A perfect cure every time

[SimonD]

This method is particularly effective for folks who are starting out, those looking to maximize quality in a shorter period of time, and folks who's like to produce a connoisseur-quality product each and every time with no guesswork involved.

It's a very simple and effective process:

Cut the product, trim it per your preference, but don't dry it until the stems snap. Take it down while the stems still have some flex, but the product feel dry on the outside. This is a perfect opportunity to drop the dry-feeling flowers onto a screen and collect prime-quality kief that would otherwise get lost in the jar.

Jar the product, along with a Caliber III hygrometer. One can be had on Ebay for ~$20. Having tested a number of hygrometers - digital and analog - this model in particular produced consistent, accurate results. The Hydroset/Xikar hygrometers are also recommend after calibration. Then, watch the readings:

+70% RH - too wet, needs to sit outside the jar to dry for 12-24 hours, depending.

65-70% RH - the product is almost in the cure zone, if you will. It can be slowly brought to optimum RH by opening the lid for 2-4 hours.

60-65% RH - the stems snap, the product feels a bit sticky, and it is curing.

55-60% RH - at this point it can be stored for an extended period (3 months or more) without worrying about mold. The product will continue to cure.

Below 55% RH - the RH is too low for the curing process to take place. The product starts to feel brittle. Once you've hit this point, nothing will make it better. Adding moisture won't restart the curing process; it will just make the product wet. If you measure a RH below 55% don't panic. Read below:

Obviously, the product need time to sweat in the jar. As such, accurate readings won't be seen for ~24 hours, assuming the flowers are in the optimal cure zone. If you're curing the product for long-term storage, give the flowers 4-5 days for an accurate reading. If the product is sill very wet, a +70% RH reading will show within hours. If you see the RH rising ~1% per hour, keep a close eye on the product, as it's likely too moist.


HTH,
Simon

 

[rocpilefsj]

Thanks SimonD. Great how to! +REP

 

[SimonD]

The thread is open for discussion. Please feel free to post your questions, hints and personal experiences.

Best,
Simon

 

[birdmananyweather]

been using this method right when i seen it come out...its a beautiful thing! mad props!

 

[Earliss]

Works well im lovein it..

 

[obijohn]

Ive done this for several years this way. I air out the jars so they aren't moist long term, and it smooths out the smoke. But after several months the buds all turn brown. And, I don't have that sweet skunky smell, usually little smell at all. The potency is good, but why can't I keep the nice aroma and greenish color?

 

[fatboyOGOF]

The thread is open for discussion. Please feel free to post your questions, hints and personal experiences.

Best,
Simon

i appreciate your thread on this simon. i started doing this method a couple of years ago. the hygrometers help a lot. much better than the old squeeze test.

i got in the bad habit of drying them too quick, taking about 3 days. i trimed the colas into bite sized buds and with phoenix being hot and dry, it doesn't take long. then i noticed that although the buds smelled great when crushed, the odor when i cracked the ball jars was minimal.

i'm going back to a nice slow dry this time. i'm just triming the fan leaves and hanging the plant whole. i'm at 53 days in flower now and want to be sure that when i crack open a jar, i get a smile from the smell.

 

[mr. green thumb 01]

Experience- It didnt work for me and I feel that is to wet to go into jars I tried a few times not just once. Same problem as obijohn.. Terrible dark discoloration, loss of smell, and little bag appeal. I kinda think the rh in my house is to high for this and they NEVER dry. When I open my jars and 65-70% rh goes in there, they just get wetter. I like to get them nice and dry hanging the whole plant, trim, and then cure. The texture (moisture content) and smell go right where I want it during the cure. It also seems to take less time. Anyone having a large harvest would need a rack of rh meters and I just dont see that being practical. BTW thanks guys for opening this thread hopefully simond can now help some people understand this process better. For me and my drying this is where the cure starts and I quote from Simon "60-65% RH - the stems snap, the product feels a bit sticky, and it is curing." Leave them dry until the stem cracks when you bend it. I think the post is a little confusing as it first says start curing before the stem snaps and it is still pliable but then its followed up by curing starts when product is at 60-65% and STEM SNAPS.

Hopefully I didnt offend anyone from this post. Just trying to learn. Also I hope mature people can overlook previous debates and give good solid information with out the ridiculing.

 

[Rumple]

Hopefully I didnt offend anyone from this post. Just trying to learn. Also I hope mature people can overlook previous debates and give good solid information with out the ridiculing.

Lol, good luck.

 

[Trousers]

I have a few of those round hygrometers that you can calibrate. There is an easy and cheap way to calibrate them.

Take a small cup/bowl that will fit in a zip lock baggie with your hygrometer. In the cup mix some water and salt until it is a slurry.
Seal the cup and the hygrometer in the bag. Salt water evaporates and will raise the humidity to 75%. Let it sit overnight then dial in the hygrometer to read 75%.

Easy.

Thanks again Simon. I've been doing the perfect cure for a couple years now and it works like a charm.

 

[Malacath]

wait till the pot hanging starts to almost dry fully (between 5 and 7 days)and stems almost snap. place nuggs in grocery bags about 3/4 full for like 2 days and leave open some where dark and kool with air flow. fluff consistently. place in air/light tight jars or tobacco jars with lid unclosed but on top of jar for another day or so then stuff into jars dont be afraid to pack down nuggs not too mutch tho then open up the jars every other day for like a week then start the long seal for a couple weeks in total darkness... some strains can even be cured for like a month.

 

[SimonD]

Ive done this for several years this way. I air out the jars so they aren't moist long term, and it smooths out the smoke. But after several months the buds all turn brown. And, I don't have that sweet skunky smell, usually little smell at all. The potency is good, but why can't I keep the nice aroma and greenish color?

Both are strain-dependent properties. As the product cures, chlorophyll and its byproducts diminish and the true colors come out. Some bud is red, some is brown, some is gold-like, and some is brown. Off the top of my head, Nirvana's Shiva stays green as does Next Gen's Grapefruit. Same goes for the smell, though to be perfectly honest I've yet to cure anything that didn't have an easily identifiable scent.

Helping a friend with their grow, and pulled one plant Friday. Like I've done in the past, we just cut off branches, trimmed down to the bud, and hung in a dark closet, keeping the door closed with no fan. It wasn't very hot here last four days, highs in the mid to upper seventies.

But as in years past, we figured we had better jar today, and it may be too late. Even though the stems are flexible, the buds are likely way too dry to cure. At this rate we might have to hang for two days max and then jar. But practically speaking, how can we slow down the initial drying process? Would just removing the fan leaves and leaving the sugar leaves slow the process? I kind of hate to do that because it makes trimming twice as hard once the leaves fold over the bud.

Any tips?

[I pulled the post above from another current thread]

If the stems you refer to are in the flowers, themselves, they're definitely not too dry. Likely the flowers are too wet, and they'll rehydrate relatively quickly in a sealed container and will need to be brought down again before a cure can begin.


Simon

 

[SimonD]

Experience- It didnt work for me and I feel that is to wet to go into jars I tried a few times not just once. Same problem as obijohn.. Terrible dark discoloration, loss of smell, and little bag appeal. I kinda think the rh in my house is to high for this and they NEVER dry. When I open my jars and 65-70% rh goes in there, they just get wetter. I like to get them nice and dry hanging the whole plant, trim, and then cure.

You don't seem to realize that these factors are not independent. If the plant dries whole well enough to cure, but the bud doesn't cure due to the RH in the room - as you claim above - then such action would be physically impossible. Can't happen. There's oblivious something amiss in this equation.

Please understand there's only one way to air-cure and it's relative to the moisture content in the flowers. You can get there any way you like. Want to dry the plant whole? Fine. Don't want to? OK. It's not like it really matters.

The texture (moisture content) and smell go right where I want it during the cure. It also seems to take less time. Anyone having a large harvest would need a rack of rh meters and I just dont see that being practical.

Because, there's no such thing as a bigger container?

BTW thanks guys for opening this thread hopefully simond can now help some people understand this process better. For me and my drying this is where the cure starts and I quote from Simon "60-65% RH - the stems snap, the product feels a bit sticky, and it is curing." Leave them dry until the stem cracks when you bend it. I think the post is a little confusing as it first says start curing before the stem snaps and it is still pliable but then its followed up by curing starts when product is at 60-65% and STEM SNAPS.

Hopefully I didnt offend anyone from this post. Just trying to learn. Also I hope mature people can overlook previous debates and give good solid information with out the ridiculing.

Follow the directions. It's pretty self-explanatory. I'd suggest reading the thread on IC, if more involved instruction is required. Lots of folks willing to help. No offense, I just don't have the time or the inclination to deal with this.

Simon

 

[SimonD]

Lol, good luck.

Heh, it's as if folks would rater argue than grow lots of bud. When I started out, I identified a number of growers I wanted to learn from, shut my mouth and listened for a hell of a long time, while putting in the hours in my own garden. Here, the less experience you have, the louder you are. No thanks.

Simon

 

[grower215]

i read somewhere awhile back that you cant get your RH% below what it is for an empty jar... which for me is 64-66%.. is this true? if so how can i cure properly...

 

[YoungBezzle]

Simon Wattz Up Bruh I Was Wondering If You Are Anybody In This Thread Has Ever Heard Of Or Used The Boveda 62% Humidipaks? I've Recently Purchased Some Along With Some Cvault Containers And Have Yet To Use Them But I Pretty Sure They Are Gonna Do The Trick! They Were Featured in HighTimes And Every Review I've Read From Growers Who Use Them Were Positive. All You Gotta Do Is Dry Your Buds Until Your Stems Almost Snap, Drop Your Buds In The Jar Along With Your Boveda Humidipak And BOOM! You're Done! No Burping, No Opening Your Jars! The trick is to leave the proper moisture content in the bud, in relation to it’s particular density. Relative humidity, and air temperature when jarring will play a role as well. Leaving just enough water and air to allow the "Beneficial" bacteria to feed on the chlorophyll And Starch, but not enough to proliferate throughout the jar. When they run out of air, they die. So opening the jar is counterproductive to curing. The Humidipaks Will Lower Or Raise The Rh To 62%. I Think These Paks Are A Must Have For Beginners And A Nice Addition To The Experienced Growers Arsenal Of "Pot Growing Gadgets"! kiss-ass

 

[dc4]

Some bud is red, some is brown, some is gold-like, and some is brown.

Simon

Nice one!

 

[grower215]

Simon Wattz Up Bruh I Was Wondering If You Are Anybody In This Thread Has Ever Heard Of Or Used The Boveda 62% Humidipaks? I've Recently Purchased Some Along With Some Cvault Containers And Have Yet To Use Them But I Pretty Sure They Are Gonna Do The Trick! They Were Featured in HighTimes And Every Review I've Read From Growers Who Use Them Were Positive. All You Gotta Do Is Dry Your Buds Until Your Stems Almost Snap, Drop Your Buds In The Jar Along With Your Boveda Humidipak And BOOM! You're Done! No Burping, No Opening Your Jars! The trick is to leave the proper moisture content in the bud, in relation to it’s particular density. Relative humidity, and air temperature when jarring will play a role as well. Leaving just enough water and air to allow the "Beneficial" bacteria to feed on the chlorophyll And Starch, but not enough to proliferate throughout the jar. When they run out of air, they die. So opening the jar is counterproductive to curing. The Humidipaks Will Lower Or Raise The Rh To 62%. I Think These Paks Are A Must Have For Beginners And A Nice Addition To The Experienced Growers Arsenal Of "Pot Growing Gadgets"! kiss-ass

Where can you those pacs at??

 

[obijohn]

If the stems you refer to are in the flowers, themselves, they're definitely not too dry. Likely the flowers are too wet, and they'll rehydrate relatively quickly in a sealed container and will need to be brought down again before a cure can begin.


Simon

the flowers are pretty much crispy. After jarring, they do get springy....but not wet...within 24 hours. But my understanding of the curing process is that once the bud dries out, it's dead. It can be rehydrated, but if the the plant tissue is dead it won't cure

 

[BRSmoker]

More info on the boveda: http://bovedainc.com/solutions/herbal/

Also, by this logic, a cigar humidor should be ideal for curing and keeping marijuana for long periods of time, right?