Clockworx dry/cure method (step by step)

[clockworx]

Hello farmers, due to the high volume of friends asking how I dry and cure, I've decided to make a step by step guide to my method. This will include everything from chop to smoke. After many many harvest and experimenting with every cure method under the sun I've come up with the most simple way to get dank nuggets that keep their amazing smell and look rite up to the point where they get smoked, vaped, or whatever else people do with them. So here is the step by step way to avoid the hay and mayday !!

Things you will need : giant black trash bags
Giant paper leaf bags
A line to hang branches

(1) I pull all fan leaves off the plant while she is still standing(smaller indoor plants). Its much faster this way, larger out door plants get cut into smaller branches then plucked.
(2) I cut the plant into manageable large branch sections, at the same time I trim the bud leaves if they are not frosty or I want them to make another product otherwise I leave them on to become part of the finished buds. After doing this for a long time you will be able to trim branches like the Flash.
(3) I hang the branches on the line evenly spaced trying to keep buds of the same size next to each other. This is the air drying step and the key is DRY SLOW...this step is a big factor in how your buds will smell and taste so don't rush. The temp 65-70 humidity 50-60%...you should stay as close to those numbers as possible for a slow dry. If you use a fan in the room it should never hit the buds directly, only use it to keep the air moving, if the air is blowing on the buds the branches will dry to quick.
(4) in 10-14 days the buds will feel a tad crisp on the outside but the centers will still be plenty moist to continue the slow dry/cure. With my method the dry/cure are one swift step where drying smoothly turns to curing. When the buds are crisp I slide branches into groups, the size of each bundle depends on the size of bags being used (bigger the better).
(5) I pull the black trash bag up over the groups of branches and tie a loose knot at the top, at the same time push most of the air out. When done with this step you will have a drying line with a bunch of bags hanging and buds with the moisture being slowly pulled back out. Don't open the bags to check if they are moist again, just feel them thru the bag. This keeps you from losing the moisture inside the bags.
(6) when the buds feel crisp again you can do 1 of 2 things. (1) You can open the bags and let them air dry again and keep doing that on and off process, you will notice every round will require less time to dry and more time to be moist until you get to the point were you are ready to snip the buds off the branches and put them in jars. The buds will be tight but evenly moist and won't need to be burped if done correctly. Always check them the first few times you try this method tho, buds can be sneaky and fool you into thinking they are ready for jars. The branches will have a crisp snap sound but will not crack like a dusty dry stick. If you kept the bigger buds with the bigger buds and smaller with smaller then each group will dry evenly.
The number 2 option is using the large paper leaf bags to slow the process down even more. If using those bags the principle is the same but the paper bags bring the buds to an even moist and allows you to leave the buds inside longer and really slow things down....either way you will end up with finished buds that are nice and tight with zero damage and a DANK SMELL....when the buds get put into jars the smell will already be there but the taste will get sweeter with every passing day...

 

[ttystikk]

Very nice tutorial, thank you for the concise overview. I live in a place so dry I can literally flash dry buds in hours. Keeping them damp long enough for any kind of cure at all is the challenge.

In my case then, does it make sense to bag the buds sooner? At what point do I want to do this? I'm fully aware I'm leaving quality and money on the table with a less than stellar finish after the chop.

 

[clockworx]

Very nice tutorial, thank you for the concise overview. I live in a place so dry I can literally flash dry buds in hours. Keeping them damp long enough for any kind of cure at all is the challenge.

In my case then, does it make sense to bag the buds sooner? At what point do I want to do this? I'm fully aware I'm leaving quality and money on the table with a less than stellar finish after the chop.

In your case I would flood the pots at the very end of a light cycle and harvest as soon as the lights come on so the buds will be filled with water, this will help with the fast drying, you can also dry the plant with all the leaves on which will slow it down, I personally wouldn't but that's just me....If I was you I would use my method with option 2... pull the fan leaves and hang until dry on the outside and the use the giant paper leaf bags you get at home depot and just keep them sealed in there hangin from the line only opening them real quick to let fresh air in every now and then but I would def keep them in the paper bags most of the drying process,,,,I mean if your drying inside a house the temp shouldn't be that high? Unless your drying in a barn in arizona during the summer you should be able to somewhat keep the temp under control....you can use my method in the heat and still get some good nug, you just have to treat the wet harvest like its a baby stuck in the dessert with no water, do what ever you have to do to keep them cool and prolong them from losing water too fast......

 

[ttystikk]

Temps are not the problem. Single digit RH, on the other hand... Lol. I'm not even sure paper bags would be enough. It's so fucking dry here I've seen people get a bloody nose just with a hard sneeze. Cracked lips are standard issue. It's nuts...

I'm with you on drawing out the cure but consumer demand keeps me from being able to spend a lot of time on it.

 

[clockworx]

Well then then it comes down to the same problem that most people have, and its where a true hustler becomes the best and the others fail....be the man to take your time and lose some sales but always have fire or be the man to rush and sell half ass bud for lower price and in the long run lose sales anyway......ALWAYS HAVE THE BEST PRODUCT......its the cardinal rule of pushing.....and the most important if you wanna be big...

 

[clockworx]

Were I'm from, the guy who sells rushed nug only gets the sales when the guy with fire runs out.....and even then some people will wait.....

 

[BrianDirt]

Good method will give her a try, been using allmost same but not with the bags. make sence though to slow the dry even more. Any idea what the humidity gets to once you do put the bags over the bundles?

ALWAYS HAVE THE BEST PRODUCT .. Hell yeah

 

[clockworx]

That all depends on when you do it...it could reach 100% if you do it too early....most people jar their buds way early and then they get all mushy and nasty, this way you won't damage the trichs, just pull the bag off when they are soft, let dry a lil then put the bag rite back on....I don't really pay attention to rh anymore....once you know how they should feel its like riding a bike...

 

[neverbreak]

excellent writeup bro!

Well then then it comes down to the same problem that most people have, and its where a true hustler becomes the best and the others fail....be the man to take your time and lose some sales but always have fire or be the man to rush and sell half ass bud for lower price and in the long run lose sales anyway......ALWAYS HAVE THE BEST PRODUCT......its the cardinal rule of pushing.....and the most important if you wanna be big...

true that! ya gotta show that ya got respect for ya own product if ya want people to respect it themselves. it pays off two ways - the satisfaction and pride in ya own work and the happy and returnin customers.

neverbreak

 

[BrianDirt]

I had my nose in the book and read something about keeping the plant whole untill ready to put the bags over them to sow the dry. Keeping the plant whole lets it dry even slower and though its stagmata in the leafs and calyaxas, instead of though the stem or place of cut. Before putting the bags on take off all the non sugar fans and leave everything else, it protects the THC from damage.

Do the method you have been doing but no manicure and a plant that is whole to slow dry, before doing the bag thing take fans off, and when ready to go into jars there should be about 10% wetness still. Again they say DO Not manicure the buds untill a full cure has taken place, this will further keep THC from being damaged and slow the cure further. You should only manicure the buds prior to smoking them ;}- Was an intersting read

 

[clockworx]

I said you can do that, I've been drying bud for 20 years and that way sucks, it causes more damage when you try and peel and cut all that half dried half soggy leaf off.....the whole point of my method is to not damage the buds, I've tried every method of drying there is and this is the best by far.....feel free to try what you like....I've read all the books long ago and not one of them have a clue how to dry and cure bud correct....its an art that I've mastered, I went through the trials and losses, buds smelling like wet grass, no smell, ect. Ect... just try my method the way its written and save yourself headaches....

 

[clockworx]

The first time you make that mistake and have to trim a pound of soggy leaf off your buds before it molds, think of me !!!! You will want to kill yourself....the room temp and BAGS slow down the process enough.

 

[BrianDirt]

I agree and see how the larger fans can get in the way if they are left on and muck it up. Do you feel you loose any thing like aroma/flavor not having the main stem, I know there is a differnt smells and such compared to the smell of buds. Like one plants stems and branches smell fruity but the buds smell a bit stank or sour (this is before chop). I am for shure using YOUR method with the bags this time, I like that it slows the dry more. Thanks

 

[clockworx]

What do you mean "not having the main stem"........this method will always make your bud smell the best it can,if you do it correct ...... people lose smell by jarring to early and the bud ends up with a musty smell or they dry too fast and over dry. .......slow dry, then use the bags, this will make it so you don't jar too early and ruin you bud, when your buds are nice and tight after doing the bag method and still have a nice even almost dry moisture then you clip them all off and do your once over trim of anything you missed and your done, jar those nuggies and let em marinate......if you did it correct you will not have to burp.....

 

[rawman]

Nice write up. My weeds never tested moldy and the lowest test of 7 I've had was 21% the highest was 25%. I like to leave all the sugar leafs on while drying only removing big fans and leaving all frost leads

Then I second trim what I'm moving n drop that off as soon as it's dry n my head stash stays unfinished n in to the jar. My theory has always been leafs protect trichs during storage also. Again never a mold problem.

I don't care my weed I'm moving isn't cured. I don't need to demand is already high enough where people want to prepay lbs n I won't do it.

Instead of tying a black trash bag over the buds why not just sweat in a black trash bag or my favorite turkey bags. I like the turkey cuz I can multi task my lbs. I'm sweating em n moving them at the same time after 7-10 days of drying lol

 

[BrianDirt]

The stalk, thing that goes in to the ground, what supplied the plant with water uptake and carried fluids. I have even heard of keeping the stalk intack and pulling the root ball and boil it quick. That way the plant is forced to dry the slowest way possible and that is though the only openings it has and that is its stamata. If you take your big fan leave off a few days before chop they maybe can close off or heal up that opening and then when you do chop the plant can't dry out of that cut. See if the buds are the last thing to dry from a whole plant, then all the flavor has to move to them also. So not having the main stalks moistor flav/aroma when drying have any affect?
But how is my idea about the fans being taken off a few days before so the openings can heal, and not be an outlet for moistor to leave? Good thread again my friend!

 

[ttystikk]

The stalk, thing that goes in to the ground, what supplied the plant with water uptake and carried fluids. I have even heard of keeping the stalk intack and pulling the root ball and boil it quick. That way the plant is forced to dry the slowest way possible and that is though the only openings it has and that is its stamata. If you take your big fan leave off a few days before chop they maybe can close off or heal up that opening and then when you do chop the plant can't dry out of that cut. See if the buds are the last thing to dry from a whole plant, then all the flavor has to move to them also. So not having the main stalks moistor flav/aroma when drying have any affect?
But how is my idea about the fans being taken off a few days before so the openings can heal, and not be an outlet for moistor to leave? Good thread again my friend!

I've read threads of some very experienced Farmers practicing selective removal of fan leaves throughout the blooming cycle, not just at the end. They've done it specifically to stimulate growth in and send nutrients to the budding sites. I would think that such an approach would give the benefits you seek and many more besides.

 

[clockworx]

Yea you can pull the fans off a few days before harvest if you want.....there are tons of little things people do to their plants....after you have been growing for a long time you start to not care about the little shit, you find a nice method that grows healthy plants, bloom em, hang em,, clean up real quick and get the next batch in...when your starting off and reading all those books and see all the different nutrients its like an information overload and you wanna try everything their is,,,been there .....then you realize that most of the nutrient company's are full of shit and you just try to find something that works and is easy, the goal is to grow healthy potent plants with as little headache as possible, that's my goal at least.....which is why I use this drying method, its fast and will not damage the buds, saves you from burping a 100 jars......you can toss whatever twist to the method your heart tells you to.....I'm just giving you the way I do it, no frills....i personally don't have time to boil roots and whatever else......but your learning, have fun and do what makes you happy, that's all that matters......

 

[clockworx]

Dry/Curing....my better explanation of the process...by clockworx

Curing is a carefully controlled process used to achieve the texture, color and overall quality of finished cannabis. From the time your plant is cut a process of converting cannabinoids from their acidic non-psychoactive form to their new psychoactive state is taking place. The temp, humidity and amount of oxygen will determine the rate at which this phase takes place (slower the better) . During the cure, leaf starch is converted into sugar, and the cannabis changes color. This change in color is strain dependant, some keeping more of a green color while others turn light to dark olive and even brown. Enzymes are responsable for this transformation and occur naturally in the decarbxylation process. If buds are jarred while the moisture content is to high anaerobic bacteria will thrive as oxygen levels drop, if you smell ammonia, which is the byproduct of this type of bacteria, you most pour the buds out and air dry, they need more o2. Timing of when to jar is very important, and is the reason this method is great, its dummy proof and if followed correctly you can avoid a moldy mess. There are many tricks people try and that is fine as long as your understand the guidelines of curing. No matter if you dry or wet trim a slow dry will give enzymes time to perform decarboxylation and rid the plant of chlorophyll and thus the green mint taste associated with fresh bud, replacing it with a nice mellow, sweet tasting nugget also exposing the true smell of the strain grown.....its what's expected from a great cure....

 

[clockworx]