A perfect cure every time

[PaulieWaulie]

Alternative to Caliber III : Mini Digital LCD Indoor Temperature Humidity Meter Thermometer Hygrometer. Super cheap on Ebay, buy a bunch. Batteries are not so expensive, either. First check the price of batteries for whatever device you might buy.

I have these too. Think it was $2 each on ebay. Got 10 of em. they are all just as accurate as the thermo pros that are pupular on amazon.ca

Just had 3 out of 8 thermo pros not be accurate and they sent replacements under my warranty. So thats cool. Im swimming in hygrometers now! have one in every room of the house.

I have good experiences with acurite as well on amazon.ca which are $10 each.

 

[Dave Coulier]

I bought 2 hygrometer from my grow shop for like 14$ a piece, and the batteries in them die so fast compared to the caliber. I don't think I've had to change batteries in the caliber once yet, and I've had it a year and a half now.

Agent, those batteries in the Calibers will last probably twice as long as that if not longer. Ive got a couple of Calibers that have been running on the same batteries for 4+ years. Infinite energy!

 

[AgentPothead]

Agent, those batteries in the Calibers will last probably twice as long as that if not longer. Ive got a couple of Calibers that have been running on the same batteries for 4+ years. Infinite energy!

That's crazy, it has to be the polling rate. I feel like the caliber only update every 10 seconds or so, but that means it's using 1/10 the energy of a hygrometer that checks every second.

 

[Aspenou812]

I always went with The Calibur meters.. They are dead accurate and hold a battery charge forever.. 2 years old and still on and accurate according to my test a week ago... They cost... But the quality of my flowers demand the best of everything used... So I have Zero Issue spending a bit more for this type of quality equipment.... Not a single hitch with these meters... That are so sticky and still getting it done...

 

[PaulieWaulie]

I always went with The Calibur meters.. They are dead accurate and hold a battery charge forever.. 2 years old and still on and accurate according to my test a week ago... They cost... But the quality of my flowers demand the best of everything used... So I have Zero Issue spending a bit more for this type of quality equipment.... Not a single hitch with these meters... That are so sticky and still getting it done...

How accurate are they? How do you test them? I just line up 5-10 of mine and they are all within 5%RH.

 

[Midnight Tokar]

Easiest way to check for accuracy is throw a couple pacs of Boveda 62% in a jar and put your Calibers in there for a couple days (several days insures accurate reading). The ones that don't read 62% are off and you can mark with a marker how much to add or subtract.

The newer ones you can calibrate (after Caliber III if I'm not mistaken).

 

[SuperBadGrower]

Hello everyone, I lurk here a lot and have spent hours upon hours reading about curing... I am feeling a bit defeated because I tried to do everything right, but my harvest has completely lost its smell in the jars.

I hang dried my plant (Critical) at 70F, ~55-60% RH for 7 days after a wet trim. I removed buds from the stalk when the small stems would be snappy but the big ones still bendy. I jarred them up, and for about 3 weeks the buds smelled ultra dank, absolutely amazing. During this time the RH in the jars dropped from 70% to 65%. After 4 weeks in jars the buds had almost completely lost their smell, and when smoked there is no flavor and little effect. After 4 additional weeks the RH in jars is now down to 59-60%, the bud is a little drier and smokes better but there is still no flavor and little effect. Probably the most boring weed I have ever smoked, when I really thought it was going to be 10/10.

Opening the jars now causes a mild odor to escape (the kind of odor you want, but only 10% of the intensity). After this, there is no more smell. If I take out a bud and put it to my nose, I smell nothing. When I crush and squeeze it, there is some great weed smell for a moment, but that's about it. I just find it disappointing how it smelled so great in the jars for such a long time before losing it completely. Maybe it stayed too long at >65% RH, maybe it is the wet trim... the jars are air tight. Perhaps somebody has experienced this and can share some tips.

 

[igrowone]

^^^ in my humble opinion, it looks like you cured by the book, this book
no reason apparent why you got what you got
i've seen this result posted by quite a few, their plants just cure to a poor state
maybe some details on the grow, soil, lighting

edit: just did notice the wet trim
current thinking seems to be more to dry trimming
at least for nose and flavor, that said i used to wet trim, never had that much of an extreme effect

 

[Vanilla Phoenix]

I wet trim and have never had any ill effect on aroma and flavor. I’m with igrowone... might be the way it was grown or even strain.

 

[SuperBadGrower]

^^^ in my humble opinion, it looks like you cured by the book, this book
no reason apparent why you got what you got
i've seen this result posted by quite a few, their plants just cure to a poor state
maybe some details on the grow, soil, lighting

Thanks,

Started from seed, "55 day strain" - actually a little over 77 days of 12/12 under CMH, healthy and green until after 2 week 'flush' of the light mix peat soil (peat moss and fibre) with a typical inorganic fertilizer regimen and the hyped Green Sensation. Harvested at white trichomes with some ambers, overall a really good grow for me... Felt like I really nailed the harvest window. Great smell all the way throughout the initial drying!

So what saddens me is the ultra quality that was there, but I seem to have lost. I think the genetics were fine because the smell honest to god kicked my ass. Like "yes please I will take 50 grams of that". I didn't smoke any for weeks because I wanted to wait for the cure.

Usually I read about bud losing its smell after the initial dry was done too quick. My previous autoflowers (blurple LED) smelled like nothing during flower and at harvest but developed great smell in the jar eventually. Wasn't really monitoring RH back then. This time things have gone the opposite way.

I always hear commercial growers dry/cure quickly, poorly, not at all etc. - truth is, I've very very rarely bought commercial weed that smelled and smoked weaker than what I have in my jars now (And I bought for over 15 years from coffee shops). In theory I feel like I should be producing a better result, especially after 'already' 9 weeks in the jar. Maybe I am stupid and impatient and it will take another 2 months of curing; I just don't really see it happening. I wonder how the big guys apparently 'do it worse', yet are able to get such amazing and consistent results. There is such a high amount of great quality commercial weed here that gets bought up daily. I can't imagine those guys curing anything for more than 2 weeks or messing around with jars. The high quality weed also appears much drier than what I observe at 62% RH, the supposed ideal smoking RH.

(Sorry to ramble... just trying to get high from my own supply)

 

[igrowone]

well, i'm at a loss to explain this experience
certainly sounds like your understanding of the drying process is sound
no consolation but this seems to happen pretty regular, it's a category unto itself
good smelling weed goes into the jars, and the odor/taste vanishes

 

[THC123]

Hi it is really simple: not all strains are suitable for jar curing. It depends on the terpenes it contains. And by strains I actually also mean phenotypes of the same strain.

I never jar cure strains like amnesia or SPG or white strains in general as it is detrimental to the quality. The first 6 weeks in the jar they smell great and dank and then it i just ruined and changes the weed from AAA+ to B or C quality. They lose their original dank smell and become boring in jars. For those strains there are other methods (for example short cure and freezing or vacuum cure).

Some cannabis strains need to be consumed fresh like a young beaujolais wine. Other need to be aged.

SSSDH for example cures perfectly in jars.

The thing is you need to test it to be sure .

To be honest jar curing is my least favorite method. I don't get why everyone is always focussed on jar curing.

You can also get cannabis drier than 62% and get great quality, but not in jars.

 

[Jellyfish]

What are the alternatives, THC123? Just leave it hanging up?

 

[THC123]

No there are other ways of curing/ storing.

Anaerobic vacuum (or almost vacuum) curing is one.

Another one is simply drying the cannabis till you reach a certain wow point and then freezing it.

Haven't you ever noticed that sometimes during the drying process the cannabis has a perfect smell and taste and smokeability? This is before the curing process and this happens at some points during the drying process at different moisture levels. Provided that the majority of stems snap you can freeze them at that point in time. I package them in mylar ziplock bags that I close with an iron. This way the quality is preserved and will even get better after a few months. Basically you can freeze the herb when you decide that is is really good at that point in time and you will (pardon the pun) freeze the moment.

This method is perfect for vaping or for strains that are at their best when fresh like amnesia or SPG.

Even though there is no real curing, I often find that cannabis stored this way is way superior to jar cured cannabis, especially after 6 months and especially for vaping (but also smoking). The frozen cannabis will be strong and tasty as ever while the ones in jars gets stale, still dank but stale compared to the fresh frozen weed with very loud terps and taste.

My big problem with jars is that during the first 4-6 weeks the fresh qualities of the herb get more pronounced and then with aging it changes. This change can be good for some strains but many strains totally change terpene profile. Sweet pink grapefruit smells so dank when it is fresh. After 3-4 months curing it smells like a generic white strain, still strong and dank, but it is just not SPG anymore....


Another problem that I have with jars is that the quality constantly fluctuates.

For example: I open a jar that was closed for 3 months at 62-64% RH. I open the jar, the smells are fucking perfect. WHen smoked or vaped, the cannabis is perfect.

A week later I will open the jar and find smells and tastes have deteriorated. And the more I open the jar the worse the quality gets. After a while the weed just makes me cough and the effect becomes weaker. And I am taking about opening a jar maximum once per week after the weed

Freezing cannabis does not dry out the cannabis and I don't lose trichs because I put them in a place where they are NOT agitated.

When I take it out of the freezer I keep the mylar pack closed for 12-24 hours before opening it. This way I always have loud smelling and tasting strong weed with the original terpene profile.

The best way I could describe the difference in smells is a bit like comparing live resin vs oil made from dried herb.

I always freeze the majority of the harvest because I am a vaper who likes the loud fresh terps, I jar about 1/4 and I vacuum cure about 1/4 just to have variation as every method gives a totally different result/taste/effect.

I only use jar cured weed if I want to smoke a joint but for vaping the jar cured weed totally sucks.

 

[burmese]

hi superbadgrower, i think that problem is in shortness of drying,,, istnt 7 days too short for drying by 20Celsius?

i dont know if you keep more dry plants before harvest, but i cant believe some serious buds are dry by a week,, maybe some super slims sativa stickies, but resin also need to dry in buds



//nothing bad to you, but from info from you here//

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

So what saddens me is the ultra quality that was there, but I seem to have lost. I think the genetics were fine because the smell honest to god kicked my ass. Like "yes please I will take 50 grams of that". I didn't smoke any for weeks because I wanted to wait for the cure.

I would look at 64% being too high RH for long term storage. Personally, I've found the hydration rate nearly perfect when the cannabis is just barely too damp to keep a joint lit well. In areas where the RH is 20-30%, the cannabis is perfectly dry for smoking in a joint, just about the time you finish rolling it.

I shoot for between 55 and 60% RH in my jars.

The other aspect may be something I heard Kevin Jodrey mention, which is a reference to organic cannabis holding the smell longer, something to do with terpene retention. Personally, I've had amazing cannabis for years in the jars and it's all hydro. I'm thinking it's tied to how the plant was grown, but not necessarily organic or refined mineral as the main variable.

 

[THC123]

Hey Douglas, do you still get good smells at 55-60% RH?

 

[igrowone]

much food for thought here from recent posts
i'll agree on staleness appearing in cured jars, at least sometimes
i've found some bud to stay quite nice in a jar, others less so
one thing than can change this is transferring to smaller jars
less air can help quite a bit

 

[redlaser]

70 degrees is higher than optimum, would explain why it seems ready in 7 days.
55-60 for temp and humidity works best for drying and storage.


Genetics could likely be contributing to lack of smell. Auto’s have ruderalis in them.
Ruderalis by itself looks like a million bucks, frosty as hell, bag appeal for days.

Ruderalis has an almost non existent camphor smell, extremely faint. Zero flavor. And no detectable buzz. Grew ten Ruderalis years ago to try them out.

It’s unlikely the commercial or imports you see are Auto’s, which is why you are more impressed with them.

Ruderalis has its place, it probably has something useful medically in it. It’s selling point for breeders is the ability to autoflower, period.

There may be worthwhile ruderalis hybrids im unfamiliar with due to my early experience growing straight ruderalis.

However, my interest in cannabis lies in the psychoactive effects and terpenes.

So unless you are actively trying to create something useful with ruderalis, I would consider that using ruderalis is like peeing or pooping in the gene pool to dilute otherwise useful genetics.

 

[SuperBadGrower]

Thanks so much everyone for the thoughts & input I really appreciate it.

It's really interesting what you wrote here THC123, the vacuum and freezer methods have piqued my interest. Something makes me think that a lot of weed I get here has been freezer cured (sublimation if I remember correctly).

I think I prefer my weed on the dry side. I wonder which method is best for that.

hi superbadgrower, i think that problem is in shortness of drying,,, istnt 7 days too short for drying by 20Celsius?

That's been on my mind the most. I think, after day 7, I deemed it ready for jarring, but the RH shot up to 70% quite quickly. Then, they were possibly in too high of a humidity for too long, although they smelled great during this period. I just followed the instructions and took stuff out of the jars occasionally until it reached 64-65% inside.

//nothing bad to you, but from info from you here//

Don't worry man I am just a beginner. This is the best forum with so many experienced growers. I'd never be offended. (I'll be the first to call my weed shit)


I've also read about a trash bag method where someone would let their plant hang dry until the outside got crispy, then they would put loosely tie trash bags around bundles of sticks and let the outside bud get moist again. Then remove the trash bag to dry and put them back on again. Kind of like a hang-dry simulation of jar burping with a wet-dry cycle.

I wish there was a hard science about this. Surely there is, somewhere. These guys here are harvesting thousands of plants every month. But they probably have access to industrial equipment. My third harvest is coming up in 2 weeks and I will continue reading and investigating until that time. I think I will remove fan leaves and do a dry trim when the sugar leaves snap off easily to ensure that I don't jar it up too moist, assuming I will use jars.