Drying Your Long Awaited Harvest

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wellplanted

wellplanted

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The days are getting colder and the mornings are starting to get frosty. Now its time to finally reap the rewards of a long long season. But where do I start?

Typically, a big healthy cannabis plant will not be fully mature all at once. You might have to snip the limbs that are ripe enough to start drying (when 75% of the pistils are brown and curled) and let the sun get at the unlucky shaded ones at the bottom. I cut the limb right above an internode because it hangs perfectly on some rope or twine. I then pick all the big fan leaves off, not getting too picky at this stage. Next the limbs are hung up in a cool room with a fan running on low speed to create some air movement (you do not want stale air at this stage of drying). For the first few days I make sure the Relative Humidity is around 55%. I use a dehumidifier in my room because without it, the room is sitting at around 65%+ with a bunch of sticky icky hanging from the ceiling. This is to remove a good portion of the moisture that could cause some fungus problems. After the first few days I raise the humidity to 60%. This is to prolong the drying process to 10-14 days. Sit back for a long couple weeks and check in every day or so to make sure things are going ok.

The drying is complete when the sugar leaves surrounding the bud basically fall off to the touch. The buds should be slightly spongy. At this point I will do a final manicure and get the buds off to start curing. I use Ziploc Freezer bags for large quantities because it's easier to burp than a bunch of mason jars. For the average homeowner, it's not rocket science, it's not supposed to be complicated. Just be patient, it will all be worth it in the end☮️

By no means am I an expert, this is strictly what works for me and I encourage you all to do what works for you.
 
Chinook3

Chinook3

56
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I dry and cure very similar to Wellplanted. After hanging when the outside of colas begin to feel dry or a bit crusty I cut branches into about 12 inch lengths. They then go into plastic tubs with loose lids. Now it is really starting to look like decent weed. Sometimes the lids to the tubs are on sometimes off, depending on how they feel. I turn the pile over and let air in. It’s is still pretty wet, so I will even turn the bunch over inside tubs. Always monitoring wether the lids are on or off. Mold is still a real possibility if you let sit in a closed tub. Finally I trim buds from stems and put in jars. Now you can control humidity completely. I think leaving them on the stem longer improves the cure and the buds suck all the moisture from the stems and they get really sticky.
I cut the lids to mason jars and install small hygrometers in the lids. This tells me a little about what’s going on in the jars. After the humidity stabilize, I add a broveda pack and put a regular lid back on the jar.
The end result is some dank weed with a cool flavorful smoke. From harvest to jar is about two weeks. The jars will stay closed except for a sample now and then. After another week or so I feel it is done. Also it actually gets even better with age. I use the amber jars and store in a cabinet. My last years crop is very good still. I probably will not get to smoking this years jars for another couple weeks. It seems to get even better with age.
Good luck!

Chinook3
 
wellplanted

wellplanted

5
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Another side note, if anyone has ever experienced their finished buds smelling like tea, it could be that the buds are not dry enough or the buds were dried too quickly resulting in excess chlorophyll still leftover in the buds. Although 10-14 days is the ideal dry time, there's no such thing as drying too long. Take as long as you need to get them to that perfect moisture content. The sugar leaves should almost crumble off when you grasp the bud and the bud should be slightly spongy.
 
BudBogart

BudBogart

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Well planted has it down pretty well.
Instead of plastic bags or mason jars for curing, I have been using 5 gallon buckets with gamma lids, burping daily.
This year, I added an air compressor and check valves feeding and emptying fresh air into the buckets.
I haven’t any results yet, but I’m excited to experiment.
 
R

redshift75

Guest
ive got it dialed in to about a 21-28 day dry right now. Seems to be right on track with my mid summer harvest.

I also have invested in 5 gallon buckets, gamma lids, and made an auto burping system. But honestly with my dry mid summer. most people thought the weed had been cured for 2 months. So hoping to keep that low and slow quality. I have some from a med patient i helped grow his 12 plants and he dried it and its like smoking dry grass. I have a 1/4 of it and dont want to smoke it. I didnt have the heart to tell him he ruined his whole harvest and turned it into swag. It was so aromatic and flavorful. And he was like "it wasnt drying fast enough so i cranked it up". my heart sank. id rather risk losing a few buds to mold because i attempted to go too low or slow than ruin it all by cooking it. Thats my take. but when you get it and watch it. Mold hasnt popped its head as far as drying goes... yet for me.
 
wellplanted

wellplanted

5
3
You're so right BudBogart! It's all about experimenting! That's why it's so damn fun!
 
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