Help with my dry and cure

Bullmark69 · Mar 15, 2022

So I harvested 1 of 3 autos a month ago. Most of my leaves had died off and I went ahead and wet trimmed before hanging.
They hung in my cellar with a steady temp of 58f and RH that stayed between 58-65%. I tried for 60% but it ended up varying.
These were not huge buds but fairly dense and I left them for 10 days…..until I was scared they may be too dry. They are almost all calyces with a few small sugar leaves so I figured they wouldn’t need quite as long.
I moved them to Grove bags with my most accurate hygrometers…..if there is such a thing.
After 24 hrs it read 61%, so I figured I had hit the mark with the drying part.
Over the last 2 weeks I would look in on them but not open. The hygrometer has always read 61 or 62%. So I left them alone.
Yesterday I decided to open one bag w/ a couple of my best colas. When the smell hit my nose I almost cried….it was a hay smell like no other.
I pulled one cola out and smelled it directly and it was hay. The strain is super skunk that smelled like skunk while growing.
At first I thought it just needed more time to cure, so I sealed it back up.
A few min later the Hygrometer read 63%…..which led me to believe that it had never fully dried in the first place.
So what do I do?
In the meantime I’ve chopped my other 2 and they are drying in the same conditions. I’ve been told to aim for 62-64% RH in the dry room.
Am I dumb for thinking that the buds will never dry below 64% in a room with 64% RH???
I hope some kind soul can help me out….
Thanks in advance for jumping in.

freezeland2 · Mar 15, 2022

I use Grove bags to cure. Buds have to be sweated out in a paper bag before going in a grove bag. It is a very important step when using grove bags. Grove bags even mentions sweating buds out prior to placing in their storage bags on their website.

phxazcraig · Mar 15, 2022

That seems normal to me, but then I have terrible drying conditions and do i 3 days what you do in 10. At least for me, the hay smell is definitely there, but temporary. I don't have enough harvests under my belt to know a different normal. I deliberately jarred my buds at 62% and a bit more in order to slow down the drying process. I then burped the jars at least twice a day while watching a hygrometer in each jar. By sticking your nose in the jar daily you can get a very good feel for the curing process. Sure enough, at about the 3 week mark, there was a dramatic reduction in hay smell, and the weed became smokable. It continued to improve over the next month or so when it stabilized.

Give it time, and stick you nose in those jars daily for a burp-with-sniff. Train your nose and find out what's going on in the jars with it.

jguit · Mar 15, 2022

I noticed that smells start to kick up under 60% RH.

Bullmark69 · Mar 15, 2022

freezeland2 said:
I use Grove bags to cure. Buds have to be sweated out in a paper bag before going in a grove bag. It is a very important step when using grove bags. Grove bags even mentions sweating buds out prior to placing in their storage bags on their website.

Thank u for pointing this out. I’m totally not familiar with sweating them in a paper bag though.
Can I ask you to give me the quick version of how that would work? I’d really appreciate it.
I do have some brown grocery bags and am ready to do this…..I see so many different versions of using paper bags for the dry/cure and am unsure about the sweating part.
THANK YOU again for sharing the info and your time.

sambapati · Mar 15, 2022

Bullmark69 said:
Thank u for pointing this out. I’m totally not familiar with sweating them in a paper bag though.
Can I ask you to give me the quick version of how that would work? I’d really appreciate it.
I do have some brown grocery bags and am ready to do this…..I see so many different versions of using paper bags for the dry/cure and am unsure about the sweating part.
THANK YOU again for sharing the info and your time.

BROWN paper bags, make sure that they are not coated with anything, like a department store bag. Starbucks paper bags, burger king bags are both working for me. Gently shake and open and plan to have them in there for about 2 weeks. I took 1 bud out yesterday to try it -- can tell from rolling the joint it was still too wet. Took another bud out and put it in a jar all by itself and will see what is what today. Take your time, don't hurry....we've got all the time in the world.

freezeland2 · Mar 15, 2022

Bullmark69 said:
Thank u for pointing this out. I’m totally not familiar with sweating them in a paper bag though.
Can I ask you to give me the quick version of how that would work? I’d really appreciate it.
I do have some brown grocery bags and am ready to do this…..I see so many different versions of using paper bags for the dry/cure and am unsure about the sweating part.
THANK YOU again for sharing the info and your time.

I wet trim and dry buds until they are crisp on the outside but still marshmallowy when squeezed. When they are at that point I move to paper bags. I use a reptile humidity meter with a long probe wire so I can drop it in the bag. I roll the bag up and use a large binder clip to keep bag closed. Note the difference between ambient surrounding humidity and the meter reading for the bag interior. It should be 3 - 5 % higher than ambient. I do open the bags once or twice a day to turn the buds and then close the bag. When the difference between bag interior and ambient is equal or less than 2% I test to see if a small bud stem will snap. They usually do at that point. If they do it’s in to the grove bags and heat seal closed. Leave them alone in the grove bags 2 - 3 weeks. I use larger grove bags. Good luck.

Bullmark69 · Mar 15, 2022

sambapati said:
BROWN paper bags, make sure that they are not coated with anything, like a department store bag. Starbucks paper bags, burger king bags are both working for me. Gently shake and open and plan to have them in there for about 2 weeks. I took 1 bud out yesterday to try it -- can tell from rolling the joint it was still too wet. Took another bud out and put it in a jar all by itself and will see what is what today. Take your time, don't hurry....we've got all the time in the world.

So the sweating process takes up to 2 weeks? Then they go into the grove bags or mason jars?
Did u hang dry before bagging them??
Mine hung for 10 days prior and feel dry to me….
I would think my buds would be dust if I left them in a brown bag tor 2 weeks. I jarred them about 90 min ago and the hygrometers read 64 and 63%.
My understanding of the sweat before bag step is to distribute the remaining moisture more evenly…..but maybe I got it all wrong.
I think I’ll try the jar and burp with some and brown bag/sweat the other.
I can see why folks decide to make edibles w/ their grow…..this is an art that’s easy to butcher.
Edibles are fine but the smell and other aesthetics of a frosty sticky nugget is one of God’s greatest gifts.
Thank everyone for the education

Bullmark69 · Mar 15, 2022

freezeland2 said:
I wet trim and dry buds until they are crisp on the outside but still marshmallowy when squeezed. When they are at that point I move to paper bags. I use a reptile humidity meter with a long probe wire so I can drop it in the bag. I roll the bag up and use a large binder clip to keep bag closed. Note the difference between ambient surrounding humidity and the meter reading for the bag interior. It should be 3 - 5 % higher than ambient. I do open the bags once or twice a day to turn the buds and then close the bag. When the difference between bag interior and ambient is equal or less than 2% I test to see if a small bud stem will snap. They usually do at that point. If they do it’s in to the grove bags and heat seal closed. Leave them alone in the grove bags 2 - 3 weeks. I use larger grove bags. Good luck.

How long would u anticipate the sweating process to take w/ buds that were wet trimmed and dried in 60/60 for 10 days?
My hygrometers are reading 63-64% when they are in a jar or grove bag.
I’ve already dropped some in a brown grocery bag……should I leave the bag of buds in my drying cellar or would another environment be better?? The cellar is 58-59F and 61-65% RH…..

freezeland2 · Mar 15, 2022

Bullmark69 said:
How long would u anticipate the sweating process to take w/ buds that were wet trimmed and dried in 60/60 for 10 days?
My hygrometers are reading 63-64% when they are in a jar or grove bag.
I’ve already dropped some in a brown grocery bag……should I leave the bag of buds in my drying cellar or would another environment be better?? The cellar is 58-59F and 61-65% RH…..

It appears the cellar would be the more ideal environment. For me sweating takes about 7 - 10 days.

Bullmark69 · Mar 15, 2022

freezeland2 said:
It appears the cellar would be the more ideal environment.

Ok then….consider it done
I don’t have a reptile gauge to judge things with…..so I guess I’ll have to use my best judgement.
So at this point I should leave them closed up for 12hrs, then open and shuffle them around.?? And do this every 12 hours ?

sambapati · Mar 15, 2022

Bullmark69 said:
Ok then….consider it done
I don’t have a reptile gauge to judge things with…..so I guess I’ll have to use my best judgement.
So at this point I should leave them closed up for 12hrs, then open and shuffle them around.?? And do this every 12 hours ?

Right on, do the bud shuffle, don't touch 'em with your fingers -- once a day is fine

freezeland2 · Mar 16, 2022

Bullmark69 said:
Ok then….consider it done
I don’t have a reptile gauge to judge things with…..so I guess I’ll have to use my best judgement.
So at this point I should leave them closed up for 12hrs, then open and shuffle them around.?? And do this every 12 hours ?

First few days I turn the buds over a couple times a day, and then once a day as it progresses and feels more dry. Try to use stems to turn so you don’t break trichomes off touching buds.

Bullmark69 · Mar 18, 2022

So I brown bagged the buds which consisted of 2 large colas weighing a little over 1/2 oz each and about 1.5 oz of ping pong ball size buds. They went in Tuesday night and I opened them once every 12 hrs or so.
About 2 hrs ago I did an inspection and they seem pretty dry…I put a handful of the smaller nuggets into a Mason jar and and they are currently reading 59% RH…..after 2 hrs. I haven’t opened to sniff but I’m wondering if they are good to go for jarring??
I would like to do about half in the jars and half in Grove bags.
Shoot me straight fellas…..should I sweat them more? I’m kinda afraid they’ll get too dry if they stay in the brown bags much longer.
Also, assuming the jarred buds (at 59%) are ok to leave, if I still have the hay smell when I burp will this eventually turn ? They are good smelling when squeezed, which I had to do just once.
I called Grove Bags and spoke to a nice guy who advised me to buy a moisture meter. Said if I have a 60/60 dry room to simply let them dry until the moisture meter read 10-12% and go straight into the bags.
I ran out to Home Depot and bought one with the pins.
He advised sticking the pins into the stem where the buds connect. One attempt and I practically destroyed a good size bud. The pins are kinda short and you have to pull the bud apart to stick the stem.
I’ve just about punted that process.
Any thoughts or advice.
thanks to all.

sambapati · Mar 18, 2022

Bullmark69 said:
So I brown bagged the buds which consisted of 2 large colas weighing a little over 1/2 oz each and about 1.5 oz of ping pong ball size buds. They went in Tuesday night and I opened them once every 12 hrs or so.
About 2 hrs ago I did an inspection and they seem pretty dry…I put a handful of the smaller nuggets into a Mason jar and and they are currently reading 59% RH…..after 2 hrs. I haven’t opened to sniff but I’m wondering if they are good to go for jarring??
I would like to do about half in the jars and half in Grove bags.
Shoot me straight fellas…..should I sweat them more? I’m kinda afraid they’ll get too dry if they stay in the brown bags much longer.
Also, assuming the jarred buds (at 59%) are ok to leave, if I still have the hay smell when I burp will this eventually turn ? They are good smelling when squeezed, which I had to do just once.
I called Grove Bags and spoke to a nice guy who advised me to buy a moisture meter. Said if I have a 60/60 dry room to simply let them dry until the moisture meter read 10-12% and go straight into the bags.
I ran out to Home Depot and bought one with the pins.
He advised sticking the pins into the stem where the buds connect. One attempt and I practically destroyed a good size bud. The pins are kinda short and you have to pull the bud apart to stick the stem.
I’ve just about punted that process.
Any thoughts or advice.
thanks to all.

Jar and burp jar and burp...I predict you are ready....

Bullmark69 · Mar 19, 2022

sambapati said:
View attachment 1227263 Jar and burp jar and burp...I predict you are ready....View attachment 1227263

Bullmark69 · Mar 19, 2022

Aww man…I just took one of my nice colas out of the paper bag and damned if it doesn’t have some powdery mildew….at least I think that’s what it is. I wonder how that happened??
I moved all the other buds into either jars or bags earlier today but left that one b/c it was the most dense and I thought a little extra time might do it good. I didn’t see any evidence of PM anywhere else….:.that sucks.

Help with my dry and cure

Help with my dry and cure

Bullmark69

freezeland2

phxazcraig

jguit

Bullmark69

sambapati

freezeland2

Bullmark69

Bullmark69

freezeland2

Bullmark69

sambapati

freezeland2

Bullmark69

sambapati

Bullmark69

Bullmark69

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