Wet trim .vs. dry trim and when do I jar it?

As the title implies. I cut down a small blueberry and two of my nebulas with huge colas. I have them hanging upside down in a dark 5 × 5 tent with the rh at 49% with a small fan circulating the air. I always feel as if I mess up the dry/cure process before, so I'm trying really hard to nail it.

I have read more than a few threads on here about whether or not to wet trim or dry trim, I personally clips off the fan leaves before they go into the tent, then they dry with the sugar on, its easier.

My question is, when should I consider it dry enough to trim? How far should I let the sugar recede before I trim? Do i trim it, then let it dry for like another few days?

I always hang till it feels slightly crispy on the outside, and still soft inside. Then break it down to buds with sugar leaves on them and put them in a paper bag for another 3-5 days. I open it and check on them daily and stir them around. When they are perfect for smoking and smell right I trim the sugar leaves off and clean up the buds and then bag or jar them for storage. Awesome taste every time.

Thundercat said:

I always hang till it feels slightly crispy on the outside, and still soft inside. Then break it down to buds with sugar leaves on them and put them in a paper bag for another 3-5 days. I open it and check on them daily and stir them around. When they are perfect for smoking and smell right I trim the sugar leaves off and clean up the buds and then bag or jar them for storage. Awesome taste every time.

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If, after a nice slow dry, and you break them down into individual buds to put into a bag (paper or other) or a bucket, or jar, if they still have a...soft feel/squeeze to them do you think they'd have needed a little further drying? I'm not 100% if said "soft" feeling buds are just that, a little on the less dense side. I know it's hard to give that advice without direct observation.

When I did a quick test trim of several buds, once the sugar leaf (and very minor not so sugar leaf) was cut off (which slightly masked the "weed smell" with that chlorophyl smell) the underlying stinkyness came out. Then I could put it to my nose and it smelled pretty great. In past efforts, it more or less had no smell, or a smell, but not really a terpy, or "weedy" smell - though not unpleasant. Others said it smelled very good, maybe I had higher nose standards. Haha.

Thanks.

MR.NICE.GUY.1990 said:

As the title implies. I cut down a small blueberry and two of my nebulas with huge colas. I have them hanging upside down in a dark 5 × 5 tent with the rh at 49% with a small fan circulating the air. I always feel as if I mess up the dry/cure process before, so I'm trying really hard to nail it.

I have read more than a few threads on here about whether or not to wet trim or dry trim, I personally clips off the fan leaves before they go into the tent, then they dry with the sugar on, its easier.

My question is, when should I consider it dry enough to trim? How far should I let the sugar recede before I trim? Do i trim it, then let it dry for like another few days?

Click to expand...

Good question(s).
I remove the fans right at chop as well. Then, this time, I dried at about 62% and 60*F for... probably 12 days, maybe 14...and I think it could have stretched longer. I was worried for most of this time, hah. Then I strayed a bit from the norm(?)...
Best results so far I think though, still a ways to go to fully understand and get a real process down.

MR.NICE.GUY.1990 said:

As the title implies. I cut down a small blueberry and two of my nebulas with huge colas. I have them hanging upside down in a dark 5 × 5 tent with the rh at 49% with a small fan circulating the air. I always feel as if I mess up the dry/cure process before, so I'm trying really hard to nail it.

I have read more than a few threads on here about whether or not to wet trim or dry trim, I personally clips off the fan leaves before they go into the tent, then they dry with the sugar on, its easier.

My question is, when should I consider it dry enough to trim? How far should I let the sugar recede before I trim? Do i trim it, then let it dry for like another few days?

Click to expand...

let them hang for 2 weeks,till the buds just snap off then its dry,during the second week of drying theres still some enzomatic chemical changes.onse the clrophyll burns off youl start getting that sweet smell of bud,only when its totally dry you can start curing process.this is how I get my stuff so dank.but they hv to be dry.good luck.i. prefer dry trim so i can get trim to make bubble hash

2com said:

If, after a nice slow dry, and you break them down into individual buds to put into a bag (paper or other) or a bucket, or jar, if they still have a...soft feel/squeeze to them do you think they'd have needed a little further drying? I'm not 100% if said "soft" feeling buds are just that, a little on the less dense side. I know it's hard to give that advice without direct observation.

Thanks.

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So you lumped paper bag in with other bags/buckets/jars and that actually isn’t how my drying works. The paper bag serves a purpose. Even after the hang dry there is usually a little more moisture in the middle of the buds then on the outside. So when I put them in the paper bags it allows that moisture to redistribute throughout the buds, but it doesn’t trap the moisture the way that a jar/bucket/plastic bag would. Incidentally as I stir and shake the buds around in the paper bag, much of my sugar leaf trimming gets down for me too . So when they are nice and evenly dry and ready to smoke they just need a little clean up before final storage.

I’ve never had perfect drying conditions always had to work with what I had. So I learned how dry to get the buds during the slow dry. I learned what point was too dry or too wet for the next step. Getting all the various sized buds perfecting evenly drying while hanging can be tough. If your buds are still feeling soft inside it’s tough to say if it’s moisture or just airy buds.l without seeing/feeling them. Try opening one up and seeing if it feels/looks damp. Fact is damp weed can mold and damp weed doesn’t burn or smoke well.

Haha, I did, and I knew you'd point that out, rightly so. I only lumped in the other containers with paper bags because those are the ones I've used. But you're right, of course, and I know - paper/cardboard and similar have a different (more desirable) effect for drying. Allowing it to "breath", more or less.

Thundercat said:

Incidentally as I stir and shake the buds around in the paper bag, much of my sugar leaf trimming gets down for me too .

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This is happening more or less in the bucket as well. Very little to trim, which is almost just as annoying in a way, haha.

Thundercat said:

Try opening one up and seeing if it feels/looks damp. Fact is damp weed can mold and damp weed doesn’t burn or smoke well.

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Good idea, duh. Haha, I will check it out.
Thank you for the tips.