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Re: SolarStorm 880 - (2x Pineapple Chunk) (2x Money Maker)

PostPosted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 2:48 pm
by rkymtnman
I'd like to smoke a bowl and get lost in those trichome forests, MC!

are you planning on doing the hash with wet or dry trim? I haven't had the green hash problem and I use really dry trim. I freeze it before I do a run (just put out in garage at this time of year).

Re: SolarStorm 880 - (2x Pineapple Chunk) (2x Money Maker)

PostPosted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 5:01 pm
by ItsCurtisBaby
Hey MC!

What a beautiful forest you have grown my friend! Fantastic work, you are going to be so very happy with the effects from the Pineapple Chunk. I also have 4 big C-Vaults...has made things so very easy..it's so easy, I usually keep the buds on the stems in 6" pieces until the day they are consumed!

I have an 8 bag bubble hash kit, and definitely agree with RCKY, and Mr. Cervantes...do NOT use an electrical mixer, you stir manually and you get solid gold hash man... after you go through the entire process, do it AGAIN...you will be surprised that you will get almost the same amount the second time through.

Congrats on the good work...you've got an amazing 2015 to enjoy,

Peace
ICB :mrgreen:

Re: SolarStorm 880 - (2x Pineapple Chunk) (2x Money Maker)

PostPosted: Mon Dec 22, 2014 10:39 am
by MissingCow
Hi everyone,

Thank you for the kind words. Makes me feel like maintaining the journal past the LED portion has been worth it. I hope future growers of these strains will find at least something informational here.

The more I look at my buds... the more I feel like they need a few weeks more. Doggone it. Check out these photos I was looking at.

Pineapple Chunk: (Not my photos or plants)
12031202691232704_big.jpg
Look at the pistils. So orange. Mine are still whiteish.
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Money Maker: (Not my photos or plants)
money-maker-feminized.jpg
This photo is from the breeder. It is similar to my Money Maker 2 phenotype.
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gallery_10332_860_40885.jpg
This photo is closest to my Money Maker #1 phenotype.
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False alarm everyone. You may return to your regularly scheduled forum posts... harvest will be another week off at least I think.

And that puts my hash plans on hold for a little longer also. I do plan to freeze wet trim, and use that in my bubble hash directly from the freezer after 24 hours or so.

I've also been considering heavily the idea of blasting some BHO from some of my buds. Not to plug any product in particular, but if you have a portable vaporizing device, shatter and wax are so convenient on the go. I'm not really an herb burning guy unless there's a bong available, so other forms of cannabis are quite useful to me. Blasting my own will cost around $300 from my estimates, without a vacuum chamber to produce wax. I'd use 190 proof organic grape alcohol to further process the wax, winterize it and make shatter.

I'd like to take a minute to say that when making bubble hash, it might be worth the extra $4 per bucket to get food grade instead of the home depot $2 special. They usually come with fluid measurement markings on the side. This coming from a guy who's never done it before, I know. But I've been reading a lot, and I'd check out "To Dab or Not to Dab" by Bobby Black on High Times. Dr. Alan Shackleford of my state is concerned about plastic hardeners coming out when mixing in a cheap bucket. I don't know how much everyone really needs to worry about it, but since I already have 2 food-grade buckets I'll be using them. This the same reason that I was uncomfortable using heavy duty Home Depot 20gal tubs in my previous hydro set up. I've read that nutrients can pull even more toxic substances from the plastic, and since cannabis is such a great toxin absorber (look up Chernobyl hemp decontamination) those substances are more easily absorbed. Not to say anyone should change what they do, but my personal opinion and quest for the "purest" herb causes me to think more about these things than is probably necessary.

I like to get a good idea what I'm getting into before I get there. So I do a lot of reading. If anyone else has any good resources, tips, or experience based advice, please post them so I and others can check them out!

Thank you Rocky and Curtis for the excellent advice. I'll be doing that second run for sure! I've read that after pressing excess moisture from the hash using a pressing screen, then a minimum of 5 days drying time on a desiccant like cardboard before pressing or storage. Does that sound right?

All I got for now.
MC

Re: SolarStorm 880 - (2x Pineapple Chunk) (2x Money Maker)

PostPosted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 8:11 am
by rkymtnman
MC,
I personally wouldn't worry about chemicals leaking. You're only mixing it in the buckets for 15 minutes roughly. Long term might cause some issues. I'd be more worried about BHO and what chemicals you'd be ingesting from that.

Happy holidays!

RKY

Re: SolarStorm 880 - (2x Pineapple Chunk) (2x Money Maker)

PostPosted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 12:04 pm
by RedHotPoker
When I do my ice bags, I use a five gallon honey bucket and use a mix master instead of stirring. After placing the bags in the bucket and fill it about three quarters full with cold water. (Material in the freezer for an hour before dumping it I to my ice bags) Place your material and add ice on top and continue to fill the bucket with cold water until about 5 centimetres from the top. Pop on the lid and let it cool down further for 10 minutes. Now push the ice aside and bring some material to the top centre.
For the mixer: Just cut a hole in the bucket lid, big enough to fit the mixing blades up from underneath the bucket into the mixer.
Pop the lid on and let it run for 15 minute intervals, then let the mix sit for five minutes. Allowing the Trichomes some time to settle to the bottom, and sink down. Because they are heavy, like sand in the water, it don't take long.
You can check the mixing blades to make sure they aren't plugged up, and push all the material in the bucket, towards the centre, replace the lid & run it again for 15 minutes and do this routine 4 times, so it does take atleast one hour. It's nice to be able to turn if on and walk away. Stay close enough to hear it running though, as you may hear the blades get clogged and need recleaning. That's why breaking up the shake or small buds into finer material can be helpful. I only do, bone dry material, never wet, as some folks prefer using. In the future, I may start using my old blender before hand as well.

When you are done with your last 15 minute stirring session, turn it off and let it settle for five or even ten minutes, now carefully lift the bag containing the scraps, and after sealing the top, you can bob the bag around in the water to wash of any Chrystal's clinging the bag, and gently squeeze out all the water from it. Now you can do the same with the collection bag/s. If the bottom of the last bag has a good collection of Trichomes in it, you will see the mass in the bottom after the water has all drained out. I like to do the dance of Love now, after twisting the bottom of the bag, with my stash I wrap it in paper towels and do the dance of love on it with my feet, squeezing out as much moisture as possible. ;-)

What fun we have...eh?

Have a very Merry Chrismas everybody!!

Chas

Re: SolarStorm 880 - (2x Pineapple Chunk) (2x Money Maker)

PostPosted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 3:51 pm
by MissingCow
Hi everyone, and Happy New Year! I've been away from town for the last little bit, and had to leave my girls under the supervision of a good friend and fellow grower. I thought I might miss my harvest window while I was out of the state for 5 days, but as it turns out they .... still .... have to go a little longer.

Thank you everyone for following along this far, and for all your hash-making tips. I'll be making it soon, and hopefully I'll get some decent pictures. I picked up Ed Rosenthal's new book "Beyond Buds", and I can't recommend it enough. It is a wonderful compendium of all things extraction related. He says that fresh frozen trim is the way to go for bubble hash, which is what I'm reading here, so that's what I'll do. So I could be doing this in a week! It's freezing here in CO right now, so it'd be ideal to make ice hash outside. Like, couldn't be better, we were brushing 9*F highs last week, and there's tons of snow to pack around buckets.

Before I can make hash though, I have to harvest them. Week 10.75, and they're still growing, maturing, bulking up, and turning their trichromes milky. I knew that soil growing was slower than Hydroponics, but wow. I also know that these strains take a while though, so I can't completely blame the soil. Nevertheless, I really hoped to be drying and curing about 2 weeks ago. Oh well. I want these girls ripe.

Canopy:
canopy.jpg
Buds getting big!
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PC Forrest.jpg
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I ran out of CO2 last week, and decided not to replace the cylinder. I went back and forth on this, and ultimately decided to cut the CO2 enrichment in favor of lowering the temperature. To do this, I simply disconnected the CO2, and vented my carbon filter ducting to outside the tent (instead of having it inside at the other side of the tent, simply recirculating and filtering the air) and opened a vent at the bottom. Temperatures immediately dropped to 64*F low - 78*F high. Optimal. Right now I'm running just atmospheric CO2 and optimal temps. I've read that CO2 during the last few weeks isn't as beneficial as during veg and early flower, so for that reason I decided to weigh the temps more than the enrichment.

Humidity has been so under control. 31% min day - 39% max night. Boom baby. That dehumidifier really kicks ass in the small space it's in, and now that it's not dealing with humidity from 40 gallons of evaporating root ball @ 94*F, it's job is much easier.

I've been flushing since... I dunno when but it's been at least 2 weeks. I need to probably water them 1 more time before harvesting, and I'm going to give them lots and lots of fresh water to make sure they're as nutrient free as possible. I'm also using Final Flush. Twice. I'm seeing them pull the vitals from the fan and sugar leaves already though, it's looking like autumn a little in there. I think we're going to have tasty buds.

Money Makers:
MM1.jpg
Money Maker Pheno 1 - short, stocky, fox tailing indica
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MM2.jpg
Money Maker Pheno 2 - tall, lanky, and long-stalked trichomes. She's a little slower maturing than Pheno 1.
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Pineapple Chunk:
PC2.jpg
Both Pineapple Chunk Phenotypes are similar, however #1 has been smaller and more problem-prone since the beginning. Buds are almost exactly the same except slightly smaller on PC #1
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Judging from the trichromes, harvest window is open on both strains. You can see that the Money Makers have much longer stalks on their trichromes, and much larger heads than the Pineapple Chunks. I think this is a key difference, and would indicate that the Pineapple Chunks are indeed more Sativa based than the Money Makers like I've been thinking throughout this grow. I might let the Pineapple Chunks go a little longer and just chop the Money Makers on Sunday or Monday. Opinions?
MM1 Trichs.jpg
Long stalked trichromes with large heads on both Money Makers, displaying their indica tendencies
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MM2 Trichs.jpg
More long stalked trichromes
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PC Trichs.jpg
Pineapple Chunk's trichromes look like little bumps compared to the Money Makers.
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PC Trichs 2.jpg
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Thank you everyone for following along this far. It's been quite a trip, and it's not quite over yet. I'm still planning to post photos of all the after-processing too. That should be fun.
MC

Re: SolarStorm 880 - (2x Pineapple Chunk) (2x Money Maker)

PostPosted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 1:51 am
by OffTheGrid
Hey did your solarstorm 880 come with hanging cords?

Re: SolarStorm 880 - (2x Pineapple Chunk) (2x Money Maker)

PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 5:28 pm
by MissingCow
Last Sunday I finally harvested. This was going to be a much longer post then, but frankly I didn't get feeling back into my right hand for the next two days after all the trimming I had to do. As I sat there for 16 hours trimming (8 of which I had help) I couldn't help thinking that it seemed like more trimming than I've had to do before. I was right.

harvest day.jpg
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drying racks.jpg
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cola comparison.jpg
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Ready for Cure.jpg
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MM trichs.jpg
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PC trichs.jpg
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Final dry yield was 22.63 oz. My previous best doing Hydro was 20.1, so I'm pretty happy about that. I also ended up with around 1000g of wet trim that I fresh froze with the intention of making the most primo ice water hash ever. The very next day after harvesting, I tried that out. I took pictures, but I'm not even going to post them because it was such a waste of effort... the product turned out awful.

I took 200g of fresh frozen trim, and chopped it up. I put the bubble bags in the correct order (harder to cram them in than I thought they'd be), filled some cold water until the bottom of the bags were covered, added ice, added my trim, and more water until approx. 50/50 mixture of water and ice was reached. I stirred as gently as I could (it was packed with ice) for 15 minutes, then let it sit for 10 minutes. I repeated this 3 more times for a total of 1 hour agitation. I did this all outside, where ambient temperatures were 34*F, and the bucket was packed with snow on all sides. The remainder of the ice I didn't use is still sitting outside in bags, it's been so cold here this week.

After 1 hour agitation, I took the bucket inside and pulled the bags. They drained absurdly slowly, and were clogged with all kinds of greenness. It was green from the largest micro bag all the way to the smallest. The moisture didn't press out very well, and as I put them on cardboard to dry (per bubble man) they were like little patties more than a powder of any kind. They've been drying for 7 days, and I'll probably just throw it all away, it still looks dark, green and awful.

After that failure, I decided to cheer myself up by sacrificing some of my small, dry and curing popcorn buds to the hash gods, and purchased some dry ice. 56g of dry Money Maker 2 buds (she had the most fox tailing, and the tails that broke off were perfect for this) selected to not have stems already were added to the bottom of a food-grade bucket with a handful of dry ice, and shaken for 30 seconds. I then let it sit for 2 minutes to chill, and pulled the 160 micron bag over the top of the bucket. After chilling, I inverted the bucket over counter prepared with parchment paper, and shook vigorously for around a minute, moving slowly down the length of the counter, leaving a trail of golden keif in my wake. The trail turned slightly greenish as I progressed shaking more plant matter out with the trichromes, but everything from the 160 micron bag turned out excellent!
primo dry ice hash.jpg
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I then replaced the 160 micron bag with the 220 micron bag and repeated the process. This time, the trail was quite green the entire time, but I believe this material will still be suitable to cook with.

56g of dry buds yielded just over 20g hash of varying qualities. What I call "Prime" was the very golden keif that fell as I first started shaking. I drew a line about half-way down my keif trail, and everything greener was separated from the Prime keif. 10.4g of Prime.

Trippin' on happiness from my dry ice processing, I immediately started the oven pre-heating for hash pills. My process for that was way longer, and if you want to read it, type in "Bad Kat's Cannapharm, hash pills" into Google and check our her Grass City thread. Very detailed instructions on edibles of all kinds, I followed the first hash pill recipe, and yielded 17 full dose pills from 5.5g of dry ice hash.
1st batch caps.jpg
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My daily tolerance is pretty high, so these 150mg pills are just what I need. Based on the dosing of edibles I've had from my dispensary, I think that the 150mg calculation per pill is pretty accurate. They're walloping. Like getting your head smashed with a giant green cushion of softness.

And that's where I'm at right now. I cut on Sunday, and after 4 days of drying (couldn't get the humidity above 32%, even with 2 humidifiers going... but didn't want them to dry too quickly) I put them in the C-vaults. Each vault holds 4 liters, and each vault fits a plant quite handily, so bravo to me and my yield estimation and C-vault purchasing skills.

I think that's it for now everyone. We'll see if I post more once I acquire my BHO processing material. I'm a little bit anxious about that, given how badly my ice-water hash turned out, and how not dangerous that process was.

At least I'll be back with 1 more recap, my final thoughts on each strain once they're done curing and I can vape them, and what I plan to change for next time.
MC

Re: SolarStorm 880 - (2x Pineapple Chunk) (2x Money Maker)

PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:45 pm
by rkymtnman
MC,
sorry to hear about the bubble hash problems. do you think you know what caused all the issue? i've never tried wet, fresh trim so can't help you much.

sounds like you had a nice harvest. congrats! time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Re: SolarStorm 880 - (2x Pineapple Chunk) (2x Money Maker)

PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 10:42 am
by MissingCow
It's been way too long since my last post, but I needed some time to figure out what I think of these strains, as well as play around with extractions a little. At long last, here are my final thoughts on this grow.

Smoke Reports:

Monday Maker:
- Very Indica, this strain is a serious heavy hitter. I've crashed for a nap just about every time I've smoked it.
- Nice head high, if you can enjoy it past the almost immediate need to sleep
- Nice for restless legs
- General euphoria and wellbeing
- Sweet aroma, nice taste, very citrusy/kushy
- Overall, I like this strain better than the Pineapple Chunk for taste and aroma

Pineapple Chunk:
- Slight citrus aroma, but I'm smelling more cheese and spice
- Sweet and pungent taste, slightly bitter, and as I vaporize more and more I get the bitterness in my throat. Vanilla at the beginning!
- Very relaxing, uplifting
- High euphoria strain. Every time I smoke this I find myself smiling like an idiot, and generally feeling 'aaight.
- A good friend of mine said this is his favorite weed ever, primarily because it is such a "happy" strain. See above.

Solar Storm 880
I've said a few times I'm done talking about the light, but I have to mention that my slight problem with bugs came entirely from my ducting on my HPS fixtures. For this reason, I can say that if I had completed the grow with the Solar Storm, I doubt that I would have had any insect problems. That would have been a major advantage.

Hash
I love making hash. It's by far my favorite thing, more than growing. Here's some photos of some of the processing I've done.

PC bubble patty.jpg
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PC bubble dried.jpg
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money maker shatter pre-purge.jpg
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money maker shatter.jpg
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money maker shatter 2.jpg
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money maker shatter 3.jpg
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pineapple chunk shatter.jpg
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pineapple chunk shatter 2.jpg
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Thanks again for following along everyone. Hope it's been as informative for you as it's been fun for me.
MC