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A perfect cure every time

cody2white

ghost in training
Veteran
Thanks for your replies! I've spread the buds out to larger jars so that the jars are half full, allowing more air in the jar. I burp the jars for a few hours when the RH goes above 70%. When the buds feel dry I close the jars again. This is slowly helping to stabilize the RH but the buds smell like hay. I seem to never get the hay smell to leave so hopefully this time it will

How they doing?the hay smell should disappear
 

THC123

Active member
Veteran
You should try keeping a few separate jars to test out what you prefer?

yes , wanted to do this with this greenhosue harvest but i ended up keeping all herbs in jars cuz they smeleld so nice

but now , just like last time after 6-8 weeks they are changing smelling less strong and tasting less nice(63-65%)

I had one jar that was excellent after one month at 59%, but since i opened the jar 4 times to take out some nugs , also this jars smells less strong , dank and the herb is just not as good as before


thats what i hate about glass jars , these fluctuations in taste and effect


My frozen herb is ALWAYS the same always smelling super nice and tasting good with that fresh strong effect

With jars you CAn get the herb to a better point(smells and effects) but keeping them the same appears to be &a challenge, even if i watch the RH%

Next indoor i'll just cure one month at not too high RH and then i'll freeze my herb i wont cure for too long anymore

I want to get them to that perfect point usually after a month cure and then freeze , but i'll need to do it at a lower rh like 60-62 so the stems snap clean before i freeze them

The ones from the freezer where ok before freezing and after taking them out and having them in a jar for 10 days they are just fucking awesome compared to the 7 week cured buds of the same plant

When they come out of the frezr and are in a jar they are at 57-60%
 
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mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
hmm, this time, I guessed just right, and a day after jarring my buds were at 65-66%. There is no hay smell.

Last time, same strain, I jarred them around 70% and followed the advice for getting it down as laid out by simon.

I think it's still the right advice, but i gotta say, the closer you get to 65% the first time you jar the better. I'm not 100% sure, but I strongly suspect the hay smell is worse if things are too moist.
 
M

mugenbao

I think it's still the right advice, but i gotta say, the closer you get to 65% the first time you jar the better. I'm not 100% sure, but I strongly suspect the hay smell is worse if things are too moist.
I think there may be something to that. I have two jars full of buds from the same plant, one with the biggest buds and one with all the others. The biggest buds didn't dry quite as fast, as you might imagine, and consequently were a few percent higher RH when jarred. Although they smell quite nice now and getting better, there was a period of time where they definitely had a much stronger hay smell than the jar of smaller buds.

I will try to stay mindful of this in the future to see if it remains true generally or was a one-time thing, but I think it's significant that both jars were of the exact same plant.
 
How they doing?the hay smell should disappear

I've finally got them down to a stable 61%-64% RH after 4 days hang drying and 6 days curing. The buds feel dry but soft, not over dry and crisp/crumbly.

Using half empty jars worked, the extra air helped me to achieve a controled dry. I opened the jars after the RH got above 65%, fanned some fresh air into the jars and let them sit open for an hour.

When I smell them now they still smell like hay. I thought maybe it was mold but I examined a few suspect buds with my hand-held microscope and all I saw was a sea of trich's. But I'm hoping the smell will fade after two weeks of curing at 61-64% RH now that they are stable.

Now that they are stable I don't need to open them right? Even to burp? I'm going to be away for vacation for 5 days will they be ok without being burped for 5 days?
 
E

el dub

its really not rocket science.

Once a stem snaps, the bud goes into jars. The next day, remove the lids IF the stems no longer snap. Once the stems snap, close the lids on the jars. Repeat as necessary until stems snap AFTER jar has been closed for 24 hours period. At this point, mold is no longer a factor. Jars can be now opened a few minutes every couple of days for a couple of week or so to facilitate cure.

Works every time for me if I don't put bud in the jars too early.

lw
 

THC123

Active member
Veteran
curing also works for me like the first 6-8 weeks then the weed just changes i know it is not rocket science lol

here the quality degrades when i open a certain jar a few times per week to take some bud out

so for me curing works till it is sealed for long term storage, but AFTER that , when i open a jar a few times to take something out to taste , THEN the quality degrades, smells become less etc

BUT next time i'll try putting it in the jar AFTER the stem snaps , cuz this guide says to put em in jars when the stem is still flexible
 

greenops

Member
My understanding is the hay smell comes from the chlorophyll. The chlorophyll needs to degrade during the drying process.

Apparently, if the buds dry too fast, in 2 days for example, the clorophyll cant degrade anymore and that makes out the hay smell.

Based on that logic, I dont get why jarring too early can lead to hay smell.

Also how can you tell when chlorophyll is removed from the plant when drying?

I'm drying 2 Amnesia Lemon plants right now. After 3 days hanging, some buds feel dry to the touch and Im not sure if I should jar them or let them hang some more...
 

Snoopster

Active member
Veteran
I have done this method three times now and it works great. I did pretty much this exact method before but without hygrometers, it involved a lot of pinching buds and bending stems. I figured out I was curing a bit wet and needlessly burping for weeks.

When I hit a stable 57% I am done. After that I like it to dry a little bit more for smoking, but for storage, 57% is perfect. 6 months later your weed will be better.

I always exchange the air in the jars when I open them during the cure. I use a fan or a piece of cardboard.

Some stuff I noticed on this page.

Big jars - Love them. I have a bunch of 5.3 quart jars I got at the Container Store. As someone said, I fill them around half full.

Hay Smell - I call it the cure smell. It lets me know I am doing it right. NL and Blueberry smell totally different but while curing they smell the same. A while after the cure is done, the smell will come back.
 

greenops

Member
Hay Smell - I call it the cure smell. It lets me know I am doing it right. NL and Blueberry smell totally different but while curing they smell the same. A while after the cure is done, the smell will come back.

Does the smell come back when the buds hit a certain moisture level, or does it come back with time?
 

Kcar

There are FOUR lights!
Veteran
Also, outdoor with little resin will often smell like hay/grass whereas outdoor loaded with trichs and tons of resin will keep that smell no matter what you do to it. It's why people get busted vs 'homegrown'
 

Snoopster

Active member
Veteran
Does the smell come back when the buds hit a certain moisture level, or does it come back with time?

Patience.
I actually don't think it smells like hay. It has a weird curing smell.
The smell comes back for me sometime after the cure is done. It can take a week or two after I hit the correct humidity.

This cure method is exactly the same as the burp/pinch method I have used for years. The only difference is the hygrometer takes the guess work out of it.

I am near the end of curing right now, I am at about 58%. It smells better than at the start and will smell amazing in another week or so.

One thing about smell-
You don't want it to smell too much.

If I leave a cured jar alone for a month and then open it, it will smell good, but not overpowering. If I shake the jar around, like they do at dispensaries, it will smell a lot more and a lot better. IMO, an overpowering smell can mean some stuff you want to stay on the plant is breaking or being released.

If you cure correctly, after 6 months it will be phenomenal.

My main deal is to make sure you cure as slowly as possible.
We have very low humidity so the buds dry out pretty fast at first. I put them in jars not completely crispy and with the stems still a bit bendy. I crack the jar to dry it out slowly, then seal it back up - repeat over the course of about 10 days or until the correct humidity point is hit. It is ready when it is ready, if you try to speed it up the flavor and smell with suffer.

I think if you take your time, the chlorophyll will break down more completely leaving better tasting/smelling buds.

If you want smellier buds, try some sort of carb, bud candy or something.
 

greenops

Member
Patience... I been curing some AK48 and Skunk#1 since September. The smell in the jar is now gone. I prolly could light one up in a bar and nobody would notice. It does the job, just not enjoyable to smoke. That was my first grow, and I think that the buds just dried too fast so that the chlorophyll stayed.
But then again I remember that even during flowering, the buds stopped smelling and felt rather dry, unlike the 2 outdoor AK48s which were stinking nicely during flowering, and were sticky too.
Same thing happened with this Amnesia Lemon run.. the buds smelled nicely during 6th week of flowering, then for some reason the buds got drier and lost their smell.

Anyhow, I'm giving it another shot... at the moment there is a slight weed smell mixed with the smell of dried plant matter. The rh in the jar is at 67%... I'm planning on not opening the jars too much, maybe once a day for a minute or two, because i have a feeling that otherwise theyll dry too quick.
 

John Deere

Active member
Veteran
Yep, got the email today that my Caliber III has been shipped. Looking forward to checking my jars and I've got one plant that'll be chopped in the next week or two.
 
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