Drying And Curing Questions

[richfletch]

Hey everyone, I decided to harvest my plants once I started seeing some amber trichomes. I prefer more of an uplifting high rather than a couch lock. Anyways, I have had them hanging in a closet in the dark with the temp in the high 60s/low 70s. I don’t have a way to check the humidity unfortunately. They have been hanging 4 days and the buds feel crisp on the outside, but the branches are still folding and it’s starting to smell like hay rather than the weed smell when they were growing. Is this smell going to change or did I mess things up somehow? They looked great when I cut them down and trimmed them, but I’m afraid I’ve gotten this far and messed them up somehow. Anything would help

 

[JWM2]

You’ll be fine. This is what they smell like prior to being all the way dry. The hay smell is due to the moisture still left in them.

Snip the buds off into a rubbermade bin or paper bag. Then close the bin or bag to allow the inner moisture to permeate outwards. Once the outside feels damp go ahead and let them air out a bit more until they feel a little crispy and repeat. Do this until they are mostly dry and then stick them in a jar and allow them to cure. Once you get to this stage they should start smelling good again.

The longer you cure them the smoother the smoke will be.

 

[1diesel1]

You’ll be fine. This is what they smell like prior to being all the way dry. The hay smell is due to the moisture still left in them.

Snip the buds off into a rubbermade bin or paper bag. Then close the bin or bag to allow the inner moisture to permeate outwards. Once the outside feels damp go ahead and let them air out a bit more until they feel a little crispy and repeat. Do this until they are mostly dry and then stick them in a jar and allow them to cure. Once you get to this stage they should start smelling good again.

The longer you cure them the smoother the smoke will be.

Considering the temperature and humidity control I hope your rite:)

 

[morugawelder]

You’ll be fine. This is what they smell like prior to being all the way dry. The hay smell is due to the moisture still left in them.

Snip the buds off into a rubbermade bin or paper bag. Then close the bin or bag to allow the inner moisture to permeate outwards. Once the outside feels damp go ahead and let them air out a bit more until they feel a little crispy and repeat. Do this until they are mostly dry and then stick them in a jar and allow them to cure. Once you get to this stage they should start smelling good again.

The longer you cure them the smoother the smoke will be.

I'm about ready to chop , so your saying bag them after chop or hang them first at 55 % rh ? Until they snap ?

 

[PlumberSoCal]

I'm about ready to chop , so your saying bag them after chop or hang them first at 55 % rh ? Until they snap ?

Hang first. Temp and humidity will determine their dry rate/speed. Don't rush this step. Cooler temps, 60-70F and approx 50% humidity is good and allows the plant to dry slowly. Too cold/wet you get mold. A small fan not pointed at the bud helps in those cases. Trim well after cutting and hang in a dark place. As soon as stems break time to clip buds and cure. Screen racks are also popular.

 

[morugawelder]

Hang first. Temp and humidity will determine their dry rate/speed. Don't rush this step. Cooler temps, 60-70F and approx 50% humidity is good and allows the plant to dry slowly. Too cold/wet you get mold. A small fan not pointed at the bud helps in those cases. Trim well after cutting and hang in a dark place. As soon as stems break time to clip buds and cure. Screen racks are also popular.

I'm gonna hang her in the 4 x4 tent small fan on the floor posted towards a wall ( angular ). should I run a vaporizer to maintain 50 % ? and when they snap their ready to jar ?

 

[PlumberSoCal]

I'm gonna hang her in the 4 x4 tent small fan on the floor posted towards a wall ( angular ). should I run a vaporizer to maintain 50 % ? and when they snap their ready to jar ?

Yes and yes. Usually 10-15 days again depending on the temp and humidity. I use to take a small bud and dry it in the oven to try. Wasted the smoke, tasted like shit. These days I wait until a week in the jar to taste and find the longer the cure the better the smoke and taste and I'm really interested in taste. I make tincture and coconut caps and good tasting weed makes both taste great and who doesn't want a great tasting smoke?

I'm in sunny so cal and at harvest time for us lowly outdior growers it's usually 100+ F. I use to dry in the garage for all of 3-5 days before stems snapped. Never had real good taste but got me high. These days I hang them in a spare bedroom closet with a window A/C blasting, a small fan on the floor pushing air out of the closet and a humidifier on the floor on the opposite end of the fan all under a tarp. Really comes out like what I buy.

Be sure to trim before hanging. Get those leaves out of there. BUY GOOD SCISSORS!!! Several pair. You'll thank me when all the trimming is done. Expect the trimming to take hours and hours. Plan a full day/night or even a weekend, depending on how much you got. A small harvest is so much easier to deal with. Trim 'em like the high priced stuff. Seriously, makes a world of difference.

This is a time honored tradition for a reason. It just sucks waiting another 3-4 weeks, I know.

 

[morugawelder]

Hang first. Temp and humidity will determine their dry rate/speed. Don't rush this step. Cooler temps, 60-70F and approx 50% humidity is good and allows the plant to dry slowly. Too cold/wet you get mold. A small fan not pointed at the bud helps in those cases. Trim well after cutting and hang in a dark place. As soon as stems break time to clip buds and cure. Screen racks are also popular.

whats with the hay smell in some cases I read about ?

 

[PlumberSoCal]

whats with the hay smell in some cases I read about ?

Chlorophyll. One of the reasons to dry slower without the leaves. And keep the sugar leaves. Any small white frosty leaves make good butter. I compost the fan leaves.

 

[morugawelder]

Chlorophyll. One of the reasons to dry slower without the leaves. And keep the sugar leaves. Any small white frosty leaves make good butter. I compost the fan leaves.

wet trim all first then hang up ? or good to leave rim later

 

[PlumberSoCal]

wet trim all first then hang up ? or good to leave rim later

Trim the shit out of it, then hang. No leaves.

 

[PlumberSoCal]

wet trim all first then hang up ? or good to leave rim later

Take a couple of stems and don't trim or trim sparingly. Once you smoke the trimmed you'll totally understand and the experience will force you to trim 'em in the future.

 

[Beachwalker]

whats with the hay smell in some cases I read about ?

From my observations the hay smell usually develops in the jar from improper curing practices and/or from jarring too wet, though I suppose it could happen from drying in too wet an environment with poor or no circulation as well

 

[PlumberSoCal]

From my observations the hay smell usually develops in the jar from improper curing practices and/or from jarring too wet, though I suppose it could happen from drying in too wet an environment with poor or no circulation as well

I've smelled it in a hot garage before. These days I take lower branches 8-12" long and spread them out after trimmimg. No hay smell just a strong plant smell like when it was growing. I gotta air out the room every day but I love that smell. Then the next set of branches until it's all hanging. It's a lot easier to do it in sections over a week then try to do it all over a day or two.

 

[Beachwalker]

I've smelled it in a hot garage before. These days I take lower branches 8-12" long and spread them out after trimmimg. No hay smell just a strong plant smell like when it was growing. I gotta air out the room every day but I love that smell. Then the next set of branches until it's all hanging. It's a lot easier to do it in sections over a week then try to do it all over a day or two.

How I like to do it if I have the option is take the tops first and let the lower buds ripen for another 7-10 days because I find the tops ripen faster, and also this allows the lower buds more light to fill out and finish ripening