Harvesting your Cannabis plants
It's late-September and the time is near. You raised your cannabis up from little seeds just four short months ago. You created organic soil for your cannabis to derive nutrition from, watered your marijuana plants when they were thirsty, and kept your cannabis safe from disease and pests. You know your plants well because you grew them yourself...which one is the strongest, which one is the runt and which one is your favorite. And now after all your hard work, your cannabis girls are finally ready to be harvested into marijuana. Great job, pat yourself on the back because you deserve it! Now let's show you how to harvest your cannabis.
Prepare your Cannabis Drying Room
This should be your first step before doing anything else. There's no sense in chopping down your cannabis plant without having a location to hang and dry it.
Find a location where you will dry your cannabis, preferably a room where you can control the environment. Your drying room should meet the following criteria:
Find a location where you will dry your cannabis, preferably a room where you can control the environment. Your drying room should meet the following criteria:
- Not too hot for too long (above 85F for multiple hours)
- Should have basic ventilation and air exchange
- Cannot be be too humid (above 70%rH) or too dry (below 40%rH). Too much humidity can cause your cannabis to mold.
- Direct sunlight cannot shine on your drying cannabis. Sunlight causes cannabis to degrade.
- Access to electrical socket for fan
- Has space to hang all your cannabis branches or stems
How do I know when to harvest my Cannabis?
Harvesting weed is an art, not a science. I've learned through the years to use a combination of factors to determine when to harvest cannabis. Since this is your first time, you'll likely be anxious because you don't want to ruin all of your hard work. Just relax, you'll be fine because I'm going to walk you through it...I told you I was going to get you to the end and I meant it! See my tips for harvesting cannabis below.
Guide to Harvesting Cannabis
Follow these guidelines for understanding when to harvest your cannabis plants. Remember that you'll need to consider all factors before harvesting, not just one:
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Okay I'm ready to harvest my Cannabis plants. How do I do it?
Great, you've learned a lot and now you're within a couple weeks of smoking your own organic marijuana! Make sure you have your cannabis drying room prepared, then gameplan your chop. I like to harvest my plant at night when it's dormant and the neighbors are sleeping, but you can harvest it anytime that fits your schedule. There are different methods of harvesting and trimming your plant, both heavily debated. Some people chop their plant and trim the leaves while they're still wet, then hang the buds to dry, and others (like me) prefer to chop their plant, dry the plant, then trim the leaves when everything has been dried. My instructions will be to dry the entire plant, then trim it later after it's all dried. This is what I do and it's far less smelly, less messy, and less hectic for the new grower.
If you can chop and hang the entire plant to dry I'm envious of you because that is certainly the best way to dry cannabis. But if you're like me, you'll need to chop the plant in segments that aren't too big to hang, yet still large enough to keep moisture in the plant for awhile to prolong the dry. Rather than cut off the individual branches, try to cut the main trunk in segments that you can hang with branches intact. The more of the plant you keep intact, the longer your dry will take and the better your marijuana will be. However, if you don't have the space and have to cut individual branches don't sweat it, just work with the space you have. Everything will be fine.
Now take what you've cut over to your Cannabis Dry Room and meet me over there for further direction.
If you can chop and hang the entire plant to dry I'm envious of you because that is certainly the best way to dry cannabis. But if you're like me, you'll need to chop the plant in segments that aren't too big to hang, yet still large enough to keep moisture in the plant for awhile to prolong the dry. Rather than cut off the individual branches, try to cut the main trunk in segments that you can hang with branches intact. The more of the plant you keep intact, the longer your dry will take and the better your marijuana will be. However, if you don't have the space and have to cut individual branches don't sweat it, just work with the space you have. Everything will be fine.
Now take what you've cut over to your Cannabis Dry Room and meet me over there for further direction.