Klutter's Cure Journal

Guest · Aug 16, 2007

hehehe... right on. I'd be staring at the jars but they're hidden away in the dark-room...haha

Got nothin but fun coming up! On day 30 I'll give an updated look/smell report, then my plan is to smoke out of each jar for each day. So by day 34 I'll have the smoke report for each jar.... Keep in mind, this is only the 30 day cure mark and most report kick ass aroma's at 60 and above. But I think this should give a good idea of what works and what certainly does not.

Now I'm just trying to hold back the scissors from harvesting the chronic's revenge... She's really REALLY close - check'n trich's daily. Can't wait to see if simply leaving in the hang room works better/as good as burping jars everyday...

talos4 · Aug 16, 2007

Hey guys, I can tell you from experience now since this is the first time I got the smell I was looking for. It takes longer than you think. I wasn't doing anything wrong, just wasn't burping and waiting long enough. See Totalheavenclub's post? thats how I did it this time, or pretty close. Burp less as time goes on and wait. I dried in drawers for about 6 days, then put bud in bags for two days, then went to jars and burped about like Total said. Now my pot is smelling better and better. Took about two months

kovenant · Aug 17, 2007

Klutter -> so are you planning on giving the smoke report for 30 days and then keep all 4 jars going another month to give another at 60? or you just doing the short test this time around, to compare the 4 up to this point?

1 more day? ill be out of town... ill have to wait until the 19th to read it! lol oh the humanity! :bashhead:

Guest · Aug 17, 2007

Oh I intend to keep these in the jars for as long as they last in my domain...hehehe. I'll give periodic 30 day updates on the smell/flavor of those that are left. As previously stated, 30 days is a good starting point but for the true aroma to flourish 60-90 days is more inline.

1 more day...'n hatin the wait.

kovenant · Aug 17, 2007

since im germinating some kalichakra from mandala seeds i went to their website today to look up how they suggest germinating. (even though im already doing it the shot-glass method.) i got caught up in their FAQ and thought you might find this interesting about their suggestion on harvest/curing. not alot different from many things we've heard, but a few quirks that made me want to post this:

Mandala Seeds said:
• What is the best method for drying and curing?

To prevent bud mold spreading in your crop we advise to trim the buds from larger leaves and stalks straight after harvest. It is less work intensive and prevents damage to the trichomes to trim the buds while they are still fresh. If you like to preserve the large head buds they can be hung from a line after trimming. The small to medium trimmed buds can be spread out on any type of screen that promotes air passage such as mosquito mesh, simple meshed curtains, etc. Cheap plastic trays that can be connected to form towers with the bottom laid out with mesh work great. You can also spread out the mesh on a clothes dryer stand. A handy product for drying is this inexpensive and space saving hanging basket:

Even though the buds are lying flat out, if they have been trimmed properly they will retain a nice oval shape after drying. There is no need to turn them over while drying. Avoid any unnecessary handling so that the outer coating of resin is not rubbed off (most of the resin is contained in the bud however). Dry the buds at room temperature and normal humidity. Make sure the temperature does not drop too much to prevent mold. In case it does use a heater and small oscillating fan in the room to keep a good climate. Small to medium buds are usually dry enough for curing after 5-7 days. Larger head buds hung to dry require up to 12 days. Test the progress of drying by bending them. Even if the outside feels dry there is still enough moisture inside. Stems should be quite dry but still a bit bendable/supple. This is a good stage to start the curing process.

The most common mistake growers make during curing is that they pack the buds into airtight containers. The second mistake is to fill the bags/containers to the top. When you first pack the buds into a bag or container fill only ¾ of the space. One of the best methods to cure buds is to use household zip-lock bags for storing vegetables. These are aroma-neutral and allow a minimal exchange of gases through the bags since they are not completely impermeable like glass for example. Cardboard boxes and paper bags are an alternative but they have certain disadvantages, such as that the buds might dry to quickly in them.

The first week of curing excess moisture will pass from the inner core of the buds to the outside. You can tell the difference because the dry surface of the packed buds is suddenly considerably more moist again from absorbing the escaped humidity when you open the bag/container a day later. In an airtight environment there is no possibility for this moisture to escape and for the necessary exchange of gases required for a good curing process. During curing the gases and moisture escaping from the buds need to be vented and fresh oxygen should be available. For this reason, the bags/containers with the buds should be opened for a few minutes every 2-3 days. Gently rotating the buds from the bottom of the bag to the top assists in an even drying and curing process. This is quite difficult to do in glass jars but a simple procedure with zip-lock bags.

Curing normally takes 6-8 weeks. After the first two weeks it is not necessary to open the bags/container every few days – once a week will suffice. Buds can also mature beyond the regular 2 month period and gain in taste and potency. For extended curing they should be stored in a zip-lock bag in a cool, dark place. When the curing process is completed the buds can be stored in airtight packaging for long-term storage if required.

Guest · Aug 17, 2007

Thx Kov!

One of the most interesting parts of that entire paragraph:
Buds can also mature beyond the regular 2 month period and gain in taste and potency.

Seems to go against what some are posting, that potency is NOT increased with cure only aroma. Fantastic read!

talos4 · Aug 17, 2007

I think I've got growing and curing down pretty good now, thank god I will never run out of pot thats better than you can buy. I've got 4 jars of great stuff thats been curing for almost 3 months. I did it slow and it paid off. I've got another grow about 2 weeks from harvest. I need to get some seedlings going. What a nice hobby

srah · Aug 20, 2007

i'm confused about the twisted treez post. is it from pm? was it deleted?

what is the twisted treez method? just to cure on the branch? do you rehydrate at the end? is the post there somewhere and i just missed it?

great thread. thanks.

Guest · Aug 20, 2007

srah said:
i'm confused about the twisted treez post. is it from pm? was it deleted?

what is the twisted treez method? just to cure on the branch? do you rehydrate at the end? is the post there somewhere and i just missed it?

great thread. thanks.

TwistedTree's posted that he simply trims the lady and then hangs her... no paperbags, no jars, etc... So I will be 'testing' that cure method with a lady I just harvested. There's no re-hydration, etc...it's just a slow dry with zero left to do. We'll see how that one comes out.

Chronic's Revenge Buds being tested for the 'Hang only' method. These were trimmed and began drying on 8-17-07.

The branch on the right will be left hanging while the remainder will be jar'ed and cured similar to this experiment with 4+ jars, each being burped for a different amount of time.

Update on Blue Mystic cure:
Now at Day 31. Today I will be smoking outta jar 3 and 4 as yesterday I broke the seal on jar 1 and also sampled jar 2. I'll have a final 30 day update by either tonight or tomorrow.

Jar Status: Each jar was loaded and weighed in approx 476grams. Not a big harvest but wanted to insure each jar had close to the same amount.

Jar 1: NEVER BURPED - CURED 30 DAYS
Opened jar for the first time in 30 days. Initial smell was that of sweet hay with buds being somewhat less crunchy than what I normally see. I'd say they were almost moist, very soft, but no signs of mold or bud rot. After a few minutes the smell slightly changed to a fruity hay smell, but hay was always in the background. This is EXACTLY what I'm used to smelling and is almost identical to what I've been smelling as I've burped the remaining jars 2-4.

Smoke was 'what I'm used to' at 30 days in a jar. Not 'old school', slightly harsh with ash burning black as coal. High was also 'typical', nothing to write home about on this jar.

Jar 2: BURPED 15mins FOR 7 DAYS - CURED 30 DAYS
This jar had a substantially different taste, texture and smell. Smell upon opening was not of hay, but also not old school bud. Somewhere in between with hints of fruit and fuel. Buds were not 'moist' or soft but also not dry as dust. Found they were sticky to the touch and when pressed together they just compressed. The 'ideal' texture for what I'm after.

Smoke was much smoother than jar 1 with a much stronger after taste of berries or cereal. I'm not sure which but most certainly a great flavor compared to the other jar I sampled. This is going to be sweet at 60-90 days!

I will update later once I bust open 3 and 4. But to be honest, Jar 2 has taken the prize for 30 days at this point.

THC•20 · Aug 20, 2007

Cool Klutter. I guess burping really does help eh? lol, and nice plants. I don't see how you ever grew plants as big as those and never just straight hung them up. I would not be trying to trim and hang up each branch separately if I had two big plants like that, **** that lol. Too much work.

Guest · Aug 20, 2007

THC•20 said:
Cool Klutter. I guess burping really does help eh? lol, and nice plants. I don't see how you ever grew plants as big as those and never just straight hung them up. I would not be trying to trim and hang up each branch separately if I had two big plants like that, **** that lol. Too much work.

Thanks THC! The funny thing is that is actually a single plant, I just split it into 2 huge parts for the upcoming curing test. Not bad huh! This is my best yield yet with a 400w and recirc DWC...and to think she was getting root rot near the end. Nothing but good things to look forward to for my next grow!

normally, i would clip off each large branch and trim that by itself. Much easier than trying to trim the whole thing as I dont like flip-flopping the huge branches around. But now I've learned - might be easier to trim up (holding 1 branch at a time) but speeds up initial drying WAY too much. And it seems that burping the jars DOES help (at this point) the initial drying is key to getting a good product at the end. Now I just hope I can keep this girl from drying too fast - already lowered temps to get them around 78 to ensure it's not too warm for her. Time will tell!

Guest · Aug 21, 2007

30 Day Conclusion

30 Day Conclusion

Here is the completed 30 day writeup for the Blue Mystic.

The contenders:
Jar 1: NEVER BURPED - CURED 30 DAYS
Opened jar for the first time in 30 days. Initial smell was that of sweet hay with buds being somewhat less crunchy than what I normally see. I'd say they were almost moist, very soft, but no signs of mold or bud rot. After a few minutes the smell slightly changed to a fruity hay smell, but hay was always in the background. This is EXACTLY what I'm used to smelling and is almost identical to what I've been smelling as I've burped the remaining jars 2-4.

Smoke was 'what I'm used to' at 30 days in a jar. Not 'old school', slightly harsh with ash burning black as coal. High was also 'typical', nothing to write home about on this jar.

Jar 2: BURPED 15mins FOR 7 DAYS - CURED 30 DAYS
This jar had a substantially different taste, texture and smell. Smell upon opening was not of hay, but also not old school bud. Somewhere in between with hints of fruit and fuel. Buds were not 'moist' or soft but also not dry as dust. Found they were sticky to the touch and when pressed together they just compressed. The 'ideal' texture for what I'm after.

Smoke was much smoother than jar 1 with a much stronger after taste of berries or cereal. I'm not sure which but most certainly a great flavor compared to the other jar I sampled. This is going to be sweet at 60-90 days!

Jar 3: BURPED 15mins FOR 14 DAYS - CURED 30 DAYS
Jars 3 and 4 were VERY similar in smell, flavor and texture of the buds with jar 3 being the better of the two. Upon opening this jar and taking a good smell, the first thing I noticed was very very little smell! Not hay, not bud, just kinda air. Granted my smeller is not the most sensitive but this was a little odd. It is also something I have experienced in the past when curing and seems to be an 'ok' thing as long as it's a phase. Pulling out a bud and smelling it closely gave off the bud aroma I expected, but only at close examination.

Smoke was similar to jar 2 being the same strain, but that was about it. Flavor was comparable to jar 2 along with the aftertaste of a slight fruity mix. Buds were a tad on the dryer side though, feeling somewhat crispy to the touch. Not dust, but not ideal - I would normally drop a leaf in this one to let it moisten up a tad.

Jar 4: BURPED 15mins FOR 21 DAYS - CURED 30 DAYS
This was not the way to go...hahah. Bud was dry, crispy and had very little to no smell - similar to jar 3. High was the same as others but smoke was much harsher then the other samples. Nothing severe or ruined, but certainly this jar was opened far too many times and for too long a duration IMO.

30 Final Result:Jar 2 is currently in the lead with flavor, texture and aroma. - I would like to add though that ALL of the jar's buds burned black ash...none of them resulted in the white ash we all seek.

Lessons learned: More maintenance is not necessarily better for curing. Seems a short duration of burping at the start is enough to let moisture escape, more than that seems to have less of a positive affect.

I'll be testing in another 30 days on these, going to leave them as is without opening again. I suspect at 60 days the findings will be much more variant, allowing the winner to easily be seen in the crowd. At that time I should also have a 30 day result on the C.R., using the same jar testing method but with the addition of just leaving a branch hanging.

Guest · Aug 21, 2007

Thanx for the thread...

I, also in the stages of drying and curing for the first time....

my buds have been in zip-lock bags for 10 days now........
I,m just glad the smell and taste is improving....

learned so much from this thread.....

i,ll be back

whats the diffrence between zip-lock bags and jars........as in the effects it has o the weed...???
any why choose the one above the other ....???

Guest · Aug 22, 2007

mobius said:
Thanx for the thread...

I, also in the stages of drying and curing for the first time....

my buds have been in zip-lock bags for 10 days now........
I,m just glad the smell and taste is improving....

learned so much from this thread.....

i,ll be back

whats the diffrence between zip-lock bags and jars........as in the effects it has o the weed...???
any why choose the one above the other ....???

My understanding about the bags is they still allow air to transfer to the outside, where as a glass jar does not. This means that if you leave bud in a ziplock, and some in a jar, as time passes the ziplock will become drier while the jar will not.

touringfunkband · Aug 22, 2007

It would be interesting to see what causes the black ash over the white - but I assume your wondering that yourself.. Klutter - On a scale of 1-10 was the odor of the mystic prior to curing very pungent?

Guest · Aug 23, 2007

Hey Touring - welcome to the thread of fun! haha.... The smell was about a 6 when originally chopped and after about a day of being isolated in the closet increased to a 9 (aroma was leaking out of the room) to a final 3 or so by the time they were jarred.

So I was going to create a new thread for this test but decided to keep it all together to make following the tests easier. I am now beginning a second test using a different strain and a MUCH better finished grow. As I've stated many times, I'm a newb and probably will always enjoy holding this title - keeps me humble enough to learn.

So here we go with the new test for 30 days. I'll try and keep redundant updates/pictures to a minimum for easier reading.

Strain: Chronic's Revenge
Flower time: 57 days
Method: Hydro - DWC
Chopped: 8-17-07
Trimmed and manicured and hung in closed closet: 8-17-07
Here's what she looked like when hanging up

Now we are approx 6 days later. Buds are crispy on the outside but compress without turning to dust. Large stems snap while smaller ones bend with a slight pop. This is when I would 'normally' place in jars for final curing/burping.

I will be doing the following tests for the 'perfect' method:

Test #1: Leave branch hanging
I left a smaller branch, with some buds on it, to just hang in the closet. It's going to stay in there for 30 days or until buds literally just fall off and turn to dust. It's what I expect to happen though, as I've learned, I might learn something from it!

Test #2: Placing in container with paper bags - 8-23-07
I have read of a LOT of growers using this paper bag assistance to slow down drying time. Some say use plastic bags (such as Jorge C. in his bible) and others say NO to plastic. We'll see.....

Test #3: Jar immediately, skipping paper bag step - 8-23-07
I clipped off a few buds and placed them in a jar. I'm going to leave it closed for 24hrs and check to see moisture level, determining whether it needs a long burp or a short one.

Test #4: In 7-10 days I will use the buds in the paper bags to carry out another 4-6 jar test similar to the Blue Mystic. Jars will be burped for different amounts of time, more jars = more possible tests.

....and with that, I'm off to smoke a glorious popcorn nug. She just looked too pretty and I'm certain will make me giggle.

guest5703 · Aug 25, 2007

a couple of things klutter, Great thread for one! I have always wondered this mystery myself, curing is a lot harder than most people think! I agree with the person who said it depends on strain, I have had a strain that smelled great the moment is was picked and just got better! Also have had buds I tried to cure for a month and they weren't very great...

One big thing for sure is your buds need to burn white to be able to fully taste them. Because if they are turning black, then you have some sort of nutrients in them still ,and this will result in a shitty taste period! Well, let us know more dude, I am very curious, PEACE BRO!

bounty29 · Aug 26, 2007

Great thread and documentation, results are very informative. I think I'll be burping for 7 days, I'm looking forward to some real taste and odor, instead of the bland hay smell. Thanks!

UNREGISTRD · Aug 27, 2007

touringfunkband said:
It would be interesting to see what causes the black ash over the white - but I assume your wondering that yourself.. Klutter - On a scale of 1-10 was the odor of the mystic prior to curing very pungent?

First off NICE THREAD KLUTTER! it should be stickied.

touringfunkband:

its really no mystery what your seeing there after buring your herb.. Its just a CLEAR indicator that your not FLUSHING long enough before u cut down!
Its kinda like burning wood and it burns black smoke and u burn grass and it burns white smoke well from what im told chemicals burn black and clean herb burns white..

Alot of Great points were brought up in here and I really advise everyone to reread that post where mandala seeds drying/curing method for its right on completely!! I think where alot of people go wrong is where the transition of the drying to curing phase takes place!
AFTER drying, ya your herb is dry but its not completly dry!!!, the first week of a cure after drying is to bring the Inner moisture back out into the bud from the stem so that know the whole bud is back to being moist soft/spongy, Thats basically all the moisture left in the bud is know on the outside of the plant. The burping method know lets the gases escape and the outside of the plant to start truely CURING know!! this remaing moisture on the outside is what needs to be burped out and IMO can also be thrown in a paper bag at this point for a day then put pack in the jars for another week or so and youll have exactly what u want at that 30 day mark ive actually seen it done in 2 weeks several times. The key is to make sure u dont overdry in the Drying phase so that ur trichomes can actually cure!
Ill be curing up some flavors really soon so ill post some pics on how we get her done!!

Guest · Aug 27, 2007

Cool coo...alot of things in this thread makes more sense now....

Like it wasnt too clever of my to put the buds over the oil heater.....
chances are good that some THC got destroyed in the process .....

so...basicly u ganna need the bit of moisture to help with the chemical reaction to take place in the buds...
but not too much moisture otherwise the bud will get moldy...!!!

My second picking is hanging in the closet........drying much slower......
smelling better aswell........

Peace and happy curing......

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