Reply to you about the southwest I’m so stoned I took 3 years to reply lmfao! Gooey tang and killer tang wins. I’ve been growing those strains for 9 years now and they have a spot in the garden every year. It’s that good. Still. 9 years and I’ll be germinating them again this year. They have been grown all over the place from sea level to 9000ft. All rave reviews. You can’t go wrong with it. Not sure how much longer I’ll release it. Legendary terps.

If you want to just make oil to use for cooking skip the beeswax and essential oil.

Every year I have some dry trimming I do also if I can’t get my work done on time for outdoor I will just cut entire plants and hang them. Keep in mind most my plants outside weigh half a pound or more dry in a 20 gallon bucket. The terpene profile on my cultivars are very strong so you will notice the taste for a very long time with them. The dry trim is a bit more messy for me to keep track of I feel like it’s a little harder on my sinuses when the stuff becomes airborne but I still do if. It does seem to preserve flavor nicely and also you can’t put it on hold a bit longer if you are backed up. Some say the leaves can prevent mold and protect the trichomes. I can’t verify that personally but I haven’t experienced mold issues from dry trimming so...I use both dry trimming and wet trimming as tools to help me work done. I have also use the mid range where you do half and come back and clean it. And that way works well also. It is probably one of the quickest methods, but you need to have plenty of ventilation if you pack a room that way. You can smell it going that direction almost instantly. The smell should be sweet when you walk in not musky wet, or hay smelling. That is one way to know your dry is going well. My first comment above is my way of choice and that’s wet trimming and hanging it fully manicured. I pack the room that way and it slows down the curing process. Colorado is dry so I have my methods to get it just right. If you have a good dry room it will act almost like a humidor/curing room. My method of choice is to use electric hand scissors which are modified to produce more power with a bigger power pack. I would love a bigger system to process it but I haven’t upgraded. It has to be quite for my area. And who knows maybe someday I will. Anyhow the electric hand scissors work well for the big stuff. Trimming mid way down takes about 1 hour per pound. Then I finish it off by hand and manicure very tight. Don’t be afraid to take a little bud off and get it tight. A bad trim job can turn grade a cannabis to grade b. Sometimes the grade of bud can depend upon the skills of the trimmer. Update: I've switched to dry trim. It just seems easier for my set up and allows me to take my time more. The nice thing about it it is you can leave it hanging until you're ready to work on it. The leaves preserve and protect the trichomes a little better it seems. I did wet trim for years and it was my preferred method. I guess times change. Now I like using a bbq silicone brush.

Factors on where you dry your cannabis will determine many qualities of obtaining a properly cured product. The size of the room, the amount of cannabis in the room, room ventilation, relative humidity, temperature, and light come into play. For starters hanging plants or branches. Dry trimming or wet trimming. Many people do this different ways and I do many of them. So I will explain the benefits they have. As for quality many will argue that dry trimming is better because it takes longer for the plant to dry thus giving the plant time for its chlorophyll to change to sugars. Another claim is that the leaves protect the trichomes and terpenes last longer. I can tell you I do both every year and I don’t really notice a difference. For me personally I prefer wet trimming. I can slow my drying process down by controlling the humidity in the room and I like to have only to put them in jars once they are off the line. I use hemp line to hang my plants from and most any string will work. Or hanger however you prefer for your amount. I generally don’t like to have the buds too much squished together. That can cause mold issues and it’s good for them to have a little space. Temps should be 65-75 degrees and relative humidity of 45-50 percent. Some people go higher up to 60% but I generally keep it in that range to avoid any chance of mold as I usually have quite a bit packed in my dry space. Drying time may take anywhere from 5-10 days depending upon the factors above. When you can hear a snap of the small parts, and the larger stems crack but don’t break that’s a good time to put i the jar. Burp and rotate the jar on the hour for the first two days, after that move on to burping a few times a day for two weeks. After that you can open it once a week. This gives the buds time for the chlorophyll to break down and escape, providing you with smooth smoke that will last. Store in a dark cool place.

I will explain the art of harvesting, the windows and changes of a plant and it’s trichome structure along with terpene development. When the cannabis starts to ripen and become full, it will go through many changes.Every cultivar will have a unique genetic makeup, giving it very specific qualities. Through selective breeding, almost infinite possibilities of combinations can develop through the outcome of hybrid evolution. Tracing back to the land race phenotypes of cannabis developed to suit the region of growth. In essence adapting to its surroundings. Plants developed the traits of sativa, indica , and ruderalis, hemp through evolution. Some of these traits passed on through generations inserting genes to perpetuate the combination of endless creations. Some of the traits inherited I will talk about now. Terpenes are one of my favorite. What’s not to love about the taste of great cannabis? All of the plants on the planet with any smell has a terpene profile. Lavender, mint, basil, strawberries, Watermelon, tire plant, skunk bush, oranges. All of those things almost give you an emotion when you even think about how you react to each one. For me the smell of citrus peps me up and wakes up the senses. Or lavender is calming and has a pleasant smell. Well cannabis also inherited these traits and these combinations allow us to mimic the tastes and smells that surround us. Giving us an emotional response as well attributed by what each sense is stricken. That’s one reason why terpene profile is very important to me personally. And that’s why I think it’s important in the study of cannabis. Now I would like to talk about the window of trichromatic development. Trichomes go through various stages of development in their life cycle. You will need a jewelers loupe or magnifying lens. The first is a clear stage it looks like mushrooms growing of the buds and leaves. The first stage is when thc has not changed into as many other more complex cannabinoids. The feeling will have less of a sedated and more clear high when harvesting a plant with clear trichomes. As the trichomes change to the next phase, it starts to get a milky cloudy color. This also has the same type of feeling with mostly THC starting to covert to some more complex cannabinoids. There are over 80 cannabinoids in cannabis and only a handful have been studied extensively. So if I don’t go off to much on percentages you’ll know why. It’s because I feel the research is still progressing and I’m still learning as well. So now that the trichomes are milky as they progress they are going to start to develop and Amber color it will progress and keep in mind to look at it developing on bud itself and not the leaves. The leaves of cannabis can have different maturing times for trichome growth. They will change earlier. So when looking for maturity look right in that window of mostly amber for trichome color. This will be when the cannabis is at its highest potency. And it will provide a more well rounded trichome maturity level with dynamic cannabinoids. Maybe sometimes I like the feeling of the clear high. Then I harvest maybe when they are just starting to turn amber or even clear. Next I will talk about the fourth transition into an opaque state. The trichomes turn black at the end of their cycle. This is where you get even more break down of cannabinoids into more patterns. The result is a more couch lock feel. I feel like their is a great misconception about sativa and indica producing results based on the fact it is indica or sativa. The reason is in the stages of trichome life. Each stage produces different patterns of evolving cannabinoids. All which, combined with terpene have an effect on the endocannabinoid system in many major ways. I feel this misconception has come about because the growing times of sativas take much longer than indica. It’s quicker for the indica plant to develop the complexity in its cannabinoid profile. With sativa it takes a very long time for those cannabinoids to mature. Many growers don’t have the patience or can’t afford to finish a 13+ week plant so they cut it early before the cannabinoids have had time to mature. The result is one would get a “indica” feeling plant out of sativa and the opposite rule would apply as well. Also I believe terpenes have a cycle as well and they can also alter their flavor as time progresses. Maybe a plant smells super great a little on the milky side so you harvest a little and it tastes wonderful. And as it changes it gets a more complex flavor. So it’s up to you really to experiment with when you want to harvest. I’ll get into taking about how to harvest next and the appropriate windows for humidity, temperatures, drying and curing, to go by for the best results. Stay tuned.

The importance of strain selection is crucial. Not all cultivars will do well in any given climate. Select the variations that match your circumstance and areas best. Look for flowering times and if they will finish in time before frost. Many plants can handle a frost or two but long periods of cold weather can do damage to plants. So it’s best to harvest before the first frost if possible. Or if you have to, cover your garden with something to keep some heat in and dew off the plants. Late season rain can be harsh. Make sure your limbs are supported enough to take some weight. Check your outdoor buds often for critters like caterpillars, aphid, mites, or other insects that do plant damage. Inspect the top and bottom of leaves. If it rains during late season outdoors inspect your plants closely for any signs of mold and shake the water off gently. Sometimes it takes really looking though the big colas and even spacing it out to provide an air passage. Little tricks like egg shells in the soil can help prevent bud rot. As well as keeping good air circulation to the biggest buds. Keep an eye on the color of green. You want a good dark green through most of the grow leading into the fall. At that time it should be natural for the leaves to start showing some color changes. And it’s good for the smoke when they do. It helps break the chlorophyll down and turn it into sugars. It’s all practice through trail and error. But hopefully this can save some people some time and prevent them from learning the hard way.

Any tea recipes you want to post go ahead and post them that would be great!