Cannabis Growers Anonymous

[luckylager]

Well CDC, we need a grow your own weed thread.

I know a lot of us have talked about it in other threads. There's  "what you smokin", "post when you're high", "I'm a lawyer and I dont know if I should invest in edibles" threads, and I know a bunch of us have talked about the kick ass chronic we grow.

 

So let's have at er.

 

This year I've got Purple Papaya, Blue Dream and Grapefruit Kush going in the garden. I'll take pics tomorrow and tell a little story. I hope all you fine folks do too!

 

So let's take some pics, talk about techniques, mediums, fertilizers, schedules, strains!

 

If you lend your experience to this thread, we could develop the best internet community of weed growers in history. Of that there is no doubt.

 

Any and all aspiring or new growers should get in here too. I have lots of answers, but they're my answers, and it's always fun for me to listen to other people's experience too!

 

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by luckylager

[luckylager]

Here's some quality pics from previous conversations on the topic -

On 1/12/2020 at 11:34 PM, xereau said:

I grew 2 plants this year, just cuz its legal. Some kind of fat squat indica, determinate on light (not autoflower).

 

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Pictire was taken maybe 4 days before I killed em.

 

I flushed starved them (no added nutrients) for the last 10 days or so.

 

Gets rid of most of the sugar in the plant.

 

 

Played around with training and splitting a little, got around 12 tops on one and it was like 5 feet tall.

 

8 tops on the clone, and each was around 3.5feet tall or so.

 

Started to flower Aug 25. Killed 'em Oct 31.

 

I trimmed it and put the flowers, and the sugar leaf trim into trays on a stacked food dehydrator immediately.

 

After 2 days at the lowest setting, even the biggest colas felt crispy to the touch, but, the stems were still slightly soft.

 

I put them in 2kg peanut butter jars, with a gasket in each, because you want air tight, and I cured the flowers for 6 weeks.

 

Burped the jars 3x a day for a week. Smelled green, and hayish.

 

No mold, the flowers turned nice and sticky after a few weeks.

 

After 6 weeks they smelled like pineapple cotton candy.

 

So I tossed them back into the dehydrator and I crisped them up for another day. (read below)

 

When they were nice and dry, I chopped them up nice and fine with a puck grinder.

 

I baked it all off (no pun heh), and it's in the freezer now .

 

Baking it is a process chemical process called decarboxylation (knocks off a CO2) .

 

Changes the form from an inert one, to one that is psychoactive through digestion.

 

I like to eat it with a high fat meal, as this is the mechanism you use to deliver it from food to your blood, via the fat absorption pathway.

 

Decarb Recipe:

 

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Cut your flower or trim up like you are going to roll it up. Nice and small.

 

*important* Flower should be dry, you don't want moisture, otherwise you are just steaming it. (read below) **

 

Preheat an oven to 240F with a baking sheet or baking dish inside.

Cover the whole bottom in about 1cm of loosely sprinkled, chopped flower or trim.

 

**Cover with tinfoil. This is why you want no water in the product. You don't want steam.

 

We are decarbing the terpenes as well, and making them part of the cocktail.

Terpenes are volatile (will evaporate if you leave it open), but they will condense inside and stick around if you use foil.

Terpenes are part of what make strains strains, and research is showing that they are important as part of an entourage effect of cannabinoid delivery.

 

Anyways!

 

Bake for 40mins covered.

 

After 40mins It should look golden and slightly toasted looking, but not burnt, and not green.

 

 

 

The edible effect is different than smoking it.  Once you are fully under the effect, it's the same as say 20mins after smoking it, but it comes one way more slowly, and, it lasts longer. (5-10hrs perhaps depending on dose, and your metabolism).

 

I don't really get paranoid on edibles, even on heroic doses, whereas I've unfortunately had panic attacks after smoking even small amounts.

 

If I want to just barely be able to feel it I eat 100mg of decarbed flower. (Half a tiny pinner in terms of smoking).

 

Equiv of like a dispensaries 15mg edible. (15% flower probably, give or take)

 

If I eat 300mg, it peaks out at what smoking the equivalent small sized joint feels like, only it comes on slower, and lasts longer.

 

420mg of flower is a pretty nice dose. Equiv of a chunky half gram joint.

 

I can only attest to what I've learned experimenting with edibles, but that recipe there is 100% efficient delivery of cannabinoids heheh.

 

I've smoked plenty of pot over the years, but I prefer eating it.

 

On 1/13/2020 at 6:05 PM, luckylager said:

@xereau   @stawns       here's some pics from crop this year

 

1- Apricot Kush, outdoor. 6.5 footer, FIMed at 6weeks old. Harvested 1.5lbs.

 

 

2- Apricot Kush, greenhouse, two weeks before harvest. Got 1lb off it. A little better quality than the OD. You'll see Blueberry in the background, 7 weeks before harvest. And a bit of the Durban Poison bottom right, 4 weeks til harvest.

 

 

 

3 and 4 - Blueberry, day before harvest. She's a looker. Just over 1lb.

 

On 1/13/2020 at 6:42 PM, stawns said:

this was early July, we just supercroppped and defoliated.

 

On 1/13/2020 at 6:50 PM, stawns said:

early august

 

moby dick, blue dream, cheese, cbd+

 

On 1/13/2020 at 6:51 PM, stawns said:

bean stalk (with protector beehves in the background.  I had about 40 hives around this plant.

 

On 1/13/2020 at 6:54 PM, stawns said:

late august, bean stalk cola, cheese, blue dream.  The weather screwed me in september and early october and I had to bring them into my shed to finish a cpl weeks after these pics

 

On 1/13/2020 at 7:01 PM, stawns said:

The weather turned cold in september and I brought them inside at the end of the monthto finish under lights.  I made the best of the situation, but I just didn't have enough light to finish them the way they should have been.  I still did ok (about 1.5 avg), but I probably would have close to 3lbs/per if we would have had the weather.  The quality is outstanding and it's as clean as you can get.  We're working toward a license in a few years and wanted to try growing some large plants........in retrospect, I don't think I'll grow them that big again.

 

On 1/13/2020 at 9:45 PM, luckylager said:

Late August

 

1-  Another angle on the Apricot Kush (and my neighbours' White Widow on the left. Yes, I grow a couple plants for them)

2 - The FIM crown - AK

3- Durban Poison

4- Durban Poison (For the neighbours)

 

On 1/13/2020 at 9:51 PM, luckylager said:

Apricot Kush about 6hrs before harvest.

 

In the week previous I started losing a bud here and there to rot. Had about 50% red hair but the trichs were all milky with maybe 20% amber. 

Greenhoused Apricot Kush is my fave this year.

The Blueberry (already posted) is a very close second. I just love the pain relief from the AK. Makes me eat everything, but holy $&!# does it put me o bed.

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by luckylager

[stawns]

I was just thinking we needed a growers thread yesterday.  Well done LL.

 

Ive got my summer crop outside, enjoying whatever sun it can get.  Bit of a rocky start getting supplies with all the pandemic closures etc, but they'll catch up!

[Baer.]

Not trying to grow this year. My plants were cut down by some unknown person at about 6 weeks in. They were in my back yard but I guess not hidden enough.

[Angry Goose]

Wish I didn't live in a stupid condo (our porch doesn't get much light either).  I'd love to grow a bit for myself.

[stawns]

Summer crop strains

 

Bean Stalk (2nd season)

Moby Dick (2nd season)

Blue Dream (2nd season)

Hawaiian Purple Kush (1st season)

Critical + 2.0 (1st season)

Fire OG (1st season)

 

Last season I went with 65 gallon pots to see if I could grow the big trees, which I did (as evidenced by the bobcat pic in LL's pics above), but I had to finish them inside and the large pots created problems with space.  This season I am going with 15 gallon pots so if we have to finish them inside, it'll be far easier to get them into the room.

[luckylager]

31 minutes ago, Baer. said:

Not trying to grow this year. My plants were cut down by some unknown person at about 6 weeks in. They were in my back yard but I guess not hidden enough.

Oh that sucks so bad Baer. I feel for you.

There's still time to get back in the saddle. Lots of folks are trying to get rid of extra seedlings and clones right now..

 

9 minutes ago, SILLY GOOSE said:

Wish I didn't live in a stupid condo (our porch doesn't get much light either).  I'd love to grow a bit for myself.

Before I bought a house I had a beauty little guerilla spot. Went out every week or two to feed/water them.

Was a pain in the butt to get everything set up at first, but once the spot was established, maintaining it wasn't a big deal.

[Boest-er]

How much would you reckon it costs to start growing your own personal weed?

[stawns]

7 minutes ago, Boest-er said:

How much would you reckon it costs to start growing your own personal weed?

indoor or outdoor?

[luckylager]

20 minutes ago, stawns said:

Summer crop strains

 

Bean Stalk (2nd season)

Moby Dick (2nd season)

Blue Dream (2nd season)

Hawaiian Purple Kush (1st season)

Critical + 2.0 (1st season)

Fire OG (1st season)

 

Last season I went with 65 gallon pots to see if I could grow the big trees, which I did (as evidenced by the bobcat pic in LL's pics above), but I had to finish them inside and the large pots created problems with space.  This season I am going with 15 gallon pots so if we have to finish them inside, it'll be far easier to get them into the room.

Yeah you grew some beasts last year! Yields must have been overwhelming to trim. Even I had to find people to trim the last two pounds of my crop.

 

I like to use 80L totes w/ drilled out drainage for plants that finish later than mid September and any I have outside the greenhouse. In the greenhouse I still use totes for the most part, but occasionally Ifeel like growing a monster so I'll dig a massive 4'x2' x3'deep hole in the greenhouse and fill it with the same media mix I use for my totes, did that with my blueberry last year.  (I'll get into the media mix another time). Also, I dig pilot holes for the totes in the greenhouse to anchor them because I've had some plants go so bud heavy they start leaning and tip over/flip the tote.

[luckylager]

13 minutes ago, Boest-er said:

How much would you reckon it costs to start growing your own personal weed?

So many variables. If you want to start outdoor today, clones will be $10-$20 each.

 

Beginner set up for 4 plants - 4x 60L totes @$10 each, 3x 80L bails of promix organic @$14 each, 3x 10kg bags chicken manure @$3.50 each.

 

You should get some nutrients, but don't necessarily have to. Most beginners don't bother at first. The promix and chicken manure provide enough food for the plants to at least be happy, they just won't be huge.

[stawns]

19 minutes ago, luckylager said:

Yeah you grew some beasts last year! Yields must have been overwhelming to trim. Even I had to find people to trim the last two pounds of my crop.

 

I like to use 80L totes w/ drilled out drainage for plants that finish later than mid September and any I have outside the greenhouse. In the greenhouse I still use totes for the most part, but occasionally Ifeel like growing a monster so I'll dig a massive 4'x2' x3'deep hole in the greenhouse and fill it with the same media mix I use for my totes, did that with my blueberry last year.  (I'll get into the media mix another time). Also, I dig pilot holes for the totes in the greenhouse to anchor them because I've had some plants go so bud heavy they start leaning and tip over/flip the tote.

a greenshouse is the way to go, for sure.  We are in the middle of getting a designated medical grower licence and our plan was to buy a blackout greenhouse and get a mid-summer harvest and a fall harvest.  Covid screwed us on that one, as they put everything on hold, so we didn't get the greenhouse.  It looks like things are moving again though and hopefully we get our designation mid summer sometime.

 

The big ones were good, but I don't think we got a true representation of the yield as bringing them inside knocked them back a lot.

[luckylager]

13 minutes ago, stawns said:

a greenshouse is the way to go, for sure.  We are in the middle of getting a designated medical grower licence and our plan was to buy a blackout greenhouse and get a mid-summer harvest and a fall harvest.  Covid screwed us on that one, as they put everything on hold, so we didn't get the greenhouse.  It looks like things are moving again though and hopefully we get our designation mid summer sometime.

 

The big ones were good, but I don't think we got a true representation of the yield as bringing them inside knocked them back a lot.

And that's the danger of going too big, they just take forever to finish. Blueberry (for example) has incredible mold resistance which is why I chose it for my "tree" last year. Didnt harvest until Thanksgiving and didn't lose a single bud to rot. She was massive. A few of the colas were bending against the roof of my greenhouse. Her footprint was 4'x6' and a whopping 8ft tall!

Not growing blueberry this year though because I still have a 1/2pound vacuum sealed and about an oz. in my smoking jars, but I am trying a Blue Dream (Blueberry x Warp). I know you have good experience with Blue Dream.

 

Even in the greenhouse $&!# can go south pretty quickly in sept if it starts raining a lot and the strains aren't very mold resistant. Not as bad as true outdoor though, sometimes it only takes 1 day of rain and a few cloudy days to turn a whole plant into into a moldy waste of time and effort.

 

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by luckylager

[luckylager]

Had a very rough start this year though. Started my (first batch) of seeds in early March under lights in the basement, everything was going fine at first, they had their first full set of leaves, about 4" tall and all was well. Unfortunately, my timer crapped out on me and the light didn't turn back on one day. I've been using this set up for quite a while now and in my complacency, didn't check on them for a couple days.

Anyways, went down to check on them and the light was out... it totally &^@#ed them. One or two days of darkness made all of my 4" starts begin to flower.. I kept a handful to see if I could recover them and threw the rest out. They've recovered now, finally back in full veg, so I kept the best Grapefruit Kush and Purple Papaya out of them, gave the rest away.

 

I grabbed a Blue Dream from a friend and started the last Grapefruit Kush seed I'd saved from the first batch when the starts collapsed so I'm back to my legal quota.

 

1x Blue Dream

1x Purple Papaya

2x Grapefruit Kush

[aGENT]

35 minutes ago, luckylager said:

So many variables. If you want to start outdoor today, clones will be $10-$20 each.

 

Beginner set up for 4 plants - 4x 60L totes @$10 each, 3x 80L bails of promix organic @$14 each, 3x 10kg bags chicken manure @$3.50 each.

 

You should get some nutrients, but don't necessarily have to. Most beginners don't bother at first. The promix and chicken manure provide enough food for the plants to at least be happy, they just won't be huge.

I might be interested in growing 1-2 plants once we get settled in our new place (probably next spring as it will likely be too late this year). Maybe one sativa and one indica strain, for variety.

 

I just won't use enough to warrant growing more than a couple. Also why I wouldn't necessarily need them to be huge either. One of many reasons I'd probably prefer growing them as naturally/'organically' as possible as well (that and on principle).

 

I'll definitely be looking for advice when that time comes  Any reason you recommend chicken fertilizer over other alternatives?

 

Plan to eventually build my wife a green house for veggies too, I'll have to see if that gets done by next spring though... And it will cost her a corner on it for 'my' plants 

 

As for strains, my wife tends to avoid cannabis as it seems to make her more paranoid than the average person. Any advice on strains that might minimize/remove that issue?

 

 

 

[luckylager]

1 minute ago, aGENT said:

I might be interested in growing 1-2 plants once we get settled in our new place (probably next spring as it will likely be too late this year). Maybe one sativa and one indica strain, for variety.

 

I just won't use enough to warrant growing more than a couple. Also why I wouldn't necessarily need them to be huge either. One of many reasons I'd probably prefer growing them as naturally/'organically' as possible as well (that and on principle).

Use smaller pots. You'll have smaller yields and they'll finish sooner!

 

1 minute ago, aGENT said:

 

I'll definitely be looking for advice when that time comes  Any reason you recommend chicken fertilizer over other alternatives?

It's got an NPK of 1.5 - 0.5 - 1.5. Definitely the king of $&!#.

 

1 minute ago, aGENT said:

 

Plan to eventually build my wife a green house for veggies too, I'll have to see if that gets done by next spring though... And it will cost her a corner on it for 'my' plants 

 

As for strains, my wife tends to avoid cannabis as it seems to make her more paranoid than the average person. Any advice on strains that might minimize/remove that issue?

Strains with less THC and more CBD are good for the paranoid types. Can even get some CBD oil and have her take that a while before smoking any.

 

THC is the psychoactive chemical / psychotic. "The high"

CBD is a very effective anti-psychotic "the mellow"

 

It's all about balance. Some people are just very sensitive to THC or may already be anxious people, which is why they need CBD strains.

 

[aGENT]

2 minutes ago, luckylager said:

Use smaller pots. You'll have smaller yields and they'll finish sooner!

 

It's got an NPK of 1.5 - 0.5 - 1.5. Definitely the king of $&!#.

 

Strains with less THC and more CBD are good for the paranoid types. Can even get some CBD oil and have her take that a while before smoking any.

 

THC is the psychoactive chemical / psychotic. "The high"

CBD is a very effective anti-psychotic "the mellow"

 

It's all about balance. Some people are just very sensitive to THC or may already be anxious people, which is why they need CBD strains.

 

Cheers, bolded is definitely the case 

[Chicken.]

2 hours ago, SILLY GOOSE said:

Wish I didn't live in a stupid condo (our porch doesn't get much light either).  I'd love to grow a bit for myself.

Same. I need to find a way to jimmy sufficient lighting onto my balcony or I could try to make a mini greenhouse out there but it would probably stank up the whole building anyway.

 

Legal cannabis products are just too darn expensive still sadly, I'm using the grey market.

 

I can't wait until the oil and distillate extraction market is up and running fully, something like this a friend of mine works at will reduce prices once up and running to utilize all biomass waste generated from producers that can't be sold  https://www.nextleafsolutions.com/our-services/ 

 

Lastly... love the Moby Dick strain

 

[stawns]

51 minutes ago, luckylager said:

And that's the danger of going too big, they just take forever to finish. Blueberry (for example) has incredible mold resistance which is why I chose it for my "tree" last year. Didnt harvest until Thanksgiving and didn't lose a single bud to rot. She was massive. A few of the colas were bending against the roof of my greenhouse. Her footprint was 4'x6' and a whopping 8ft tall!

Not growing blueberry this year though because I still have a 1/2pound vacuum sealed and about an oz. in my smoking jars, but I am trying a Blue Dream (Blueberry x Warp). I know you have good experience with Blue Dream.

 

Even in the greenhouse $&!# can go south pretty quickly in sept if it starts raining a lot and the strains aren't very mold resistant. Not as bad as true outdoor though, sometimes it only takes 1 day of rain and a few cloudy days to turn a whole plant into into a moldy waste of time and effort.

 

 

That's why i picked the critical 2.0, it has a high resistance to mold and bud rot.  I was sad to see the seed bank I deal with seized by the RCMP about a month ago.......luckily I got my order for this season before that.

[stawns]

2 minutes ago, Chicken. said:

Same. I need to find a way to jimmy sufficient lighting onto my balcony or I could try to make a mini greenhouse out there but it would probably stank up the whole building anyway.

 

Legal cannabis products are just too darn expensive still sadly, I'm using the grey market.

 

I can't wait until the oil and distillate extraction market is up and running fully, something like this a friend of mine works at will reduce prices once up and running to utilize all biomass waste generated from producers that can't be sold  https://www.nextleafsolutions.com/our-services/ 

 

Lastly... love the Moby Dick strain

 

tThe buds weren't the biggest of the unch, as it was late to flip to flower and suffered when I brought it in to finish, but the mint smell from it was over powering and it's easily my favourite strain of the ones I grew last summer to smoke.