pruning, harvesting, and curing!

Pruning
     We  have  found that pruning is not  always  necessary.   The  reason  one does it in the first place is to  encourage  secondary  growth  and  to allow light to reach the  immature  leaves.   Some  strands  of grass just naturally grow thick and bushy and if  they  are  not clipped the sap moves in an uninterrupted flow  right  to  the top of the plant where it produces flowers that are thick with  resin.   On the other hand, if your plants appear tall and spindly  for  their  age at three weeks,  they probably  require  a  little  trimming to ensure a nice full leafy plant.  At three weeks of age  your plant should have at least two sets of branches or four  leaf  clusters and a top.   To prune the plant, simply slice the top off  just about the place where two branches oppose each other.   Use a  razor blade in a straight cut.   If you want to,  you can root the  top  in  some water and when the roots appear,  plant the  top  in  moist  soil  and it should grow into another plant.   If  you  are  going to root the top you should cut the end again, this time with  a  diagonal  cut  so as to expose more surface  to  the  water  or  rooting  solution.   The  advantage to taking cuttings  from  your  plant is that it produces more tops.  The tops have the resin, and  that's the name of the game.   Every time you cut off a  top,  the  plant seeds out two more top branches at the base of the  existing  branches.  Pruning also encourages the branches underneath to grow  faster than they normally would without the top having been cut.
Harvesting and Curing
     Well,  now that you've grown your marijuana, you will want to  cur  it  right so that it smokes clean and won't  bite.   You  can  avoid  that "homegrown" taste of chlorophyll that sometimes  makes  one's  fillings taste like they might be dissolving.   We know  of  several  methods  of curing the marijuana so that it will  have  a  mild flavor and a mellow rather than harsh smoke.
     First,  pull  the plant up roots and all and hang  it  upside  down  for 24 hours.   Then put each plant in a paper  grocery  bag  with the top open for three or four days or until the leaves  feel  dry to the touch.   Now strip the leaves off the stem and put them  in a glass jar with a lid.   Don't pack the leaves in tightly, you  want air to reach all the leaves.   The main danger in the  curing  process  is mold.   If the leaves are too damp when you  put  them  into the jar,  they will mold and since the mold will destroy  the  resins,  mold will ruin your marijuana.  you should check the jars  every day by smelling them and if you smell an acrid  aroma,  take  the weed out of the jar and spread it out on newspaper so that  it  can dry quickly.   Another method is to uproot the plants and hang  them upside down.   You get some burlap bags damp and slip them up  over the plants.  Keep the bags damp and leave them in the sun for  at least a week.  Now put the plants in a paper bag for a few days  until the weed is dry enough to smoke.   Like many fine things  in  life,  marijuana mellows out with age.  The aging process tends to  remove the chlorophyll taste.


thats it for weed! next blogs: shrooms