Sixth time is the charm right? Having major curing issues cannot figure out the science. Hey guys I’m really beat up on this one, I’ve been spending myself in circles countless hours on YouTube and reading over forums before making a post. This is my second run ever, I had white widow ILGM clones from a good buddy.
On my first run I made some beginner mistakes is way too much nutes, didn’t flush long enough, had high humidity at the end of flour and other things that word diminish the terpene profile. Nugs ended up smelling terrible had a hay smell then never really quite went away.
This time around I was much was much more cautious when entering the final weeks of flour I began flushing 10 days prior to my plant harvest, low RH, good air flow. I had six plants in my tent total. I harvested each plant and tried different techniques for drying, trimming, and curing but I am getting the same results.
I trimmed the bud at 10 (after a decent snap) Initially the bud smelled great going into the jars the RH was 55% in jars but about four days into curing and they completely lost the smell (being burped X3). I have not been able to get the smell back. My first thought was maybe they were to dry. So I tried the boveda pack that only seem to make the issue worse. At that point with the next plants I waited to 14 days to harvest thinking maybe the plants were too wet. Those nugs smelled great until about four or five days in the smell started to soften and go more towards the hay smell. I’ve tried leaving the nugs out to dry after the fourth day to try and regain some of the smell and has not worked. For the third and fourth plant I dried them at 14 days and put them into much smaller jars with a better air to know Ratio 50%. The relative humidity was at 55% and within for five days the smell again disappeared.
I have no idea what I’m doing wrong! I keep the nugs in a cool dark place roughly 60° in a 60% humidity. (Same room the dried in) Please help! I trimmed my fifth plant yesterday in the smell still good in the jars, I have my sixth plant I plan on trimming tonight. But I am scared that by Monday the smell will be gone! I’m questioning if I should just leave the nugs in the room where they are drying because it seems to save the terps. The jarring is where I run into issues.
Any help is appreciated! Thank you! Happy growing!
First; I wish whoever said dry until branches ‘snap’ had not said that. It’s better to come down to your 62% target than it is to go up to 62%, first of all.
Second: ideal conditions for drying sets you up to succeed in cure. 50 to 55% RH and 60 to 65F is ideal. 7 to 10 days for drying is ideal. I use a hanging rack, monitor the process and when it gets close I transfer to clear totes with sealing lids that I can drop a hygrometer in. Seal up over night and you can see where you are at. Opening lid and providing different amounts of airflow with a fan can slow down or speed up drying as well.
I use quart Mason jars and put 50 grams in. I also use 62% Boveda packs and some growers have stated it kills the terpene profile on their cured flower. I haven’t seen that.
If you are in a damp climate, do an aggressive wet trim. If in a dry climate leave the leaves on the plant to add moisture for the drying plant material to work from. plus the leaves tend to enclose the flower for further moisture retention.
@Myfriendis410 said it great. My process dry for 10-14 days or so. Around 68° and 50% humidity for a few days to pull some of the last moisture out. Raise humidity to around 60% for rest of the time. Works great for me. I also don’t let my plants get to where the branches snap, I feel it pulls out too much moisture, loses terps.
410 said it best the only thing I have to add is patience some don’t touch thier weed till it’s been in jars for a couple months gold leaf is one example Of. Getting better with long cures
I always do a bud wash in peroxide as white powdery mildew can hide inside flower (and does) and speed the degradation of the cured plant material. I like mine just cured but still fresh with a fresh terpene profile. As flower ages it takes on a ‘muddy’ terp profile. I also freeze and/or refrigerate my stash: still smoking flower I put down in September of 2018. Gotta be a non frost-free type of freezer, or you have to put stash in a styrofoam cooler that then goes into a frost-free freezer.
Also; most commercial cannabis operations routinely freeze their green harvest.
I like the idea behind bud washing but it always super speeds up my process of drying and they turn to tumbleweed in no time…much quicker then if I dont wash
I agree!! The snap trick is so hard to gauge base on the pheno, thickness of the branch and size of the bud!
When you say you would rather bring you buds down to 62% vs up to 62%. How are you measuring that?
My first mistake might have been the 60%RH in the dry room VS 50% RH. I was leaning toward the higher side to have an extended dry period (i’ve heard that’s better for terpene preservation)
Would you recommend a cardboard box VS clear plastic tote?
Any difference between glass jar storage VS plastic air tight container?
My climate fluctuates with the seasons, right now it’s dry and cool with the RH hanging around 35%. But I’ve invested in space heaters, humidifiers, and dehumidifiers so I can manipulate my rooms to what suites the plant best.
Patience is one of the hardest parts as a beginner! I appreciate your insight. How often are you burping the jars during your first couple of days of cure? Thanks!!
I burp twice a day for a week then once a day for a week then twice a week for the next two then boveda if you are curious about bud washing watch Jorge Cervantes on you tube he explains it well as. You can watch also
Yes I go low only the first two days. You want to pull as much moisture out then. Without doing anything extreme, fan on them or heater. Then bump it up to 60% and just check them everyday. You just have to watch them, I will even bust open some of the real big buds to make sure they have a little bit of moisture still in there before trim.A few have already said this, but it is easier to go down then bring up. I remember my first cure though, hay bales!!! In due time you will learn it. This is my setup when I cure.
I do a top layer of bud and lower layer. Fan in the middle on low. Another fan pulling in air. And just one of the top holes open. Working great for me.
Room temp water well my rooms are 75 80 all the time inside or out in florida … per 5 gal of water and like a quart of peroxide stir …some ppl use baking soda I think but i dont
Swish around and then gently rinse off and hang
When you do your first wash… (just wash one plant ) and check how nasty the water gets just from a single BUG FREE plant does and see all the dust dirt hair dead skin unsceen mold milder spores makes a lil rainbow oil slick on the water… do one plant and side by side the buds… indoor dont mean anything but you can controll the temp and light you still get dirt and dust and hair un willingly… how long are you waiting on your burp sceduel week1 week 2 week 3 and week 4 … you shouldn’t bee getting great taste and smell for atleast 3 to 4 weeks
Week1 burp about 4 to 5 times a day (when humidity spikes)
Week 2 2 to 3 times a day when humidity spikes
Week 3 if you still need every day but generally every day 1nce
Week 4 every other day or longerbif you can hold humidity around 60 62
