Buds seem ready but stems bending

My harvest has been drying with a sun and sugar leaf pretrim for 7 days at 62 degrees and 50% humidity. The buds on most of the stems are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside but the stems themselves still easily bend.

I'm wondering since the buds feel ready should I start the curing process now or wait till stems start to crack or are they perfect right where they are and get to curing?

shawnery said:

My harvest has been drying with a sun and sugar leaf pretrim for 7 days at 62 degrees and 50% humidity. The buds on most of the stems are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside but the stems themselves still easily bend.

I'm wondering since the buds feel ready should I start the curing process now or wait till stems start to crack or are they perfect right where they are and get to curing?

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Do you have small, accurate, humidity gauges you can put in there? Going by what you said I would fill one jar and put a humidity gauge in there to see whats up and going by that do the other branches. I think they should be good to put in.
The branches shouldnt explode with a loud snap when you snap them and separate into two different stems (too dry) they should bend and make a softer snap noise and they should feel bendy and stay attatched to themselves.
If you fall below 55% humidity the curing process wont work as well from what ive read.

Sounds to me like you are right where you want them. Much easier to remove moisture than to add it. Jar them for 12-18 hrs and check the surface moisture. From your description those flowers are prime for the jar.

be careful jarring them up for 12-18 hours right away. if there is too much moisture it could make it smell odd i would jar it only for an hour then check shortly after like an hour later and see if the humidity increases. if it does just leave the jar jid off (make sure the buds arent packed tight in there) over night and close it for an hour tomorrow and check it again. from there you can keep it closed longer and longer like 6 hours maybe then check and if still good close them right back up is a method I do to just double check everything

Just get one of those dehydrators, geez.

Myherbsnow.con

Put them in a brown paper bag for a day or 2. Its really a process that you learn by trail, because you will soon figure out the feel. I like to dry at your number above also just recently,. But on the 6th day, I trim all the smaller claw leafs off, and break the buds down into smaller chunks. No more big ass buds for me, makes no sense, and they dry and cure more evenly. trim them up pre-cure, put in paper bag, cool 65F ( my dry is 68F/60%day 1-3, 55 % day 4-10 ) When u can chip a sugar leaf off, its time to break them down for cure.

U definitely need a humidity meter, very cheap, but very necessary.

The humidistat says it's 70% humidity still but they just don't feel that wet anymore. This is only my 3rd harvest so I'm still learning. Drying and curing seem to be just as important and difficult if not more so then the growing.

Thanks guys!


I'll get right on one of those dehydrating thingy mcbobs as soon as possible!

shawnery said:

The humidistat says it's 70% humidity still but they just don't feel that wet anymore. This is only my 3rd harvest so I'm still learning. Drying and curing seem to be just as important and difficult if not more so then the growing.

Thanks guys!


I'll get right on one of those dehydrating thingy mcbobs as soon as possible!

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Nah skip that. Save yourself $150 and learn to do it like this for now. Is what I suggest.
If its 70% leave the jars open for about an hour and then seal them up again and check up on them in 4 hours. If they still say 70% go for an hour and 30 min. Youre very close to the curing stage 60-65%. Repeat until you get to 60-65%. Its approaching night time and I would leave the lids (depending on what youre using) open a bit. For example if you got mason jars, leave the lid with the suction things on but cover the top half way. That way they keep some moisture and not dry out below 58%humidity overnight. This way mold doesnt have a chance to form because 70%+ is where mold can form.

I might invest in the DryHerbs Now machine, they say you cant tell the difference, 96 hours better then 7-10 days, thats for sure.

but you have to get that humidity down, 70% is to much with cold temps, you could get mold or mildew, actually, you have a great chance its already growing.

I dry in a small portable wardrobe thing, but ambient humidity is 35%, so i put a wet tshirt on a hanger and it keeps it at 55% for 4-5 hours, then drops slowly to 35%. It might sit at 35% for 3-4 hours, then back to 55%. I find i get a nice dry doing it this way. But whats important is Im not adding a moist mist to the air, its just evaporated moisture, even right now, just 5 days in, the hay smell is all ready gone. 2 more days they will get broken down and brown bagged for 1-2 days, then jar to hold 55%humidity.

Enjoying the learning process myself bro, great growin to ya,

Thegermling said:

Nah skip that. Save yourself $150 and learn to do it like this for now. Is what I suggest.
If its 70% leave the jars open for about an hour and then seal them up again and check up on them in 4 hours. If they still say 70% go for an hour and 30 min. Youre very close to the curing stage 60-65%. Repeat until you get to 60-65%. Its approaching night time and I would leave the lids (depending on what youre using) open a bit. For example if you got mason jars, leave the lid with the suction things on but cover the top half way. That way they keep some moisture and not dry out below 58%humidity overnight. This way mold doesnt have a chance to form because 70%+ is where mold can form.

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man, anything over 60%, is to wet for my liking. Might also just be the meter, lol.. I think they run a tad high, ( meter) but all 4 are the same reading, * shruggs, lol.

My dehumidifier says its 44, the humidity controller says 54 and the meter says 70 the average is where I get 50% in my original post.

That was sarcasm, in a good way, about the dehydrating machine. I thought he was just joking with me. I had no idea they made them but I'd rather go slow then fast from the research. Then again I only vape so a great dry and cure isn't as much an issue but it is noticable.

shawnery said:

My dehumidifier says its 44, the humidity controller says 54 and the meter says 70 the average is where I get 50% in my original post.

That was sarcasm, in a good way, about the dehydrating machine. I thought he was just joking with me. I had no idea they made them but I'd rather go slow then fast from the research. Then again I only vape so a great dry and cure isn't as much an issue but it is noticable.

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Do you got any bovedas? Try putting that in a jar and throw your humidity gauge in there for a bit. They have calibration kits for $2. Or try to grab a reliable humidity guage you use in the growroom and throw the pack in a big jar with that and wait a few hours to see if its the same.

shawnery said:

My dehumidifier says its 44, the humidity controller says 54 and the meter says 70 the average is where I get 50% in my original post.

That was sarcasm, in a good way, about the dehydrating machine. I thought he was just joking with me. I had no idea they made them but I'd rather go slow then fast from the research. Then again I only vape so a great dry and cure isn't as much an issue but it is noticable.

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From what Ive seen, you see no difference in the end result with the drymachine. Midnight Warrior here at RIU just got one, so far it seems that he is the only one, but hear they work great. Im probably getting one here pretty soon maybe. Im getting into the CBD thing, be a nice toy to have if it does what is expected. Want to look at lab results tho,

Don't overthink it man! Hang it until its crispy on the outside and then throw it in a jar. If its over 65% take it out or if its close just shake it and take the lid off for awhile. Under 60% keep it in. That's my take on it. Make sure you clean/disinfect your jars before you use them. I dried just like this, with very little effort and with great results.

I would break them down to individual buds and toss them in a paper bag at this point. 2-3 days in the bag, shake it a couple times and open it up and check in them. They should balance out humidity perfectly and then you can jar and cure with ease.

Over thinking is my thing. There may not be a perfect way but there has to be as near to one as possible.

When you're disabled and haven't worked in 10 years you find ways to make your life more difficult and less boring.

shawnery said:

Over thinking is my thing. There may not be a perfect way but there has to be as near to one as possible.

When you're disabled and haven't worked in 10 years you find ways to make your life more difficult and less boring.

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right on man, lol, I hear ya. Im about to chop and hang my sequoia shipwreck, whole plant hang, uggg, never before done this way, but figured to try it this time.

InTheValley said:

right on man, lol, I hear ya. Im about to chop and hang my sequoia shipwreck, whole plant hang, uggg, never before done this way, but figured to try it this time.

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whats your humidity like? that's by far my preferred way to dry. I swear, they just hold on to every bit of odor and taste that way.

InTheValley said:

right on man, lol, I hear ya. Im about to chop and hang my sequoia shipwreck, whole plant hang, uggg, never before done this way, but figured to try it this time.

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I wet trim but leave the plant in tact picked up some leaf bags at the hardware store cut a hole in the bottom for the stem and hang them upside down until dry it slowed down the dry process and I find the smoke smooth and the aroma is much better

shawnery said:

My dehumidifier says its 44, the humidity controller says 54 and the meter says 70 the average is where I get 50% in my original post.

That was sarcasm, in a good way, about the dehydrating machine. I thought he was just joking with me. I had no idea they made them but I'd rather go slow then fast from the research. Then again I only vape so a great dry and cure isn't as much an issue but it is noticable.

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I have humidity gauges that never move. They stay on 70% year round; junk. When I feel my buds getting dry I will break a piece off and stuff it in my bong. If it won't burn I leave it. If I get a nice hit then I put them in paper bags for 1-2 days before jarring. It's all about how it smokes.. If it won't smoke with a lighter on it for 10 seconds then it isn't ready yet.