Harvest/Curing Guide

Warriorbuds

Warriorbuds

Well-Known Member
I tried Boveda packs a cpl yrs back...I was a believer, and loved the idea......thought they were great at first.....then noticed a smell coming off the pack, that made me very skeptical......never used after when smell of......pharmaceutical smell?....medicine?......or anti freeze smell? So hard to describe...I am not kidding! I have not heard anyone else say anything about them and emitting smell....yet? :)
 
Breezee77

Breezee77

Active Member
Thanks everyone for your help so far! So I have another question… It seems like it's taking a long time to dry. They are still on the drying rack and it has been about 17 days since they were cut down. It's 55-60% humidity in there and about 70 degrees. Is this a normal amount of time?

Some was put into a jar for 24 hours and still has an aroma, so it was dumped back out to dry… Would you start jarring them?

vostok said:
This is the correct 'old man' way of doing it, or when you have to leave it in the field for a few days, unlike those Colombian growers who just drop it in the field, but from them you got great colors gold etc, also much compost, Milo's method is the correct way, only shows how much I have deviated over the years to please 'customers' ...lol

The Boveda jars are great but expensive, easier to just include the humidity gauge from your grow room, to give a rough indication, even a little sea weed like in Africa, just to get the right texture, as an indicator

"I think the chlorophyll makes it stink and I heard it adds more salts to the buds which isn't good for taste… Not sure if anyone can confirm this?"

The Chlorophyll ...I too hate, but thats why you cure and dry, to dissipate the sugars which break down over time and once dried, but it don't add salts, 1- 2 weeks before harvest flush well with 3 times the volume of the pot, allow to recover under dim light or overnight, one the day comes butcher in the morning, have everything ready.
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BobBitchen said:
The meter just monitors the humidity.
I use to monitor humidity while curing to guide when to burp jars, when I get to stable desired humidity, for me 60-65%,
I throw in a Boveda 62% Hum Pak, seems to work well for storage
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vostok

vostok

Well-Known Member
17 days at a constant 55-66% Rh at 70f, sounds about right, dood roll a stify and try one out, if I hear you coughing 'we' know you dried it too quick!!!
 
Squidbilly

Squidbilly

Well-Known Member
It does not take me that long to dry. I usually try to dry in 40-50% RH humidity and 60-70 degrees. I always leave plants in the dark and avoid any water for a minimum of 48 hour prior to harvest. This really helps with drying. You always want to chop your plants in the dark, if they are chopped during lights on they have 'water' in them, that's why at night, they wilt a tiny a bit and when the light comes on they perk up. Those two tricks have really helped with drying and aroma IMO.

I chop the plants, remove all fan leaves I can, and hang them-anywhere from 5-14 days.

I put in jars when the stems can break, but not snap. In my experience I get dry rather then sticky bud when I wait till they really snap.

They go in the jars and get burped for 1-2hrs a day for the frist week then anywhere from 15mins-1hour for the second week.

If they still need to get burped after two weeks it's for 15 minutes at a time until my desired RH is reached.

I keep a tiny hydrometer in a few jars to gauge the RH. Jars I plan on smoking get brought to 65% RH and are closed until I open them to smoke, and jars that are going to be stored get dropped to 60%.

If any buds seam really wet at any point during the curing process I will take them out and put in a paper bag for an hour to two- this is rare though.
 
Breezee77

Breezee77

Active Member
vostok said:
17 days at a constant 55-66% Rh at 70f, sounds about right, dood roll a stify and try one out, if I hear you coughing 'we' know you dried it too quick!!!
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Squidbilly said:
It does not take me that long to dry. I usually try to dry in 40-50% RH humidity and 60-70 degrees. I always leave plants in the dark and avoid any water for a minimum of 48 hour prior to harvest. This really helps with drying. You always want to chop your plants in the dark, if they are chopped during lights on they have 'water' in them, that's why at night, they wilt a tiny a bit and when the light comes on they perk up. Those two tricks have really helped with drying and aroma IMO.

I chop the plants, remove all fan leaves I can, and hang them-anywhere from 5-14 days.

I put in jars when the stems can break, but not snap. In my experience I get dry rather then sticky bud when I wait till they really snap.

They go in the jars and get burped for 1-2hrs a day for the frist week then anywhere from 15mins-1hour for the second week.

If they still need to get burped after two weeks it's for 15 minutes at a time until my desired RH is reached.

I keep a tiny hydrometer in a few jars to gauge the RH. Jars I plan on smoking get brought to 65% RH and are closed until I open them to smoke, and jars that are going to be stored get dropped to 60%.

If any buds seam really wet at any point during the curing process I will take them out and put in a paper bag for an hour to two- this is rare though.
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Lol it smokes great! I swear I can hear some crackling though! Why doesn't it take anyone else this long?

Great stuff squid! I'm wondering maybe the drying rack slowed it down a little? I just don't want to over dry. I think it is drying slow. Should it smell cronic when you put it in the jar or does the smell come later on?

Is there any chance if I start jarring them now that it could be early and it won't turn out well, or will I be ok???

I'm waiting for those hydrometers btw!
 
RollaP

RollaP

Well-Known Member
Be very careful if you're jarring your buds when RH is above 55%. If your jars or buds have any contamination you could have serious issues with mold and spoil all your hard work. Be very methodical about opening jars as suggested above. If the stems are snapping its time to jar. If they bend then they need more time. Make sure the room your drying in has some form of subtle air movement (no fans directly on bud). Good Luck!
 
Breezee77

Breezee77

Active Member
RollaP said:
Be very careful if you're jarring your buds when RH is above 55%. If your jars or buds have any contamination you could have serious issues with mold and spoil all your hard work. Be very methodical about opening jars as suggested above. If the stems are snapping its time to jar. If they bend then they need more time. Make sure the room your drying in has some form of subtle air movement (no fans directly on bud). Good Luck!
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Thanks… Above 55%? I thought 60-65% was ideal and they could stop being burped at that time…. I can't check the RH for a few more days though...
 
RollaP

RollaP

Well-Known Member
I'm more cautious than most. I've found mold can grow at anything above 50%, but each strain has its own quirks. If they are crispy on the outside and the sweet leaf breaks off easily I would say get them in the jar. If the stalks still bend and the leaf is still mobile then be careful.
 
Breezee77

Breezee77

Active Member
RollaP said:
I'm more cautious than most. I've found mold can grow at anything above 50%, but each strain has its own quirks. If they are crispy on the outside and the sweet leaf breaks off easily I would say get them in the jar. If the stalks still bend and the leaf is still mobile then be careful.
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Yea, the leaves are still mobile, but the stems break. I wouldn't even be worried if this was day 7, but now it's like 18 days since they were cut down and seems like it's too long because everyone says they normally dry in like a week…

Do you monitor your RH when curing and stop burping once you get to a certain RH? What RH do you use to stop burping.
 
Breezee77

Breezee77

Active Member
And what RH do you typically see when you start jarring? Would burping for longer periods hurt anything compared to leaving them out to dry?
 
RollaP

RollaP

Well-Known Member
If the stems snap and the leaves bend you can jar them. Just make sure to burp regularly. Be vigilant or you could lose the whole jar. RH for my tastes is between 35-45%, but thats just me. I like a little drier for rolling.
 
Breezee77

Breezee77

Active Member
RollaP said:
If the stems snap and the leaves bend you can jar them. Just make sure to burp regularly. Be vigilant or you could lose the whole jar. RH for my tastes is between 35-45%, but thats just me. I like a little drier for rolling.
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So I filled a jar about 1/2 way and put the RH meter from the room in there because that's how much I could fit in there ant it says 52% after being in there a couple hours. That's the only thing I can go by.

Wow… 35-45%… I was worried 52 was too low… Is 60% too high? What do most people recommend? If I wanted to keep it at 52% should I just not burp it?
 
Breezee77

Breezee77

Active Member
Also, I have a small drying rack and it's actually layered up a few inches… Could that be making it dry way slower? It seems to smoke good. I just don't want there to be mold growing in there if it's not spread out too much?

Am I worrying too much? Should I get another drying rack and spread it out to one layer or something?
 
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