01/19/14 Week 12 – Flushed both plants with 2 gallons distilled water and sticking with distilled watering for the week
01/19/14 Opium 30", Blue Dream 24" tall – Same Height



Blue Dream Cola next to a tennis ball for comparison



Opium Cola next to a tennis ball for comparison

That's a huge change from the 11 week pics to the 12 weeks pics. Maybe it's partially the angle but the cola on the right looks twice as big than the week before...to me.

The Blue Dream's trichomes on top were amber so I harvested it, trimmed it down, and it's now hung up drying in a dark closet with a small fan giving them some indirect air flow.

The Opium plants trichomes are still clear on top, so I'm going to give it another week.

After I dry the plants each for a week and then cure them for 4 weeks I'll weigh the results of the grow and post it here.

I had some trouble with the drying portion of the drying and curing process. This being my first time I did a lot of reading/research into the drying and curing process. They all say to hang the plants in a dark dry place for a week to a week and a half. Supposedly, it will be done drying when you squeeze it and it feels like popped popcorn.

After 4 days of hanging to dry I went to check on the plants and they were brittle and basically when I squeezed it it went crunch and for the most part fell apart in my hand. So I immediately put the buds into mason jars for curing. I talked to a professional grower and he felt that the entire stock was ruined. He had no idea what went wrong as I did everything I was supposed to according to him and everything I read.

Then I remembered an old trick to rehydrate plants. With the buds placed in the mason jars, I placed a thick piece of orange peal into each jar for about 36 hours. Afterwards, all the buds were hydrated and squished like a piece of popcorn. So I took the orange peals out and started the curing process.

The curing process is now done and I'm definitely happy with the results.

The net weight of each after the drying and curing process are as follows:|
Opium 4oz
Blue Dream 3oz

My conclusion of the California Lightworks SolarStorm 400W for growing medicinal marijuana for myself is a success. Taking into account that neither of these plants were lollipoped or topped/pinched the amount grown was adequate. The Blue Dream for some reason just didn't grow as big as it was supposed to but the Opium's growth was excellent. Not sure the California Lightworks SolarStorm 400W would be great for a large scale grow, for that I'd recommend multiple California Lightworks SolarStorm 800W lights.

The factors I enjoyed most about the California Lightworks SolarStorm 400W is that it was very cool to he touch so if something were to knock my grow tent over or if the light was to fall down, I wouldn't need to worry about a fire. Also the power consumption is minimal in comparison to other grow lights. My bill only went up about $15 - $20 and that's running the California Lightworks SolarStorm 400W on a timer and the inline fan 24/7.

So for my personal grow the California Lightworks SolarStorm 400W was safe and I felt secure when away from the light, the increase in bill was minimal, and the amount of buds produced was adequate for my personal use. All in all, I'm very happy.

There's a Mason Jar in the pic for size comparison:

The drying mistake was the room was too dry. Dark yes; dry...not so much. You want to dry in 50-60% humidity if you want to go a week. You'll do better next time.

Thanks for the update!

I really enjoyed reading this journal. With my 400w showing up finally two days ago it gives me a good idea of where I want to take my grow! Thanks!