Ahoy!
It’s that festive time of year, friends! We hope you had a splendid Christmas Day, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, whatever! OR just a splendid holiday season in general, even if you aren’t into the organized religious experiences. Regardless of whatever cult you follow, my aspiration for you is that you had a chance to slow down, take a deep breath, and identify some of those positive elements in your life. 2020 has been a weird one and it’s evident we’re ready for a fresh, clean slate and a new year. Prior to getting to that new year, let’s discuss the latest Cannabis developments at Nevada House, and even pause to take a moment and reflect.
Our three Banana Hammock plants continue to thrive. Although we are still new to the cannabis cultivation process, I take pride in these three gals- after an inconsistent start to their development (which included discrepancies in the sunlight department during Seedling stage), they have simply thrived! The plants have been growing from a strong, sturdy stem; developing MEGA green fan leaves- some of the biggest I’ve ever seen. The fan leaves on a cannabis plant are known by all- I’m sure you will recognize the classic marijuana leaf as shown below:
While the plant continues to grow with fan leaves expanding, the plants are beginning to develop some beautiful look nugs, including healthy pistils (the “hairs” on the plant), trichomes (small, silvery bulbs which contain the cannabinoids), and sugar leaves (the really tiny leaves which are coated in trichomes… not ideal for smoking but still fun!). Enjoy some of the photos included, identifying those unique traits in the plant.
The girls have been flowering since November 24th. As mentioned before, during the flowering stage, the plants go from receiving 18 hours of sunlight/day, down to just 12 hours/day. This light exposure difference tricks the plant hormones into flowering, thus producing the nugs we all enjoy. The flowering stage is easily my favorite part of the process, it’s always fun to see (and smell!) the changes on the plants. It seems that with each day, there is a small, subtle development; slowly leading us to the glory of Harvest Day. I anticipate cutting these plants down within the next 2 weeks!
It can be tricky to determine when to cut the plants and begin the drying process. Cutting too early reduces the ferocity of the plant, resulting in less potent greens while giving the user more of a Sativa based experience (more of a “head high” vs. “body high”). On the flip side, waiting too long to dry the plants will result in the plant losing THC, producing less powerful nugs. From my understanding, the key to a successful harvest is by honing in on the trichomes- the small bulbs on the plant that fill with the cannabinoid. These bulbs go through quite a change; starting as a crystal clear bulb, turning to a milky white color, and eventually switching to a dark brown or amber-ish type look. As soon as they start turning to that amber color, it’s a great sign that they are ready to be harvested.
Also, for reference, when I think of the color amber, I often think back to that scene from Jurassic Park in which they find the petrified bug fossilized in an amber colored rock… Take a look at this picture and you’ll pick up what I’m laying down:
Me, in 30 years after my hair falls out… ‘Stache still looks decent
Finally, as a reminder, this is our third batch of goods that I will harvest this year (eh, technically they will be harvested next year). I’ve been altering my approach to each batch of goods. For example, I went by to the book for my first batch in terms of when to harvest the plants. Regarding the second batch, I opted to give them extra time in the flowering stage (despite a high percentage of the amber trichomes on the leaves). For this current batch, the plan is to harvest on the earlier side of the trichome development. The purpose of this experiment is an attempt to identify differences in the cannabis from each harvest; ideally leading us to harvesting the best, tastiest, most powerful and glorious cannabis nuggets on this side of the equator.
Anyways, that’s all I got for now, friends. The plants continue to thrive and I anticipate a happy harvest. I look forward to wrapping up this year as I’ve got more family coming to visit so we can shut down 2020 for good, and move into 2021 with new hope, personal goals, and opportunities. The nostalgia of the holiday season has had a stranglehold on me and I can’t complain- I’ve had nothing but a smile on my face as I reflect on past holiday seasons, family traditions, all-time favorite gifts, holiday gatherings and new year experiences. Even though this year has been a monster, I believe that if we keep smiling, focus on the little things, and engage in small acts of kindness and generosity, we can power through the rest of this weird year and dominate 2021!
Have a wonderful new year, friends!
Drew
aka
The California Kid
