I’ll be harvesting my Afghan Auto in a few weeks, and I want to be prepared for the drying & curing process. I’ve found some great resources on here, but I still have a few questions. What should the drying and curing process look like? What should the temperature and RH be at each step of the process? What materials will I need to make sure I’m prepared? I’ve had a great grow and I want to make sure that I don’t mess up the final stages. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
1 Like
best if you can let your crop dry at around 65-70F @ 45%RH for 7-10 days then after testing for moisture content around 10% then put in Grove Bags…the main thing is humidity, the lower you can keep it the better your crop will smell…we all have our way of doing it but this is mine
6 Likes
Ideal 60/60 temp/rh. Shoot for a long dry, 10-14 days. Slower the dry and longer the cure, the better the end product.
2 Likes
First off I prefer to dry trim. That is I leave the final manicure to when the buds are dry enough to begin curing.
What does it look like? For me it depends of what space is available.
Whole stems drying in a tent
I pull the large fan leaves and stuff with stems from the buds before hanging them to dry
This is what I am talking about
I use a trim tray when necessary during this phase.
Here I am using a scrog frame and using my grow closet for drying
I also use cardboard boxes to dry in.
9 Likes
Thanks for all the advice! I’m planning a mason jar cure…what should the RH be inside the curing jars?
2 Likes
Try to maintain 62% for curing and storage.
2 Likes
Some go by an exact humidity. I go by what I like it to feel like. This is different for different strains and I really can’t explain it.
I wet trim then put in screened in drying rack.
When it feels dry on the outside and the small stems snap that connect it to the big stem [the strings of it stay connected] about 5 to 7 days. Depending on himidity. I put into 2 gallon plastic jars put lid on if it is wet the next day. I will either put back on rack or leave jar open Depending on feel. When dry on outside again I close jar again and check the next day again for outside moisture. I do that till it is just barely moist on the outside but not wet feeling. I start opening the jar about every 8 to 16 hours. Shake it around and Leave it open for maybe 5 or 10 minutes put lid on and do it again. If at any point it feels to moist I leave the lid off longer. Maybe an hour. I do that for about a week. Then I open once a day. All I can say on a time for that is I do it till it is the consistency that smokes good for us. Then out of the two gallon and into half gallon amber mason jar for short term storage. Then if keeping for 6 months or more [years] I put in half pint jars and put in dark area that stays between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
I fill the 2 gallon jars between half and three quarters full. I only do about a pound and a half at a time so 2 two gallon jars.
This probably didn’t help at all because of going by feel but I find 62 percent just right to wet or to dry Depending on the grow. I bought hygrometers then got rid of them and went back to feel. Wish I could have been more help.
5 Likes
Chicharrones 
5 Likes
@new2-420
After drying 5 days or more, and especially if the smaller buds feel a bit overdried, I break the larger stems down, do a little more cleaning up then load the stems & buds into totes
A couple more days in the totes and they should be good to go
A little more scissor work and run a canna brush over them
Weigh it and stick in Grove Bags
After a few weeks - into a 5 gallon gamma sealed bucket with 67g humidity pack
5 Likes
@beardless good stuff, love it brother! I have the grove bags going also, half way through the first trim. Have 4 with their toes up, the rest are dried and cured, very airy, made many beginning mistakes, that I think I’m over with at this point! I like the bucket, if this next grow goes well, I may look into that also. I have seen them advertised in several places…thanks brother!
Do you have a pic of a canna brush? I am googling now but if you had a suggestion, that would be great.
Nevermind, found it.
So did I.
It is basically a gloried silicon basting brush. If you have an extra one in the kitchen cut the brush shorter and see if you like it.
2 Likes
This is the first time using the bucket. I had to improvise because I ran out of cupboard space.
1 Like
Good call. I did not think about a baster. My wife has several. Sure she wouldn’t mind if I repurposed the best one… 
1 Like
What is the purpose of the brush?