Question about when to cure.

Cloudz2600

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
Currently drying my first harvest. I understand the difference between bending and not breaking, but what's the difference between how the stems bend right after harvesting and when they're dry enough for curing? I had one small, skinny stem snapped a little bit, but the all the others just bend. I guess an example would be when you supercrop you bend the stems. Right now the stems are bending like that. What type of bending am I supposed to expect when they are dry?

RH is 59-62% and temp is 77-81F. They have been drying since Sunday. Have pretty decent airflow.


Thanks :-P
 
G

gioua

Well-Known Member
here is what I can equate it too..

take a tooth pick stick in in your mouth for say 3-4 secs.. snap it.. thats is kinda what the stems should do..
I let mine have a bit of bend but they will snap at a certain point these are the smaller stems of coarse say the 2-4 mm size (like the headphone jack size for an ipod)
this will happen within 7-10 days..
 
calicat

calicat

Well-Known Member
Cloudz2600 said:
Currently drying my first harvest. I understand the difference between bending and not breaking, but what's the difference between how the stems bend right after harvesting and when they're dry enough for curing? I had one small, skinny stem snapped a little bit, but the all the others just bend. I guess an example would be when you supercrop you bend the stems. Right now the stems are bending like that. What type of bending am I supposed to expect when they are dry?

RH is 59-62% and temp is 77-81F. They have been drying since Sunday. Have pretty decent airflow.


Thanks :-P
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Humidity and temperature almost borders high end figures. Humidity when too high during the drying process could result in longer drying periods or worse yet cause bud mold. Temperature when too high will have a tendency to make drying uneven and you will get residual chlorophyll taste even after curing for two weeks also makes smoke harsh. Ideal humidity range for drying is 45-55% and temperature 65-75 degrees farenheit.
 
DeeTee

DeeTee

Well-Known Member
I use the hygrometer method, once my plants feel dry to the touch after 3 to 4 days, I place my buds in jars with a hygrometer, check it once or twice a day and burp them until I reach 55 to 60%. humidity, once I reach that point I leave it to cure.
 
Cloudz2600

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
DeeTee said:
I use the hygrometer method, once my plants feel dry to the touch after 3 to 4 days, I place my buds in jars with a hygrometer, check it once or twice a day and burp them until I reach 55 to 60%. humidity, once I reach that point I leave it to cure.
Click to expand...
I'll try that, I'm moving in two days anyway so I need to pack up the buds anyhow. Do I place the hygrometer at the bottom or top of the jar? Or does it not really matter.

calicat said:
Humidity and temperature almost borders high end figures. Humidity when too high during the drying process could result in longer drying periods or worse yet cause bud mold. Temperature when too high will have a tendency to make drying uneven and you will get residual chlorophyll taste even after curing for two weeks also makes smoke harsh. Ideal humidity range for drying is 45-55% and temperature 65-75 degrees farenheit.
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Nothing can be done about that. It's 96-104F here and even with the a/c on for most of the day the ambient temp usually doesn't drop below 80F. Only hits the 70s during the night.
 
Huel Perkins

Huel Perkins

Well-Known Member
I never judge by the stems, it always seemed like a stupid way to judge things to me... I judge dryness according to how big the bud is and how the bud feels with a light touch (as well as what time of year it is which is my temp/humidity factor).

I typically let smaller popsicle to golf ball size buds hang dry for 4-5 days days before i jar them and bigger 24oz beer size buds hang dry for 5-6 days before i jar them but i really depends on the time of year. I always wait until the outside of the bud feels dry/crisp to the touch and then it gets de-stemmed and jarred. Feeling the buds by hand a full day after they went into the jar will tell you if you got the timing right. The next day they should feel softer to the touch but still more of a dry feeling than a wet feeling bud. If they feel right to you leave the jar open for a good hour or so before resealing it, if they are too wet leave it open for several hours. Repeat this for about a week until they feel just right and then seal the jar up until its time to medicate.

Don't take any one person's advice too seriously, do a little trial and error for yourself. Experience is the best teacher!
 
haight

haight

Well-Known Member
DeeTee said:
I use the hygrometer method, once my plants feel dry to the touch after 3 to 4 days, I place my buds in jars with a hygrometer, check it once or twice a day and burp them until I reach 55 to 60%. humidity, once I reach that point I leave it to cure.
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Where's the best place to score a hygrometer?
 
Cloudz2600

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
Amazon, always amazon. Or ebay if you know what exactly you're looking for. I got my hygrometer/thermometer at wal-mart though.
 
thehole

thehole

New Member
Judge according to bud size and stem dryness. Whether it's a regular popcorn bud or a giant top bud all my weed gets 7-10 days of drying depending on temps and humidity, the larger buds more dry days of course. I bend stem and even if it only partially breaks I throw bud into mason jars, just be sure to open jars every 6-8 hours the first 3-4 days for 30 minutes at a time and then less and less often the longer you go. By week 2 I'm only opening my jars once every three days for 15 minutes. '

Your dry room temps and humidity are perfect.

As for using a hygrometer in the cure jars that's just silly.
 
Cloudz2600

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
Well I just purchased a Extreme Q vape so I'm not sure how important the cure process is, but I put a few buds in a jar with the hygrometer just to see how wet/dry it is. If I get anything higher than 60% I'll know the buds need drying as they were the smallest of the bunch. 3-4 of the smaller branches. It's not filled up, the hygrometer takes up some space. Pic is of the largest branch I have; it's still drying. Feels fairly dry on the outside on most of the buds.
 
dannyboy602

dannyboy602

Well-Known Member
if the rh goes up pretty quickly take the buds out and dry another day and put them back in. it's trial and error. but your hygromter is your best friend right now. always buy the best ones you can get. cal3 from amazon or ebay claims to be +/- 1%. the others claimed to be 5%. but the cal3 is about $20-25. and the others usually come from china and are cheaper. as low as pennies. even if you only buy one cal3 now and more later you won't regret it.
buds look frosty. i think you'll be ok:)
 
Cloudz2600

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
Yea, I checked this morning and they were at 67%. Opened the jar and they've been steady at 65%. They're in a cabinet under my entertainment system. Added a small 4" fan blowing away from the plants.
 
DeeTee

DeeTee

Well-Known Member
haight said:
Where's the best place to score a hygrometer?
Click to expand...
You can get cheep hygrometers at your local cigar shop for maybe less than $5, doesn't have to be accurate, just pick a percentage to aim for, if it's too dry change you goal, too wet same, change you goal. example if mine reads 60% it seems ok then I try 55% and see what that does, so on and so on 'till you find a % that suite you best.
 
DeeTee

DeeTee

Well-Known Member
Cloudz2600 said:
I'll try that, I'm moving in two days anyway so I need to pack up the buds anyhow. Do I place the hygrometer at the bottom or top of the jar? Or does it not really matter.

Doesn't matter, it reads the whole jar wether it's on top or bottem.
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Cloudz2600

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
Any thoughts on how much a "good" cure affects vaped buds. Since the actual plant material isn't being burnt.

Also looks the buds I jarred about 12-18 hours ago have read at 61% for the past few hours.
 
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