Post Grow Plant Usage

[0987654321]

Nothing exotic to report, but I don’t often see comments in the vein of why I grow, so I will post this just on the off chance it helps someone else.

I don’t grow for the typical reasons, I grow for sleep. I have horrid insomnia, have had all my life. Childhood trauma (torture really) left an indelible mark.

So, while getting ‘happy’ is nice, sleep is critical for me.

I started a grow (primarily indica heavy plants, purple kush, purple gorilla), totally ignorant, probably the most expensive grow ever (every time I turned around I needed something else to fix what I screwed up due to ignorance, and I read two huge ‘grow bibles’) in Jan 23.

Originally I started 5 plants, but after not getting consistent starts I contacted the seed supplier (ILGM, I won’t go with them in the future for various reasons) and they talked me into starting several more plants. Their logic was rather than replacing the seeds I had not gotten to start, I should try all that I had and then they would send the total replacement in one go rather than multiple shipments.

idiotically I ended up with 14 plants, which, for a single person only looking to make sleeping pills is a bit too many. But, the seed people know I won’t order more seeds until I plant all I currently have.

another form of upselling

So, I had these guys in a small closet until they were too big, then I moved some into a tent (big enough for my smart car to park in and way too big to manage the heat index that accumulates inside) and they immediately (some already had buds) started to bud even though they were not auto and were not on 12x12. I guessed stress blooms. The others went into my spare shower (now dubbed the nursery) and they will be moved to the tent when their time comes. (a new smaller tent, which is much easier to keep cool)

I tried to baby those stress bloomed plants and the buds stayed on for two months… I know, I know… ruined!

Then, and again my lack of grow knowledge shows here, I cut, hung and tried to dry the plants. I live in AZ, I did not take into consideration that we were in the height of our cooler but super dry season and I put the plants in my warmest room at first; they were crispy critters in a day or two. I Ieft them for a week to dry. OOOHHHH not good. The buds were not tight, if I crumbled them all together they kinda looked like a bag of grape stems after all the grapes had been eaten. The buds had separated so much they no longer resembled buds at all.

The second harvest was put into a darker room with a portable AC that kept the room at 70 degrees F. Well, I added trays of water, soaked hanging towels and even set up a humidifier but these also dried extremely dry very quickly.

Of course, one cannot fix bad drying by trying to cure correctly, I did try, and can say; It won’t work. (I now have a second, smaller tent, set up with humidifier, fans and cooling system just for drying).

I thought the lot was wasted; too long on the vine, dried too much, not able to cure correctly.

well, I did read on another site that leaving the buds on the plant longer will reduce THC, that isn’t a real concern for me - I tend to not have enough time to get properly high. But the same article said longer plant attached buds will create more CBN - plant valium (or so the author called it)

I had read that activating the buds twice can also increase CBN.

BLUF: I did not wreck the buds. First night with my new ‘ruined’ canna caps and I stayed in bed for over 13 hours, most of which I know I was either dreaming or sleepy enough to stay put. This is crazy for me since I normally average 3 hours a night if I am lucky.

I am on night three and got 7 hours!!! several days in a row sleeping is unprecedented for me, I am not sure what to do with my energy… guess I will get more chores done today.

If you are still reading, I take my buds, grind them to a loose powder, activate, then grind this super dry stuff to a very fine powder. I mix with coconut oil, sunflower lecithin, some piperine (black pepper extract) (these help our bodies break down and absorb the canna) and fill caps. I typically take a couple of oz, ground and activated, mix about 1/2 cup of coco oil, 1/4 cup lecithin and a tablespoon of piperine (be careful; this stuff can be overdone, once my caps made my hands and feet feel hot, too much black pepper). This makes a nasty looking ‘slurry’, It is often too thick for a pipette, but I try. It is too wet to use a normal cap filling device, so they are done by hand. I find a movie, sit on the couch and fill caps.

I take breaks every few months for a week or two to keep my tolerance under control, but these caps are the best I have made for sleep. The sleep caps I take about an hour or two before bed, I am sleepy shortly after ingestion. If my tolerance is up a bit (typically after two months of daily use) I may find I need to take two an hour before bed and two more just at bed. The theory is that ingesting cannabis takes longer to break down so the affect hangs out longer. Thus, these will help sustain sleep. Which is critical for me, I have apnea and all the after affects of PTSD and trauma; none of which allow me to sustain sleep naturally.

long post, sorry for that, but hope it helps someone.
A. J.

I also make daytime chill pills, but those are normally sativa based and no where near as strong in the sleep arena as these; in fact the day time pills can keep me awake if I take them too late in the day. They are great for making it nearly impossible for people and other drivers to piss me off…

[ELI]

Hello A.J.!

First of all, I want to thank you so much for sharing this experience and your journey. You’ve learned a lot along the way, and it’s incredibly generous of you to share that information with us! Now we’ve learned too.

On another note, I really enjoyed the topic of your post, and I would love to read about the beginnings and motivations of the Community members!

Here’s my story: It was just over ten years ago when my partner and I tried cultivating cannabis. He used it for sleep as well (a couple of puffs helped a lot), but we never succeeded. The rains and snails were the biggest challenges we faced. We eventually gave up.

Years later, someone I knew asked me if I knew anything about cannabis oil because their mother, who had rheumatoid arthritis, was in a critical condition, and they decided to try using the plant. They asked me because they know I’m curious and have had experiences with DMT, for example. But I didn’t know anything about it. So, I attended a therapeutic cannabis workshop organized by an organization here called Mama Cultiva Argentina.

At that time, cultivation was still illegal, so I went with fear. With fear and fake names, I managed to get the seeds and grew them inside a wardrobe where I removed all the clothes. The first attempt was a disaster. I only obtained tall male plants and hermaphrodites. But I had better luck on the second try. The guys at the grow shop where I bought the basic supplies helped me a lot. Once I obtained the flowers, I prepared the oil and sent it to them.

That’s when the madness began. The lady felt better after the first dose and continued to improve every day. She went from being bedridden, waiting for death, to mopping the sidewalk, caring about her appearance, and enjoying moments with her family again. Cannabis gave her life back.

It was a life-changing experience for me. I never stopped cultivating, learning, or sharing. It’s a plant that has many ways of changing our lives.

[0987654321]

Wow, that is a wonderful story; good for you guys!

Thank you for sharing.

I wanted to share so people can hear an alternative to smoking, vaping, gummies and your other more typical uses. AND, there are other goals than just the typical high as a goal.

And, despite my worst efforts, they weren’t ruined!

I also would love to hear more back stories on the why’s behind cultivation.

[Wichie13]

Interesting post.

For me it’s for back pain I have three bulging disks in my spine and I find it helps me get threw the day.

I have been experimenting growing cbd, cbg and cbdv plants. I am on my second outdoor season and have had more failures than successes so far but I am still enjoying the process and a bit of the results. Lol.

I make mct oil for my morning bullet proof coffee.

I also make cbd oil for my pups as they are getting older but I am still buying that flower as I want to ensure THC is low to nil.

First summer I had a male in the mix I failed to spot and so far this summer turned one into a hermie with stress and had to take her/him out.

Anyone else feel a bit sad chopping them down?

[ELI]

Yes, it happens to me too. The first time was terrible. In those moments, it helps me to bring to mind that they die naturally after completing their cycle.

[Wargoat]

Not at all, I can’t wait for chop day. I put all this time, effort, money and sweat into it that and I can hardly wait for that first taste… Curing is a different story. I’ll cure until I run out of the last harvest lol.

[0987654321]

here I was, moving my last bloomery plants into the dry-er-ry and thus making space for my over tall veg plants from the nursery (got that? I have a Nursery where I nurse plants, a Bloomery where I bloom plants and a Dry-er-ry where, of course, I dry plants) to move into the bloomery (it is a maddening cycle some times).
This post popped into my mind, along with the beautiful one you also posted that I could not find, regarding the love we develop for our pretty ladies and the history, the usage and so much more.

These gals were planted in Jan when I had even fewer clues than I currently possess, and since my tent cooling capabilities limited the bloomery sq footage (probably a good thing, trying to keep up with that many blooming plants would be way too much) and so they have been hanging out in the guest shower (aka the Nursery).

Unfortunately hanging out in the shower means the grow height limit is lifted up to the sky light. So now they are way too tall. I had to lollipop them to keep them healthy, but before I put them on 12/12 I want to fill them back up and trim them way down. So, first I put in extra cheap LED lights, down low, and when those branches started to show leaves again I cut the tops back.
Now comes my dilemma; I have so many plants it is ridiculous, but it literally hurts to throw these tops away; they are perfect for clones. (but I bet they would make a lousy salad)

So, of course, I now have 5 wide mouth jars with clone starts in them, nestled around the lollipop-ed gals.

Am I insane, or is growing canna truly an obsession? Anyone want a clone?