Terpenes getting lost in cure.

[Sticky Bandit]

I've given up on jars, the air gap is too big. I have better results in plastic ziplock bags but squeeze the air out before zipping up the last bit and then seal in plastic paint buckets in a coolish place. The stuff in the jars with an air gap turns to hay

 

[nxsov180db]

I should add that on my last few grows I left a lot of sugar leaves on, then dry trim before jarring. Seemed to help keep the buds from getting too dry while the stems were still rubbery.

Wet trimming will ruin your terps, idc what anyone says. Done it both ways many times, if you want the stuff to smell you Gotta hang it untrimmed.. Also your humidity is low, 60rh and 60f is what you want to aim for, if the temp is over 60 increase the humidity too.

 

[Bud2theBone]

it depends on your grow space.

if you have a large space i would recommend hanging a 315w 10k CMH or a 400w/600w 10k MH as a vertical bare bulb.
for the 10k MH i would recommend solis tek and for the 315w 10k cmh i would recommend growers choice.

if your space is small than a T5HO UV bulb would work like a migro, solarcure, agrowmax etc.

if your space is super small like a 2ftx2ft grow tent or smaller than your only real option is reptile UVB/UVA bulbs.

my recommendation for reptile UV bulbs would be a ZOO Med 65watt UVB/UVA bulb this bulb uses 65 watt's and around 40% of the spectral energy emitted by this bulb is within the UVB/UVA spectrum its a solid UV bulb for a small grow space.

I usually use hps and have generally never had a problem but once and I assumed the bud drying faster than usual was the problem. I usually get 10 days or better but this particular strain dried quickly. Still smoked great but it just wasn’t as gassy as I’d hoped. Anyway the uvb thing I’ve never heard before so I had to ask. As of now I’m using an HLG blackbird I kinda borrowed from someone to give a test run. First run was actually impressive yield wise and certainly brought out a bit more bag appeal but these things are pricey.

 

[Bud2theBone]

it depends on your grow space.

if you have a large space i would recommend hanging a 315w 10k CMH or a 400w/600w 10k MH as a vertical bare bulb.
for the 10k MH i would recommend solis tek and for the 315w 10k cmh i would recommend growers choice.

if your space is small than a T5HO UV bulb would work like a migro, solarcure, agrowmax etc.

if your space is super small like a 2ftx2ft grow tent or smaller than your only real option is reptile UVB/UVA bulbs.

my recommendation for reptile UV bulbs would be a ZOO Med 65watt UVB/UVA bulb this bulb uses 65 watt's and around 40% of the spectral energy emitted by this bulb is within the UVB/UVA spectrum its a solid UV bulb for a small grow space.

Forgot to mention my space is 5x8. Two 1000w hps I usually used now I’m doing the hps next the the blackbird for a comparison grow. This is my second run. Anyway I’m looking to upgrade to LED and the HLG lights were recommended to me by a friend who loaned me the one I’m using.

 

[Chunky Stool]

I've given up on jars, the air gap is too big. I have better results in plastic ziplock bags but squeeze the air out before zipping up the last bit and then seal in plastic paint buckets in a coolish place. The stuff in the jars with an air gap turns to hay

Have you looked at Grove bags?

 

[Sticky Bandit]

Have you looked at Grove bags?

They're probably really good but too much marketing BS for me, I just want the nuts and bolts! I'll stay with my large ziplock bags thanks

 

[Bud2theBone]

They're probably really good but too much marketing BS for me, I just want the nuts and bolts! I'll stay with my large ziplock bags thanks

Hey this could be a silly question but I’ve never tried so I have to ask do you cure in a ziplock basically the same as you would in jars? Or is the process different?

 

[Sticky Bandit]

Hey this could be a silly question but I’ve never tried so I have to ask do you cure in a ziplock basically the same as you would in jars? Or is the process different?

Basically the same but it's easier to squeeze the air out The bags are semipermeable, you can really smell the weed through it. I fill dark colored sealed plastic buckets with the bags of buds to keep the air gap minimal and keep in a cool closet or somewhere like that, comes out great and keeps for ages
Nothing turns to hay faster than a half full transparent jar in my experience

 

[Gemtree]

I jar around 65 and burp down to 62ish. I find going to dry kills terps

 

[Sticky Bandit]

I jar around 65 and burp down to 62ish. I find going to dry kills terps

I found anything over 60 I eventually get mold or at least a musty smell. Maybe 62ish short term like a month or so...

 

[Gemtree]

I found anything over 60 I eventually get mold or at least a musty smell. Maybe 62ish short term like a month or so...

Oh yeah I only have it at that a few weeks before it's gone

 

[Chunky Stool]

Basically the same but it's easier to squeeze the air out The bags are semipermeable, you can really smell the weed through it. I fill dark colored sealed plastic buckets with the bags of buds to keep the air gap minimal and keep in a cool closet or somewhere like that, comes out great and keeps for ages
Nothing turns to hay faster than a half full transparent jar in my experience

Curing and storage are not the same.
Squeezing all the air out is not a good idea when curing.

 

[Sticky Bandit]

Curing and storage are not the same.
Squeezing all the air out is not a good idea when curing.

I don't squash the buds, just the excess air so there's still plenty of air just not a large void, works for me in my climate
Cobbing is an accepted way of curing and MOST of the air is pressed/sucked out

 

[Billytheluther]

remember the "cure" does not make the plant produce more terpenes.

all you are doing during the "cure" is breaking things down.

some people still flush because they believe it breaks down sugars and starches, other people cure because they believe it helps break down chlorophyll.

i found ways too break down chlorophyll sugars and starches without curing or flushing so i dont flush or cure, and my bud smells amazing right after i dry no cure required.

with experience i found that if your bud's dont smell absolutely amazing right after you dried them than you grew some mids
or the pheno you grew sucked balls,
or your grow light does not stimulate UVR8 receptor's,
or the temperature that you dry them in is too high aka the temp's in your dry room are too hot.

Care to talk about that tec??

 

[Chunky Stool]

I don't squash the buds, just the excess air so there's still plenty of air just not a large void, works for me in my climate
Cobbing is an accepted way of curing and MOST of the air is pressed/sucked out

Cobbing is fermentation, which is a completely different process.
I've tried "cobbed" bud a few times and wasn't impressed. Tastes like stale hash.

 

[Anothermeduser]

Get better genetics, cure adds nothing, just preserves it. The best imo is always freshly dried, that’s why I like to harvest regularly

 

[cage]

The point of curing is to dry your cannabis while losing little terpenes as possible.

You just need to control the temp and humidity while doing.
Too dry and you lose terpenes.
Too wet and you get mold.

So when you starting to have close enough dry bud, you can start jarring it and burp the rest of humidity % away.
Just dont over do it at this point, yet you want it to burn well.
There is thou art sir.

Just adjust according to your environmental specs + budsize and other preferences,
you can hang them per branch or go bigger depending how much leaves you trim right after harvest vs later etc.

 

[trueblu8]

The point of curing is to dry your cannabis while losing little terpenes as possible.

You just need to control the temp and humidity while doing.
Too dry and you lose terpenes.
Too wet and you get mold.

So when you starting to have close enough dry bud, you can start jarring it and burp the rest of humidity % away.
Just dont over do it at this point, yet you want it to burn well.
There is thou art sir.

Just adjust according to your environmental specs + budsize and other preferences,
you can hang them per branch or go bigger depending how much leaves you trim right after harvest vs later etc.

And this is it in a nutshell. If you let the buds get too dry you will lose most of the terps. Like he said it's an art form. Something we need to practice and get good at.

What do you think about that Cannatrol machine?

 

[trueblu8]

Wet trimming will ruin your terps, idc what anyone says. Done it both ways many times, if you want the stuff to smell you Gotta hang it untrimmed.. Also your humidity is low, 60rh and 60f is what you want to aim for, if the temp is over 60 increase the humidity too.

Also this. I was wet trimming to save on trimming time later. But I think it caused the buds to dry out too quickly and a lot of terps to evaporate. Next time I will be dry trimming to try to save those terps.

 

[lungbutter]

main things ive found for taste are -

harvest time must not be too late, this degrades the taste rapidly to usually just a hashy taste.

always add guano or similar, i noticed without it my plants are significantly blander.

they need to be dry enough throughout the bud when you actually smoke it, otherwise youll get a slightly grassy taste. However if the bud isn't atleast decent upon the inital dry its probably not going to be super tasty after either.

genetics are almost everything, usually i find something of worth every 50 to 100 seeds - you just cant turn a regular person into a world class sprinter, they are born that way and it is the same with weed. I go through a few packs every grow, several times a year, im lucky if a get more than 1 keeper a year to clone from.