I've put the buds in plastic bads (see previous post for pics of harvest) and I'm now in the curing process. How long each day should I allow the buds to "breathe" (leave the bag open)? I've ready many different opinions and would like to know what the growers on this site do. I allowed them to hang for over 3 days, and they did seem a bit wet although beginning to get crisp on the outside. Currently they are rolled up in a plastic bag and stuck in a dresser drawer.
Curing Question
- Thread starter mo_sizzly
- Start date
mogie
Well-Known Member
At harvest-time all you have to do is cut the plant as low as possible and hang the whole thing upside down to dry on a line. The room you use to dry should be the about the same size you grew in (if not the same room). The humidity should remain a constant 50-60%. Too high and buds will mold, too low and they dry too fast and taste bad. Temperature should be around 65-68 degrees, wherever possible. Make sure the room is dark, as light degrades THC.
All kinds of processes, like the transport of sugars inside the plant still take place, even when you cut it down. These processes will slowly come to an end while the drying progresses, but are the main factor for the end-taste of your smoke. That is the first reason why you don't want to quick-dry your weed. The second reason is the way that a plant dries. Plants are made up of cells and, as we all know, cells contain mainly water. Exposed to air, the (dying) plant's outer cells will dry out first but the above-mentioned processes will still transfer water from the inner cells to the dryer outer cells, thus causing the plant to dry equally all over. By removing the stalk and cutting off the individual colas, you prevent this natural process by taking away the extra moisture that would be drawn from the stem to the leaves and bud. Got it? Good! Moving on...
Make sure you hang the plants so that they do not touch each other (invites mold). With constant temp and humidity, the plants should be ready for manicuring in 3-4 weeks. At this time trim colas from the main stalk, and trim large and medium fan leaves (save them for making hash), leaving most of the smaller leaves sticking out of the bud in tact. Hang them up again and for a day or two, until 'popcorn' dry. The stems should snap when you bend them, and the bud should be dry, but not brittle. Now for the curing...
Trim all remaining leaf (save for hashmaking) tight to the buds, and trim smaller buds from larger stems. Store them airtight; air at this point degrades THC. Note- ziplock bags are not airtight! You could use buckets with an airtight lid like used for food and sauces and such, but the best containers are those glass jars with the rubber seal and latch. Just put as much bud in it as possible using light pressure. The point is to fill it as much as possible, so not too much air remains in the container. The less air, the better. To be safe, check them the next day to make sure it's still dry (did not 'sweat'). Any excess moisture at this point will invite mold. If it did sweat and is moist (soft) again, lay the bud out on something other than newspaper and put in a dry place to get the last water out.
Repack and place the container in a cool, dark place, like a refrigerator. Note- fridges have high humidity so they must be absolutely airtight.
The longer it sits (up to around a month, maybe longer in the fridge) the better it gets, both in taste and potency. At around the month mark, you can move it to the freezer to almost stop the aging and curing process. Once you've got some buds stored in the freezer, you have a private stash that will last a long time. If you've got the patience to wait, the smoke will be sweet and smooth. The high will be mellow, and longer lasting. If you grew enough to last you a while, then after a few harvests you will be able to have properly cured buds at your disposal, with no downtime waiting for the next batch to cure!
All kinds of processes, like the transport of sugars inside the plant still take place, even when you cut it down. These processes will slowly come to an end while the drying progresses, but are the main factor for the end-taste of your smoke. That is the first reason why you don't want to quick-dry your weed. The second reason is the way that a plant dries. Plants are made up of cells and, as we all know, cells contain mainly water. Exposed to air, the (dying) plant's outer cells will dry out first but the above-mentioned processes will still transfer water from the inner cells to the dryer outer cells, thus causing the plant to dry equally all over. By removing the stalk and cutting off the individual colas, you prevent this natural process by taking away the extra moisture that would be drawn from the stem to the leaves and bud. Got it? Good! Moving on...
Make sure you hang the plants so that they do not touch each other (invites mold). With constant temp and humidity, the plants should be ready for manicuring in 3-4 weeks. At this time trim colas from the main stalk, and trim large and medium fan leaves (save them for making hash), leaving most of the smaller leaves sticking out of the bud in tact. Hang them up again and for a day or two, until 'popcorn' dry. The stems should snap when you bend them, and the bud should be dry, but not brittle. Now for the curing...
Trim all remaining leaf (save for hashmaking) tight to the buds, and trim smaller buds from larger stems. Store them airtight; air at this point degrades THC. Note- ziplock bags are not airtight! You could use buckets with an airtight lid like used for food and sauces and such, but the best containers are those glass jars with the rubber seal and latch. Just put as much bud in it as possible using light pressure. The point is to fill it as much as possible, so not too much air remains in the container. The less air, the better. To be safe, check them the next day to make sure it's still dry (did not 'sweat'). Any excess moisture at this point will invite mold. If it did sweat and is moist (soft) again, lay the bud out on something other than newspaper and put in a dry place to get the last water out.
Repack and place the container in a cool, dark place, like a refrigerator. Note- fridges have high humidity so they must be absolutely airtight.
The longer it sits (up to around a month, maybe longer in the fridge) the better it gets, both in taste and potency. At around the month mark, you can move it to the freezer to almost stop the aging and curing process. Once you've got some buds stored in the freezer, you have a private stash that will last a long time. If you've got the patience to wait, the smoke will be sweet and smooth. The high will be mellow, and longer lasting. If you grew enough to last you a while, then after a few harvests you will be able to have properly cured buds at your disposal, with no downtime waiting for the next batch to cure!
ViRedd
New Member
Why are they in Plastic Bags? The idea is to sweat the moisture out of the buds without making them crispy and to avoid mold. You'll ruin the buds by keeping them in the plastic bags. Instead of plastic bags, put them into brown, paper lunch bags or brown, paper grocery bags. From there, put them into GLASS Mason Jars and close the lids. Open the lids a few times a day to test for moisture. As soon as the buds are "springy" ... not dry, but not really moist either, then its safe to put them away in the Mason Jars for storage. They keep getting better over time. The aroma when opening the jars should be really pleasant. If the odor is rank ... check for mold.
Vi
Well I don't have any paper bags at them moment so I placed them in rolled up paper towels and tape the ends shut, sound ok? They still feel pretty wet though, not sure whether or not I let them hang long enough. Either way thanks for the advice. The reason I put them in plastic bags is because Widow's grow guide said it would be ok. Shouldn't I open the paper towels a few times daily to allow excess moisture to escape? If so for how long?
notmyrealname
Active Member
what about using some of those silica gel packets that are shipped in like electronics packaging? placing one of those in the same sealed container as the bud should draw moisture, no? or maybe salt (not physically touching the buds, just airborne exchange btwn them)
wouldnt that draw h2o out of the plant cells?
wouldnt that draw h2o out of the plant cells?
preoQpydDlusion
Well-Known Member
that silica pack idea sounds cool. u guys think that would work good, u know toss one or two in a jar when its stored in the fridge?
AllMeatNoPotato
Well-Known Member
Vi is right you should go that route. but on the other hand, the silica packs sound interesting though. in theory they should draw out moisture at an alarming rate. I guess you should hang dry them for 2 weeks then take one nug and put it in a plastic bag, hear me out Vi, with a silica pack. the plastic should hold in the moisture to see if the pack is working or not. who knows maybe it is just stoner talk lol
Chronic_Productionz
Well-Known Member
I have a question
To dry could you use one of those commericals vacuum sealers... They give you bags or w/e and it makes air tight... Could you use that for drying or maybe just storage?
To dry could you use one of those commericals vacuum sealers... They give you bags or w/e and it makes air tight... Could you use that for drying or maybe just storage?
Widow Maker
Well-Known Member
After the buds are cured you can store them in vacuum sealed bags. That is an excellent way to store your goods.
Chronic_Productionz
Well-Known Member
That's what I figured. I just didn't know if the vacuum would suck out any water as sick as that sounds.... But thanks for the info
notmyrealname
Active Member
so ok, whomever wants to know and report back on the silica gel packet idea i would love to know - i'm definitely going to try with at least a small portion of my harvest just to find out if it is a worthwhile idea.... but that wont be till around march 1 -- if anyone is harvesting sooner and would care to experiment with this method on, say, a few grams or some of the smaller buds from your plants - i feel it would be a worthwhile pursuit in the name of pot science 
i would love to know what to look for when i try.....
also, instead of silica gel -- how bout uncoocked rice? that absorbs moisture too, and at a much slower rate - the silica packets may fully cure your bud without adding any heat like a dryer would in a very short amount of time (maybe a few days) as opposed to 1-2 weeks or so.... would definitely require careful maintenence but i'm totally stoked on my idea here...
i would love to know what to look for when i try.....also, instead of silica gel -- how bout uncoocked rice? that absorbs moisture too, and at a much slower rate - the silica packets may fully cure your bud without adding any heat like a dryer would in a very short amount of time (maybe a few days) as opposed to 1-2 weeks or so.... would definitely require careful maintenence but i'm totally stoked on my idea here...
potroast
Uses the Rollitup profile
silica gel packs, dehydrators, toasters, microwaves, etc. all do the same thing: dry the buds too fast. Curing means to slow down the drying time. We want all of those processes listed in Mogie's post to happen. And we want the buds to dry evenly. You can't speed it up. It will be much better if you let it happen slowly.
HTH
HTH
hi all i just signed up after seeing this thread, because the silica idea has got me thinking, i know its a fairly old thread aswell so apologies if its been covered in a more recent thread
i just cropped a small/medium plant (white widow) and thought id try the silica idea just for bout a teenth or eigth of my weed to put me on till the rest drys naturally
so ill report back how it goes
ive had smoke in the past that has 'apparently' been dryed this way and in less than 2 days (supposedly depends on the size of sample, amount of silca used, size of mason jar etc etc..) and it was really nice smoke IMHO, high was more than fine, didnt taste too harsh (tasted kind of dull if that makes sense) and as far as smell it didnt smell bad just didnt really smell that strong (obviously depends on the starin and how well its been grown in the first place)
like a few other guys say though, the only way to get it dryed and cured properlly is to wait 2 or 3 week maybe even longer, do the hangin, then mason jars and burping, but damn say youve got a plant which is gonna produce about 4-6 ounce dry bud doesnt seem so bad to quick dry say a half oz or if its a small plant giving you an oz or 2 why not do an 8th so you dont have to buy this poor quality trash thats on the streets nowadays
shall report back in a day or 2
i just cropped a small/medium plant (white widow) and thought id try the silica idea just for bout a teenth or eigth of my weed to put me on till the rest drys naturally
so ill report back how it goes
ive had smoke in the past that has 'apparently' been dryed this way and in less than 2 days (supposedly depends on the size of sample, amount of silca used, size of mason jar etc etc..) and it was really nice smoke IMHO, high was more than fine, didnt taste too harsh (tasted kind of dull if that makes sense) and as far as smell it didnt smell bad just didnt really smell that strong (obviously depends on the starin and how well its been grown in the first place)
like a few other guys say though, the only way to get it dryed and cured properlly is to wait 2 or 3 week maybe even longer, do the hangin, then mason jars and burping, but damn say youve got a plant which is gonna produce about 4-6 ounce dry bud doesnt seem so bad to quick dry say a half oz or if its a small plant giving you an oz or 2 why not do an 8th so you dont have to buy this poor quality trash thats on the streets nowadays
shall report back in a day or 2
it sucks out oxgen in the moistue id guess, has to really, im not full up on the science but well moisture a.k.a water a.k.a h2o, o obviously being oxygen
way i see it though your probally gonna want to open the jar every few hour to cycle your bud around a bit anyway and check that the mesh that the bud is on isnt too wet (mayb even have to dry the silica out or replace with some dry packs) so oxygens gonna get in then
only doing a generous 8th out of a few oz anyway just to experiment, if it works ive got some weed to smoke in a day or 2 when my stasth runs out
way i see it though your probally gonna want to open the jar every few hour to cycle your bud around a bit anyway and check that the mesh that the bud is on isnt too wet (mayb even have to dry the silica out or replace with some dry packs) so oxygens gonna get in then
only doing a generous 8th out of a few oz anyway just to experiment, if it works ive got some weed to smoke in a day or 2 when my stasth runs out
goofy9er420
Active Member
Yeah this sounds interesting. let me know how it turns out and i may try it with my first harvest.