So far, a big take away from this thread for me is the idea of using 5 gallon plastic buckets. I've been using jars, and what a pain to monitor humidity levels across 2 or 3 jars for one plant. With a 5 gal bucket, at least each plant can fit in one container, and I will only need 3 for active curing. Are those black buckets the hydro stores sell for DWC food grade?

pollenchucker said:

So far, a big take away from this thread for me is the idea of using 5 gallon plastic buckets. I've been using jars, and what a pain to monitor humidity levels across 2 or 3 jars for one plant. With a 5 gal bucket, at least each plant can fit in one container, and I will only need 3 for active curing. Are those black buckets the hydro stores sell for DWC food grade?

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Ok now that the fart has cleared im back! As long as we are passing positive information im down to participate!
Negative on the black hydro buckets they can leak toxins into your herb. You need the white food grade buckets. They sell them at lowes i noticed. But here is a tip......next time your in the grocery store go to the baking department and ask them if they have any extra frosting buckets. I get tons of them this way and there free you just have to wash frosting out of them. they are the 3.5 gal buckets and it works great! Sucks to have to work with tons of jars if you have lots of drying to do! Glad I could help....and im really not concerned about losing any business over sharing this info;)

pollenchucker said:

So far, a big take away from this thread for me is the idea of using 5 gallon plastic buckets. I've been using jars, and what a pain to monitor humidity levels across 2 or 3 jars for one plant. With a 5 gal bucket, at least each plant can fit in one container, and I will only need 3 for active curing. Are those black buckets the hydro stores sell for DWC food grade?

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IF you want to go this direction. I suggest Big barrels, they are space saving and cost efficient. Get a 55gal food grade barrel. the blue ones. things are like 55 bucks each at the hydro store. They work well if you have big or small harvests. Put all your broken down to 12" stalks and buds, seal, and then use your meters to check every 4 hours. I suggest you hang them for a day or few at least before you break them down and put them into barrels. Trim them, dont trim them before, your choice on preference with this method really. This is nothing new. haha so many methods out there. but like I said before, your on the right path. Follow your heart man, and try not to listen to to much ego boosting from your bros and such.

yea, 55G is bigger than I need, but same concept in thinking outside the jar for commercial application. It could be that easy shop owners.. just get a month ahead of the game and get your cure on:D

Use to run a grow in Denver. Once we chopped, it was out of our hands...

5 Days Hanging straight to the shelf.... One of the larger ones.. Needless to say I don't grow there anymore:)

It's sad to see beautifully grown weed neglected in the 4th quarter of the game.

turbo

turbo14 said:

Use to run a grow in Denver. Once we chopped, it was out of our hands...

5 Days Hanging straight to the shelf.... One of the larger ones.. Needless to say I don't grow there anymore:)

It's sad to see beautifully grown weed neglected in the 4th quarter of the game.

turbo

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It is a painful thing- money talks and the weed walks lol.

altimood said:

It is a painful thing- money talks and the weed walks lol.

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True that!

turbo

When I worked for the last center they would rent a twister trim a whole room (40,000w) dry it in the same room. No monitoring of humidity then after about two-three days they would toss it straight into 5gal Home Depot buckets and take it to the shop then restock the shelf from the bucket, then cured it in that nasty plastic bucket until our oblivious customers bought it.


The biggest problem is uneducated customers, if you've never had properly cured meds you have no idea or clue why anybody would spend two to three months to do it. I try to educate my patients as much as possible.

i just wanna say for the record - some of the best buds i've smoked were from a homegrow - H&G, two week flush, week long dry, week long cure in totes, then trimmed and ready. and FIRE. Smooth and burned white - I think a cure definitely helps if you want to get the most stank and the most flavor with the least amount of harshness, but if you're doing it proper, the plant did most of it's curing before you harvested it.

We Solidarity said:

i just wanna say for the record - some of the best buds i've smoked were from a homegrow - H&G, two week flush, week long dry, week long cure in totes, then trimmed and ready. and FIRE. Smooth and burned white - I think a cure definitely helps if you want to get the most stank and the most flavor with the least amount of harshness, but if you're doing it proper, the plant did most of it's curing before you harvested it.

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We Solidarity can you please explain how a plant starts curing before harvest?

Maybe I'm outta the loop, but this is definitely news to me:cool:

I assume it's the pre-harvest chlorophyl breakdown that he's referring to.... but the 'cure'? I was wondering the same thing.

Well ftwendy that's kinda what I'm thinking he meant as well.....

Hopefully he'll chime in and clarify this for us

ftwendy said:

I assume it's the pre-harvest chlorophyl breakdown that he's referring to.... but the 'cure'? I was wondering the same thing.

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this - once chlorophyll isn't being created, the plant will be forced to start consuming it's internal sugars and converting it's starches via other methods - primarily via complex reactions involving many different enzymes and hormones which require a great deal more P,K,Ca,Mg, and S than traditional nitrate-based photosynthesis. The use of stored energy for cannabinoid conversion is what the cure is all about!

but dont expect many MMCs to know that - in fact horticultural consultants go around telling the big boys that their plants should always stay green all the way through harvest, and a week should be all that's necessary to cure (ahem, dry).

I developed my commercial drying/curing process based on my goal - 9-11% moisture content, my palette, and a little experimentation. I wanted a process that was repeatable and as mindless as possible.

First, I went to Smoker Friendly and interviewed them about their humidors, the tradition of curing tobacco, and their approach to maintaining high end cigars. They are looking at a 64% to 78% Humidity Level and a 9-11% moisture content on densely rolled cigars. Different cigars needed different humidity levels but they would compromise on 68%. It wouldn't ruin anything, and the majority of their inventory would be in great shape.

Next, I looked at all of the bag/jar based humidity control products on the market. The most advanced was humidipak. I talked to to them over the course of a few months and they ended up putting together a custom set of humidipaks for us. We took 1 oz of what we considered to be perfectly cured bud and dropped it into jars with no controls, a 40% pack, 47% pack, 53% pack, 59% pack, 65% pack, 72% pack, and a 84% pack.

No controls - noticeably dryer after 60 days. Bud crumbled with no rebound.Aroma was still good. Smoke was fine but not stellar.
40% Pack - noticeably dryer after 60 days. Bud crumbled with no rebound. Aroma was still good. Smoke was fine but not stellar.
47% Pack - dryer after 60 days. Bud had a good consistency, but was a little bit crumbly with barely acceptable rebound. Aroma popped. Smoke was almost as good as the original.
53% pack - everyone involved decided this was the one. Perfect amount of rebound. Bud was easy to work with and not crumbly. Aroma was tops and it smoked better than when it went in the jar.
The 59% to 84% packs were progressively worse. Basically hydrated wet bud with a damp quality that prevented a quality smoking experience.

The take away resulted in a two room drying room process. 35% humidity for 3 days and 48%-53% humidity for 10 days. Plants are hung whole after being trimmed down to sweet leaf and bud. The plants can hang in the 49%-53% room indefinitely and at about 45 days reach what I consider peak aroma, flavor and potency. After the bud is trimmed, the bud is stored in glass containers in the second room until it hits the shelf. Ideally weed should be trimmed at 14 days and jarred.Air is gently circulated around the rooms with multiple high end humidifiers and dehumidifiers to keep the humidity pegged. 49%-53% is the goal.

This process is currently being used in four dispensary chains.

Warehouse I trim at just hangs on wires in exhausted rooms w wall mount fans for circulation. Cure in homer buckets. I see so many bugs, PM and rot, not to mention they have me put trimmed flowers in clone trays or saucers that MAY have been rinsed w water only. Personally, I avoid D's as much as possible.

If you have a microwave oven, you can cure your buds in mere minutes on the "defrost" setting. That's what I learned from a local grow employee... probably puts "master" somewhere on his business card...

Most meds never reach their full potential before they are consumed. There is just no way around a slow dry/cure for the best possible results. My product gets at least 28 days after the chop before I move it.