I'll make an easy flow chart -
1. Hang buds to dry
* Do they taste great when smoked and emulate the type of smoke you like from top shelf buds with that nice cured smell? Then proceed to step 2.
* Do they feel damp inside, burn uneven and taste grass hay or like a fresh plant? Go back to stage 1 for another week.
2. Jar the buds
* Do they stay the same and smoke like top shelf after 24hours in a jar? Recheck tomorrow then leave sealed till you require then to smoke.
* Did they develop a hay grass smell or taste that wasn't there when you first jarred? If yes then go back to step 1, they weren't dried long enough.
You should achieve drying in around two weeks, I'm not talking the buds just being dried but dried and allowed to develop their bouquet. Saying drying is misleading, they need to be finished ready for smoking or market not just dry as in a low moisture content. Other processes happen after it dries and Futher moisture equalises out which takes longer. If you jar before this and simply think dry means dry then the jar will not be kind and you will get that hay taste horses love so much.