Drying and curing in arid zone

[elfo777]

Hello! I live in an arid climate and my humidity is always around 28-40%. When I finished my first grow, everything went OK except for the curing. When I jarred my buds, after 1 week all my herb was dry and crunchy. I could turn to dust some buds just squeezing them.

I was looking for a method to cure my buds and preventing them from going too dry. I think dried weed still tastes great (I think the taste is stronger when it is too dry) but I'd like to know how can I cure them properly.

Questions:

1. Any advice about what to do with this problem?
2. Shall I hang the whole plant while drying to dry slower? Or maybe I shouldn't cut any of the fan leaves? Just wondering.

 

[Fastslappy]

Shall I hang the whole plant while drying to dry slower? Or maybe I shouldn't cut any of the fan leaves? Just wondering.

I do mine old style & hang the entire plant upside down & let the big fan leaves protect the buds till the stems almost dry & then I cut the colas & in a sealed tub they go & I open the tubs evry 12 hours to check for moistness if i feel it';s too moist i let the tubs air for a hour reseal this is about a week till jar ready , i leave a few sugar leaves on my bud to protect the heads

 

[Indacouch]

Also don't dry them for to long before you go into the jar or your not guna have a great experience curing your smoke

 

[Six9]

Yep OP drying whole plant, dry trim leaving small sugar leaves on, burping curing jars in a humid room (bathroom), even using Boveda paks in jars after two weeks of curing. Several things to do. I like Boveda paks, I have frozen dank, refrigerated, and room temp. All stay nice with Boveda.

 

[Fastslappy]

boveda makes it actually easy to do a great cure

 

[elfo777]

I do mine old style & hang the entire plant upside down & let the big fan leaves protect the buds till the stems almost dry & then I cut the colas & in a sealed tub they go & I open the tubs evry 12 hours to check for moistness if i feel it';s too moist i let the tubs air for a hour reseal this is about a week till jar ready , i leave a few sugar leaves on my bud to protect the heads

Thanks for the answer. How much time does it usually take to dry your buds? Do you live in a low humidity area?

 

[LegalizeNature420]

You're going to think it's crazy, but trust me, it works: Leave your plants in their pots and simply quit watering them. Place them in a dark environment with sufficient air movement, but not directly blowing on them. After a week or two, the fan leaves will go dry, followed by the sugar leaves. Once the sugar leaves become crispy, the stem will still contain much moisture and be very flexible (it would take ages to overdry the stem in this manner). At this point, when sugar leaves and outside of bud is dry, cut individual branches and hang for a couple days, until stem snaps or nearly snaps. Only following this should you trim the leaves off and place in jar with hygrometer and check humidity, which should be in the cure zone (55%-65%) or very close. Burp often until the RH is nearly stable then throw in either a 59% or 62% Boveda pack. Continue to burp. Your bud will come out marvelous.

Note: You might notice rather extreme color change (a lightening of color) during the drying process; this is perfectly normal and welcome, as it's the chlorophyll being leached out wholly.

 

[elfo777]

You're going to think it's crazy, but trust me, it works: Leave your plants in their pots and simply quit watering them. Place them in a dark environment with sufficient air movement, but not directly blowing on them. After a week or two, the fan leaves will go dry, followed by the sugar leaves. Once the sugar leaves become crispy, the stem will still contain much moisture and be very flexible (it would take ages to overdry the stem in this manner). At this point, when sugar leaves and outside of bud is dry, cut individual branches and hang for a couple days, until stem snaps or nearly snaps. Only following this should you trim the leaves off and place in jar with hygrometer and check humidity, which should be in the cure zone (55%-65%) or very close. Burp often until the RH is nearly stable then throw in either a 59% or 62% Boveda pack. Continue to burp. Your bud will come out marvelous.

Note: You might notice rather extreme color change (a lightening of color) during the drying process; this is perfectly normal and welcome, as it's the chlorophyll being leached out wholly.

Thanks. I think im gonna try this. Do you get good taste out of your buds? What about the smell? I guess it's just a different way of doing things. Actually I thought about drying plants in their own pots, without cutting them. Seems I wasn't too crazy at all .

What I really want is the best tasting buds, problem is my zone is too dry. But drying this way should be good for me because it will take longer.

After drying this way, I will get some boveda packs and use them to cure my buds.

 

[LegalizeNature420]

Despite your arid climate, placing your buds into jars when they are still too wet is the main threat to negative taste. Follow the abovementioned instructions regarding the state of the stem before going into the jar. Also, try to keep your temperatures rather low, perhaps sub-70, as this too will counter the low humidity and help provide a more slow and even dry.

 

[elfo777]

Despite your arid climate, placing your buds into jars when they are still too wet is the main threat to negative taste. Follow the abovementioned instructions regarding the state of the stem before going into the jar. Also, try to keep your temperatures rather low, perhaps sub-70, as this too will counter the low humidity and help provide a more slow and even dry.

Very useful info. Thanks.

I was placing buds too soon and they tasted like tobacco or had no taste (organic grow).