Hello, I just recently finished my first grow (thank you sooo much for all the help). Got both plants chopped, branches hanging and drying with most the sugar leaves still on them. Both plants have been drying for 5 days so far. The buds feel crispy and the stems are pretty firm but don’t quite snap yet. I was originally told “wait for the snap” before trimming and jarring but recently I heard that is actually a little too long, only they never said what indicators they then go by.
So I’m just curious, how do you determine when to start your cure? I’d rather have them too dry than too wet but overall I want to try to keep them as close to “ideal” as I can since I have the time to keep an eye on things. At this point I’m thinking maybe one more day but I’ve been wrong before.
Wait until the smaller branches almost snap. Like, they break, but not like breaking a tree branch that’s been laying in yard for years
Place some buds in a jar with a hygrometer. If the RH gets above 65%, pull them back out, they’re not ready yet. Once they’re holding 60-65% on their own, you’re in the curing zone.
Congrats on the harvest! This thread may help
You’ll never get a “snap” in high humidity, in fact high humidity can degrade the product, one trick is to use an AC in a closed room with a heat source either thermostat house heat, or electric portable heater, or a dehumidifier in unison with the AC at the end of the drying cycle or throughout the drying cycle. Low heat and humidity is the optimal way to dry the product, high heat and or humidity is not what you want, it can actually cause mold or give it a grass/hay odor. I like to freeze the finish product for any duration of storage, it preserves it better than room temperature.
Alright for now I guess I’ll have to go by the smaller branches. My mini hygrometers won’t be here for a couple days still but yeah they’ve been drying around 45-52% humidity and around 69degrees. I’ve had to use both a dehumidifier and AC with the weather we’ve had this spring. but at the moment like I said the stems feel firm, and maybe hollow, like they’ll snap or crack but instead still just bends.
That’s actually the point of drying I personally look for…not too moist - the bent stem stays bent but not snap in half. You can hear distinctive sounds like the stem is cracking, just not overly brittle. After trimming and jarring, my burp duration and frequency gets me the rest of the way to the point of cure I like.
So what if they are at like below 60 percent while in the jar?
Some like to cure at 58%. If you’re below that it means they’re too dry.
Apparently my hygrometer was off a little so they dried quicker than I thought/down to 50%. I by no means know what I’m doing so may want to look into it…but I put mine in jars with a boveda pack and was able to bring them back up to 62% over the next 7 days or so. I removed the packs and burped them every few days re-adding the packs as needed until the RH stabilized. I’m hoping that wasn’t a bad idea but I haven’t noticed any issues and they are currently sitting around 60% on their own. I just tried to make sure the RH didn’t rise too fast.
Ty. So how long after they been jarred can they be smoked. How long before they are ripe or done
You could smoke them right after putting in the jar, but they won’t burn well and will be pretty harsh.
I’ve sampled along the curing process and found 2 weeks in jars to be the minimum for taste/burn/effect. 1 month is best.
As @Drinkslinger said. The longer they cure the more intense it becomes. Mine are 2 months cured now and I can’t smoke it. I’m a rare smoker and grew for my wife. I could smoke no problem right after the drying period but now it’s too intense for me.
The guy are the shiznit. Your help is much appreciated!
You guys