Prospero’s Grow Week 12: Almost Harvest Time, Strong Cannabis Smell

After almost 3 months of growing my own cannabis in my apartment in Denver, I’m finally getting to the point where it’s time to harvest. Both of my plants are looking great, with fully formed and sticky buds that have definitely gotten to be too big for the small kitchen closet that I’ve turned into a makeshift grow room.

As I’ve stated a few times before, the limited space has definitely not been the best, because the colas and large fan leaves towards the top of both plants are just too close to the light and have started to show signs of light shock. Unfortunately, there’s not too much I can do at this point; experienced growers know exactly how to use techniques like super cropping to get plants to grow out and not up, but as a novice grower this wasn’t something I was really expecting to master on my first try.

I have managed to move the light and have at least done everything I can to make sure that very little actual buds are affected by being too close to the light. Luckily, the trichomes on the buds are looking great when I scope them up close; definitely some darker color in there, which means that high THC production is happening.

Large fan leaf very close to the lamp. The lighting makes it a bit hard to see, but it’s definitely looking more yellow than it’s supposed to.

I want to take a second and address the issue of cannabis smell. When I started this venture in my small studio apartment, I had several friends and growers alike tell me that the smell of the growing plants was going to be so overwhelming that I was going to get my self caught (which as this point in Colorado history would probably only get me evicted, since there’s nothing any law enforcement could do!). While the smell inside my apartment is definitely noticeable, I’ve actually been extremely luckily that it hasn’t traveled too far outside.

In The Bible, Cervantes suggests that having a vent with a constant stream of air will help to keep the smell down; since I had to install a blower months ago to take down the temperature, this might have something to do with it. Maybe it’s the thick layers of paint covering up the turn-of-the-century asbestos in the walls, or maybe it’s because everyone else in my building burns on a regular basis that it just all gets assimilated into the same smell, but I’m really just relieved that smell hasn’t really been a problem.

For prospective growers interested in an apartment grow (especially if you find yourself trying to grow in a state that isn’t yet MMJ or just plan MJ friendly), I definitely recommend not just a blower to circulate air, but also a realistic inventory of your space and how much smell or other factors might be an issue.

Another good tip I picked up from The Bible is to give the plants a full 24 hours of darkness right before harvesting, which is supposed to increase resin production right before harvest. I figure that it’s worth a shot and definitely can’t hurt, so the day before I cut the plants down I’ll just totally turn the light off (and probably just take it down while I’m at it.)

I’ll update everyone next week after I’ve cut down the plants and have ’em drying. Getting so close!

Prospero’s Grow – 15 Week Series:

1. Week 1: Set Up and Explanation of Juicing Cannabis
2. Week 2: All Going Well and Nutrient Advice
3. Week 3: Advanced Nutrients Nirvana and Some Real Growth!
4. Week 4: New Developments from The Wizard and Start of Juicing Cannabis
5. Week 5: T-minus 1 Week to Flower and Important Lesson On Watering Cannabis Plants
6. Week 6: It’s Flower Time!
7. Week 7: Starting to Flower and Introduction of Advanced Nutrient Bud Candy
8. Week 8: Flushing Cannabis Plants and Raising the Grow Light
9. Week 9: Frosty Leaves and Real Buds! More Juicing Cannabis Information
10. Week 10: Growing Steadily and Some Thoughts On Pruning Cannabis
11. Week 11: About Time to Start Flushing
12. Week 12: Almost Harvest Time, Strong Cannabis Smell [this post]
13. Week 13: Harvesting Cannabis. This is It!
14. Week 14: Trimming and Curing Cannabis
15. Week 15: Final Thoughts On Growing your Own Marijuana
16. Epilogue: How to Make Your Own Homegrown Bud Joint Stash