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kfuller802vt
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- Sep 8, 2019
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The real issue is how low you allow the outside of the bud to get. think of 2 different zones of your actual bud, the inner layer of bud and the outer. if you allow the outer layer of bud to get too dry it will in turn dry out the tricomes which contain the terpenes and smell. most of the forums have this issue completely wrong, it doesnt matter how long or how fast you dry per se, it depends on how even you are able to get the moisture to evaporate from the bud. our goal is to remove the moisuture from the inside of the bud while maintaining a level on the outside which prevents the drying of the trichomes on the outside of the bud.
How do we do this?
No matter whether you hang dry or cut the bud off the stem or hang the entire plant, if you allow the outer layer of bud to dry out below approx 45% rh, you will lose the smell and not be able to get it back. Genetics plat a part in the total amount of smell, so what we want to do is preserve the maximum amount of the terpenes that are contained in the bud. Generally any method that will allow a slow, even dry is best. There is a caveat though, the longer it takes you to reach the target rh% the higher your risk for mold. all of this is relative to whatever ambient humidity is in your drying area/space/tent. main problem that people have is they hang for too long allowing the outer layer of bud to dry up which in turn drys out the trichomes on the bud. but the inner layer of bud still retains moisture, so after they hang and jar, they get some smell back as the moisture equalizes back from the inner later to the outer layer. this will not bring back smell already lost.
how to achieve a even dry
no matter how you dry you must not allow the outside of the bud to dry too much before the inner. you have to dry your bud in phases, swearing the inner moisture to the outer, then rehanging the bud to redry the outside again.
say you have 1 bud
outer moisture-100
inner moisture -100
hang for 5 days
outer moisure-68%
inner layer - 88%
sweat in jar overnight
outer layer 78%
inner layer 78%
hang for 1 day
outer layer 65%
inner layer 75%
sweat in jar overnight
outer layer 70%
inner layer 70%
hang for 6-8 hours
outer layer 60%
inner layer 68%
final jar for cure
outer layer 65%
inner layer 65%
in that method we can achieve an even dry while maintaining the outer moisture layer of the bud, which retains smell.
there are variable that can take place. hang drying in high temps will cause loss of smell due to faster evaporation and drying. cold temps will slow the process of evaporation. thus the colder we can keep our drying are the better. as cold but not as cold as freezing.
my suggestion is to cut off main colas and then only cut off one or two fan leaves at the top and one of two fans at the bottom. i leave all other leaves and do a dry trim. if you do not have complete control of your drying area, wet trim is a bad idea. try to imagine the main points of where water evaporates out if the bud, the holes in the stems from cutting leaves is like going from a sink faucet, to a fire hydrant being opened, in order to control and slow the drying of the ouside of the bud as slowly as possible, it is best to leave all leaves intact for a dry trim. i personally have excellent results in smell when i switched to dry trimming and letting the buds dry with leaves on. part of the reason is the leaves curl around the bud and actually help to create a layer of protection against the flower being exposed to open air, thus helping the bud retain the outer layer of moisture while drying. think of it as a wicking effect of moisture leaving the bud
also once you dry trim the bud and remove the leaves is a critical time in making sure the outer layer doesnt dry too fast. once a bud has all its sugar leaf vessels cut into it can dry the outside of the bud within a matter of hours so make sure you are on point with timing
How do we do this?
No matter whether you hang dry or cut the bud off the stem or hang the entire plant, if you allow the outer layer of bud to dry out below approx 45% rh, you will lose the smell and not be able to get it back. Genetics plat a part in the total amount of smell, so what we want to do is preserve the maximum amount of the terpenes that are contained in the bud. Generally any method that will allow a slow, even dry is best. There is a caveat though, the longer it takes you to reach the target rh% the higher your risk for mold. all of this is relative to whatever ambient humidity is in your drying area/space/tent. main problem that people have is they hang for too long allowing the outer layer of bud to dry up which in turn drys out the trichomes on the bud. but the inner layer of bud still retains moisture, so after they hang and jar, they get some smell back as the moisture equalizes back from the inner later to the outer layer. this will not bring back smell already lost.
how to achieve a even dry
no matter how you dry you must not allow the outside of the bud to dry too much before the inner. you have to dry your bud in phases, swearing the inner moisture to the outer, then rehanging the bud to redry the outside again.
say you have 1 bud
outer moisture-100
inner moisture -100
hang for 5 days
outer moisure-68%
inner layer - 88%
sweat in jar overnight
outer layer 78%
inner layer 78%
hang for 1 day
outer layer 65%
inner layer 75%
sweat in jar overnight
outer layer 70%
inner layer 70%
hang for 6-8 hours
outer layer 60%
inner layer 68%
final jar for cure
outer layer 65%
inner layer 65%
in that method we can achieve an even dry while maintaining the outer moisture layer of the bud, which retains smell.
there are variable that can take place. hang drying in high temps will cause loss of smell due to faster evaporation and drying. cold temps will slow the process of evaporation. thus the colder we can keep our drying are the better. as cold but not as cold as freezing.
my suggestion is to cut off main colas and then only cut off one or two fan leaves at the top and one of two fans at the bottom. i leave all other leaves and do a dry trim. if you do not have complete control of your drying area, wet trim is a bad idea. try to imagine the main points of where water evaporates out if the bud, the holes in the stems from cutting leaves is like going from a sink faucet, to a fire hydrant being opened, in order to control and slow the drying of the ouside of the bud as slowly as possible, it is best to leave all leaves intact for a dry trim. i personally have excellent results in smell when i switched to dry trimming and letting the buds dry with leaves on. part of the reason is the leaves curl around the bud and actually help to create a layer of protection against the flower being exposed to open air, thus helping the bud retain the outer layer of moisture while drying. think of it as a wicking effect of moisture leaving the bud
also once you dry trim the bud and remove the leaves is a critical time in making sure the outer layer doesnt dry too fast. once a bud has all its sugar leaf vessels cut into it can dry the outside of the bud within a matter of hours so make sure you are on point with timing