[BAD NEWS BROWN]

What's up dudes, I've done 3 successful grows now, but the one bit I'm still unsure about is drying and curing. I've read many different things on the net, from you must leave them drying for 2 weeks no matter what, to it doesn't matter how long you dry as long as curing humidity is 60-65%. My question is- what's your method? And what sort of temperatures do you normally have when drying?

[Germanator]

atm my buds are hanhging upside down in the tent temp around 18 c and rh round 53 that for 5 days then in the jars with some of these as controlls 

 

leave it go up to 75% and then open the jars till rh drops back down to 55% then i repeat till the rh stops rising, then its ready to smoke in my eyes 

[mellowed]

I usually chuck all my bud into a big cardboard box with a pc fan attached to a hole I cut to keep sucking air out of the box ( a single pc fan running at 12v will blow enough air out via a 4 or 5 inch carbon filter to create negative pressure when the lids closed to keep smell from escaping. ) I have put a few shelves inside the box to separate the bud abit.
Once all inside I chuck it in my boiler cupboard on floor, urn on the fan an leave it there for a week but every day I churn it all about to make sure it's all drying inside the clumps of bud.

After 5-7 days when the stems crack an don't bend then it all goes into jars which I open ever other day for a few mins.

If you find you are drying it to quickly then put the bud into jars an the remaining moisture trapped inside the buds will spread out an they will feel damp again so just start again with it.
When you dry to quickly the smoke will be harsh. I tend to let them dry slowly over a week an always get a nice smooth smoke.
The first part of the drying stage is to let the chlorophyll evaporate which is gonna give you the harsh feeling in your throat so the longer you can dry them the better but don't leave it to long as mould will form.


Hope that's of use to ya mate.

[Roy Cropper]

on string normally in the tent, total darkness, air circulating, not blowing directly on to the bud, 18-21 degrees C, 45-55% humidity, for 5-6 days until the stems snap, even then i might leave it another day ! by the way i don't count the day off trim as day 1, i start the count the day after trim, so to a lot of people that would be a week ! then into jars for burping !

 

if your in a tent upto 2.4x1.2x2.0 and humidity is an issue, argos do a cracking little de-humidifier for 50 notes, only a little one but will suffice in small areas 

 

wish i was burping jars right now ! 

 

Roy

[2scoops]

Chop and hang on stalks for about 5 days then destalk it and sling it on floor on paper till its dry, say another 3 days 5 max, i weigh it then i bung it in jars and smoke away.

[BAD NEWS BROWN]

Fantastic replies, thanks everybody!

When you dry to quickly the smoke will be harsh. I tend to let them dry slowly over a week an always get a nice smooth smoke.
The first part of the drying stage is to let the chlorophyll evaporate which is gonna give you the harsh feeling in your throat so the longer you can dry them the better but don't leave it to long as mould will form.

Cheers for that Mellowed mate, I think this is where I went wrong on my last grow. I chopped it during the heatwave, I was drying in 27c/36% humidity! The result is a slightly harsh smoke, it's ok but not the best tasting weed ever.

Keep them coming though guys, nothing beats first hand experience!

[Mrs Willy]

Heres my method. It takes a slightly different approach and looks at the whole period from chopping to being able to smoke it.... Which is a fakin nightmare lol..

 

1)  Cut the plants at base stem, pull off just the big fan leaves and hang em up to dry, in the groom lights off but a warm room (23-25c).

2)  Rotate them and inspect them daily.

3) After 7-10 days the stems should snap which is a trigger to go onto no4..

4) As you havent trimmed them, the remaining fan leaves will be dry and crisp, so just rub your palm all the way up and down the colas and the leaves will fall alway in your palm. No more trimming Each plant can be done in under a minute dead easy.

5) Snip up the bud and straight into jars.

6) For next 5 days, empty the jars onto a flat surface for 20 mins to give them air, then back in jars.

7) After 5 days, keep the lids on the jars and no burping. That will give you soft weed for up to 2-3 years if the lid is kept on.

8) Inspect the jar every few days once sealed for a week or so. After that, forget about it until you want to smoke em.

 

 

 

No4 is the one tho.. i hate trimming. The fact you leave the leaves on allows for a higher temp dry and keeps some moistness and flavour in the buds as the leaves wrap around the buds. As well as trimming becoming a very quick process.

 

 

[hazed bunny]

Heres my method. It takes a slightly different approach and looks at the whole period from chopping to being able to smoke it.... Which is a fakin nightmare lol..

1) Cut the plants at base stem, pull off just the big fan leaves and hang em up to dry, in the groom lights off but a warm room (23-25c).
2) Rotate them and inspect them daily.
3) After 7-10 days the stems should snap which is a trigger to go onto no4..
4) As you havent trimmed them, the remaining fan leaves will be dry and crisp, so just rub your palm all the way up and down the colas and the leaves will fall alway in your palm. No more trimming Each plant can be done in under a minute dead easy.
5) Snip up the bud and straight into jars.
6) For next 5 days, empty the jars onto a flat surface for 20 mins to give them air, then back in jars.
7) After 5 days, keep the lids on the jars and no burping. That will give you soft weed for up to 2-3 years if the lid is kept on.
8) Inspect the jar every few days once sealed for a week or so. After that, forget about it until you want to smoke em.



No4 is the one tho.. i hate trimming. The fact you leave the leaves on allows for a higher temp dry and keeps some moistness and flavour in the buds as the leaves wrap around the buds. As well as trimming becoming a very quick process.

could you no have posted that this afternoon

[Mrs Willy]

well you know for next time..

 

Strange thing is, it really works on two counts...

 

1) Easy to trim, up and down. job pretty much done.. Just pull off the crappy big fan leaves when wet. Once dried, all the trim stuff is very brittle so comes off easy

2) The remaining leaves provide protection, to allow you to up the temps = reduce humidity, and make the cure a bit sweeter and more uniform.

 

 

 

[Slippery]

Glad I found this before drying my outdoor behemoths!