I would definitely burp them a few times throughout the day.

Do you have individual hygrometers in each jar and have you checked them for accuracy? Salt test is a good method.

How much air space did you leave in the jars?
When you squeeze the buds do they bounce back, stay squished, or crumble?

Newty said:

I would definitely burp them a few times throughout the day.

Do you have individual hygrometers in each jar and have you checked them for accuracy? Salt test is a good method.

How much air space did you leave in the jars?
When you squeeze the buds do they bounce back, stay squished, or crumble?

Click to expand...

I filled them a little under 75% since I’m worried. I had to leave for work at 4, so I left the lids off entirely. They stay squished a little bit, but bounce back slowly. If I give them a ton of force they’ll stay squished, but the outsides are crisp. I ordered a dehumidifier, but it will be a little while before they’re back. I only have 1 hygrometer to spare, so that’s the one in a random jar.

Purfict said:

I filled them a little under 75% since I’m worried. I had to leave for work at 4, so I left the lids off entirely. They stay squished a little bit, but bounce back slowly. If I give them a ton of force they’ll stay squished, but the outsides are crisp. I ordered a dehumidifier, but it will be a little while before they’re back. I only have 1 hygrometer to spare, so that’s the one in a random jar.

Click to expand...

If you gave any bud a ton of force, it would probably stay squished. Like how slow, a few seconds?

I would check your hygrometer for accuracy, maybe it's off 10%. I think the salt method takes a bit of time but there's also a wet towel method, just google it for instructions.

Newty said:

If you gave any bud a ton of force, it would probably stay squished. Like how slow, a few seconds?

I would check your hygrometer for accuracy, maybe it's off 10%. I think the salt method takes a bit of time but there's also a wet towel method, just google it for instructions.

Click to expand...

If I were to give it a strong squish, I could probably get it to half the size without it crumbling. It seems like just the very cores are a little wet, but the outsides are dry and can rattle in a jar. The one jar I put the tiny buds in is the only one that the bud doesn’t shake loose. I can test the hygrometer tomorrow morning.

Here’s a video to better describe it

Purfict said:

If I were to give it a strong squish, I could probably get it to half the size without it crumbling. It seems like just the very cores are a little wet, but the outsides are dry and can rattle in a jar. The one jar I put the tiny buds in is the only one that the bud doesn’t shake loose. I can test the hygrometer tomorrow morning.

Click to expand...

Get a second hygrometer. They got packs of little cheap ones on Amazon. Then what I do is 70% or more take them out the jar let them sit out about 2-4 hours. 65-70 open the jar for a few hours 2-4 and see where it goes back to. The time you leave it out all depends on the humidity in your room. So if it’s 20% humidity then leave them out only 2 hours and then see where it’s at, but if it’s 70% humidity in your room then leave it out closer to 4 hours and see where it’s at. 60-65 is fine just regular burping once a day for the first week to 2 weeks.

But anything above 65% can bring mold. Also what you’re describing is what curing is for. You still have some water in the middle. When you cure that moisture spreads out evenly through the bud over time. This is why you can’t cure if they get to dry.

Stephengosling said:

Get a second hygrometer. They got packs of little cheap ones on Amazon. Then what I do is 70% or more take them out the jar let them sit out about 4 hours. 65-70 open the jar for a few hours 2-3 and see where it goes back to. 60-65 is fine just regular burping once a day for the first week to 2 weeks.

But anything above 65% can bring mold. Also what you’re describing is what curing is for. You still have some water in the middle. When you cure that moisture spreads out evenly through the bud over time. This is why you can’t cure if they get to dry.

Click to expand...

They’re sitting at 70 exactly in the jars, do you think I should take everything out of the jars and let them sit on the tent floor or keep them in jars and leave the lids off?

What temperature and humidity did you Jan dry them at?

Natep said:

What temperature and humidity did you Jan dry them at?

Click to expand...

Temp was never + or -.5°C from 20°C. Humidity bounced between 66-70 throughout the whole 3 week “dry”. I tried putting my 6” incline fan going 24/7 along with a 4” monkey fan and 12” oscillating fan on 24/7, rh just wouldn’t budge below 65. I even tried turning my seedling mat on max power hoping it would dry the air up, but not much. I’ll just need to run the dehumidifier I get during drying in the future, I just don’t want to lose my first crop.

You wi

Purfict said:

They’re sitting at 70 exactly in the jars, do you think I should take everything out of the jars and let them sit on the tent floor or keep them in jars and leave the lids off?

Click to expand...

Oh so you’re room your in is high humidity, if it’s sitting at 70 it’s too high to be left in the jar. How long has it been sitting at 70? Because usually it will climb when it’s in the jar as the moisture is drawn throughout the bud. But me personally if I was sure my hygrometer was right I would pull it out for atleast 2 hours and then put it back in and see where it’s at

Purfict said:

Temp was never + or -.5°C from 20°C. Humidity bounced between 66-70 throughout the whole 3 week “dry”. I tried putting my 6” incline fan going 24/7 along with a 4” monkey fan and 12” oscillating fan on 24/7, rh just wouldn’t budge below 65. I even tried turning my seedling mat on max power hoping it would dry the air up, but not much. I’ll just need to run the dehumidifier I get during drying in the future, I just don’t want to lose my first crop.

Click to expand...

Do you have a second hygrometer to make sure it’s right?

Stephengosling said:

Do you have a second hygrometer to make sure it’s right?

Click to expand...

I have an identical one, they’re both reading the same within 1 or two rh.

Stephengosling said:

You wi

Oh so you’re room your in is high humidity, if it’s sitting at 70 it’s too high to be left in the jar. How long has it been sitting at 70? Because usually it will climb when it’s in the jar as the moisture is drawn throughout the bud. But me personally if I was sure my hygrometer was right I would pull it out for atleast 2 hours and then put it back in and see where it’s at

Click to expand...

I need to head to bed so I took everything out of the jars and closed 1/2 of the intake vents at the bottom so that more air can be filtered out. At the very least, the humidity couldn’t get worse and they’re all spread out, that’s a solid way to prevent mold, right?

Purfict said:

I need to head to bed so I took everything out of the jars and closed 1/2 of the intake vents at the bottom so that more air can be filtered out. At the very least, the humidity couldn’t get worse and they’re all spread out, that’s a solid way to prevent mold, right?

Click to expand...

I wouldn’t close them with no airflow but I also wouldn’t leave them out over night. I don’t do that. You might be ok this time if that’s what you’re doing but I always do 2-4 hours. A lot can change in say 8 hours of sleep. You wouldn’t wanna come back and it’s gotten a little too dry. It probably won’t but I only do it this way as it’s worked for me. I can’t remember what forum I read it on but I think I have the post saved in my notes give me a second

Pro cure

Phase one. 70%+ RH: This starts out just like any other time you have done it. Once you have harvested your bud and trimmed it to your liking, hang it in a cool dark place. This is where we will part from tradition. Allow it to hang until the buds begin to feel like they are drying (note the temps and rh as this will rarely be the same during subsequent harvests). They will start to lose their "softness" in favor of a slightly crispy texture. We don't want to allow it to dry until the stems snap. THIS IS WRONG! We want the stems to be flexible. Not totally soft, but not snapping, either. If allowed to dry until the stems snap we risk it drying too much and losing an opportunity to take full advantage of the cure window. You see once the bud reaches the 55% RH range, the cure is dead. No amount of moisture added will revive this. If you are a brown bag dryer you can still use this technique, although I no longer do. I feel it is unneccessary at this point in the drying process. Just make sure you do not over dry. Also, this is a perfect time to calibrate your hygrometers with your new calibrating kit. This phase may take anywhere from 2 to 7 days depending on ambient temp, RH and strain, etc. It is important to be right on top of this phase. Sometimes we will notice thinner stemmed buds getting done quicker. It is ok to take these first and put them in the jar. Just screw the cap on very loosely until the bulk of the bud joins it.

Phase two. 70% to 65% RH: This is where the numbers game begins to kick in. Once you have reached the crispy bud/flexible stem stage, it is time to jar it up. Now there are a few options here.. Really you can jar it up just like always. Only, fill your jar 3/4 to 4/5 full so you have room to use your hygrometer. You can leave it on the stem, stem free, whatever. I personally prefer it in it's finished state, no stems. You can leave just a few stems intact for the sake of testing stem flexibility. Also, with more stems comes more moisture. This may fit well with your style, but it also may play havoc if mold is present. Once your bud is in the jar drop in the hygrometer and cap it. Keep an eye on your meter for the next hour or so. What we are shooting for in this phase is 70% RH maximum. If you hit 71% or greater, you will have to take the bud out to dry more. If this seems a little tricky here, it is. The cure, even though we are still in the dry phase, has been happening to a small degree since the moment the bud was cut. Basically now we are juggling time with mold prevention. We want to avoid any instance of mold, but we want to get every second of cure time in that we can. The goal in this phase is to start at a 70% maximum RH and, in a timely and mold free manner, bring the RH down to about 65%. The reason I say "about" is that if there is an issue with mold (i.e. the crop was exposed to heavy mold before and/or during harvest) we may chose to take the RH even lower, like 62%. This won't leave a huge window for curing, but it will keep the bud safe. Ideally, however, 65% will do. Generally you can tell pretty quickly if the bud is still too wet as the hygrometer % will climb pretty quickly (rate: 1% per hour or faster). You will also notice, at this point, that the bud will feel "wetter". That's ok. The reason for this is that while the exposed part of the bud began to dry quicker than the inside during phase one, the inside of the bud and stems retained a good deal of their moisture. Once in the jars (phase two) that moisture can no longer be efficiently evaperated off and moved to a different area, being replaced by dryer air. Once you have determined the RH, which may take up to 24 hours, you can begin burping the jars. This can be done at a rate of one to two hours once or twice a day, depending on initial RH reading. Your room RH, temp, strain, exposure to mold and hygro readings will dictate this for you and wether to go faster or slower. Slower is always better, but precipitating factors, as stated, may trump this.. Also, at the end of this stage is where most commercial bud will hit the open market, if you are lucky. The bud at this stage should have that super sticky icky velvety feel and the 'bag appeal' will be at it's very highest.



Phase three, 65% to 60% RH: Your buds are in the jar and RH is 65% or less. Perfect. The object of the game, as stated before, is to slowly release the moisture from the jar over time. Your buds are now in the cure zone. At this point we are looking for a much slower release than phase two and will shift to a short burp once a week. Your buds will deliver a nice smoke at around 60%, so the speed at which this is done (which translates directly to duration of burpage) is entirely up to you. It is at this stage that small stems should snap in two. It is also in this stage that you will meet true stability, or equalization, in RH. What that means is that the amount of moisture in the stems is no longer disproportionate to the buds, and moisture transfer or persperation (sweat) slows dramatically. This also means it will take much longer to get a true reading from your Hygrometer. A true reading at this point might take up to 36 hours, but that's ok.

So, do you know what your idea of a perfect smoking bud is? If you have followed the phases as you have read them, then this is the stage where you can find out. It may be as specific as a stationary RH value, or even a "window" between different values. Everyone one should know there ideal smoking range. I prefer mine on a slightly dryer cure, say between 55 to 57%.


Phase four, 60% to 55%+ RH: Even though a true cure is far from over, your buds are truly ready to smoke if you wish. They are also ready to face long term storage. As stated before, the cure dies at -55%. It is ok for the cure to be dead if you have reached your desired cure level as later remoisturing can easily bring that bud back into your prefered smoking range. But, you can also continue the cure for long time periods and the trick to this is to stay above the 55% level. Unfortunately even claimed 'air tight' jars will allow bud to continue losing moisture over time. The trick here is to guarantee air tightness. Simon has suggested that he jars in air tight jars and double vacuum bags it as a way to ensure cure integrity. I am less picky. It is a good idea, though not neccessary, to leave a hygro in the jar and check it from time to time. I would start with once a week for the first month then, if everything is stable, once every month after that should suffice.

Yea I wish I could give credit where it’s due I saved it years ago from some forum and used it but over time I have changed it a little but yea my process emerged from this but I just find it better for me to treat it like it’s over 71% all the way until 66%. Because I know mold can grow at 66% and above so I just don’t play around with that range.

Stephengosling said:

Yea I wish I could give credit where it’s due I saved it years ago from some forum and used it but over time I have changed it a little but yea my process emerged from this but I just find it better for me to treat it like it’s over 71% all the way until 66%. Because I know mold can grow at 66% and above so I just don’t play around with that range.

Click to expand...

I left it with only 1 intake vent open, and rh didn’t change. Maybe I’ll have to get a few hygrometers, but they still are pretty sticky. I’m going to try to close both intake vents except from a sliver and see if it changes at all.

Purfict said:

I left it with only 1 intake vent open, and rh didn’t change. Maybe I’ll have to get a few hygrometers, but they still are pretty sticky. I’m going to try to close both intake vents except from a sliver and see if it changes at all.

Click to expand...

Why are you closing the vents? The air is what will dry the bud some. When I leave it out I mean I literally leave it out in a room in the dark for a few hours. Not in a closed space with no air. Sit under your bed for 2-4 hours just layed out.

Stephengosling said:

Why are you closing the vents? The air is what will dry the bud some. When I leave it out I mean I literally leave it out in a room in the dark for a few hours. Not in a closed space with no air. Sit under your bed for 2-4 hours just layed out.

Click to expand...

I think the issue is that the lung room has very high humidity. I was able to get it down to 68rh after closing the vents. I have the one cracked open with a fan outside keeping air moving. I have the small fan in the tent moving air around and the inline fan sucking old air out. I saw some stuff about how people in the south face high humidity drying and they say putting your light on helps aswell, maybe I can try this if humidity can’t go lower than 68.