Curing for looks, smell, and taste (assuming potency's already there).

Thundercat said:
...

True keeper plants won't leave you questioning if your buds will smell or taste good. They will be frosty, potent, smelly, tasty, and should yield decent. I don't ever select plants based off yields though, I always look at flavor, smell, and quality of the high.
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First 6 months in new house/setup. Three years' growing. Last house was my first, cured in basement with AC/dehumidifier blowing ... awful room control. Did decent with a 12.5 day cure, but felt it capped me at mids. I like the data approach I'm taking now. For the first time, I've got the room basically decent. I'm optimistic. They're all healthy and look great, so I'm happy -- just need them to smell and taste great, consistently.

I told myself I wouldn't grow additional strains until I figure out the smell/taste of what I've got. I've grown at least 30 strains in the past 3 years since getting started.... There's nothing too esoteric about my current strains. Generally, they're either gassy (vanilla, other flavors) or fruity (different fruit, fruit plus peanut butter):

Grape Cobbler,
Rocky Mountain Strawberries,
Strawberry Glue,
Cherry Pound Cake,
Hulkamania,
The Undercaker,
Platinum Frost,
Gorilla Cookies,
Gas Cake,
Conjugal Visit (Wedding Cake x Bitch Slap),
Captain Cake,
Runthz.

Frosty Kush MInts didn't make it -- one made it, male....
 
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Well amongst all that you should have at least a couple that give you good flavor and smell. Make sure you let the next batch get full ripe, because it really is that important. I learned it in my own garden, and have seen it in many others over the last 17 years growing. Dialing in the dry environment is great, it sound like you are heading in a good direction. Make sure you aren't creating too much wind, I don't know how big your space is, but 2 AC or dehumidifiers seems like a lot of air flow. I have lived in places that were humid about half the year my whole life. Its definitely a challenge to find the balance. Thats one of the reasons I ended up using the paper bag method. It allowed me a lot more control.
 
Apostatize said:
Finally started using my drywall moisture meter. It gives me a measurement before jarring. Hopefully, something like 35% moisture at a meaty part of a hanging whole plant's stalk equates to just under 70% RH in the jar and I can burp from there.
I'll find out.

The whole branch snapping thing isn't that helpful. A more experienced grower probably develops a feel for that sort of thing.
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I believe you have be considerably drier than 35 percent moisture.i recall exactly but I think it's more like 15.Imo you want to jar at 60 rh.Jarring too soon will affect smell and taste .GL
 
buckaclark said:
I believe you have be considerably drier than 35 percent moisture.i recall exactly but I think it's more like 15.Imo you want to jar at 60 rh.Jarring too soon will affect smell and taste .GL
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Actually, it's perfect. 33-35% moisture at the stalk near the lowest branch of a whole plant equates to 55-65% RH at the bud. Perfect.
 
Apostatize said:
Actually, it's perfect. 33-35% moisture at the stalk near the lowest branch of a whole plant equates to 55-65% RH at the bud. Perfect.
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Vague, inaccurate, and kind of silly..
What is your prefered method of checking said stalks moisture?
 
Boatguy said:
Boatguy said:
Vague, inaccurate, and kind of silly..
What is your prefered method of checking said stalks moisture?
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Not silly at all. Some of you say you've been growing for decades but, when it comes to drying and curing, you still do a lot of guesswork (e.g., airing out on racks, rehanging, or even adding cardboard (lmao)).

A simple 2-pin moisture reader that has a setting for wood/dry wall works perfectly. Thanks for playing.
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There's a lot of misinformation on this site about drying/curing. Sure, drying is easy ... but drying until you're in the sweet spot for curing (55-65%RH) is more of a science than guessing. Every day you have to rehang/add cardboard is time you're losing ... should be curing but you're not until RH is in range. Lots comes off the hanger >70% RH.
 
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Boatguy said:
Drying pot is not complicated.
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I follow this formula. Perfect dry every time.

math.jpg
 
I like to wet trim and get a few fans blasting on them asap. I usually aim for a rh% of around 20-30 with the help of a couple dehueys and get them stems snapping within 24-48 hours of chop. If you’ve let them mature enough and done a proper flush it should smell fine.
 
buckaclark said:
I believe you have be considerably drier than 35 percent moisture.i recall exactly but I think it's more like 15.Imo you want to jar at 60 rh.Jarring too soon will affect smell and taste .GL
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Hey, buckaclark. Thanks for this. The more I read about it, the moisture range for curing/jarring seems to be from 35% moisture (high end) to 10-12% (ideal). I just want to take a measurement/have a reference point. I'll take surface moisture readings at (1) thick stalk base, (2) largest bud, and (3) medium-sized buds until I find what's best.

xtsho doesn't cure, so I'm thinking he dries his below 20% like you suggested. And I know bk78 has said that he dries the shit out of his. So, 35% probably isn't dry enough.

Convenient experiment: one group had a stalk surface moisture reading between 28-35% before curing, and will cure 1-2 months; another group will dry to ~10% either (a) at stalk or (b) at buds, and then cure 1 month; and the last group will also dry to ~10% surface moisture, but won't be cured.
 
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