Wet & Cold: Cut down ahead of mold?

[lalstalls]

I

1. chopped these plants down early afternoon on 10/3 to get them out of the cold rain;
2. removed fan leaves and hung inside (~70º-75ºF, 53%-58% RH), out of sun;
3. moved the one in front of the heat pump (with dry air blowing on it), after the first day - but along with a few others, it felt like it might be drying too fast;
4. turned off the box fans (they weren't blowing directly on the drying plants, but might still have been stirring up too much air motion).

Should I just leave things as is and wait (adding a little moisture during cure, if needed?)? Or boil some water to add humidity to the room?

Thanks!

 

[St. Phatty]

I've seen too many pounds go to waste over the years looking for that little bit more.
Gain 10 percent but in the end lose like 40.

A good reminder.

I want as many trich's as possible, without the mold.

Got one plant that I COULD harvest.

That leaves me staying near home, out of concern about grow-rip's.

Yes, it's better to have a non-moldy non-grow-ripped bud, than the moldy ripped off alternative.

 

[Great outdoors]

I

1. chopped these plants down early afternoon on 10/3 to get them out of the cold rain;
2. removed fan leaves and hung inside (~70º-75ºF, 53%-58% RH), out of sun;
3. moved the one in front of the heat pump (with dry air blowing on it), after the first day - but along with a few others, it felt like it might be drying too fast;
4. turned off the box fans (they weren't blowing directly on the drying plants, but might still have been stirring up too much air motion).

Should I just leave things as is and wait (adding a little moisture during cure, if needed?)? Or boil some water to add humidity to the room?

Thanks!

I wouldn't worry about adding humidity. It's really hard for it to be too dry. Just want to keep heat out of the picture. The big stalks should have lots of water in them and it will take much longer than you think to dry. The surface will feel dry but inside the buds it will still be plenty moist. A good test is any leaves still on. The leaf itself may feel a little crunchy but the petiole is still soft. Once the petiole is crunchy but bud is spongy then you know you are ready to nug down the buds.

 

[lalstalls]

Once the petiole is crunchy but bud is spongy then you know you are ready to nug down the buds.

Awesome & helpful - thanks!

 

[St. Phatty]

Ended up cutting down the 2 biggest buds on the Blueberry Headband cross today.

No signs of mold. One spider web on the Chem cross plant next to it -

The wispy thing right in the middle. There was a spider in it when I opened up the bud to look.

UPDATE - this is my first Trap type spider. I've seen spiders crawling on my plants, but this is the first time one of them set up a trap of some kind.

It made a better picture when she was in the bud next to her web.

If she comes back I might not harvest that bud and will leave the stem standing with a few leaves and buds.

 

[lalstalls]

There was a spider in it when I opened up the bud to look.

Ha! I love my spiders! (But not to smoke!)

 

[thedudefresco]

"Hot and Dry, Give it Water or Let It Fry?"

 

[Creeperpark]

Using dry mulch to catch the excess water has helped me in the past. Here, Oct is the 2nd rainiest month of the year, and that's when a lot of the buds are ready. I have adopted a method to keep the soil dryer by using baled hay. I would add 6 to 8 inches of dry packed hay around the plant before a rain to catche and soak up the rain water. After a one or two inch rain storm passes, I would remove the sopping wet mulch to the side and the soil is barely wet. I would gently shake the plants water off when removing the thick layer of mulch. If the buds get too thick I would prune out a little bud out here and there off the thick parts for aeration.

 

[thedudefresco]

The wispy thing right in the middle. There was a spider in it when I opened up the bud to look.

Every year I find a few some tiny spiderwebs on individual leaf fingers.

It looks like the web is holding the leaf, rolled up, in a funnel shape and the spider has kind of folded it to create a little hiding space.