Drying and curing (boveda 62%)

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
When you say hanging the whole plant do you mean literally the hole plant? chop at base and just hang, pruning away excess veg before hanging I assume too or do you just mean hanging the whole plant but in pieces
The whole plant, chopped about 6" up from the root ball. Then remove all the fans and any other insignificant leaf matter.

Example.

Before
image.jpg

After
image.jpg


Then around 2 weeks to dry, give or take for temp, humidity, and density.

This is just how I do it, but no burping or anything of the sort. Goes into hard to moisten back up and then into the bowl. Not THE way, just A way.
 

Actuosity

Well-Known Member
This is just how I do it, but no burping or anything of the sort. Goes into hard to moisten back up and then into the bowl. Not THE way, just A way.

thanks, I appreciate that "Not THE way, just A way" comment. I'm just always looking to learn and love to see everyone's different methods. Do you do a curing process as well or is this your curing process?
 

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
thanks, I appreciate that "Not THE way, just A way" comment. I'm just always looking to learn and love to see everyone's different methods. Do you do a curing process as well or is this your curing process?
I just trim it and put it into jars or bags at that point. The longer it sets, the more it cures, but without burping or worrying about mold or rot. The difference is, you can smoke it right after the initial dry, turns to white ash with flavor and high intact.
 

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
I don't know anyone that has the moisture testing equipment like in the link you provided. The best we can do is a hygrometer or experience. Good luck to you.
You can get a rough estimate by using wet weight vs dry weight, subtracting the dry from the wet, and then dividing the water weight from the dry to get a percentage. It's not perfect, but it's close enough, if you're interested.

Not saying there's anything wrong with your method, just pointing out that RH doesn't cure bud is all.
 

Kingrow1

Well-Known Member
Their two tests the water loss - sounds like simply weighing then reweighing when dry and dew point - could be the condensation mirror test i mentioned which i found in some moisture grain analysis reference.

Their grow info is badly worded and not great but full marks for the dry cure part - they go down to 6% but i feel a little low possibly.

:-)
 
Hanging the plant is a better option. At 70% I bet they hang a full 2 weeks. Like @3rd Monkey said keep a light breeze.

When you jar put a hygrometer in there and check it like 24 hours later or something. If it's higher than 62 you can use a pack to get you there.

I used boveda when I first heard of them. Now I just don't need them. I have 58% packs in a few jars I'm storing but seems like some of the smell is lost with the packs. Maybe it's just me.

Good luck newbie dude
Thanks man, i will try the hang method since everyone says its better. I have never done it before, is it ok just to hang them in an empty closet with a really small fan and the door slightly open (1-3cm)
 

Chief_Broom

Well-Known Member
In my experience every dry and cure can be different. I’m not a big time grower. The most I’ve ever dried an cured at one time was a couple of pounds. Some growers are dealing with tens or hundreds of pounds at a time so obviously your method will depend a lot on what you are trying to successfully store after harvest.
I don’t use any equipment other than my own sense of touch and smell. I do an initial light wet trim immediately after chopping (fan leaves) and then I hang the entire plant to dry. If the plant is too big for that I’ll cut it in half or thirds an hang those sections. Then I just monitor the plant for dryness. I go by the age old method of when the smaller stems snap but the slightly bigger stems bend sharply but don’t break. Once I see this across the entire plant I’ll break the whole thing down to nugs. I’ll then jar up those nugs. Obviously if some of the nugs are moist and not dry I’ll leave them out longer to dry in the open air. I do this initial dry in an enclosed area like a garage, shed, or attic. I don’t use fans because I don't want to accelerate this natural process. I monitor this dry very closely. I’ve had entire plants (that yielded over 1lb of dry flower) dry as fast as three days and I’ve had other smaller plants take almost 2 weeks to get where the small stems would snap.
Once I get all the nugs in jars I monitor that very closely. Several times a day I’ll open the jars to make sure the nugs haven’t moistened back up. If they have I’ll either dump them out or leave the lid off till the nugs dry back out. They should feel dry and be smokable. After a couple of days where the nugs stay dry I’ll start leaving the jars sealed an monitor closely by looking through the jars for any signs of accumulated moisture or mold. Once I’m pretty sure the nugs in jars are safe I don’t like to open them up anymore. I keep the jars stored in complete darkness in a cool place indoors. At this point I still visually check all my jars regularly for any sign of something amiss and I’ll use one jar as a test jar. Really this test jar will be what I’ll smoke myself.
People get discouraged because throughout the drying and curing process the smell off the bud steadily goes away an only really comes back when you grind it up. But give it time, say a couple of months an you’ll find the smell returns to your sealed up jars. A jar of good cured bud will fill a room with that amazing aroma when opened. At least that has always been my experience.
 

SSGrower

Well-Known Member
Thanks man, i will try the hang method since everyone says its better. I have never done it before, is it ok just to hang them in an empty closet with a really small fan and the door slightly open (1-3cm)
It is important to observe the rh in tha closet and what your local weather forecast is so you can best maintain roughly 50 -70 rh.

In my experience every dry and cure can be different. I’m not a big time grower. The most I’ve ever dried an cured at one time was a couple of pounds. Some growers are dealing with tens or hundreds of pounds at a time so obviously your method will depend a lot on what you are trying to successfully store after harvest.
I don’t use any equipment other than my own sense of touch and smell. I do an initial light wet trim immediately after chopping (fan leaves) and then I hang the entire plant to dry. If the plant is too big for that I’ll cut it in half or thirds an hang those sections. Then I just monitor the plant for dryness. I go by the age old method of when the smaller stems snap but the slightly bigger stems bend sharply but don’t break. Once I see this across the entire plant I’ll break the whole thing down to nugs. I’ll then jar up those nugs. Obviously if some of the nugs are moist and not dry I’ll leave them out longer to dry in the open air. I do this initial dry in an enclosed area like a garage, shed, or attic. I don’t use fans because I don't want to accelerate this natural process. I monitor this dry very closely. I’ve had entire plants (that yielded over 1lb of dry flower) dry as fast as three days and I’ve had other smaller plants take almost 2 weeks to get where the small stems would snap.
Once I get all the nugs in jars I monitor that very closely. Several times a day I’ll open the jars to make sure the nugs haven’t moistened back up. If they have I’ll either dump them out or leave the lid off till the nugs dry back out. They should feel dry and be smokable. After a couple of days where the nugs stay dry I’ll start leaving the jars sealed an monitor closely by looking through the jars for any signs of accumulated moisture or mold. Once I’m pretty sure the nugs in jars are safe I don’t like to open them up anymore. I keep the jars stored in complete darkness in a cool place indoors. At this point I still visually check all my jars regularly for any sign of something amiss and I’ll use one jar as a test jar. Really this test jar will be what I’ll smoke myself.
People get discouraged because throughout the drying and curing process the smell off the bud steadily goes away an only really comes back when you grind it up. But give it time, say a couple of months an you’ll find the smell returns to your sealed up jars. A jar of good cured bud will fill a room with that amazing aroma when opened. At least that has always been my experience.
If when burping jars you are doing it several times a day the moisture content is not equilibrated to what whould be considered dry bud. IMO this is a primary indicator of jarring too soon. The bud has equilibrated with the small volume of air in the jar, therefore when burping only a small amount of moisture is released, even if you leave the jars open for a bit. Some people are tuned to do this by feel others need meters, I try to use both.
No dude just lost what you meant - they no show products or stuff they use that i can see :-)
I hit their contact button and fired off a quick request, i give the 3 options 1- they will send me a meq table, 2- they will send me an advertising answer with no real meat, 3- Theyll just ignore me.:peace:
 

Kingrow1

Well-Known Member
It is important to observe the rh in tha closet and what your local weather forecast is so you can best maintain roughly 50 -70 rh.


If when burping jars you are doing it several times a day the moisture content is not equilibrated to what whould be considered dry bud. IMO this is a primary indicator of jarring too soon. The bud has equilibrated with the small volume of air in the jar, therefore when burping only a small amount of moisture is released, even if you leave the jars open for a bit. Some people are tuned to do this by feel others need meters, I try to use both.

I hit their contact button and fired off a quick request, i give the 3 options 1- they will send me a meq table, 2- they will send me an advertising answer with no real meat, 3- Theyll just ignore me.:peace:
They should send you table answer and futher help but i be they dont deal with small guys :-)
 
Top