Curing on the vine......no chop, whole plant

[CarpeLibertatem]

If anyone has done this please share your experience. With medical laws allowing only x amount of bud on hand and a decent outdoor plant yielding considerably more than that, keeping the plant whole and adopting a pick-as-you-need approach keeps you in the clear, legally speaking.

Now, seeing that all jars and bags do is control moisture release(total amount and rate of release) why can we not stick the whole plant in a RH controlled room and dry/cure by varying the humidity up and down for the initial dry and then a steady 65%(or whatever) to store/cure? I would think an added benefit to this would be not having to worry about anaerobic processes or mold showing up uninvited with constant fresh O2 and air movement.

Any ideas or tips on how to implement this strategy effectively are much appreciated.

 

[wolfshade]

damn
what a great idea!
wish i could help...lol

 

[ashash1212]

The plant will die and then would it not just become x amount of bud? this would work if you could keep the plant in stasis but as soon as you start to dry the plant it will die, becoming bud attached to roots.

 

[mean mr.mustard]

Don't state's medical guidelines usually limit plant number also?

They'd probably count it as bud AND a plant.

 

[CarpeLibertatem]

well, the way I see it, if the plant is still in its pot and still intact, its a plant. So as long as you have a legal # of plants, whether they are dry and dead or green and alive, you're in the clear. As for curing buds on the vine....could the above mentioned method be doable?

 

[Marcellas]

as for your original question. im from northeastern US, and years back had a good friend move up to canada where he grew a lot outdoors. he would chop the plants down and leave them to dry with leaves and everything in a room for weeks, even up to months at a time. i had some friends take a trip up there and said they were sitting in that room breaking buds off plants and smoking them. they said the buds were bone dry but it was some of the best bud they've ever had. hope this helps

 

[THC123]

the best weed i ever smoked come from people who dry their plants whole

i also did this with a few plants from the past indoor run

It can take a LONG time to dry , mine aren't even dry after a whole month , the buds are sticky, i can touch a bud and it will stick to my finger

But the taste and smell are much much much much much better and intense then when you trim a plant fresh , the smoke is smoother and tastier , sweeter

In the vape it can even be too smooth , when vaping i like to feel i am getting something in my lungs , but this way it is like breathing aromatised air laced with thc

Anywho for years i was skeptikal bout not trimming them before thechop , but now i will keep drying the plants whole

downside is you need extra patience

when drying to cure em , i'll cut the individual branches but not the leaves so they dry a bit faster

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

It is absolutely true that leaving the plant intact with all leaves on greatly improves the quality of the dried bud. It never ceases to amaze me that SO many people chop fan leaves, and even inter floral leaflets before the plant is completely dry. Probably a vicious rumor started in a book by J.C. or E.R. Thankfully, this site has contributed a lot to the changing of various harmful methods like this. You only need to get a grower to try the full plant drying method once and the argument is over. More taste, more smell, better storage capabilities, and even possibly more finished weight (that remains to be tested).

Back in the early 70's, I was still growing cannabis in my grandmothers garden in New England. I was working with Columbian and Mexican genetics, so my plants never finished in time for first frost. My grandmother immediately devised a method; we'd dig the plant out saving as much root ball as possible, shake the dirt off the remaining roots, and plop into a bucket of water in the basement, in the dark. The plant would keep developing for 3-4 more weeks, eventually forming white (!) buds of decent potency. My grandmother was smart, I miss her.

 

[THC123]

You only need to get a grower to try the full plant drying method once and the argument is over

amen! there is no comparison , the smell stays as intense as when the plant was still flowering

 

[CarpeLibertatem]

FINALLY some movement in this thread....i knew it'd just be a matter of time for the right people to see it....

As for drying the plant whole, it only makes sense this would give the cleanest buds because the plant's entire moisture content would mostly exit through the buds, thus prolonging their dry and allowing the most chlorophyll breakdown possible.

Greengenes, everyone should thank you for that piece of history b/c i've searched periodically over the course of YEARS for info that would confirm what i thought would be a good way to finish buds and flush outdoor plants.....leaving a small rootball and sticking the plant into a bucket of water in the dark! I honestly can't believe you posted that.....thank you!

So, Greengenes do you know how long the plant will continue it's processes as long as there is water with no light? or will the plant die after a week or so in darkness? Maybe just a bit of light per day to prolong it's life? Ideally, in my mind, you want the plant consuming it's reserves/chlorophyll as long as possible without trichomes continuing to mature with it. How best to achieve this I wonder? Only thing better than gold buds would be white buds!!!

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

When me and my grandmother did it, the plants were pretty early on in flower, so we only managed to push them into mid flowering at best. A proper test would involve trying to get the plant well into finished stage. I'm thinking that maybe some (either hours, or intensity) light might help prolong, but it might have to be gradually increased after the plant adjusts to having a huge root pruning.

How you dry and cure cannabis makes a HUGE difference in the outcome. To me, curing and drying ranks lower than genes when it comes to shaping final product, but higher than whatever fertilizers were used to grow it.

 

[NUG-JUG]

Damn this thread is interesting. I've been trying to get a friend who trims all the leaves ( fan and sugar leaves) immediately to try this method. He refuses saying "oh the fan leaves make it taste bad." He's never tried it though. Maybe do an experiment. The control being the chopped up plant. Then one with fan leaves off, sugar leaves intact, then one with fan and sugar leaves still intact.

greengenes your grandma is a chiller forsure

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

I've never done the comparison with a control, but a local commercial grower friend did. His conclusion, and all his clients concurred, was that the taste and smell were greatly improved over the control.

 

[funkervogt]

I always wanted to do this to save space indoors. My setup is vertical, so a way I could take the whole, vertically-trained plaint to dry at once is ideal over chopping lots of little buds. Everyone I've ever met chops the leaves and buds fresh - never knew this could effect outcome. I'll try this out on my chop in a few days Awesome!

 

[*mistress*]

may be of interest
vine ripening...

 

[CarpeLibertatem]

Thought some might appreciate bumping this one back up as i read it again and was pleased with everyone's responses and info...thanks everyone!

 

[Ganja Maker]

Great idea, I was also wondering about this. I usually trim all big fans off first, then hang til dry, and then trim up for a final cure. It seems like alot of people trim all first then dry and cure. I'm sure the amount also would play a factor. A few times I have let dry totally with leaves and all, and I must say that it did taste and smell pretty damn good, but it was no side by side. It was also a pain to trim with all the dried leaves curled up on everything. so what's everyone else think?

 

[e_24]

I'm way far out to try this now, but I will be in the coming months. The smoke was amazing, actually the best smoke I've had in the pnw, but have bias on my end. If it gets better, then why not try? If you think it didn't inprove, then at least you still have your bud.

 

[medmaker420]

Gunna do this as I have just done a seed run and it is best to leave as much leaf on in hopes of keeping the seeds from falling on the floor and not knowing which cross they are.

I agree that after spending 2-3 months with a plant and then half assing the important part which is the finish/dry/chop/cure portion. Everyone focuses on getting the right lights, soil, nutes or whatever it is they grow with but at the end rush to chop so they can taste their homegrown.

I think the most important tool to any grower is PATIENCE and I don't think anything is above that when it comes to growing amazing meds.

 

[TheBioMaster]

Saw a video of Greenhouse seeds a LONG LONG LONG LONG time ago and in one of the vids he chopped a plant whole leaving everything intact and put the entire plant in a big long card board box, like something that holds a fake x-mas tree. He commented that he would leave it in this sealed card board box for 3 to 4 months to cure. The idea is sound and it makes for an awesome cure if you got the time...lol

The sealed cardboard box is obviously not going to be air tight but let very little air in or out. I would imagine the RH and room temp would be mission CRITICAL for this method to avoid mold.

I think the main key to this type method is to let the entire plant dry very slowly and not removing any leaves or anything until after it has dried almost completely. From there it can be trim'd out and put in jars for final curing if needed.