When I grow in a tent I cut her down into sections small enough to handle, either at the base or just below where 2 branches come out. I wet trim the fan leaves off, then hang the branches upside down in the tent making sure there is space around each cola for air circulation. I cut off the circulation fans and just run the inline ventilation fan on low. Ideally I want a temp in the low to medium 60's f and humidity at 60 to slow down terpene loss but since I can't control climate in my set up, she gets what I get. If she has nice big colas I let her dry in the dark in there for 2 weeks. If she is on the petite side maybe a bit less. The buds have lots of moisture inside but when I touch the outside I cannot feel how wet they are inside. I check them every day looking for mold or any other issue.
After drying, I cover the top of a table with a plastic sheet to catch trich dust and sugar leaves and carefully strip the buds off the stems. They smell so good and I get inspired by how many good times lay in my future. This is the time to weigh the harvest if that interests you. I use shop hand cleaner with lanolin to clean resin off my hands. I put my buds in curing jars that I recycle from spaghetti sauce, filling them about 3/4 full.
Curing time is dependent on the size and moisture content of the buds. Bigger, wetter buds are going to take more time to cure. I open the jars every day for 10 minutes the first 2 weeks. At that point I take out a big size bud and tear it open and examine it for moisture content. This tells me how things are going and how often I need to open the jars going forward. It has been my experience that I need to continue burping the jars every day or every few days for at least 2 months before bigger buds really dry inside and I generally burp all my jars at least twice a month after that.
Once the buds reach a consistent dryness they are ready to smoke but the taste and smell can continue to develop for months. Sometimes I get a grassy smell during drying but I have always found that that smell disappears during cure. I currently have jars from the last 3 grows all labeled with name and date of harvest.
When I grow outside the process is the same but outside grows can be very large which can create logistical problems and I need to time things so my tent is empty when harvest time rolls around. With even a few large outside plants it's best to have a number of good friends over to help with the wet trim so my hands don't wear out, or harvest in batches.
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If you don't have a tent you will have to pick a place to dry in. You'll want to have a small fan draw air out of the room and a way to allow replacement air in so moisture can be removed from the room as it leaves the buds.
Every grow for me is different. I'm sure that commercial and professional growers can get it down to a science where they control every parameter and finish things on an assembly line, but I have grown different varieties, have issues controlling variables and sometimes things happen that are unexpected so I find it best to tear open buds, get my hands in there, use my sense of smell and find out what's going on during the curing process so that they don't get moldy.
Modern tools for curing include mini hydrometers for measuring temp and humidity inside jars and grove bags for curing in. so you can google those.
So, best of luck
@oldtimer19. Welcome to the art and science of growing, harvesting and enjoying your own cannabis. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it quickly. People have been doing it without any instruction whatsoever for thousands of years.
