Dry Nugs and Mason Jars

[AloeRuss]

Hello

I am in the process of harvesting right now.
So I cut all of my plants and hanged upside down.
3 days lateri started to manicuring process and laying clean Nugs onto the drying rack as I go.
The first batch was put on the rack the day before yesterday. They need to be completley dry before I move them into jars.

Question:
Since Nugs are cut and manicured there is nothing on them that can be snapped or bent, but the clean Nugs are pretty much the same everywhere and probably need somewhat of a set time to dry.
Do you guys know what it is? Is 3 days enough?

Also, if I will be monitoring the curing process several times a day. Burping and mixing the buds in the jar as often as I need to. What would be the worst case scenario if I put them in jars too early?

 

[Rambro]

worst case- moldy buds. in my experience jarring too early can also cause your buds to loose their dank smell and keep the hay/grass smell.

 

[AloeRuss]

Thank you Rambro. The mold and smell are the most important. I cannot have neither.
As far as the timing. Do you know how many days for the Nugs to be sitting on the rack?
How does one check for sure if there is no stem to snap?

 

[WelderDan]

It depends on your humidity. 3 - 5 days is normal, longer for higher humidity areas. You can test by bending the whole bud

I will jar my buds and then check them about 12 hours later. That is enough time for whatever moisture is in the center to even out in the jar. If it's too moist I leave the lid off, or even take the buds out if too wet.

I try not to handle them too much, and just leave the lid off whenever possible.

It's one of those things that you get a feel for after a while. Or, you can put a humidity gauge in the jar. There is a whole thread on that method called "The perfect cure every time"

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=156237

This one is pretty idiot proof

 

[AloeRuss]

So if I monitor the humidity insight the jar and keep it open if needed, I won't have any serious problems?

 

[WelderDan]

So if I monitor the humidity insight the jar and keep it open if needed, I won't have any serious problems?

Right-O

That is curing in a nutshell.

Curing is nothing more than the controlled drying of your buds. The idea is to slowly dry it out so that over time, the chlorophyll and nitrogen have time to beak down.

Chlorophyll causes the hay smell and taste, and nitrogen pops and causes a sharp, bitter taste when burned

Burping the jar allows the chlorophyll and nitrogen to escape as they break down.

In the end, you end up with evenly moist, tasty herb that burns slowly and evenly.

 

[Piff Rhys Jones]

Don't put them in jars until you can snap a nug in half.

Once in the jars the bud will remoisten slightly from what's left in the stem. Just keep opening and smelling the jars ensuring the dank smell is there rather than a "moist" smell.

Peace

 

[MMAjay420]

what i do is similar to your idea but before jarring i put em into a brown paper bag thats closes but has a few cuts made into it for ventilation. after 24-48 hours there THEN i move em to the jars and keep checking em every few hours, maybe 3 or 4 times a day, just to make sure its not too humid in there. if it is, i either leave it open for a bit or put them back in the brown paper bag to help even out the humidity.....

 

[AloeRuss]

Thanks MMA. What precisely do you check for when in jars?

 

[Snype]

It's not as complicated as some people are saying. When your buds hanging are dry to the touch, they will most likely be wet on the inside. When they are in jars don't fill up the jars all the way. Maybe like 3/4's full. Close the jar. Check the jar after 6-12 hours. Do the buds feel wet to the touch now? If they do then keep the jar open until the buds at the top feel dry to the touch. If it takes more than 12 hours for the buds at the top to feel dry then they were still too wet when they went in the jar. You can put them in a paper bag and close it. When the buds feel dry to the touch then you can go back to the jar. Open the jar every 6-12 hours for the first day or 2. If the buds feel wet, leave it open until the buds at the top of the jar feel dry to the touch. Close the jar. The buds at the bottom of the jar will be wet and distribute it's moisture evenly back to the top buds of the jar. You keep opening the jar and dry out the top buds of the jar. You keep repeating these steps until it doesn't wet up anymore. This is called sweating. I like to sweat for at least 1 week. When I hang my buds I don't want them to feel dry to the touch for at least 5 days. Then the sweat would be another 7 days. After your sweat, you can cure your bud. I like to cure for at least 2 months.

 

[AloeRuss]

Thank you Snype. I am on my cellphone at the gym. Didn't even have to see the signature. I knew it was you. Guess it makes me a fan of your work, cat.

Anyway. Enough with compliments.
From what I understood I can move my nugs to the jars as long as I keep them under my watchfull eye and don't disregard the signs that my buds display sitting in the jars.

Btw. This time all the nugs are so sticky. It's like clay. I can literally glue 4 smaller ones together to make one large one. Nice!

 

[Snype]

Yeah you want to keep an eye on them. Just a tip. The second the outside of the buds feel dry to the touch when they are hanging or on your net, they will be very wet inside the stem and in the middle of the buds. They will not be ready for a jar at that time. You will have to get used to how dry they should feel before they go to the jar if you are going to use that method that you are stating.

What makes it easier to figure out is right when they feel dry to the touch, put all the buds into a paper bag. There are many sizes of paper bags. You will want a size that will fill the bag half way up with your product. Once you put it in the bag, close the bag and let the buds sweat like above. Use the same steps as I described in my last post. As the buds become harder to feel wet to the touch, keep folding the bag closed until you are right up to the buds and close the the bag with a few close pins. This is to try to wet it up again, if possible. If it stays dry, then it is ready for the jar. It will be much easier for you this way. Once it's in the jar, you probably won't have to check it for 12 hours. Then go with the way I said before. Won't take long for the jar this way too. It is possible to mess up your product if you put it in the jar too early for too long. It can wet up real fast the way you wanted to do it. That's why I'm giving you another option that is much harder to mess up.

 

[AloeRuss]

Super! Thank you Snype.
I am gonna go and work on them.

Hey. What is going to happen to that "clay" feeling? Is it going to go away or becomes better?
Since I didn't manicure wet, the aroma is to the end of the block. I have to use ozone generator to contain it. Will I preserve it as well giving if I do everything correctly?

 

[Snype]

Super! Thank you Snype.
I am gonna go and work on them.

Hey. What is going to happen to that "clay" feeling? Is it going to go away or becomes better?
Since I didn't manicure wet, the aroma is to the end of the block. I have to use ozone generator to contain it. Will I preserve it as well giving if I do everything correctly?

Honestly, I have no idea what you mean about a clay feeling. Whatever it is you seem to think it's a bad thing so it probably is. I don't know what you mean.

I'm assuming you are saying that the leaves are still on the plant. You can still do the steps that I suggested and cut off the leaves when you want to if that's how your choose to do it. I cut off the leaves when I harvest. When you choose to cut the leaves off at harvest, your plants will dry faster so it's your job to slow them down by putting them in a smaller space, maybe closing a closet door or turning off a fan, etc.

As long as you proceed with similar steps that I contained above, the rest is just a matter of preference.

 

[AloeRuss]

No, no Snype. I don't mean it's bad.
Do you know the play dough that kids play with to mold the figures.
That's how it feels. It is so sticky.

 

[tommyboi_420]

Here's how I do it....1 I never cut down then hang...I like to fully trim then lay the finished Buds on window screen for 5-7 days(depending on the strain's density) then fill the ball jar 3/4 full...then every 6 hours faithfully I open the jars for 20 minutes(while I have the lids off I like to feel for moisture) I do this for 3-4 days strait and after the last day return the jars into there dark double boxed home in my closet...easy peesy...never had Mold!!...and all my smoke smells and taste like the strain I grew!!..Good Luck

 

[AloeRuss]

Got it. Thank you tommyb.
Mold is deffenatley the biggest enemy here, but if you are diligent at checking and opening your jars at 5-6 hours interval, mold simply won't have enough time to materialize. Am I correct on this one guys?

 

[AloeRuss]

Also, this is an estimation but if I cut my ladies on Friday and dropped the first batch on Saturday afternoon onto the drying rack.
Giving the fact that i dont do any special technics that speeds up the process with temp 75 and humidity is at 50, There is no possible way any of my Nugs could be over dried by now.

 

[Dropped Cat]

On the other hand, if the nugs are over-dried they will not cure.

Once you have established stable 65% or less in each of the jars
you can tailor the cure down to 55%, over time.

If the nugs in your jar register less than 55% from the start no
further curing will occur.

It's really simple if you have the set up. The cure is just as important
as the grow.