Best Harvest/Cure

[42ndupchuck]

Whats the best way to harvest and cure to bring out the smell and that white ash? Any body got any tips? Just looking for peoples personal opinions.

I really like that cure jar journal. that helped a lot, good experiment. thanks a lot!

 

[Boondocks]

I have always followed the no ferts for 2 weeks before harvest plenty of fresh water..outside grows hung upside down in a cool dark and dry low humidity area with a light breeze from a fan blowing indirectly on the buds for a day or 2 then stick buds in mason jars and burb daily ohh and then i open icmag.com and use the search button :]

 

[Guest]

Hey 42nd!

The thing I've learned, and continue to test/prove is the cure quality is VERY dependent on the initial drying period. Dont hang the lady long enough and you'll have a hay smell for months. Hang her too long and, well I dont know yet as I'm still testing that one. But the point is to make SURE you give the plant a nice drying period before filling the jars. This should give you the floral aroma you're wanting, even after only a few weeks in the jars.

 

[b8man]

I've got some bud which was jarred too early - the smell after a couple of weeks is great, but it won't burn well.

So in other words, what Klutter said - Dry them properly - it's important.

 

[42ndupchuck]

yeah... what are the dangers of hanging too long?? especially in a mildly humid environment, they wouldnt dry brittle and thus have enough moisture for cure I assume right? any thoughts?

 

[Habibi]

always make sure u only feed ur plants plain water for 10-14 days before u harvest, dry them to your liking, some people like stems to snap i like them to still have a little bend to them, then put them in glass airtight jars for a week until u get the real nice smell off them and then you should be in toking town after that


good luck

 

[b8man]

If you over dry them then you can easily re-moisten them by adding fresh canna leaves (or lemon peel) to the curing jars. They'll go from crispy to slightly moist.

The dangers of hanging too long are mostly mould. It should take 10-14 days for a perfect dry.

yeah... what are the dangers of hanging too long?? especially in a mildly humid environment, they wouldnt dry brittle and thus have enough moisture for cure I assume right? any thoughts?

 

[42ndupchuck]

cool. thanks for all the info

 

[touringfunkband]

The dangers of hanging too long are mostly mould. It should take 10-14 days for a perfect dry.

Mold from being over dried? I thought mold would be the result of jaring before dried properly. Isn't the process of burping to prevent the moisture left in the bud from turning the bud to mold? Wet bud = mold. Right? I do realize that humidity is a factor here as well.

 

[smokedoja]

still waiting....

 

[kovenant]

The dangers of hanging too long are mostly mould. It should take 10-14 days for a perfect dry.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 42ndupchuck
yeah... what are the dangers of hanging too long?? especially in a mildly humid environment, they wouldnt dry brittle and thus have enough moisture for cure I assume right? any thoughts?

he was answering the question if you hang it too long in a humid environment... mold.


which, in my opinion is the worst case senario... however, 42nd has a valid point... if curing in a semi-humid environment, perhaps you could dry/cure all in the same method: during hanging. if the air was moist enough not to dry it out... and dry enough not to mold. /shrugs has anyone experimented with that? where's Klutter when you need him?

 

[42ndupchuck]

well, its also kind of like, if one of the main goals of curing is to leech out as much chlorophyll as possible, then that would just mean drying the stuff out as slow as possible.

I.E. the jars make the drying environment only as humid as the water content in the bud itself.... so why shouldnt a larger, cooler and only mildly humid environment be too much different from a jar?

Seems like the biggest thing to avoid is drying too quick and in a humid environment.

 

[floppyfundanglr]

theres all kinds of methods and even experiments on here. Some are hard to follow and others dont work. In klutters thread he had 4 samples and all pretty similar methods, yet only like one really had that pungent weed oder. The others a little hay smell. I say experiment til you get it right. THe amount of bud your using will differ these times. Your relative humidity and temperature. NOw all this said i think there are so many variables that there is no one way.

peace

 

[merlin123456]

I did check out the drying / curing exp. diary over here, and I have a OTG that says the way is to ditch the jars. Dry your harvest as needed, then go from paper bag to 1 gal plastic bags, switching the contents everyday until its ready to go.

His guy, and MOTG (major-old-time-grower) from mendo says that this is the best method they've used, and they are the primary sellers to the clubs....

Has anyone tired this paper to plastic method?

 

[Pirate138]

1st hang trimmed buds in a dark nonhumid place for about 1 week, 2nd place buds into wide mouth glass jars with lid (not to full). once a day open the jar and lightly shake, leave jar open for 15-20 mins. continue this for at least 1 week before adequate curing has occurred, continue jar curing for as long as desired for an even smoother smoke. ive heard some people jar curing for up to 3 years, very smoooooth

 

[kovenant]

I did check out the drying / curing exp. diary over here, and I have a OTG that says the way is to ditch the jars. Dry your harvest as needed, then go from paper bag to 1 gal plastic bags, switching the contents everyday until its ready to go.

His guy, and MOTG (major-old-time-grower) from mendo says that this is the best method they've used, and they are the primary sellers to the clubs....

Has anyone tired this paper to plastic method?

i too know some old time growers who do not use the glass jar method in their cures. i do not know if they have ever tried them, and reverted to not using them based off experience... or if they just have enjoyed the cure they use without them and have never experimented beyond their method. i will try and find out.

i have also heard to use plastic bags (left open) inside of paper bags (folded at the top) and burping the paper bags for about 15-20 minutes a day. the reasons given for using this method were:

1) better preservation of trichomes on plastic (i guess paper can absorb some that are laying/resting on the paper)
2) the paper bag ensures no light is penetrating into the curing weed (which can affect potency)

im about ready to pull my girls (1 more day) and not quite sure what method im going to use. i have mason jars. i have paper bags. i can easily get some turkey bags (the large plastic bags that alot of growers use)... maybe ill experiment and try a few methods and see which works best for me. ill report back!

 

[Guest]

i always like to dry hanging in cardboard box with slight breeze. then jar after they dry, stem snap is good sign to jar and if humidity is present cut big buds down to smaller ones and hang the least amount of moisture is always better when it comes to jarring and drying is all dependant of conditions.Thats just my xperience. but u will understand after doing it once or twice. good luck I would stay away from plastic bag until drier almost ready to jar.



ive done pnds and ive done small amount and u just need cool dark air for drying and jars or turkey bags in 5gal buckets only when dry.You still have to burp while curing.

 

[BuddahBoyee]

Hello. I am new here but have been reading in the shadows for awhile. This older friend of mine showed me a method of hanging them on a line. As the buds dry firm and the stems snap then take a plastic trash bag and gather the hung nugs into a bundle which you bag up...while still hung. When the moisture comes back take off the bag repeating the process till you clip em, jar or bag them for curing.

 

[Mister Postman]

I find I get better quality with a slower dry period..

I hang the buds on the stems for a few days until they are dry on the outside to the touch, but still moist on the inside. I then snip the individual buds off the main stems, and place them loosely into brown paper bags to further dry. The brown paper bag allows for enough airflow to continue the dry, but at a bit slower pace then in the open hanging. I work the bags as you would a jar for a week or two, opening it up daily for 10-20 minutes daily to allow the outside of the buds to dry up, rotating the buds, and sealing them back up.

Once they are fully dry In the bags, I then place them into the curing jars. For the first week I open the jars up daily, just to make sure they are in fact fully dry. Once I conclude that they are fully dry with no more risk for mold, I seal the jars up and place them into storage for a long cure..

 

[hbstoner]

all i do is chop them, cut off all the big fan leaves. then dry in a cool area for 1 -2 weeks. Try and keep the temps down around 60 and humidity around 30-40. They will dry out nice and slow in there and then when i can bend the stem and it snaps ill throw them into jars. Seems to work really good for me, im going to say the most important part is drying them in a cool area. If its to warm you wont get a nice dry.