First time grower and i need some help from you vets out there . cuz i dont wanna wind up gettin mold on my goods and have wasted all that time.

Many hydro growers drain the tank and fill it with plain water, two days before harvest. Called Flushing. (I quit doing that, I just could not taste any difference.) Soil growers also FLUSH before harvesting.
I cut the longest branches, put them on a tin-foiled covered tray, and go to my kitchen table. I try to catch any fallen trichomes on the tin foil.
I have three boxes, one for the big FAN leaves. (for oil)
one box for the TRIM leaves, the leaves with trichomes on them, that I manicured off the buds, FOR HASH. I've manicured much more since I learned how to make HASH. I want some naked STEM at the end of the buds to fasten my tape to, so I can hang it in the drying box.
AND One Box for the smaller popcorn buds. (small buds with no stems)

I manicure them, and cut the leaves off. I manicure closely. IF you leave those leaves on, by the time the buds are dry, the leaves are crispy and harsh to smoke.
I string masking tape across the top of the box, making rows about 3 or 4 inches a part. I wrap a piece of masking tape, about 4 inches long, around the tip end of the stem, and hang it from the masking tape, in rows, not letting the buds touch each other. VERY IMPORTANT.

I separate the bigger buds from the smaller ones IN DIFFERENT BOXES.
I put the boxes in a dark room, NO DIRECT LIGHT, and blow a gentle oscillating fan across the top, but not on them.
The big buds take 7 days, the smaller ones 5 days. Popcron buds take 3 or 4 days. Some take 5 days.
If you dry them too much, you can add back moisture. If you do not dry them enough, you get rotten buds and mold.
Dry them til the end of the stem will SNAP when you break it, but not crispy dry.
Again, the big buds take 7 days to dry, under a small fan,the smaller ones 5 days.
Keep them in the dark with little light to see and inspect.
I never smoke them then, NEVER.
VERY IMPORTANTLY I then CURE them 30 days in wide mouth jars, opening the jar for ten seconds EVERYDAY , for 30 days.
Every day, I sniff them, smell them, for any funky moldy smell. If they do not smell right, then dry them outside the jar another day or two.
I've lost one jar, out of hundreds, the 30th day, it went bad, to Bud MOLD.

I can not emphasis the importance and difference if you properly MANICURE, Dry AND Cure them.
CURING MAKES A BIG MAJOR DIFFERENCE.
DO I HAVE TO Cure 30 days?
Definitely, I do know for sure, I tried smoking buds cured for a only a week, for two weeks, three weeks and 4 weeks. You should try it too, and you will find what I found. Buds cured 4 weeks not only taste better, they burn better and get you higher too. It has something to do with some scientific complicated SUGAR PROCESSING. or the sugars change . I am 100% sure, you will agree, if you test it like I did. CURE FOR 30 DAYS!

DRYING? They say dry them til the stem will snap. Well, I get stems the thickness of fishing line and I get stems the thickness of a pencil, even bigger. That tells me that you can not DRY them ALL the same amount of time. So I sort mine, fatter stems from skinny stems. The skinny ones, I DRY for 5 or 6 days. The fat ones, I DRY for 7 to 8 days. IF YOU OVER DRY, YOU CAN REMOISTEN THEM. IF YOU DO NOT DRY THEM ENOUGH, THEY WILL ROT ! I dry mine in the open air, moving air, moved with an oscillating fan. A gentle breeze, in temps of what central air or central heat gives me, which is around 75 to 78 degrees and humidity of 30% to 40%.
AND YOU MUST DRY AND CURE THEM IN DARKNESS. LIGHT IS THE ENEMY WHEN DRYING AND CURING. I do DRY mine in a room with the shades pulled down, it is not very dARK, but it is not any direct LIGHT, just some leaking light. I read up on Drying and Curing in 4 books I bought, and the above is what they say.

Save the trim leaves for HASH, you'll be so glad you did.


When I put my buds in Jars, I put them in the jar one bud at a time, feeling it, to see if it is VERY dry, overly dry, or NOT dry enough.

I also save several large pieces of the STEM, for later. When I check a jar, if I find a vERY dry bud, a bud too crispy and dry, I ad a short piece of fresh moist stem to the jar, for a half day, to re-moistion it.


Daily inspecting the jars, opening and smelling them, is of the upmost importantance.






Those pics are a mixture of my 2007 and 2008 crop. The 2007 crop, I did not trim close. I trimmed, but not close. I'd leave a half inch, to keep the scissors from getting glued together adn I was just lazy and in a hurry. I always got a lot of very dry, too dry, bud leaves, that smoked harsh. More times than not, I threw them away or gave them away.

And then I got a KIEF Box with a screen, and I started trimming much closer. The 2008 pics, I trimmed close and everytime I opend a new jar, I went and trimmed them again, to make MORE hash.

Now I reccomend trimming as much as possible and making hash, I never leave any leaf to go into the jar now. I pluck off what I can not trim off.






Buds without STEMS, I just spread out in a box, NOT LETTING THEM PILE UP OR TOUCH EACH OTHER. I stir them everyday.
Proper Harvest and DRYING and Curing are as IMPORTANT as GROWING.
Attached Thumbnails





Popcorn buds:

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Roseman's DIY Bubbleponics Tutorial - Marijuana Growing
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Wow Roseman, that is great stuff. +rep FOR SURE! I'm 41 days into flowering and was looking for some info on drying and curing...I love that you keep fresh stems to moisten them up if they get too dry, what a great idea!

Thanks!

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Journal-------------->Blue Cheese, PPP, and Thai Super Skunk...Jerry's Second Grow New Pics 11/15
Go Bengals! WHODEY!!!

+ REP back at you, Jerry, thanks.

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Roseman's DIY Bubbleponics Tutorial - Marijuana Growing
Pics of OLD Grow on this Page

Thanks alot man i really appreciate the info man. toke it up

So you use the bubbleponics system. hows that working for ya.

Great info!Thanks Roseman.I'm 2-3 weeks out & was needing this instruction.Hopefully I can post some pix soon.

I like it!

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Roseman's DIY Bubbleponics Tutorial - Marijuana Growing
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Thanks for the info Roseman, +rep for you, I'm also close to my first harvest and that info definitely helps. Although I'm still debating over whether I should go with air or water curing.

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If YOU WATER CURE, JUST DO A SMALL AMOUNT. It is great if you like smaller buds and herb with NO taste to it. I did not like it.

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Roseman's DIY Bubbleponics Tutorial - Marijuana Growing
Pics of OLD Grow on this Page