Set me the phack straight(My dry and cure method) and some other ramblings

armorzaku

Active Member
Please bear with me, this is a long post but im sure something knowledgeable will come out of it for the people that take the time.



So after reading thousands of posts, hundreds of articles, and dozens of books I have two FULL-SET grows under my belt.

The first one being deep water culture under t'5's using the "Lucas" Formula.
Although good in veg, we all know how that turns out.(not enough light, high nutrient cost, im a dumbass, etc...)

The second one being EBB n Flow with hydroton pebbles some in five gallon buckets and some in flood trays under 1000 watters mostly(t5 in veg).
I noticed a noticeable difference. So i noted it.

The reason I say it like that is because, despite trying to be funny, I still felt like I wasn't reaching my full potential.

I found myself finally settling down with soil methods. I feel like finally this might be the "one", after 3 years of education and experimentation.
The plants are healthy, frosty, smell wonderful, and in about 2 and a half weeks will be ready to harvest.

Now one aspect I haven't been able to keep many notes or try many things on, drying and curing.

This is because on my first set I harvested way too early, and it was under shitty light anyways.
The second full set, i harvested it on time, but I left out of town for a few days and they dried way faster than anticipated when i hung them upside down:/.

I smoked a little bit of it before i put it into jars for curing and it tasted very chemically(i didnt flush along with a couple other things i think) and was disappointed with the overall turnout so i bubble bag'd it:)
Made some good hash.

Now not having much experience with drying and curing im shitting my pants and doing all the research i can while trying to clean it up and sort through all the other shit most of these forum posts and sites have to offer(No offense) and this is what I have came up with.

Please feel free to correct me or give me your opinion on it.

Uncleben, Lucas, Riddleme if you guys still exist on these forums, some advice from you guys would be ideal, although a long shot.
You guys have been, along with a handful of other members, the source of most of my "aspect" on MMJ.

My dry and cure understandings as of right now: (your almost done reading this long ranting post, hang in there)

1.)1-2 weeks before harvest start flushing(Its up too you)

2.)3 days before chopping them down give them a 48-72hr dark period.(I have heard this stresses them to produce more resin for safety of the next generation)

3.)Once they are ready to cut down, you give em a little trim to take of the fan leaves and maybe a little sugar leaf.
Leaving enough sugar leaf to give it another final manicure at the end .

4.)Next, cut them down and hang them upside down in a dark well ventilated room at 65F 40%RH until the outside gets i guess a little "crispy" and the stems snap.

-Now it shouldn't COMPLETELY snap like a toothpick, but i think this more relates to the sound of the stem?
If it is stiffer and "snaps" without completely breaking off along it being a little crispy then it is ready for jarring.

Now here's a question about method.
Do they go in a paper bag before jarring for a little bit or no?
my instinct is leaning towards no if they are dried properly, but I have read that it compacts them?

-If you put them in the jar and the RH raises to 70% then they are a little too moist and may need a couple extra days to dry out and would then the best way be to maybe put them in a paper bag with 3 inches at the bottom until they dry a little more?
-I feel like the goal is to keep it at 65% RH inside the jar and as slowly as possible work your way down to 55%-60%?

Am I wrong?

5.) Once inside a jar and stable at 65% RH, curing can initiate.
Now like I said above the goal is too take it from 65%RH to 55%-60% as SLOW as possible.
and then once its there KEEP it there.

Having in mind that a good curing process takes about 1 month, and lets say when they hit the jars its been one week.
That means that it must lower no more then 10%RH in at least a 21 day span.

am I wrong?

Now lets go to burping

6.) Burping at the right pace can mean whether your product dries at the desired rate(10%rh in 21 days).

From everything I have read it seems like 63%-65% is the curing "zone" cause that when it starts.
Its best to put it in jars when it is around 68%RH from what Ive gathered?
Now the burping schedule has me a little confused.

at the beginning:
Do I burp once a day for 15 minutes?
Do I burp every 12 hours for 4 hours with the lid off?
Should i keep a meter inside monitor that the relative humidity drop no more then .5%RH within a 24hr period, and if so do i add fan leaves to raise RH?
Or should I use the weight method and weigh it out daily to see how much is being lost.
and if that rate is not on track to lose 70% of the total weight within at least 21 days then i need to keep the humidity higher?
do i then add fan leaves to add moisture?

when it hits the curing zone(63%RH-65%RH) do i burp it only once every couple of days?

This has been racking my brain and im trying to get it straight.

and my last step:

7.) once burping is done you keep it at 55%-60%RH, give it its final trim, and keeps those lids closed!
70% of the weight should be gone??
at that point roughly 30 days later, you should have some good quality smoke.
I understand that 2 months is better, and some people do it for 6months-1year.



Well that's the end of my post and I think if conveyed my misunderstandings.
please feel free to critique or ask questions if you are unclear about something.
Ive been writing so much im sure i left a couple things out that make something hard to understand.

thanks for bearing with me, i know its a long post but im sure something note-worthy will come of it.
 

PuffinChronic

Active Member
Well that was a long read lol.. I've never dried or cured so I dunno how to help you.. I have a better understanding of what I will have to do in a month or two though. Thanks.

Puff.
 

slowbus

New Member
for me its different everytime.My place changes with the weather.You have the basic idea.Now it takes practice.Lots of us have been at this for years trying.Getting it right everytime has sooooooo many variables
 

armorzaku

Active Member
for me its different everytime.My place changes with the weather.You have the basic idea.Now it takes practice.Lots of us have been at this for years trying.Getting it right everytime has sooooooo many variables
thanks for letting me know im at least on the right track.
do you use paper bags to compact?
 
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