Drying went wrong? 🤦

liamm3653 · Jan 6, 2023

Hi , I've been drying my first ever crop for 1 week now , full plants hung upside down, humidity range of 50% and 65% and Temps at between 17 and 19.5 degrees, has a very small fresh air intake to which a small fan on low power if in front of to circulate the air and a very small humidifier informt of the fan, nothing blowing directly on.

My problem is 3 our of 4 plants dlseem to have dried to a crisp and lost virtually all smell . Gutted . How can this be if I haven't rushed it , no branches are yet snapping and I've had everything to required temps ect ?

Zill · Jan 6, 2023

Liam,

Don’t forget the plants, branches you harvested were not equally hydrated. I read a few threads where folks harvest and pull select branches. Be prepared for a few minor harvests as things progress.

You buds look great, by the way. Nice colors.

Zill.

liamm3653 · Jan 6, 2023

Thanks, they looked great and smelled great ....untill now . I'm gonna go box them up for the night .

scotta · Jan 6, 2023

I'm new at this, only 1 grow, but the buds came out great! I was anticipating 1-2 weeks to dry, but after 5 days, using a moisture meter, mine were at 10% moisture content, lower than I wanted, but ok. I was drying at 65% RH and 65deg. 2 weeks and they would be way dry. Took them off the stems and cured on Grove bags for 3-4 weeks. Godfather OG from ILGM, photos. Awesome smoke. I've never had any so smooth, good tasting and smell , with a great high.

I'm sure that's just luck, but I think most stuff you buy is way too dry. I got 4 oz from 3 plants, with really bad soil.
Trying again now with good soil and a lot I've learned.

TSD · Jan 6, 2023

The smell should come back after you cure. It's normal for them to smell less when they start breaking down chlorophyll and such. Do the squish test, if it feels crispy on the outside but marshmallow like when you squeeze, good chance it's ready. Don't wait for giant stems to snap, try to snap off a little bottom bud or smaller stem. I dry by the arm because smaller size buds dry faster than bigger ones. How are you planning to cure?

liamm3653 · Jan 6, 2023

None of the small stems are snapping yet however they feel crisp dry all the way through ..well 3 of them do one seems the way you describe ....planning on glass jarring and airing every 2 -3 hours for half hour a time , around 2 weeks hopefully

TSD · Jan 6, 2023

You'll be surprised how much moisture gets pulled out and redistributed once you start to cure. Don't panic, it's part of the process. When I do jars, I usually burp and air a couple times a day for a few days, then once a day for like a week, then depending on where they're at, I go a few days, then weekly, then more. If you open too much once they are at a safe moisture level, say after a week or so, the cure is interrupted. If you smell ammonia they're too wet and need to dry more before resuming cure. The cheap moisture meters are helpful till you get the hang of it. Make sure to leave headspace in your jars too, fill like 75-80% full.

liamm3653 · Jan 6, 2023

Honestly I'm sitting here having panic attacks that my 3 month grind has been for bog weed , thanks very much I'll give that a go and hopefully I get some kind of the smell back I had before I started drying . Much appreciated

2Bad · Jan 6, 2023

liamm3653 said:
None of the small stems are snapping yet however they feel crisp dry all the way through ..well 3 of them do one seems the way you describe ....planning on glass jarring and airing every 2 -3 hours for half hour a time , around 2 weeks hopefully

Sounds like too much fan circulation if your buds are already done. Don't trip if it's your first grow. Some people don't even make it past Vegging. It's unfortunate but everything happens for a reason. Also if youre sure they are dry to a crisp you can try to add some moisture people use fresh leaves...orange peels..I've never done it but it's up to you if u wanna try. also if they're dry then well burping will just make them more dry. so if you burp only do it every other day maybe once a day for a few minutes. More oxidation wouldn't help.

Shaded_One · Jan 6, 2023

liamm3653 said:
Honestly I'm sitting here having panic attacks that my 3 month grind has been for bog weed , thanks very much I'll give that a go and hopefully I get some kind of the smell back I had before I started drying . Much appreciated

concentrates or turning into oil is always an option if the bud is dry af

liamm3653 · Jan 6, 2023

I'm an absolute idiot folks, so I've just pulled a decent sized branch of each plant, that are still all spongy in the middle , I've had a little in a jar for little over 20 mins and when I opened it .. wow ! Hopefully they are gonna be okay after all , getting myself worked up here, thanks for all the advice though very much appreciated

Zill · Jan 6, 2023

Read what ShadedOne said.

2Bad · Jan 6, 2023

liamm3653 said:
I'm an absolute idiot folks, so I've just pulled a decent sized branch of each plant, that are still all spongy in the middle , I've had a little in a jar for little over 20 mins and when I opened it .. wow ! Hopefully they are gonna be okay after all , getting myself worked up here, thanks for all the advice though very much appreciated

Yeah that's because the moisture in the stems moved into the buds (most likely)

2Bad · Jan 6, 2023

Anyone here...When do you guys remove large stems? Before or after cure.

Shaded_One · Jan 6, 2023

2Bad said:
Anyone here...When do you guys remove large stems? Before or after cure.

Buds sent to cure should be trimmed to their final size/shapes.

It's during the dry process where you can choose to leave the whole plant intact for a longer dry, or kinda break things down if you have really high humidity and need less moisture. You can see he plucked all his leaves before hanging to dry. In the future he might opt to leave all the leaves still intact while doing the initial dry process to hit that 10-14 day sweet spot

2Bad · Jan 6, 2023

Shaded_One said:
Buds sent to cure should be trimmed to their final size/shapes.

It's during the dry process where you can choose to leave the whole plant intact for a longer dry, or kinda break things down if you have really high humidity and need less moisture. You can see he plucked all his leaves before hanging to dry. In the future he might opt to leave all the leaves still intact while doing the initial dry process to hit that 10-14 day sweet spot

Ty Shade. (:

TSD · Jan 6, 2023

If you really think they are too dry, you can leave some bigger stems because there's always moisture still trapped in them that will be pulled out. I usually leave some bigger tops together just because I like to ooo and ahhh over them at a later date lol, but I use grove bags so I have the space to do that. Or even strip them but add the stems too and remove them once the buds have sucked our some moisture. You're not an idiot, just learning, we've all been there. It will become second nature after a few grows. And yes, too much air circulation will speed up the process even with perfect conditions.

freezeland2 · Jan 6, 2023

TSD said:
The smell should come back after you cure. It's normal for them to smell less when they start breaking down chlorophyll and such. Do the squish test, if it feels crispy on the outside but marshmallow like when you squeeze, good chance it's ready. Don't wait for giant stems to snap, try to snap off a little bottom bud or smaller stem. I dry by the arm because smaller size buds dry faster than bigger ones. How are you planning to cure?

Actually with my current dry the larger buds are drying faster. I think it’s because I had the plant to close to the tent ceiling causing uneven air flow around the plant. So I stripped all the buds off and laid them in boxes and set those on the tent floor. I also dropped my humidity down from 58 - 59% to 53 - 54%. Temp is 63 degrees. They’ll probably get moved to paper bags tomorrow.

jesterthejedi · Jan 6, 2023

scotta said:
I'm new at this, only 1 grow, but the buds came out great! I was anticipating 1-2 weeks to dry, but after 5 days, using a moisture meter, mine were at 10% moisture content, lower than I wanted, but ok. I was drying at 65% RH and 65deg. 2 weeks and they would be way dry. Took them off the stems and cured on Grove bags for 3-4 weeks. Godfather OG from ILGM, photos. Awesome smoke. I've never had any so smooth, good tasting and smell , with a great high.

I'm sure that's just luck, but I think most stuff you buy is way too dry. I got 4 oz from 3 plants, with really bad soil.
Trying again now with good soil and a lot I've learned.

What kind of moisture meter do you use/recommend?

freezeland2 · Jan 6, 2023

jesterthejedi said:
What kind of moisture meter do you use/recommend?

Wood moisture meter. Lowes, Home Depot etc sells them. They run about $30. Ideal moisture to begin cure is 10 - 12%.

Drying went wrong? 🤦

Drying went wrong? 🤦

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