How do YOU dry your weed?

[FinestKind]

Hey all,

I'm just wondering (after far too long, probably should have asked this sooner) how everyone else dries their harvest- do you remove the fans first and then hang? Trim them out completely? Let them dry intact? Do you hang whole plants, or individual buds or branches? Does it matter? Or is just a matter of choice?

Sorry if this is a repeat question, especially if it was touched upon recently... I did a couple of searches and didn't see anything that looked like it hit directly on this question, and I have crappy internet, so my patience is limited.

Thanks all

FK

 

[cabeza]

I cut the buds from the plant and trim each
then into the drying box for 4to 5 days .Then
they go into paper bags for 2 days.Finnally
they go in to jars to be burped until cured
about 2 weeks.

 

[MrBlue2]

I hang whole plants in a spare bedroom. i try to keep the temp at 75 and RH at 50. after about 7 days its ready for a dry trim.

 

[hazydreams]

rough manicure everything down and put it directly into a dry box for 4-10 days depending on outside relative humidity. then final manicuring and place them into the jars to be burped until they stabilize at 60% RH on a the hygrometers inside the jars. 7-14 days. its ready after that.

 

[FinestKind]

Thanks for the responses! This "drying box" concept is a new one to me... the reason I'm asking is that I've always trimmed individual branches (pretty much trimmed completely) and hung them upside down in my basement, which is cool but dry. Usually dries in 5 to 7 days... is there a disadvantage to hanging and drying, or is just a space thing?

I am going to follow Simon's curing technique this time around... I have a feeling I've wasted some potential on, well, most if not all of my crops in, say, the last 4 years. Sometimes I can be a stubborn slow learner, that's for sure.

I heard recently that the best way to go is to hang the plants whole, without taking any fan leaves off or anything... is there any truth to this?

Thanks again for sharing your techniques...

FK

 

[Herborizer]

My method is super easy and its a perfect cure every time.

1. First, I flush for at least 14 days before chop. Flush days 1-4 are just water and molasses. Then just plain water for the rest of the days.
2. Chop. Then I fully manicure. All fan leaves off. Then I give the buds a hair cut and just cut off anything sticking out. Basically, make a budcicle.
3. Then I hang these to dry. My drying area is roughly 65-70F. 45-55 RH.
4. In about 5-7 days they feel crispy enough (not too much, but a little). I check to see if the stems snap. For me, they are good if they sort of snap with a tiny bit of bend.
5. Then I put everything in mason jars. Store in a dark place.
6. I then burp the jars for 5 minutes, twice a day for two weeks.
7. At two weeks I sample, usually ready but sometimes could cure about 5% more.
8. I then burp the jars once a day for another two weeks (I do this no matter what).
9. Done (cured and ready to use).
10. After that, I burp the jars maybe once a week for a month or so.
11. Then I burp the jars maybe once per month or 2.

Perfect cure every time.

P.S. I developed this technique from an article I read about curing. The article writer had won the Amsterdam Cannabis Cup a couple years back. He swore that the bud he won with was only chopped 2 weeks before hand. I believe him from my experience.

 

[Momerath]

Ive got a similar method, but it really depends on the volume of harvest on how I trim...

If pulling down less than a few pounds at a time, I like to use the method mentioned above by Herborizer, give it a nice flush and "bud-sicle" manicure, and hang/dry for a week before going into the jars. Pretty standard.

If pulling down more than a few pounds at once...
Remove most fan leaves from plants BEFORE I chop, usually a day or two ahead of time.
Take whole branches at a time, leaving lower undeveloped branches to go a few more days up to a couple weeks.
Hang branches in cool, somewhat dry, DARK room for up to 3 weeks, allowing the slowest dry possible.
I then take the slow dried buds and give them a dry trim, and then directly into the jars or buckets.
Cure like the method above, and voila! We're harvested

 

[Momerath]

I heard recently that the best way to go is to hang the plants whole, without taking any fan leaves off or anything... is there any truth to this?

Thanks again for sharing your techniques...

FK

Should have quoted this in my last post. I think why people recommend this method is because it allows for the slowest possible dry, which makes the herb smoother than a faster dry. Also seems to retain the smell better the slower it dries, IMHO.

 

[BPJR]

I pull all the fan leaf and sugar leaf off.
Seperate the sugar for hash processing.
Then hang the entire plant upside down in the dark until dry to the touch.
From there its broken down into large canning jars.
These get burped a few times a day to begin with.
Over time less and less burping is needed.
After about two weeks of this its ready to go.

Cheers,
Bobby

 

[ambertrich]

What Momerath said. (and Herborizer)

The slower dry time of hanging whole plants (or larger branches) allows the full flavor and aroma to develop and the smoke to be smoother.
The plant is still alive for a while after it is cut, and continues to metabolize sugars, etc. which adds to the complexity of the final product.
Drying too fast does not give this process time to occur, and usually leaves you with a "hay" like taset and sooty burn.

There is a thread here somewhere called "A perfect cure every time", (or very close) check it out. It goes into more detail-but is essentially what Herborizer and Momerath have explained.
T

 

[FinestKind]

Thanks for your contributions, everyone... I guess in the end it comes down to how long should it take, in your humble opinions, for your crop to be dry enough for curing? That seems to be what matters in the end, no? About a week? Longer? Like I said, the basement I hang my harvest in tends to be pretty cool (around 60 degrees), with a humidity around 50%. I put an oscillating fan in the room, not blowing on them but just to keep the air moving... like I said it usually takes 5 to 7 days to dry... leaving the plants whole in these conditions, I can imagine it taking nearly double that. Is there such thing as too long of a dry time? Thoughts?

Thanks, ambertrich, I had read Simon's curing how-to but I hadn't tackled that one yet... I will definitely check it out.

EDIT: Oh, that is Simon's thread... I have read about 15 pages of it, tons of great stuff in there as far as curing is concerned, but I didn't see anything about actual drying techniques... maybe it's less important than the actual cure? Seems most people say it takes them about a week to dry, then several weeks for curing.

 

[Herborizer]

I don't believe in hanging the whole plant. Long dry is not a good idea in my opinion and not needed AT ALL.

Extra long dry times risks mold and other issues. Also, I don't know about you, but that week of drying stinks up my place to high heaven! It's a wonderful smell, but hard to conceal.

I have been told by many that the smell, flavor, strength, and just overall quality of my grows is some of the best they have ever had. Nothing I have purchased in Cali can compare to it so far. I am pretty sure that extra dry time in not beneficial.

Flush the plant right. Dry it correctly. Then burp the jars as stated above. Absolutely wonderful buds in the end. It's simple, super simple.

 

[FinestKind]

I don't believe in hanging the whole plant. Long dry is not a good idea in my opinion and not needed AT ALL.

Extra long dry times risks mold and other issues. Also, I don't know about you, but that week of drying stinks up my place to high heaven! It's a wonderful smell, but hard to conceal.

I have been told by many that the smell, flavor, strength, and just overall quality of my grows is some of the best they have ever had. Nothing I have purchased in Cali can compare to it so far. I am pretty sure that extra dry time in not beneficial.

Flush the plant right. Dry it correctly. Then burp the jars as stated above. Absolutely wonderful buds in the end. It's simple, super simple.

Thank you for that... that's kinda what I figured. Anyone have any evidence to the contrary? Side-by-side, first-hand comparison kind of stuff?

I may split the difference, and trim the fan leaves and sugar leaves and hang the whole plants... my plants are only 2 feet tall at finish anyway with at most 4 tops on them, so I don't think it'll make a huge difference...

I dunno, I've got quite some time before harvest, which is why I'm trying (for once!) to gather some information ahead of time instead of on the day I'm doing it!

FK

 

[Niok34]

Hola,

Nice to have good repsonses like that.
I'm really intersted in this topic as I'm going to harvest soon, my first grow yeahhh!

However, I've got a question for you which should be pretty easy to answer to

What does it mean "burp the jar" ??
Although I know what is a jar, I don't understand the word "burp" ???
Can someone shed some light on it???

Cheers

 

[DaPurps]

burp the jar. Take the lid off and let the air circulate out. Sometimes i'll even flip the jar over and pop the bud out for a sec then put it back in to make sure its fresh air in the jar.

 

[Orygun]

I trim the buds up real close then put them onto drying racks in my trim room for four to five days. Then the buds go into 5 gallon buckets for two weeks or so to cure.

 

[FinestKind]

I trim the buds up real close then put them onto drying racks in my trim room for four to five days. Then the buds go into 5 gallon buckets for two weeks or so to cure.

Huh. 5 Gallon buckets, eh? So you don't think it matters whether it's in plastic or glass? Interesting... I was starting to think it might be a logistical nightmare getting 3 pounds or so into glass jars... maybe one five gallon bucket will be the way to go. I have several friends who work in restaurants (including my GF), I was thinking about hitting them up for some of those big glass jars (they're almost 2 gallons apiece) that the olives and cherries and such come in... if I can't round up any of those, maybe I'll go with the buckets.

 

[Orygun]

Yeah FinestKind for me jars would just be way to big of a hassle and the buckets seem to do a more then an acceptable job of curing bud. I don't think many people who have larger gardens cure in jars (if they even cure at all) I could be wrong though.

 

[Pointswest]

Glass jars are the best for curing and storage. Plastic can leave a bad taste in the buds as they absorb chemicals from the plastic.

 

[compost]

For curing they have the 1 gallon ice tea glass containers. Old school big pickle jars would work also. I usually put all my bud in my drying tub that has a small fan exhausting it. The first day I ussually just clean up the terminal buds. When it is all manicured I switch the box from my flowering room when the lights are off to my veg room when the lights are off. It dries in low RH and doesn't get the higher temps except during the summer. After the bud is mainly dry I put it in a big container and vent it daily.