WET VS DRY Trimming

[Zomboy]

I harvested 3 plants over the last few days. One I left for dry trimming only removing the large fans and 2 I wet trimmed. 1 of the 2 I wet trimmed, leaving several branches on the main stalk and the other half on the singular branches. See how it turns out

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

I harvested 3 plants over the last few days. One I left for dry trimming only removing the large fans and 2 I wet trimmed. 1 of the 2 I wet trimmed, leaving several branches on the main stalk and the other half on the singular branches. See how it turns out

Awesome. Do you have temp/RH control on your drying area?

 

[Zomboy]

Awesome. Do you have temp/RH control on your drying area?

I dont but its in a basement so its pretty stable. Last i checked the temps were around 65 with an rh of 50%.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

That's definitely decent.

 

[Ringodoggie]

Isn't 50% too low? I always read that once the humidity goes below 55%, curing stops.

Or, does that only pertain to pot that has been dried at less that 55% and now as it goes into the jars to cure, then you want it to remain over 55%????

I have never been 100% satisfied with the way my pot dries and cures. I am going to try a couple plants, dry trimmed, this time. Other than a couple experiments, I have always been a wet trimmer. 50 years is a long time to do something the wrong way. LOL

I have an awesome drying setup. It's a tent with a humidifier, intake fan, exhaust fan and timers for all. I can keep the tent just about exactly where I want it but, I never seem to get it just perfect. I usually dry at about 70F and 60% RH.


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[Zomboy]

Isn't 50% too low? I always read that once the humidity goes below 55%, curing stops.

Or, does that only pertain to pot that has been dried at less that 55% and now as it goes into the jars to cure, then you want it to remain over 55%????

I have never been 100% satisfied with the way my pot dries and cures. I am going to try a couple plants, dry trimmed, this time. Other than a couple experiments, I have always been a wet trimmer. 50 years is a long time to do something the wrong way. LOL

I have an awesome drying setup. It's a tent with a humidifier, intake fan, exhaust fan and timers for all. I can keep the tent just about exactly where I want it but, I never seem to get it just perfect. I usually dry at about 70F and 60% RH.


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I believe optimal drying conditions is around 70 degrees with 50% humidity. The curing process does begin when they are drying but once you jar them you want to keep the humidity at or around 65%

 

['Boogieman']

70° at 50% humidity it dries to fast for me. I aim for 60° and 70% humidity which is the highest my humidifier will go.

 

[Sconeofark]

That whole drying too fast thing is the reason for hanging whole plants with all the fans on. The initial dry slows and stays that way, the buds dry more evenly from the inside out.

Helps to have really terpy bud, so there is something left to cure once the water and ammonia ect are gone. Mmm that first week drying smell, ulp.

I go for a basket grass aroma in the plant material and a pure clean profile on the hash.

The plants natural oils will start to break down the flower going from sticky plaible buds to a crumbly sticky-ish kushy feeling product that rolls up nice and burns clean in the bowl.

Anything short of a good long dry and cure your buds are going to make your bong all goopy.

The drying process is every bit as important as flowering itself even if you are making hash with it.

Remember rule 1, Fire In Fire Out.

We should put far more effort into it.

 

[I'mback]

The turtle and the hare!

 

[Jellyfish]

View Image

That whole drying too fast thing is the reason for hanging whole plants with all the fans on. The initial dry slows and stays that way, the buds dry more evenly from the inside out.

Helps to have really terpy bud, so there is something left to cure once the water and ammonia ect are gone. Mmm that first week drying smell, ulp.

I go for a basket grass aroma in the plant material and a pure clean profile on the hash.

The plants natural oils will start to break down the flower going from sticky plaible buds to a crumbly sticky-ish kushy feeling product that rolls up nice and burns clean in the bowl.

Anything short of a good long dry and cure your buds are going to make your bong all goopy.

The drying process is every bit as important as flowering itself even if you are making hash with it.

Remember rule 1, Fire In Fire Out.

We should put far more effort into it.

Exactly right, and you even posted Exhibit A. Well done!!!

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

50% is a bit low and, the local RH increases quickly increases in a smaller area. With the right sized area for your harvest the 50% will quickly become 70-80%, and then you'll need to vent.

That whole drying too fast thing is the reason for hanging whole plants with all the fans on. The initial dry slows and stays that way, the buds dry more evenly from the inside out.

Correct, so you can see why many people without environmental control would lean toward a dry trim being better.

Awesome stuff, be proud.

 

[methias]

Interesting thread,

What are you confused about?
. Another poster suggested that the plants goes into some defense mode (terpene terminology stuff) when cut on fresh...which can lead to an inferior taste and aroma. I feel this may be true, but I'm just a regular ol' grower with no scientific knowledge of the matter.

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I saw a Nat Geographic on African giraffes sometime back that confirms that plants activity defend themselves when being eaten.
The giraffes have to eat quickly as the plant releases (something pheromone like) that signal other leaves nearby to change the way they taste to something nasty.
Without this natural defense from giraffes, most trees would be picked bare of all its foliage and just die.

With that in mind I'm gonna try dry trim next harvest.
Judy is about to start her flushing. I only flower one Judy at a time.


Vape on kids

 

[Sconeofark]

plants activity defend themselves when being eaten.
The giraffes have to eat quickly as the plant releases (something pheromone like) that signal other leaves nearby to change the way they taste to something nasty.

Yep and it does happen fast

NASA and ESA did extensive research on the effects of zero gravity on plants.

There were 480 genes observed to be differentially expressed in spaceflight versus ground control plants. The observation that only 480 genes were affected is remarkable, given that spaceflight plants and ground controls were operationally separated by 230 miles of altitude, 17,000 mph of velocity, and the other attendant potential impacts of orbital spaceflight, indicating that spaceflight environments have become extremely well controlled. Yet those 480 genes reveal a specific, rather robust, and in some ways unexpected physiological adaptation to spaceflight.

from one of many papers on the subject, all of which agree on this.

https://bmcplantbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2229-13-112

One experiment involved less than a minute of microgravity onboard the vomit comet. The plants showed a remarkable and permanent change in their gene expression.

Those relying on clones that may be years old would do well to look into this.

 

[Mr. J]

Yep and it does happen fast

NASA and ESA did extensive research on the effects of zero gravity on plants.



from one of many papers on the subject, all of which agree on this.

https://bmcplantbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2229-13-112

One experiment involved less than a minute of microgravity onboard the vomit comet. The plants showed a remarkable and permanent change in their gene expression.

Those relying on clones that may be years old would do well to look into this.

So technically if you could send a plant high enough, say with a balloon, that it could freefall for about a minute, and then get it to land safely then that would work too, right? Or you could carry on a skydive.

 

[Sconeofark]

Really depends on what you consider working.

It would cause the same sort of change in the plants, no reason to believe it wouldn't.

The real point is any stress no matter how trivial will in some way effect the plant. How that effects the end product depends on the stress the plants themselves ect.

This also happens in us animals, but in plants it's far more pronounced because they are sessile (immobile) so they can't just leave if it gets too hot too dry or humid ect.

Rather they evolved an aggressive internal response to environmental stimulus.

Like always this is not the end all answer for all growers. How we all do what we do depends on our application. Making hash one may want to get more light on the flower for instance.

Most of us are right, even when we completely disagree.

 

[Ringodoggie]

Very interesting last few posts, gang. Thanks

I am going to harvest this plant today or tomorrow. I am going to try a dry trim. Now, I ASSume that I cut off all the large fan leaves. And, any smaller leaves that are yellow or brown.

How about all these secondary leaves. I ASSume those all come off as well. Here's a pic of the plant. I have circled the stuff I plan to remove. If I am already over-doing it, let me know. Otherwise, I'll remove that stuff and take another pic to see the next step.

I am thinking I will remove any leaf that I can get to the stem of it. All the bracs remain. And, the smaller leaves attached to the secondary branches.

I'll trim this first stage and post another pic.




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[Ringodoggie]

Here is the first trim. Should I take more? Did I take too much? Sorry about the shitty pics.

Now... do I hang the entire plant so the branches all cluster together? Or, should I cut the 8 or 10 branches off the main stem and hang the branches separately?

Also, since I am moving and I sold all my grow stuff, I gave up my nice humidifier that I used in my drying tent. Thank god I didn't get rid of the tent. I had to make a ghetto humidifier and, so far, it's working great.

Simple plastic tub about 2'x2'. I poured about 4 gallons of water into it. Then, I put a 'milk crate' in the middle of it . Then, I draped a standard bath towel over the milk crate and allowed it to wick up some water. Then, I just pointed my oscillating table fan at the towel.Took the humidity in the tent from 40% to 53% in less than a half hour.

So, I should keep the tent at about 50% to 55% humidity?

Thanks. This is my first real try at dry trim.




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[hellfire]

Looks good, I'd say it is time for hanging. I do the entire plant for an even dry, branching it out can get ahead of you sometimes. I take off any yellow or discolored leaves and make sure to leave some fans on usually. Candy wrappers heh.

 

[Ringodoggie]

Thanks. She is currently hanging at 74F and 56%. 74F is a little high but I am stuck with what I have for now since I am in a temporary position.


The rest of the tent is looking pretty nice at about week 6. Few more weeks and the drying tent will be full. Depending on how this turns out, I may be dry trimming this entire crop.


Thanks again to all whom have contributed to this thread.

 

[Sconeofark]

When you can do this to branches

It's ready to trim.

I never touch the plant before that.

At this point you really don't need scissors, everything you want to take off breaks off clean. I use a small wooden skewer to pick off small leaves. The buds knock off the stem whole.

Also it's not near as sticky now.