J. Cervantes on drying and manicuring

[AloeRuss]

Hello again

As my harvest comes closer, I started investigation on all around best way to handle this part of growing.
Since preserving smell and the taste was big, and through research on this site I came up with conclusion that I need to manicure after drying.
It is harder. It takes longer. But it preserves the smell and the taste better then if I would trim and manicure wet.

I also have Medical Growers Bible by J. Cervantes.
"Manicuring is easiest when leaves are soft and supple immediately after harvest. Waiting until foliage is dry to manicure will make manicuring buds a tedious, time-consuming job"

This is pretty much is all that he has on the topic and it seems that he is all for manicuring right after cutting.
No other benefits of manicuring dry are discovered or touched on in this book. But in my book, preserving smell and taste is so important, it is deffenatley deserved to be uncovered.
What do you guys think? Do you know any other J.C work where he opens more on the subject?

Thank you as always.

 

[jayjayfrank]

in a youtube video he was showing an op and saying "break down, trim and manicure buds then hag them in this net basket and bag"

for a commercial operation with dozens of lights maybe... but i myself slightly disagreed with him. for the small personal grower you have the luxury of getting to spend slightly more time doing things because you have less of it to do

in a dark place, i hang plants whole or branchs atleast 12-36" long with atleast 30% bare stem on each cola. at this point i take off dead leafs with long petiole's but leave most fan leafs to cover the buds

they hang for 5-10 days till the outsides are crispy and the stems slightly give but buds still have moisture

then they get broken down off the stems and jared, at this point they would 'shrink up' slightly and i take off the rest of the fan leafs with exposed petioles but leave leafs that are close to the bud to cover exposed trichs and either stop something from knocking them off or catching them when they do fall off

when they are in the jar to cure they are still not 'manicured'. as i take them out to smoke i trim them up on a trim bin or... wait six months and then closely manicure them in a trim bin to catch some dry sift.

the fan leafs drying upside down and covering the bud seems to help them to not get all smashed up in the jar and in each jar i use a Boveda-62% pack

the point is you want a somewhat gradually slow dry(up two 2 weeks) that turns into a long cure(up to 6 months).

you don't want your buds to get bone dry as soon as possible(2 days) and you also dont want to leave them wet for a month(mold).

 

[AloeRuss]

Thank you for your reply
I grow to support the family so In my situation it is more commercial, where smell and taste count more then ever.
But such a controversial topic? I found learning all about it very interesting. And I am grateful to those guys who spent time uncovering it for me, allowing to decide.
As for Cervantes. This is where his name and his knowledge counts the most.... But I learned more on the subject from here then his book. Much more...

 

[RonSmooth]

I trimmed wet for my first 2 grows and couldnt get that pungent odor apparent during late flowering to stay with the bud after drying. I would cut branches off, manicure the buds and hang the branches until dry. The bud looked good, just didnt have that smell that buyers are after.

After that, I tried pulling large fan leaves at harvest and hanging the whole plant to dry. Made sure to let it dry as slow and evenly as possible. After a week to 10 days, right when the stem is cracking more than bending, I take the plants down, cut branches off then individual buds. Then I manicure them dry and put them in jars.

It is actually easy to trim dry. The leaves are very brittle at this point and they usually break off clean when the scissors hit them. The smell was much better preserved using this method and it is how I do it now.

I think that the more important thing is to let the buds dry slow and evenly. Seems to me that leaving the bud leaves intact allows for a more even dry.

 

[Moe Funk]

For me it is way easier to trim dry. But they gotta be dry otherwise it's a pita.

 

[Moe Funk]

Like as in completely dry