A perfect cure every time

[Chappi]

You can. But your subject to the changing rh of the room. Also, when dried to the proper level, sealing it in a jar will preserve it longer than keeping it exposed to fresh air. Doesnt matter how small your buds are, they should take at least 5 days to dry evenly. Part of jarring and bringing them back out is to pull the moisture out of the middle of the bud to ultimately have an equal moisture throughout. Then your flowers will smoke more smoothly.

Hi MM and thanks for the reply.

My rh is now 59% and I am now about 4 days into drying(harvested Friday afternoon) It seems that at the rate the buds are dying my RH will probably be in the low 50’s by the time it’s been 5 days of drying.

Because the box is so big and the amount of buds is so little, do you think this affects the accuracy of the hygrometer reading? I am afraid of overdrying the buds but not as afraid as I am of mold lol

 

[Bud Green]

Because the box is so big and the amount of buds is so little, do you think this affects the accuracy of the hygrometer reading? I am afraid of overdrying the buds but not as afraid as I am of mold lol

When using a larger box for the dry and burp, you just need to wait longer for the RH in the box to equalize,
and then you will get an accurate reading

 

[Miraculous Meds]

Like bud said, but remember the rh doesn't equal the moisture content inside your bud. that's where the extra time to equalize throughout comes in.


So what im trying to say is, just cause the rh says 50%, doesn't mean its done. It has to be tested for sponginess and checked till your satisfied with the moisture content. I don't know of a simple way to measure moisture content without ruining your bud, so everybody goes by their own assessment of what they like their finished product to be.

 

[Chappi]

Double post for aome reason

 

[Chappi]

Like bud said, but remember the rh doesn't equal the moisture content inside your bud. that's where the extra time to equalize throughout comes in.


So what im trying to say is, just cause the rh says 50%, doesn't mean its done. It has to be tested for sponginess and checked till your satisfied with the moisture content. I don't know of a simple way to measure moisture content without ruining your bud, so everybody goes by their own assessment of what they like their finished product to be.

I guess if when my rh was 60% and I put in the jar it jumped to 80% maybe I can wait til the box is at 40% and see if that puts me at 55-60%. Bringing up your point of RH in the box does not equate to humidity in the buds themselves, it should be safe to assume that the buds won’t be over dry at that point. We’ll see what happens.

This harvest is not all that important(early harvest, plants put outside late in season) so I have no problem experimenting with it, I would obviously like the best possible outcome but I’m not going to cry if I over dry the buds.

 

[THC123]

Yeah you are right, in the beginning, but after 4 - 6 months they smell delicious and are smooth with a buttery texture and barely snapping stems. I get them like this by keeping the jars closed when they are at 64-67% and keeping them closed for 4 - 6 months. So it takes very long. Also the cannabis is only good if I open the jar once or twice, afterwards it goes downhill fast. That is why I package them in small mylar bags after the 4 - 6 month cure. This is not practical but the only way I get smooth tasty weed in jars. But I also want to experiment with lower humidity as I also would like to have it drier but still tasty and smooth. I think the key is not to burp for too long or to often. For me the weed often smells good for the first 2 weeks and then the more I burp it the worse it gets. I have gotten the best results by burping maybe maximum one week and then sealing jars away.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

There might be some point of no return as far as over drying. Ive read in this thread that 44%rh is the magic number. I truly don't know, but have severely over dried and too fast before, and the results are horrible. Id try to stay at no lower than 45%, but if it drops into 40%, and there is still equalizing (more moisture in the middle of the bud) to be done, it will probably be fine. The last part after trimming at 45% though, is to equalize at 50 to 55%(letting them sit for a day in this rh), for final smoke quality imo. Hope that helps.

 

[Chappi]

There might be some point of no return as far as over drying. Ive read in this thread that 44%rh is the magic number. I truly don't know, but have severely over dried and too fast before, and the results are horrible. Id try to stay at no lower than 45%, but if it drops into 40%, and there is still equalizing (more moisture in the middle of the bud) to be done, it will probably be fine. The last part after trimming at 45% though, is to equalize at 50 to 55%(letting them sit for a day in this rh), for final smoke quality imo. Hope that helps.

44% eh? I checked the RH this morning at it was already at 49%!!
I quickly trimmed any excess leaf and then jarred it. The RH has climed up to about 51 last time I checked, only been in there for an hour or so.

I also noticed that once the RH dropped below 60 it dropped FAST!
The buds smell good with a slight grassy smell. The texture is definitely crisp on the outside, there’s still some softness in the center for sure where I assume all the moisture is. At this low RH I’m going to just leave it in the jar and try to avoid burping unless the RH gets above 65% which I don’t see happening. I’m assuming my chances if mold are now very low and of overdrying very high.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

Just check consistently over the next 2 days for too much moisture content. Let it sit out if it feels too moist. Eventually it will equalize, then your chances of mold are next to 0.

 

[Chappi]

Climbed up to 58%, lets see where it stops and equalizes.

They’ve been in the jar now for about 8hrs and RH is at 58% as of right now. I did a burp for a few seconds as I felt the texture of the buds but it didnt seem to affect the RH(it was at 57% it went higher after to 58%).
I don’t see them jumping all that much more considering how dry they still feel to the touch. At almost one degree per hour I hope that it caps off soon but I will get up early to check tomorrow.
I’ll post results after 24hrs in the jar.

 

[Chappi]

The RH capped at 61%, it may have gone higher and dropped? Not sure since I was asleep haha

Anyway buds are smelling more garlicky/skunky and a lot more grassy/hay but I’m sure this is the result of the curing process.

I burped them til the RH dropped to 56% and now I will leave them for another 24hrs and see what happens.

Thanks for all the help, I’ll stop posting now for a while on this thread.

 

[THC123]

When the RH is below 60 I would not burp too often but rather keep it closed for a long time. Also make sure that when you burp, the RH in the room is lower than in the jar.

 

[PaulieWaulie]

Can you cure your bud in the fridge, is that good, bad, or a no no ?

I just finished 1 week dry, then 1 week stabilize to 64%. I have airtight containers that I keep in the fridge to store my bud, just wondering if its a good idea to cure in here or if its too cold.

 

[AgentPothead]

I found this over here about fridge curing. https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4492365&postcount=2 Can't speak to it's efficiency, just about to give Simon's way a shot this weekend.

 

[Chappi]

I just harvested the remainder of my plant on Friday(popcorn buds) I’m trying a different approach. Yesterday I put them in a small mason jar(16oz?) and checked RH and it was 80% with the lid on. With the lid off it dropped to 64%, took the lid off but left them in the jar over night. In the morning I checked them again and the RH was 59% with the lid off(I just leave the hygrometer in there) I put the lid back on for about 1hr and the RH jumped to 74%.

I think you can see what I’m doing, I don’t leave the lid on for too long and I think this helps prevent mold, at the same time keeping them in the jar prevents the moisture from disssipating too quickly. Once I reach 64% or below with the lid on I’ll leave the lid on for 12-24 hrs. And see what happens.

My other buds are curing nicely and smelling very sweet now but still not dank. I do believe I over dried them a little or maybe just too fast, not sure. I think I can do better this time.

 

[THC123]

I have gotten really nice results by doing what you do, and then keeping the jar closed for 3-6 months as soon as it reaches 64%. Sometimes after 3 months the RH is 68% but I never had mold this way.

This has advantages and disadvantages:

Advantage: the cannabis will smell absolutely wonderful, strong terpenes, sticky weed, burns nicely, good taste.

Disadvantage: once you open the jar once or twice the quality takes a dive due to exposure to fresh oxygen.

Solution: after the 3-6 months repackage the cannabis in small mylar bags for week portions. This way it stays good.

But I really noticed with glass jar curing that opening the jars too much will fuck up the quality.

I have yet to experiment with lower RH cures

 

[Bleiweis]

Im looking to buy a hygrometer and the costs seem to vary a lot.

Can anyone speak from experience...how much do the 1-2$ differ from those 15-20$+? Is it worth it or not? Is the accuracy of those cheaper ones on pair?

 

[Gr33nSanta]

Im looking to buy a hygrometer and the costs seem to vary a lot.

Can anyone speak from experience...how much do the 1-2$ differ from those 15-20$+? Is it worth it or not? Is the accuracy of those cheaper ones on pair?

I tried them years ago, none of them had the same reading. I always go by feel, Ive had lots of practice by now, haha snappy stems sappy buds

 

[Vanilla Phoenix]

I've only used the Caliber hygrometers and they are pretty accurate. I've had a couple for 2 years or so and they are still accurate. They are one of the more expensive ones though.

 

[brown_thumb]

I've been using cheap little US$2 hygrometers so I can afford to keep one in each jar. I bought 30 of them and threw 2 away because they varied more than 1 percent compared to the 28 others which matched a pricier unit. These are all within +/- 1 percent of the pricier unit. I can't yet comment about long-term accuracy and reliability.