Hog, Dutch Treat, Big Bang, and Dr. Atomic's Northern Lights. (I hope I haven't forgotten any. lol)

So far we have harvested 2 champagne plants, 2 dutch treat plants, and 1 hog. Our favorite smoke is The Hog so far, it's a strong indica yet it gives us a giddy buzz at the same time, with no burnout/crash.:giggity:

The plant next on the chopping block is Dutch Treat (so far our favorite looking plant, and the best genetics in terms of indestructability) which will be harvested in about 5 days, with Mud Bud close on it's heels.

I will post some pics of our most recent harvest's soon, so stay tuned!:jointsmile:

man could you post some pictures, the description is making my mouth water lol :D

I was just about to go jump in the shower but just for you...here are some pics! All of the buds are champagne (also the picture of the plant), except for that 3rd pic which is Dutch Treat.

Oh and I forgot to mention, off the first 4 plants we got 3 ounces. We were hoping for more obviously, but they were our VERY FIRST plants and we put them thru hell. Hopefully our next plants will show us some more love!

[attachment=o122689][attachment=o122690][attachment=o122691][attachment=o122692][attachment=o122693]


In one of my next posts, I will describe how we have harvested/manicured/cured so far...our methods are open to critique and suggestions! I know everyone has their own way of doing things, so please share what works for you.

Looks very cool. I'll be watching.

Shovelhandle

Ok, I see the attached. Wooly Bully, man! Robust Buds.

Shov

Yummm

Very nice looking buds, I can't wait to see more.

So this is Dutch Treat. Weâ??ve harvested 2 plants from this strain already but not these exact genetics. It seems the buds on this plant are leafier than the others but weâ??ve kept this one as the mother. It has some really great qualities like VERY strong steams, quick growing and nice big leafs (maybe a bad choice).

These picâ??s are from a day b4 we cut the nutrients on her and sheâ??s been going about 4 days just on sugars now. The buds have really fattened up Iâ??ll post new pics at harvest.

Iâ??m lovin how long the coals are

Looking forward to the bud porn, guys! :D

That Dutch Treat looks beautiful.


The Fog :rastasmoke:

Here's our harvest method so far:

-Cut nutes when first trichs start to turn amber
-Feed with only Sweet, and with lots of water each watering (ie minor flush)
-When amber trichs get closer to the ratio we want, we do a major flush
-Put plant into 36 hours darkness before chopping down

Once chopped down:

-Cut off all large fan leaves (ie ones with no trichs on them)
-Cut plant into branches
-Hang on clothes hangers, with newspaper loosely around them to allow airflow but block out most light
-Temp when drying is about 18C


I'm up for any suggestions for changing our method so far. For example, we probably shouldn't cut off all the fan leaves right before hanging.

I have also heard some other crazy things such as: cut off all the fan leaves when the plant is about 5 days away from being chopped, same as last point but only cut off 1/2 of each leaf... what are your thoughts?

I'll quote the grow bible on this one:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jorge

Removing large fan leaves to allow more intense lights to reach small buds or to stress plants is crazy! Large leaves are necessary to keep plants healthy. Indoors and in greenhouses where the hours of darkness are controlled, cannabis flowers for six to ten weeks or longer. This is a very short time. Hacking off branch tips to initiate more budding sites diffuses floral hormones and retards growth. Remove only leaves that are 50% or more damaged by diseases, pests, and cultural practices.

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I don't see why that wouldn't apply in the last days of flower as well. Maybe even more so since the plants won't be fed at that time.

So I can't say from trying it myself, but it does indeed sound crazy. :)

yeah i totally agree (i have jorge's bible too)...the leaves are IMO super important in the last while b4 harvest, because those are what the plant feeds itself with.

I'm always tempted to cut off large fan leaves to get smaller buds more light, but I just tuck them under instead. It's more fun that way anyhow, manipulating it so it grows the best naturally- as opposed to plucking it bare.

OMG I totally forgot that you guys were the gruesome twosome, lol.... nice first crop!
Perpetual cropping is a delight. I used to LOVE having a plant to chop every other day or so. It really relieves boredom of waiting for the harvest to all finish up at once!

haha thanks Stinky! I do like the continuous harvesting, it's nice having different weed to smoke every week or so. Having all the plants in different stages of growth does have it's cons tho...like all the plants are different heights so some get better light then others, figuring out how many and what kind of nutes to feed to each individual plant, and finally as fun as manicuring is- I wish there was more to do at one time!!!

You can check out our old grow log to see more harvest pics if you want, from our first 5 plants.

yeah, feeding can be a pain... i saw your old log.. big thumbs up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by canuck grower

I'll quote the grow bible on this one:

I don't see why that wouldn't apply in the last days of flower as well. Maybe even more so since the plants won't be fed at that time.

So I can't say from trying it myself, but it does indeed sound crazy. :)

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Ok, I've heard (read) this a thousand times if I have once, so I'm sure it's correct. I would also agree that the plant probably needs the leaves most in the end to suck the nutes from, right, since you aren't feeding it...but...


I was listening to Zandor's podcast the other day, and he says something like, "meh, it shouldn't hurt them too bad."

So, I'm not trying to start anything. I love Zandor and TGR (his podcast), but I think he may be misleading with that comment. Maybe I'll send him an email tomorrow. I know the one I listened to is WAY old by now, so maybe he corrected himself. I know it's tempting to wanna chop them (the fan leaves) off so you can revel in the beauty that are the buds, but I wouldn't want a bunch of newbies to go running around chopping them off, just because they heard that "it probably won't hurt much" on a podcast. Know what I'm sayin'?


The Fog :rastasmoke:

I just sort of made my own test to see if I take the leaf off or not. I tug on a really yellow leaf (usually crisping up) it and if it comes right off then it's ready to come off. If it resists then I leave it on.

one idea i had WAs:
since removing the fan leafs gives light to the buds (IMO not a big deal)
but also stresses the plant and causes a self defense reaction

the plant thinks it is being eaten, so what does it do. Swell up with resin to scare off the bugs

so an idea would be to allow your plant to finish normally, then b4 you give the plant 24-36 hours darkness cut off all the fan leafs.

Thoughts?

Concerning the removal of fan leaves; here is an experiment to try. On one plant choose a node somewhere along the main stem and remove one of the fan leaves from one side. Leave the other intact. Notice when the plant is finished how much bigger the bud is with the leaf than the one without.

I did this once and was amazed at the difference in size. The bud with the intact fan leaf was over twice the size.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by harris7

one idea i had WAs:
since removing the fan leafs gives light to the buds (IMO not a big deal)
but also stresses the plant and causes a self defense reaction

the plant thinks it is being eaten, so what does it do. Swell up with resin to scare off the bugs

so an idea would be to allow your plant to finish normally, then b4 you give the plant 24-36 hours darkness cut off all the fan leafs.

Thoughts?

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I have 2 girls flowering that are quite similar with 4 weeks to go, maybe 5. They're just little popsicle-like plants for a 4/20 session so I'm willing to try that out and see if there's a notable difference to the eye and my microscope. It's not very scientific but it's about the best I can do.

They are clones of the same plant so it should be a pretty fair comparison. Someone remind me to actually do it around the end of this month up to 2nd week of april. :)

It sounds plausible to me, even if Jorge thinks it's crazy. I don't see how it could hurt much since there's no light for them to take in anyway.

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here's a pic illustrating what perp said.

http://boards.cannabis.com/attachmen...our-leaves.jpg
(post)

Nice

Quote:

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Originally Posted by canuck grower

I just sort of made my own test to see if I take the leaf off or not. I tug on a really yellow leaf (usually crisping up) it and if it comes right off then it's ready to come off. If it resists then I leave it on.

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Yep, that's the way to do it. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by harris7

One idea i had was:
since removing the fan leafs gives light to the buds (IMO not a big deal)
but also stresses the plant and causes a self defense reaction

the plant thinks it is being eaten, so what does it do. Swell up with resin to scare off the bugs

so an idea would be to allow your plant to finish normally, then b4 you give the plant 24-36 hours darkness cut off all the fan leafs.

Thoughts?

---

Well, it probably wouldn't hurt, but I doubt it will help. At that point, the plant is finishing up, and like you said, there is no light, so why take off the leaves? Not to get more light to the buds, right...cuz there is none...

And even though the leaves would not be receiving light, therefore, not undergoing photosynthesis, they would still have nutrients stored in them (unless they are yellow by now), so they would still be able to feed the bud with food while it's dark...

Just a thought, fragmented as it may be. :jointsmile:

Canuck, if you try it, let us know how it goes. We'll try to remind ya. :thumbsup:


The Fog :rastasmoke:

today i will take a tissue sample from Dutch Treat...I can sense harvest time approaching...! I'm excited, this plant we've had from the beginning too (ie from seed- same age as the 5 other plants we've already harvested) and it was our favorite. Super bushy and really strong stemmed, it was beautiful. Soon it will be time to find out just how beautiful it is!:jointsmile:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TheGreenFog

Well, it probably wouldn't hurt, but I doubt it will help. At that point, the plant is finishing up, and like you said, there is no light, so why take off the leaves? Not to get more light to the buds, right...cuz there is none...

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There is no light. I think we all agree that taking off leaves to give light to buds is bogus. The idea is to shock the plant into thinking she's being eaten or something so she tries to defend herself with resin. It very well could be just as crazy as pulling leaves to let light get to buds.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TheGreenFog

And even though the leaves would not be receiving light, therefore, not undergoing photosynthesis, they would still have nutrients stored in them (unless they are yellow by now), so they would still be able to feed the bud with food while it's dark...

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This I agree with. Good point. I'd like to do the test with larger plants with more leaves one day. These 2 I have now are quite small.

-cg :jointsmile:

this idea was highly supported by another grower on here. who spoke of very good results cutting off all fan leafs 5 days b4 harvest.

i think this is a yield reducing but potency improving tech.

it is very difficult to study this at home. in a lab we could

We put Dutch Treat into darkness this afternoon. Beforehand, Harris7 cut off all the large fan leaves. Maybe the plant will be more resinous, who knows.

Harvest and manicure pics to follow!

sorry to intrude, just wanted to give you some props...Love the pics and both the logs! Everything looks super scrumptious! :jointsmile: Bree

Another Update: We chopped Dutch Treat yesterday.

Weren't too impressed with the buds, they were quite a bit skinnier than the last plants we harvested and were very leafy. The length of the main colas are really impressive tho- at least a foot long each. The manicure pics are the most fun- so I shall post some when the time comes. Stay Tuned!

Quote:

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Concerning the removal of fan leaves; here is an experiment to try. On one plant choose a node somewhere along the main stem and remove one of the fan leaves from one side. Leave the other intact. Notice when the plant is finished how much bigger the bud is with the leaf than the one without.

I did this once and was amazed at the difference in size. The bud with the intact fan leaf was over twice the size.

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Perp is completely correct...

LATERAL BRANCHES GROW IN DIRECT CORRELATION TO FAN LEAVES! BY REMOVING A FAN LEAF, YOU CAN PRETTY MUCH DISABLE THE GROWTH OF THE EXISTING LATERAL BRANCH...

...man ive been waitin for someone to bring this up.. :)

very interesting! it's good to know that there is an actual science to removing fan leaves-smaller branches/buds. (i was gonna give u some rep for that but i can't apparently)

Have any of you heard about pinching buds to make them grow larger? The logic behind this is if you pinch the bud, the plant will feel like it's being damaged and kind of grow an extra bud in it's place. By pinching, I think my friend meant squeezing the stem near the bud so the plant thinks it's been severed. Anyone?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Abattoir Dream

Perp is completely correct...

LATERAL BRANCHES GROW IN DIRECT CORRELATION TO FAN LEAVES! BY REMOVING A FAN LEAF, YOU CAN PRETTY MUCH DISABLE THE GROWTH OF THE EXISTING LATERAL BRANCH...

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correlation isnâ??t causation.

I remove fan leafs all the time and the axial growth from the node continues fine.

Hey, guys. Wanted to see how the continuous harvest is going. Any new harvest pics?! I'm patiently waiting.

Hope they come soon! :)


The Fog :rastasmoke:

We chopped and hung a plant Friday night, so manicure pics will be coming soon! We actually smoked some quick-dried (i take little popcorn buds off the stems when we chop the plant, and put them above my fridge where it's warm and they take about 2 days to dry) bud from Dutch Treat last night, and it was very smooth. It has a strange smell, different from our other dutch treats, but the taste was unaffected. The high was really awesome too, and when combined with The Hog...giggly goodness. lol.

Will post some pics today of the hanging buds and flowering plants, to quench y'alls bud-thirst!!! lol :rasta:

The moment has arrived!! Im just gonna start manicuring Dutch Treat, so stay tuned!

Well here are some photoâ??s of the newly chopped Dutch. This plant seems more potent than any of the others from the density of trichomes and how fast our trimming scissors got stuck.

We have the ritual of smoking the first bud trimmed and it was quite nice. Weâ??ll see how it is after a nice long cure.

Now we need to talk about a little problem called LYD. Low yield disorder has been affecting the last 5 plants Hereâ??s what we got:

C-1
Yield = 14.9g
C-2
Yield = about 1.8 oz
DT-1
Yield = 20.1g
DT-2
Yield = About an oz
Hog (H-1)
Yield = 14.8g
DT-3 (this plant)
Yield=22 g

One explanation is that the huge amount of stress these plants went through during Veg and flowering, stunted their growth rate.

To test this hypothesis we must wait, one more plant (Mud bud) went through such stresses. She should be chopped in a few days from then on the plants had a very happy life.

Harris

I guess that is a bit low. Nice looking plants in any case though... can't wait to see the ones that are LYD-free! :rastasmoke:

-cg :jointsmile:

i am disappointed with our yields, but at the same time our weed is soooo potent that I really can't complain too much. For all I know, the buds have 'concentrated' themselves and have increased potency as a result. lol. We vaporized our weed last night, and it tasted soooo good. Apart from an awesome high using a Volcano provides, it's really nice to actually taste the weed...instead of resin from a bong.

i just watered the kids, and let me tell you, some of them smell amazing! one of our next champagnes smells so dank, i couldn't believe my nose. seriously. lol. I wish we could all get together and try each others' weed...if only there were "smelly-net" :D

ps: Mud Bud is the next plant to be chopped down...(we haven't harvested a Mud yet so it will be a new experience:))

Quote:

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very interesting! it's good to know that there is an actual science to removing fan leaves-smaller branches/buds. (i was gonna give u some rep for that but i can't apparently)

Have any of you heard about pinching buds to make them grow larger? The logic behind this is if you pinch the bud, the plant will feel like it's being damaged and kind of grow an extra bud in it's place. By pinching, I think my friend meant squeezing the stem near the bud so the plant thinks it's been severed. Anyone?

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i have thought of that before, i expect the plant would bleed to death though, or bleed enough to hermie...

i was thinking... if every lateral branch minus the top 4 were removed... would it focus all energy on the main cola..? maybe not.. i guess the leaves at the top can only take in a certain amount of light... what if every lateral branch (other than the main cola) were to be removed, but all fan leaves where left on... would the plant produce a boulder of a top cola??? i wonder if anyone has looked into this?!? maybe someone has some useful notes floating around?

hey, dutch lover... next time you harvest HOG, could you post a pic?

thnx 4 ur time...;)

Quote:

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correlation isn’t causation.

I remove fan leafs all the time and the axial growth from the node continues fine.

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ahh yeh, i see what you mean, what i said was you CAN disable the growth of a lateral branch, - if it hasnt got enough leaves to support itself..

obviously, if a branch is well developed, loosing its fan leaf wont matter..

I will totally post a pic of Hog next time it's harvested...it will be awhile unfortunately, I think at least a month. We have a lot of champagne coming up tho. I know that's what you were growing, and I laughed when I read you said it smelled like bananas...but then our last plant smelt really weird when it was drying, so then I realized smelling like bananas wasn't so strange after all, lol.