Getting ready for my first harvest in 2-3 weeks what do I need to know and need to have to make this as smooth as possibly? Give me all the info lol humidity, temps,how long to hang, ideal way or where to hang, how to cut, when to put in jars etc give me the growing for dummies version lol
I’ll try and make this short …
Some guys hang the whole plant, some guys hang individual branches, either way remove excess foliage (fan leaves) upon harvest to keep humidity down.
Most use one of their tents to dry as it’s already setup for air movement/temp/humidity control. Binder clips, clothes pins, coat hangers and string seem to be the most common method for actual hanging.
Temp/humidity most seem to shoot for 60°f/60%rh. Lower temps and constant humidity make for longer drying which helps preserve the hood stuff. Most guy seem to actually dry around 65-70°f and between 50-60%rh. Higher temps and low humidity equals a quicker dry, you want to shoot for min 7 days for drying. On the flipside lower humidity helps prevent issues like mold and rot.
Make sure you have fans moving air, not blowing the bud but indirectly hitting them so they have a light sway.
My advice would be to look into grove bags for curing, they will take the guess work/actual work out of it
Grove recommends using a moisture meter to test the BUD, you’ll want 11% humidity as measured by a moisture meter (home Depot/harbor freight/Amazon etc). The other options is the old snap test. Hang it until the branches near the bud “snap” and then jar up.
Either way make sure to have some mini hygrometers kicking around for curing, toss them in the jar or bag to make sure humidity does not creep above 62%rh. I just picked up a 12 pack on Amazon for $17.99 on sale.
Everyone seems to do it little different but this seems to be the consensus I have seen. I’ll be harvesting my first crop within the next couple of weeks myself
Well put man
Thanks
To supplement @DieselGRWR’s excellent and succinct reply, one nuance of harvesting you’ll need to decide for yourself is “wet trimming” vs “dry trimming”. There is a lot of great conversation on this subject here and elsewhere. To summarize, wet trimming is when you trim/manicure your buds immediately after harvest, prior to hanging to dry. Dry trimming is the exact opposite: hang your plant to dry (some hang the entire plant) and proceed to trim/manicure once the buds reach the desired moisture level. In both approaches, trimming occurs prior to curing; the difference is trimming before (wet) or after (dry) the drying step is peformed.
Both approaches have their own pros and cons and therefore you should learn about each one and decide which is best for you and your grow.
Personally, I do wet trimming which suits my small harvests just fine. The approach I take is to cut branches off the plant one at a time then trim off all the large fan leaves and manicure each bud one by one. I then hang the branch in a my drying tent where I have attached some string to the top tent poles, and I use painters tape to affix the branch to said string. The tent has a small oscilating fan for light air circulation, and is humidity controlled to around 50%. I do not run an exhaust fan on my drying tent. I start testing branches for the “snap test” after they’ve been in there for a week. I leave a Bluetooth temperature and humidity sensor in the tent to keep an eye on it throughout the day, as it alerts me if temp or humidity climbs too high or drops too low.
I’ll conclude with a “word of wisdom”… something that took me a couple grows to learn is patience is critical for a successful harvest. You can ruin your crop if you cannot demonstrate patience. As @DieselGRWR mentioned, you want the drying process to take at least a week. What that means is that you must CONTROL the drying process in order to achieve an ideal dry – not too fast, not too slow. This is achieved by careful monitoring and control of the drying environment, much like the growing process benefits from a carefully controlled environment. The drying process is something you cannot rush!! Rushing this process will only reduce the quality of the bud you’ve waited so long for. You’ve made it this far and you’re super close to the finish line, but your work isnt’ done yet!! Take your time and create an ideal drying environment – you will thank yourself when it comes time to enjoy your creation!!
You’ve gotten some great info so far. Only things I’ll add is that I remove the bulk of fan leaves a full week before I plan on harvesting and hanging the entire plants upside down.
I’ve read that it’s best to let the area where the leaves get cut off to heal over before hanging for drying. If you remove them at the time of harvest, each spot a fan leaf was pulled now has an open pathway for air to get in and speed up drying.
Also, I’ve found that if I want my plants to all dry evenly, I have to rotate them every day or two during drying. No matter how much I try to make the drying room even throughout, it’s nearly impossible. The areas near the air intake, or where the filter draws air out are always going to dry plants slightly faster than the rest of the room, even with a small circulation fan going. So I used to struggle to rotate them, it was a pain in the arse, but then I got the idea to put an S hook in the hanging line on each plant, and now it takes a minute to rotate 8 plants with very little effort.
Last thing I’ll add is that I time the harvest after my last watering based on the time of year (season), and the weather forecast during the drying period. If it’s winter time and I know I’ll have no heat or humidity struggles, I’ll harvest shortly after a watering because starting with a higer moisture level in the plant will give a longer drying time, and the slower the better. If it’s summer, or if I suspect it’s going to be difficult to keep the humidity down in the drying room, I’ll harvest when the soil is on the dryer side so I’m not making it any more difficult than it has to be.
What does rh mean? I told ya for dummies lol
Relative humidity lol
Too much moisture would be my guess.
Are you spraying the leaves? Wetting certain ones during watering?
What do you have for tent temps vs lung room temps? Relative humidity for both?
Possible it could be condensation dropping from the tent walls.
NVM found the culprit someone accidentally sprayed them when letting out pressure of the sprayer
This is where the girls are all at going in to week 7 is flowing. I tried taking good pics. Are we getting close? Bruce has amber positions but clear trichomes. White widow I believe is starting to get milky looking but wanted to ask the experts.
I think you’re close but not quite there yet! Another week, at least, IMO! Still quite a lot of white pistils and trics are mostly clear/some milky and I like to see more amber before I harvest. Lookin good, keep an eye on her, you’re almost there!!
I agree with @john818, at least another week, possibly two. They’re right around the point where I always used to harvest before I learned how much better they get when you let them ripen properly. I harvested early on my first several grows, and I never had the potent smells and great taste I wanted in my final product. Then I read an article about how much is going on in the buds during the ripening phase, and how important it is to allow time for the terpene profiles to fully develop. There was a huge difference in my buds once I let them ripen fully, and I haven’t rushed a harvest since!
Does this need to be trimmed up more before harvesting soon??
2nd I had a nugget get smashed up against the wall is my guess do I clip it off and hang up, will that cause it to dry up? Or should I leave it?
I just took my first harvest this past weekend. I didn’t trim anything until I started cutting the plant down.
I may have gone a little heavy on trimming but with this being my first grow I wanted it to look better than it smoked Incase I screwed up. If it doesn’t smoke like the best weed it might as well look like it’s the best hahha
Do I cut each branch off and hang or cut the entire plant on the main stem and hang it whole? I have seen it both ways
That is a personal preference and mainly depends on your humidity levels.
What is your RH where you’ll be drying?
Where will you be drying?
Also, get a $30 microscope from Amazon, it will take the guess work out of when it is done. Trust me, I tried the jewelers loop and it’s tough. People said I have time left from phone pics. I got the microscope 2 days later and showed pics to the members, they were ready to pull. Microscope is the best way. I am not doubting anyone’s abilities here but phone pics do no justice.
Agree with @DieselGRWR for sure close up of trichomes will tell ya when to chop