28 hour photoperiod

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I didnt do the math right, so the girls have a one day reprieve on 3 days dark, then the big cut. So ill have before dark pics, so i can have some after dark pics to see if there is any noticable change.

Interesting development that i had to investigate. Ive been noticing for a bit that the buds are not really sticky. They are kind of sandy with an oily texture. Upon investigation, i believe that the “oily” part is the terpenes and the sandy part is the thc having crystallized. If this is the case, this could be a very interesting development. Hash making plants tend to be sandy due to the crystalline formation of thc-a. Under heat, they get very potent. Did the prolonging of the flowering period force the trichomes to produce actual crystals? These are not hash plants, but did i force them to be? Has anyone had experience with sandy feeling buds? It seems its very common with the “cookies” strains.

I always had a hunch they crystalize after enough exposure, light, temp, air. Maybe prolonged flower brought more secretion of cannabanoids added to the aged stuff. Affecting the texture? Worth considering too. Now I’ve had what you might call sandy buds I think, but not sure, from letting the soil having a long dry peroid before harvest. Like final water then harvest 14 days later or so…
The more buds I turn out the more variance I see in textures and shapes anyway, and I haven’t jounal’d anything or kept notes. Good fun, hopefully never ends and the variety keeps coming

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These pics are just before the 3 days of dark. Im going to take pictures of these same buds when they emerge. I want to see the difference. Im curious if there is anything to this 3 days of dark thing.

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Man way to go. Fat buds for sure

Thanks. The interesting thing is that the biggest ones were closest to the light. I guess the biggest reason for my theory about this whole 16/12 light cycle comes from the question, “why do autos seem so packed with buds?” Its because they can still have 16 to 18 hours of light per day. So being that you cannot get away from having 12 hours of darkness for photos, the only way to alter it is to just expand the day. Since i was using HPS, the sun stays at high noon from dusk to dawn. This is why i feel like LED’s would be far superior in grow tents. It allows the sun to be morning, noon, night, southern exposure, and northern exposure at the same time from dusk til dawn. As long as the LED is about the same size as the tent. I believe to my soul that this method could give someone yields in the 3 or 4 gram per watt range.

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Okay. This was after 3 days of darkness. I think they are frostier, but its hard to say. Frankly, after messing with these things all day long, ive had enough of it for one day.

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Some advice requested. The last time i dried, i used a cheap analog hygrometer from walmart. I was trying to keep the humidity at at leat 50% RH. Well i had that hygrometer in my tent when i started to dry, and then i connected my inkbird humidity controller. The cheap one registered a humidity of 40%, but the inkbird said 68%. If my hygrometer was off by 30%, that means i dried my last grow at up to 80%. Maybe that is why it took 21 days. Now i need this to take at least 15 days. Should i go ahead and set my inkbird to 62%, so that even if it dried soon, it would just start the curing process?

62% is great. Temps below 70 are preferable.

Im going out of town in 2 days for a week, so i dont want these to get below the 62% mark and get too dry. So i hope this works.

As long as you get them close to 65 they’ll be ok for a week. You haven’t had any WPM or bud rot correct?

Safe travels, have a good trip grow buddy! Then hopefully you can enjoy all your hard work

I have not seen any bud rot or powdery mildew, but i think i overdid the air circulation. I went ahead and turned off one fan. Nothing i can do about it, i guess. If its dry, its dry.

Thanks for the safe wishes. Oddly enough, i dont smoke. Everyone in my family does though, so hopefully they enjoy it. I just love to growing it. Its a really fun hobby.

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Hopefully you caught it in time and the buds can sweat internal moisture out and regulate :metal:

As a newbie, we get that droop after 10 + hrs of lights on. My sweetie comes and tells me they are ready for bed. Morning, they are perky at attention ready for lights on. These are autos, but they know their schedule.

Every university and company tied to making money has or is doing a study. No study needed to tell me some rest is important to all living things.

Sleep deprivation is a form of torture, in plant study its called stress.

I wish you well on your research, there are 100s of research projects happening on this forum everyday and our fellow growers, like you will tell us ye or naye. Example, watched individual get caught up in organic soil, he went out, rolled some big logs, gathered all that rotted decomposed rich nutrient soil and immediately putting it to use. He was fighting critter invasion in tent soon after.

 Glad i was months behind in his journal, my mind was a slot machine on ideas for organic soil.    Us new peeps need you researchers so we have smooth sailing.  We thank you for paving the roads ahead.
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Im back from vacation. And the person i entrusted to keep the humidifier filled did not do that well. And as a result of being really tired from vacation, i am fighting a real bout of laziness. I have gotten most of the grape ape done. Its looking like about 5 quart jars and 1 gallon jar. The only ones i jarred was the top buds. The ones below are just getting thrown in the freezer. The last time a quart jar held between 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 ounces. So that would be an estimated 11 ounces of grape ape. And maybe 4 ounces of lower buds of the same. So close to a pound of the grape ape that consumed about 2/3 of a square meter. That works out to close to 700 grams per square meter. That is in keeping with the high side, according to the breeder. I am estimating about an ounce of the pineapple haze lost to theft by the person that was left in charge (dont get me started). I told him to at least weigh it if he takes some, but no. I will keep working at it. GOD I HATE TRIM JAIL!


This was one of the grape ape buds. I think it turned out pretty frosty. Grape ape is not a high THC strain really. I need to get it tested.

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welcome back growmie!
that sounds about right, an ounce a week :exploding_head: sounds like a successful harvest too, very productive