Drying the buds…when to jar?

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chelseamac27

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Another question has been on my mind. I have not been able to find an answer to it. But once you harvest and they have been drying for a little while, how do you tell when they are dry enough to go into the jars? I have smaller sections that could not be hung on stems so I would like to learn for those specifically but definitely open to other advice. I know snapping the stem doesn’t work for everyone.

Thank you!
 
freezeland2

freezeland2

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Another question has been on my mind. I have not been able to find an answer to it. But once you harvest and they have been drying for a little while, how do you tell when they are dry enough to go into the jars? I have smaller sections that could not be hung on stems so I would like to learn for those specifically but definitely open to other advice. I know snapping the stem doesn’t work for everyone.

Thank you!
I personally use a wood moisture meter to know when to begin the cure process. But without one the buds are crisp to the touch on the outside but feel like a firm marshmallow when squeezed. That is usually after a week to ten days of drying. The buds will also snap off, usually lol.
 
DRan88

DRan88

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I personally use a wood moisture meter to know when to begin the cure process. But without one the buds are crisp to the touch on the outside but feel like a firm marshmallow when squeezed. That is usually after a week to ten days of drying. The buds will also snap off, usually lol.
freezeland2 what % moisture do you look for on your wood moisture meter to know when to begin the cure process?
 
OutdoorGrowGuy

OutdoorGrowGuy

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Another question has been on my mind. I have not been able to find an answer to it. But once you harvest and they have been drying for a little while, how do you tell when they are dry enough to go into the jars? I have smaller sections that could not be hung on stems so I would like to learn for those specifically but definitely open to other advice. I know snapping the stem doesn’t work for everyone.

Thank you!
60f/60h or thereabouts to hang / dry.

In my opinion it should be "just" dry enough to properly mull a session and enjoy smoking it.

At this point myself, I then transfer it all into large paper bags for a day or two. To even out the dryness / moisture, before jarring for long term.
More often than not, there's still a few larger buds that are a tiny bit damp still inside we miss.
I find the paper bag method really helps in this regard.
Just good old brown paper grocery bags.

In my very honest opinion, ideally once jarred, you shouldn't have to open it again until you want to consume some.
You want to preserve (cure) all those good smells.
Should smell just as good, if not a bit better, than the day you jarred it.

The trick is not to dry way too far, or store when still damp.
There's honestly nothing worse for it than storing / smoking when still damp. For the bud itself, shelf-life, smokability, smell, visual appeal etc. It's also very unpleasant to smoke.
"White ash" that everyone is after, in my own experience comes from properly dried smoke, not from flushing.
Black solid ash, gunky tar, harsh tasting, throat burning weed is ime still too damp.

Better too dry, than too damp. There's been a couple times when I've thought I over dried it. But once I put it in a closed paper bag, the next day it seemed just right.
Only mean to say it's much, much easier to under dry, than it is to over dry. So long as your environment isn't too extreme.

If you're new to the hobby, you'll get a feel pretty quickly for when they're ready.

Hope some of what I've said is helpful.

Good luck and enjoy!
 
Madbud

Madbud

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Another question has been on my mind. I have not been able to find an answer to it. But once you harvest and they have been drying for a little while, how do you tell when they are dry enough to go into the jars? I have smaller sections that could not be hung on stems so I would like to learn for those specifically but definitely open to other advice. I know snapping the stem doesn’t work for everyone.

Thank you!
The safest way to know they are dry is by weight. Weigh a couple average cuttings twice/day, when it stops losing weight its ready to cure.
BFCB62AE 27FB 45CA 876D 21147FADCF79

No guesswork. 60°F, 60% humidity is arguably ideal. These are hanging around mid 70’s, 55%.
Image
 
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MercDod

MercDod

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I hang mine in the tent at 70F and 60rh 10 to 14 days until the stems snap when bent. I then trim the buds and place in sealed jars with a hydrometer. If plants are between 58RH and 62RH I burb for 15 minutes twice a day for the first month and once a week after that for an additional month. I dont add a bovida pack as long as the rh in the jar stays in range. If RH is out of range I will either add a bovida pack or take out of jar and spread out to dry more in a dry area for 15-20 minutes or more if needed. After that I burb once a month and watch the hydrometer.
 
mysticepipedon

mysticepipedon

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Train your nose. Try putting a few buds in a jar when they're a little too wet (about 70% RH), with a hygrometer. Then smell them in half an hour, remember the scent, then dry them further to 65%, then slightly lower and repeat.
 
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chelseamac27

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Okay. So another question…how do you know if a bud is too dry? And can you fix it whether too dry or too moist?
 
OutdoorGrowGuy

OutdoorGrowGuy

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Okay. So another question…how do you know if a bud is too dry? And can you fix it whether too dry or too moist?
Once you dry it too far, there's no going back really. You can use a fresh bit of leaf to rehydrate it a little bit. Another trick oldies used to use was a bit of orange peel.
But as far as the enzymic reactions during drying / curing it's pretty much over once too dry.
Too dry will mull way too fine and feel really crispy.
It'll also crumble easily when stored.

Flip side is when it's too damp, it's difficult to mull properly, difficult to burn properly and doesn't taste nice. Black ash, gunk, thick smoke etc.
It also rots or goes moldy when stored away.
It'll also often lose some smell and go brown / rotten.
Or it goes foul and smells like amonia.

If you can reminisce on all the best smoke you've had before, and can recall how the nuggets felt, mulled etc. I'd say chances are they were pretty close to perfectly dry.

To cure properly is all about how you dry before storing. Should ideally be dark, with plenty of fresh air. 60f/60h is the industry standard.
You want that enzymic reaction to take place, so longer it takes to dry properly the better really.
At least a week or so. (14 days is not uncommon)
 
OutdoorGrowGuy

OutdoorGrowGuy

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And can you fix it whether too moist?
Just dry it out some more. Evenly is the trick.

That's why I like the paper bags myself, once buds seem adequately dry. Because it evens the moisture content of all the buds inside the bag. Whether large buds or small.
It's most useful for large nuggets, because they're always the last to dry.
And it slows down the drying process during those last few days, so you can catch it at just the right time.
It's also more forgiving than having to periodically burp a jar.

Peace and smoke on! ✌️
 
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Lockebox

Lockebox

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Hey sorry I'm a few weeks late on this thread but I've got a question and some drying buds.

They've been drying in a hanging drying rack for 8 days now in the corner of my living room roughly 68 to 70° and room humidity around 50 to 55%. It stays dark in this corner.

The buds feel decently dry to the touch and when I've bend stems they crease and break over clean but the stem remains as one creased piece nothing actually tears or breaks on the outside. Is that whats meant by stems snapping? If so I think I'm good to go on trimming and curing
 
Saul.Goodman

Saul.Goodman

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Hey sorry I'm a few weeks late on this thread but I've got a question and some drying buds.

They've been drying in a hanging drying rack for 8 days now in the corner of my living room roughly 68 to 70° and room humidity around 50 to 55%. It stays dark in this corner.

The buds feel decently dry to the touch and when I've bend stems they crease and break over clean but the stem remains as one creased piece nothing actually tears or breaks on the outside. Is that whats meant by stems snapping? If so I think I'm good to go on trimming and curing
That is how I judge it. These are woody and fibrous plants so a straight snap and break is too dry IMO. A good snap in the bend and a crunchy feeling when the buds are squeezed is what I look for. This is right around 7-8 days for me every time without fail. I don't monitor humidity when drying because I've never had a problem with it just hanging em in a closet.
 
Lockebox

Lockebox

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That is how I judge it. These are woody and fibrous plants so a straight snap and break is too dry IMO. A good snap in the bend and a crunchy feeling when the buds are squeezed is what I look for. This is right around 7-8 days for me every time without fail. I don't monitor humidity when drying because I've never had a problem with it just hanging em in a closet.
Perfect man that is exactly what I needed to know so thank you. I will also not be monitoring humidity because my budget says no lol
 
Saul.Goodman

Saul.Goodman

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Perfect man that is exactly what I needed to know so thank you. I will also not be monitoring humidity because my budget says no lol
TBH, I think Humidity is over rated in most cases except for growing seedlings or if you have a gross amount of weed in a single area (growing, drying, curing or storing).

Everyone is different though so some tend to care more about it than others.
 
Deadstill

Deadstill

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I'm sort of oldschool when it comes to drying and curing. As far as drying goes, here in Colorado it's so damn dry you can fully dry out an entire crop in less than a week. I usually just check the moisture content the old tried and true method - break a stem. If it makes a nice clean "snap" it's dry enough. If it bends and doesn't break, it's not ready.

And as far as restoring moisture to over-dried buds (happens a lot and very easily here) we just toss a couple flour tortillas in the bin. (the fresher and newer the tortillas the better) - a lot less likely to cause mold issues than some of the other methods (like using bread or other organic material) But yes, just some small (like 8 inch) flour tortillas added to the bin or container works very well. Only takes a day or two to do their job, then just take them out and throw them away or feed them to your critters! My chickens love dried tortillas lol 🤠
 
Peat_Phreak

Peat_Phreak

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I do a quick dry and slow cure.

My room RH is often 45-55%. Dry for 5-6 days in a tent with the exhaust fan on slow and humidity controlled at 55%. Then trim the buds of the stems and put them in big, shallow trays with lids. Put an RH sensor inside the trays.

The 5-6 day dry usually doesn't dry it out all the way. The outside feels dry, but the inside is still moist. The moisture from the inside creeps to the outside layer and the RH is usually a steady 65-70% after one night. Burp the big lids twice a day for a few days to get it into 55-60% zone. Then jar and cure it as long as you want.

If I keep them in the drying tent longer than 5-6 days, it is too easy to over dry.
 
Saul.Goodman

Saul.Goodman

I just wet my plants...
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I do a quick dry and slow cure.

My room RH is often 45-55%. Dry for 5-6 days in a tent with the exhaust fan on slow and humidity controlled at 55%. Then trim the buds of the stems and put them in big, shallow trays with lids. Put an RH sensor inside the trays.

The 5-6 day dry usually doesn't dry it out all the way. The outside feels dry, but the inside is still moist. The moisture from the inside creeps to the outside layer and the RH is usually a steady 65-70% after one night. Burp the big lids twice a day for a few days to get it into 55-60% zone. Then jar and cure it as long as you want.

If I keep them in the drying tent longer than 5-6 days, it is too easy to over dry.
Pretty much the same as @Deadstill and I. I do burp my jars once the bud has been added to the jars twice a day for the first week. Once a day for the second week. Then once every two weeks for four weeks and once a month thereafter.

How do you folks handle burping if you do so?
 
Peat_Phreak

Peat_Phreak

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Burp mode is why I like to use larger, but shallow containers instead of jars. Burp 5 lids instead of 30. Remove the lids for an hour in the drying tent. Repeat once a day until steady 55-60% in the sealed container. Then jar them until ready to smoke.
 
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