Drying and Curing Questions

Hi everyone. I got 2 girls that are ready to go. I chopped 1 of em down a few days ago and trimmed it up and hung all the branches in a box and am keeping it dark for the most part in my bedroom. I also have a fan blowing on them. Theyve been drying for about 3 days and the stems still are bendy not about to snap. SO when should I put them in kerr jars? Also i have another girl which is a Blue Dreams and I checked the trichomes last night and some were looking amber!!! so im gunna chop her down when i get off work. What im wondering is how long does it usually take to dry the buds and cure the buds? whats a good reference to go by when knowing when buds are dry enough to be cured. I grew mine under 450w of cfl ACTUAL WATTS. my bud feel pretty dry im just not a expert.
thanks everyone.

i usually wait till the outsides feel dry then jar and burp 3 to4 hr a day till i feel they arent going to mold has served me well for my climate and conditions

When the branches snap, instead of bend, then its time to start curing.

So even if the buds feel dry I shouldn't cure till the stems snap?

I am in the same boat as you StickyLadies. I just put my into jars today (3.5 days drying) and they feel very dry on the outside but the stems do not yet snap. I want the stem to bring some of the moisture to the outside buds and i believe this is what curing will do. I will be keeping a watchful eye on them over the next week so that they do not mold. I will be pissed since this was my largest plant.
Anyways im here to learn and hope a few experts can tell us whats up.

Stickyladies420 said:

So even if the buds feel dry I shouldn't cure till the stems snap?

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Correct. The stems being able to snap means that the bud is dry evenly through. If you cure them early, you risk promoting mold in your curing jars. Dont worry, once you jar them they will soften up a little bit too before they cure nice and hard. If they feel cruncy, jar them immediately and for optional bonus points a 2" square section of lettuce will rehydrate any over-dried weed.

GL!

I ended up putting mine into a brown paper bag so they can dry a little slower over the next couple days before curing, im very weary of mold and dont wanna lose a zip to it.

You got any pics of your bud StickyLadies?

mayrequiempass said:

I ended up putting mine into a brown paper bag so they can dry a little slower over the next couple days before curing, im very weary of mold and dont wanna lose a zip to it.

You got any pics of your bud StickyLadies?

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A brown paper bag will suck out the moisture too quickly and wont do anything to prevent mold. Just let em air dry then jar.

Allot of people under estimate just how much moisture the stems can hold, even though the buds feel totally dry. On my first grow, I made the mistake of putting some of my buds into jars too soon and, BOOM, within a day, the buds were covered in white mold.

Needless to say, I am never making that mistake again...

I now trim the bigger leaves, hang for 3-6 days, then trim the sugar leaf and jar.