Need help drying and curing

B

bongholio

Well-Known Member
g'day i was wondering do you hang the plants by there roots upside down like outdoor or do you have to hang single branches? and for curing i have some plastic airtight jars is plastic good enough or does it have to be glass? and why do the buds go from being dry to wet is that normal? and if i put the buds in too early to cure will it ruin them(besides the mold factor) and if so whens the perfect time to do so cause some of my stems break,and some don't but they all seem to feel the same dampness.I'm worried i'm gunna stuff them, thankyou for all and any helpbongsmilie
 
NowICanSee

NowICanSee

Active Member
bongholio said:
do you hang the plants by there roots upside down?
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Yes. Hang the plants upside down. There is still THC in the stems and when plants are hung upside down to dry the THC is forced through the stem into the buds.

The roots are optional.

bongholio said:
for curing i have some plastic airtight jars is plastic good enough or does it have to be glass?
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Plastic will be good enough, but I would recommend glass because plastic is a lot more permeable than glass.

bongholio said:
why do the buds go from being dry to wet is that normal?
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If you mean when they are curing in the jars then yes, the humidity will rise and moisture will build up in the jars, so you need to open the jars twice a day for about 30 minutes each time to prevent molding.


bongholio said:
if i put the buds in too early to cure will it ruin them and if so whens the perfect time to do so? some of my stems break and some don't but they all seem to feel the same dampness
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The perfect time to throw them into jars is when you can "crack" a stem off without the stem peeling. You don't have to put the whole plant into jars at the same time. You can just put the buds that are ready into jars.

Curing is just as important as any other step in the growing process, but don't worry if you've made it this far you will have no trouble!

I hope this helps:joint:
 
old pothead

old pothead

Well-Known Member
I have found that leaving the roots on takes a little longer to dry due to all of the moisture in them.You can hang individual stems with no problems.
I have never used plastic to cure so i can not help there.
Yes it is normal for the buds to go from dry to damp.The outside of the buds dry while the inside is still wet.It is just the moisture that was inside coming out.
If in doubt let them hang a little longer to dry.Many things will effect the length of drying time,like outside humidity and temp, and how thick the buds are.OPH
 
Primz

Primz

Well-Known Member
Yeah that is the best way to do it, i would also recommend glass jars. Nearly a month ago i Chroped 2 Chronics from serious seeds and i wanted to test out a few diffrent curing storys.

First i was a bit tempted so as soon as one branch dried i started to smoke it. (only 1 Cola, didnt go to crazzy)

But beside the one branch i just hung up and dried i also cured the rest in Glass jars, can see the diffrence in tghe bud and also the smell and taste.

See pics below -

Bud that was quick dried - but yet was still sticky and sweet.


Here is a nice bud that was Cured - The taste was sooooo nice and mouth watering, smell was 10 times better.


Can def see the difrence.

Tip - dont rush the cureing process, youv waited so long and got this far, whats a week more.
 
dogglet forever

dogglet forever

Well-Known Member
i get great results by... hanging upside down (no root) until the the buds feel crispy... then i place into a paper grocery sack that is folded at the top... 4-5 days later when the stems are turning grey, i take the buds take all the big stems off, and either place the buds (depending on quantity) in an ice chest that has a pretty good seal or ziplock freezer bags, and burp them... as mentioned by other posters... i love the burping stage because the aroma really develops, and you can take taste tests.... after a while you can see your buds develope into nugs... and then go show em off!!
 
B

bongholio

Well-Known Member
thanks for all your answers and pics they were very very helpful and i gave you rep+.But i have 1 more question i forgot to ask,how long should i be curing for without being something stupid like 3 months or somethin,cause i'm a very BIG smoker and there is no way it will last that long.thanks again
 
Primz

Primz

Well-Known Member
bongholio said:
thanks for all your answers and pics they were very very helpful and i gave you rep+.But i have 1 more question i forgot to ask,how long should i be curing for without being something stupid like 3 months or somethin,cause i'm a very BIG smoker and there is no way it will last that long.thanks again
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Depends on yourself and how you like your weed, when cureing in glass jars the moisture level goes up and down and when it does it changed the buds.

you may want it crips or maybe you like it sticky.

Persoanly what i do is hang dry them all for 5-6 days (turning each bud everyday or so) on 7th day i put them into glass jars and ceal tight, i leave them in a dark place, pref at room tem (as if temp is to high or low you may get bud rott), i normaly leave them in the jars for another weeks opening them every day for about 20 mins.

Then a safe bet to get best of both worlds is to pick and mix, take sum when sticky take sum when crispo, all will smoke diffrent and taste diffrent.

:peace:
 
Kriegs

Kriegs

Well-Known Member
Go to fdd2blk's sticky in "Harvesting and Curing". I followed this to the tee.. stuff came out great.

My time from hanging to jars varied from 3-6 days. Low-level fluff buds on small branches - 3 days. Big colas and buds couched on the big mainstem - 5 to 6 days. I "burped" my jars every day for 2-3 weeks; stuff was definitely smokable with good even burn after a week, but definitely gets better with time. That awesome classic "bag smell" comes on about 3 weeks, at which point I stopped burping jars and put 'em in long-term storage.
 
B

bongholio

Well-Known Member
when my buds are growing their nice and tight and compact but when they dry they go fluffy like.How do you get the buds to dry into tight,compact,hard buds?
 
Boneman

Boneman

Well-Known Member
NowICanSee said:
There is still THC in the stems and when plants are hung upside down to dry the THC is forced through the stem into the buds. The roots are optional.
:joint:
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NowICanSee - nice answers but, Do you really believe this? Sorry but it just dont happen that way.

Trim your plants best you can (including stems and roots) and hang them upside down for approx 1 week. Then it's into jars for curing. No roots, no stems. Drying and curing takes some experience to "get the feel".

You can dry by laying the bud on screens, in paper bags, commerical herb dryers etc...
 
Night Claptoman

Night Claptoman

Well-Known Member
the more things besides pure buds the more the water needs eveporating = more time dying.
more time drying = more time for things to go wrong.

The stuff left over from all of that (beside roots as its too messy) can be extracted into hash or honey oil. In my opinion honey oil is WAY easier to make.
 
simpsonsampson420

simpsonsampson420

Well-Known Member
people hang the plants upside down for one main reason, its convienent... they can dry, out of the way, doing their thing, and you dont have to worry about turning them or moving them and they arent laying down losing trichs... they dry evenly this way due to the fact air can move freely around them... if you trim the buds while they are wet and still on the plant you can hang and dry a whole plant with trimmed buds that can dry without much worry of mold, again due to air movement... it has nothing to do with THC being in the stem.. thats not true... you can cure them in glass or in plastic... either works... mason jars are typically used because you can get a lot for relatively little money, they are air tight when closed which will help the curing process, and you can place the colas in the right side up which helps eliminate trich loss... just make sure to burp them a few times a day... there are many ways to dry and cure.. its like taking a trip.. you have to decide which way getting from point A (wet buds) to point B (smoking those buds) works best for you and gives you the best smoke... experiment with a couple different ways and see which you like best... i personally cut off individual limbs and trim them wet, hang them for about 5 days to dry, and cure them for about 5-7 in mason jars... i have used plastic to cure it... i just personally like the glass jars BECAUSE i lost fewer trichs.. it seemed that laying them down in the plastic container i used made them move around more and i lost more trichs overall.... just mho tho
 
B

bongholio

Well-Known Member
simpsonsampson420 said:
people hang the plants upside down for one main reason, its convienent... they can dry, out of the way, doing their thing, and you dont have to worry about turning them or moving them and they arent laying down losing trichs... they dry evenly this way due to the fact air can move freely around them... if you trim the buds while they are wet and still on the plant you can hang and dry a whole plant with trimmed buds that can dry without much worry of mold, again due to air movement... it has nothing to do with THC being in the stem.. thats not true... you can cure them in glass or in plastic... either works... mason jars are typically used because you can get a lot for relatively little money, they are air tight when closed which will help the curing process, and you can place the colas in the right side up which helps eliminate trich loss... just make sure to burp them a few times a day... there are many ways to dry and cure.. its like taking a trip.. you have to decide which way getting from point A (wet buds) to point B (smoking those buds) works best for you and gives you the best smoke... experiment with a couple different ways and see which you like best... i personally cut off individual limbs and trim them wet, hang them for about 5 days to dry, and cure them for about 5-7 in mason jars... i have used plastic to cure it... i just personally like the glass jars BECAUSE i lost fewer trichs.. it seemed that laying them down in the plastic container i used made them move around more and i lost more trichs overall.... just mho tho
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thanks mate i will experiment,this time i hang em with roots on for a week and they were just as wet as when i pulled them then i cut them off the stems and hung again in my wardrobe for about 9 days then i put them in jars.i had 3 jars and 3 plants so a put each plant in its own jar.the first 1 started going moldy a whiteish mold that stunk like shit.and the others just cured into this earthy smell,not the best.and they all tasted like like shit.this is my first time and i used some bushbud seeds which i think had ALOT to do with it but i'm not sure until this crop is done.this crop i bought white russian seeds and blueberry so i just hope i don't !@#$ these one's up.but i will do what every1 seems to be saying and a little experimentation to and we'll see how these turn out.thanks all
 
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