jonnynobody
Well-Known Member
I really boned my last harvest by letting my buds get too dry before I started curing. The bud was great but 2 out of my 5 strains weren't as smooth as they should have been. A 3rd out of those 5 was very harsh immediately after drying. I kept it sealed curing for 2 weeks and I couldn't believe the difference. It was like smoking a completely different batch of bud. It wound up being the smoothest smoker of all 5 strains after the short cure. If it wasn't dried too quickly preventing the bud from being able to cure properly it would have been incredible.
This time I decided to get my shit together and properly dry / cure my buds. I clip branches and spread them on a 6 tier 4' drying net. I try to keep as much stem on as possible for a nice slow dry on the buds. After 3-5 days when the smallest stems on the branch snap, the buds are slightly crisp on the outside, and the large stems bend without snapping I placed the branches in tall sealed plastic containers to sweat out the moisture. I've burped the container 2 times each day. If the buds are slightly moist again I leave the lid off for a few hours then place the lid back on. Once most of the moisture is out after the sweat process (about 5 days) I clip the buds from the branch and seal for 2 weeks to finish the cure process. I've only got 1 strain as far as being clipped from the branches and into the final cure stage so I won't know the results for another 10 days or so. After smoking a few test buds I'm very happy with the smoothness. It should be stellar after the final 2 week sealed cure.
Do any of you do something different that might yield even better results? I'm growing in water to waste hydro and years ago I was a soil grower. I sure don't remember having to do much of anything for stellar flavor before moving to the hydro buckets. It's also been what seems like half a lifetime ago since I've grown in soil so it's possible I just don't accurately remember the process I used to dry / cure and may not accurately remember the smoothness of the smoke. Any other soil growers that have switched to hydro? Did you notice any difference in flavor or smoothness of the end product?
This time I decided to get my shit together and properly dry / cure my buds. I clip branches and spread them on a 6 tier 4' drying net. I try to keep as much stem on as possible for a nice slow dry on the buds. After 3-5 days when the smallest stems on the branch snap, the buds are slightly crisp on the outside, and the large stems bend without snapping I placed the branches in tall sealed plastic containers to sweat out the moisture. I've burped the container 2 times each day. If the buds are slightly moist again I leave the lid off for a few hours then place the lid back on. Once most of the moisture is out after the sweat process (about 5 days) I clip the buds from the branch and seal for 2 weeks to finish the cure process. I've only got 1 strain as far as being clipped from the branches and into the final cure stage so I won't know the results for another 10 days or so. After smoking a few test buds I'm very happy with the smoothness. It should be stellar after the final 2 week sealed cure.
Do any of you do something different that might yield even better results? I'm growing in water to waste hydro and years ago I was a soil grower. I sure don't remember having to do much of anything for stellar flavor before moving to the hydro buckets. It's also been what seems like half a lifetime ago since I've grown in soil so it's possible I just don't accurately remember the process I used to dry / cure and may not accurately remember the smoothness of the smoke. Any other soil growers that have switched to hydro? Did you notice any difference in flavor or smoothness of the end product?