I cut each cola branch, wet trim and hang in my dark closet for about four days, five for the main center bud. I do not let them go until the stems snap, you have to learn how they feel when you squeeze them. It should not feel brittle and still have some give. I then cut all the buds off the stems and jar in one quart masons with a hygrometer. If the humidity gets to 64% I dump the jar out on a plate and let them dry for a while. I rotate the hygrometers between the jars and measure where things are at until they settle around 58%. Periodically checking them, you can tell when they are in a safe place if the buds stop sticking together.
As you can already see there are many approaches to drying and you will have to learn what works for you and your environment (room temp and humidity). Keeping your jar humidity below 65% will stop them from molding and let you slowly cure to get the scents you are after.
These are the hygrometers I jar with, you can find cheaper ones but these have served me well and use standard computer coin cells CR2032.
You can smoke fresh dried cannabis, will just taste a bit minty, but will get better over time in the jar.