Help clearing up Curing broscience

Cannagar · Jan 10, 2023

Hey everyone

I just harvested my plant 3 days ago and its been hanging and drying since; Meaning that in just a few days im going to be moving onto the curing stage. When I first joined the farm here one of my first posts was regarding curing and apparently the info I have on it is bad. I know quite a bit about growing. But apparently im still a novice at the end game.

The best of my knowledge on curing comes from a ”Roll it Up” post which I cant share here because I was made aware that links to that site are not allowed here on the farm. But here is the gist of it:

When drying you don't want to wait until the stem breaks. You want to wait until the outer part of the bud feels dry and the stem bends but doesn't break. Then you can start curing.

All that curing is, is slowing down the drying process and also letting any remaining chlorophyll break down.

Once the outer edges of the buds are dry and the stems bend but don’t break you put your buds into your jars. Then you wait 12 hours until you open the lids of the jars. During this 12 hours the moisture from inside the middle of the buds slowly makes its way out of the buds; after the first 12 hours of having the lids on take the lids off. The buds should feel a little damp again (but not too wet.. if they feel like a fresh harvested bud.. then you need to air dry them for a few more days.) then leave the lid(s) off of your jar(s) for a good 2 to 4 hours before putting the lids back on and repeat the cycle. After a few days you only have to burp the jars once a day. After a few more once a week. Then every other week. And then your buds are fully cured.

Each time you put the lid on.. the humidity inside the jar(s) will slowly evaporate the moisture from inside the middle of the bud as well as the stem thats inside the middle of the bud thus raising the humidity level inside the jar.

How much of that is bro science and how much of that is accurate? Or is there a better way to do this?

Moe.Red · Jan 10, 2023

That is certainly one way to do it. A bit of labor and human error possibility (primary being you smoke a J while burping and forget to put the lids back on )

Another way is using a RH control device like a boveda pack. Pros and cons with that too.

A newish popular way is grove bags. They are permeable and allow you to cure without burping.

But the basic idea is you need time (a month minimum is the commonly accepted amount of time) for the starches in the plant to break down, as well as some other things. You also need to get the entire bud to somewhere around 58% - 62% RH, which equates to about 10% water by weight. If your dry is 100% perfect, you only need time, and the moisture content is correct. That is typically not the case, because bigger buds hold more water, so your dry will be uneven if you are like most people.

Good luck!

Cannagar · Jan 10, 2023

Moe.Red said:
That is certainly one way to do it. A bit of labor and human error possibility (primary being you smoke a J while burping and forget to put the lids back on )

Another way is using a RH control device like a boveda pack. Pros and cons with that too.

A newish popular way is grove bags. They are permeable and allow you to cure without burping.

But the basic idea is you need time (a month minimum is the commonly accepted amount of time) for the starches in the plant to break down, as well as some other things. You also need to get the entire bud to somewhere around 58% - 62% RH, which equates to about 10% water by weight. If your dry is 100% perfect, you only need time, and the moisture content is correct. That is typically not the case, because bigger buds hold more water, so your dry will be uneven if you are like most people.

Good luck!

Nice. So I have the right idea. Thats good to hear. I do use hygrometers to make sure that I keep the buds at the right humidity level before burping and after. And once they start holding 62% between burps i put the Boveda packs in the jars to maintain it.

but the grove bags seem really interesting. Im going to have to check that out and at the very least will definately use them next grow.

Thanks!

Moe.Red · Jan 10, 2023

Cannagar said:
Nice. So I have the right idea. Thats good to hear. I do use hygrometers to make sure that I keep the buds at the right humidity level before burping and after. And once they start holding 62% between burps i put the Boveda packs in the jars to maintain it.

but the grove bags seem really interesting. Im going to have to check that out and at the very least will definately use them next grow.

Thanks!

You bet.

I just bought my first grove bags based on other members here positive feedback. I have high hopes for them, but I cannot personally vouch for them. They have a good rep tho. Just a bit expensive.

GrilledCheeze · Jan 10, 2023

I got tired of burping jars and decided to use the gamma 15 lb pet food containers. They are food grade plastic and hold a nice seal which you can see in the pics. I drilled out one of the fins on the bottom of the lid to hang the integra packs. There is about 11 oz in the bucket so you can see I have room to grow. You can buy just gamma lids for a 5 gallon bucket and I've seen people use those too. I only chose the pet food containers because they were cheaper than the 5 gallon bucket option and these also have a wider surface to spread out vs stack buds.

Madbud · Jan 10, 2023

If you want to remove human error, use a scale. Track the weight of a couple nice buds til they stop losing weight, around 75% in a week roughly. Then cure it. You won’t lose any weight in the cure. Burping releases gases that accumulate in curing, not water vapor.

TSD · Jan 10, 2023

I only use bovedas if I fuck up and over dry, I find they can have a small affect on the flavor, I don't know if they suck the terps out or what, but if your cure is on point, they're really not necessary, maybe for long term storage. I think they might even be counter productive in grove bags since they are permeable. Most of that post is pretty accurate. I'd say snap but not break on a medium stem. I take my stuff out of the dry space small stuff first and try to hang similar size buds on the same wire to make it a little easier. There can be days difference between the small stuff and the big stuff on the same plant. I mostly go by feel now. Hydrometers in jars are helpful, wood moisture meters are more accurate. If they start to smell very pungent in a bad way, like ammonia they are likely too wet and need to be laid out for a few hours. That's why I burp more in the first week, I don't even really count that as curing, more like making sure I didn't fuck up drying lol, the cure really begins when you can leave them undisturbed for weeks at a time.

ezenzyme · Jan 10, 2023

proper sealing tubs, hygrometers burp until stable 59~....the humidity of your area dictates when to jar/tub me personally lean to the early side and finish dry in the tubs, when your sitting at 30 or less hum in the air you gotta compensate

NorthernOrganics · Jan 11, 2023

I like to hang dry until the buds feel dry but the little stems don't break, 10 days or so. Then I'll cut branches to fit in brown paper grocery bags, let them sweat in the bags open for a couple days till the buds rehydrate a bit. Then flip the branches in the bag. I repeat this till the buds just feel right, takes a week or more, sometimes closing the bag, sometimes open. Then I snip the buds off the branches and give them at least one day in the closed paper bag. I've used the grove bags at this point, set it and forget it. They are great, but pricy. For headstash stuff I like to seal it up in jars after the paper bag treatment. They might need to be burped a couple times, but I find just sampling the buds occasionally is enough to keep fresh air in the jars. I basically do the initial jar burping in paper bags, holds more material and is available in abundance, needs less attention when moister material is in it.

growsince79 · Jan 11, 2023

When you can trim without tools- hands only- then its ready to jar.

growsince79 · Jan 11, 2023

NorthernOrganics said:
I like to hang dry until the buds feel dry but the little stems don't break, 10 days or so. Then I'll cut branches to fit in brown paper grocery bags, let them sweat in the bags open for a couple days till the buds rehydrate a bit. Then flip the branches in the bag. I repeat this till the buds just feel right, takes a week or more, sometimes closing the bag, sometimes open. Then I snip the buds off the branches and give them at least one day in the closed paper bag. I've used the grove bags at this point, set it and forget it. They are great, but pricy. For headstash stuff I like to seal it up in jars after the paper bag treatment. They might need to be burped a couple times, but I find just sampling the buds occasionally is enough to keep fresh air in the jars. I basically do the initial jar burping in paper bags, holds more material and is available in abundance, needs less attention when moister material is in it.

^^^this^^^^

TSD · Jan 11, 2023

Yes I've used paper bags to get an even moisture level before jarring, it really works. I didn't really do it this year cause I feel like the Grove bags make it an unnecessary step, and I have pounds to deal with at harvest, plus the added steps of washing... so anything that makes my life easier is a plus. Like anything else with weed, practice makes perfect. I keep practicing to get my smoking and rolling techniques perfect... but I'm just not there yet, so more practice is required.

josefrahl · Jan 11, 2023

I use the curing method described because of the heat where I live makes slow hang drying impossible w/o racking up the 'ole electricity bill. I will add that when lids are off it greatly helps to have them in a dark(mostly) enclosed space. I use a cardboard box placed on it's side with a couple small holes in the top front open a little for air exchange.

elusiveshame · Jan 11, 2023

Moe.Red said:
You bet.

I just bought my first grove bags based on other members here positive feedback. I have high hopes for them, but I cannot personally vouch for them. They have a good rep tho. Just a bit expensive.

I have my first harvest in them, been about a week and I’ve been smoking it since and I gotta say each time I go in there, they smell better, not dried out, not moldy, and smokes smooth as could be.

I haven’t done the mason jars, and I likely won’t since this is basically idiot proof, which I need

BigBlonde · Jan 11, 2023

I just bought some Grove bags, too. It sounds like they're worth the money.

Theancientgallery · Jan 11, 2023

Here’s a handy link from an approved forum

Cure Your Cannabis Medicine by DJ Short

Curing cannabis properly can exponentially increase the quality and desirability of your harvest. The key word to remember is "slow".

www.thcfarmer.com

I think there’s a lot of good info in this write up. Even if you employ some of your own special techniques along with it.

I used grove bags this last harvest for the final cure/storage stage and they’re great. Less fuss than jars, and take up less space. I keep all my buds in the grove bags and just pull an 1/8 or 1/4 out at a time to smoke on.

palmstrees · Jan 20, 2023

I just tried to sweat 3zips today and idk what I did wrong. I cut them after 5 days at 58-62rh(drying tent is finicky) because I thought they were done drying but when I put them in the grove bags the rh went up to 68. I took em out and threw them in a paper Aldi back that I cut so the buds filled it up halfway. Then I put another cut bag over the top and went to work. I just got back 8 hours later and when I put the 3oz in grove bags it’s at 53-54rh. it’s only been in there 30 minutes but why did it drop so much? I feel like everything I see about sweating says for days but 8 hours dried my buds.

918_HardHead · Jan 20, 2023

elusiveshame said:
I have my first harvest in them, been about a week and I’ve been smoking it since and I gotta say each time I go in there, they smell better, not dried out, not moldy, and smokes smooth as could be.

I haven’t done the mason jars, and I likely won’t since this is basically idiot proof, which I need

I've got a some OG Kush curing in a Grove Bag. I excited to smoke the results..

steamroller · Jan 20, 2023

I paper bag before jarring.
I don't burp my jars by any time frame at all.
I use mini hygrometers in each jar.
65+ RH open the jar. Once under 65 [ I like 60] I put the lid back on and check again later [ couple days].
Under 55 RH [which rarely happens] I throw a piece of carrot in for the night.
Never even considered using a bovida. And probably never will.
They had carrots back in the 80s.
Some of the stuff people come up with is re inventing the wheel.
Seriously you need bovida to add moisture.

Help clearing up Curing broscience

Help clearing up Curing broscience

Cannagar

Moe.Red

Cannagar

Moe.Red

GrilledCheeze

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Madbud

TSD

ezenzyme

NorthernOrganics

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Cure Your Cannabis Medicine by DJ Short

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