So I have my harvest hanging in a bathroom with a humidifier in it maintaining 58-65% Rh. When do I know when to buck the buds and put into jars? How long should I let it dry for at those Rh levels? Thanks
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You learn to be able to feel when they are properly dried. I know that doesn’t help much. I dry at 60% RH and it usually takes 7 or 8 days. They are not so dry that the stems snap, but almost to that point.
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I use a moisture meter. When it reads 11% i bag um and tag um.
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Thanks. Your answer was something I was needing to research for an upcoming harvest.
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Also do a smoke test. Roll up a bud and smoke it. If it stays lit during the whole joint and you don’t have to relight it, good to cure!
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What type moisture reader do you use for buds.
Thanks
I typically just squeeze the bud a bit. It should bounce back. If they stay squished you have time to go.
I first read about the snap test in HighTimes during the 80s, and have been using it since then. You hang your harvest by the plant or branch to dry. To test it’s dryness, chose a small bud, (about pea size or twice that size), bend the bud sideways. It should snap when first bent. If it bends before it snaps it is still a little too moist, and if it breaks off clean it is getting too dry.
After trimming, if I think it is too damp I will lay the trimmed buds in a tray for a day or so. Then place them in Grove Bags.
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I found this video by Bill Ward helpful and practical.
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So pretty much as long as I can get anything over 5 days I should be ok? I’ll watch video and see if questions answered. Much appreciated
The moisture meter is quite cheap and i would be lost without it. Sometimes i am lost anyway, but this tells u exactly where u want your buds to be. 11 to 12%
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Thanks mine is on the way. Won’t be here in time so ideas for this harvest? Chopping another plant or 2 in week or so will have by then
Snap test, smoke test! Old school time!
And when you burp them in jars, you should be able to tell if they are still moist after the first day or 2 after they’ve been sealed up. The moisture from the inner bud will even out with the outside crispies, so if it seems too moist, dump them out on a beer flat for a day and let them redry. If they are too crispy, you can always put a thin slice of apple in the jar for a day (I’ve done that when I overdried mine, cut an apple into 12 slices and one for each jar!). It’ll reset the moisture in them, so yu MAY have to leave them out for a day if it rehydrates them too much. Others mist with water, but I prefer the ambient air humidity to deal with it.
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I go with stem snap and bud sticky
@spudeater65 @Spudgunner, Isn’t that one of the best parts of the grow? When finally after a week or so that little bud passed the snap test. Then you take that bud and break it up, while hoping that it is not still too damp or crumbly dry. Then you get to fire it up, and get your first taste of what you produced.
It is funny that we are talking about old school. Just this afternoon my 22 year old granddaughter asked me how my plants are doing, and then she asked when I first grew weed? The answer was 1984, that was when her mother was 8. But the truth is that back then there was a lot less known then now. I didn’t even know about flushing. It is so great to be able to merge the old with the new nowadays.
For the new growers, a good harvest should start with a week or two of flushing before you cut down the plants. Dry the plants by hanging upside down in a dark location. Best to regulate temperature, humidity, and air flow so that it takes about 7 - 10 days to dry. Trim up the buds, and put them in jars or Grove Bags to cure for at least two weeks. If using jars, they will need to be burped daily.
To test your end results roll a joint, and fire it up. Watch how it burns, if you have flushed, dried, and cured correctly. The ash on the joint should be burning a light gray color, and will not fall of very easy. The joint should also stay lit, and in fact it should continue to burn when when laid in an ashtray.
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I have a 22 year-old daughter and she hates it when her fiancé and I go for a couple of joints! And my first plants were with a couple buddies back in '79! In '84 I got invited down to Big Sur, CA to “work on a roof”, yeah right, once I got there, found out it was to help with harvest!
And ya, I cracked my first jar of some Bruce Banner auto I chopped July 13th about 2 weeks ago, already on jar 3 of 4…about 1/2 ounce in each! Had to buy dispensary weed for a while so that could cure for a month at least.
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How do you like the bb#3?
It’s a nice smooth taste, but doesn’t hit me as hard as I like. Could be just me tho, my tolerance is pretty high and even with the good dispensary weed, I find the highs don’t last as long as they used to.
But so tasty, it tastes like another!
Ăťes I get the dry buds in jars ,I test smoke a bud or two in a joint I cant wait. Burns well gray to white ash. Give me a idea of things to come.@spudgunner @Ickey
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