first harvest...trimmin and curing..

i.prefer.indica

i.prefer.indica

Member
1st harvest and know the basics of trimming but am wandering how to dry then cure. i know the basics, but this is my first harvest and im wandering wher to hang and how long and the curing process. light,dark,warm,cold??? i have it hanging in complete branches from chicken wire in an enlcosed box for time being..
 
hanging them is the way to go...but you will need air flow...keep them in a dark place....when the stalk snaps partly but not completely they are ready to jar up and store in a dark place...then check them every day until they are totally dry,,,if they are damp leave the lid off for a while up to a couple of hours if they need it... hope that helps..good luck with that
 
Yeah, hang them upside down. Keep them in a dark dry area with lots of circulation. Generally, they are done drying when the stem SNAPS clean off. Then you can move onto curing.I would try curing in a glass mason jar. There are a lot of methods but to keep things simple, just remove the lid from the jar and "breathe" it for about ten minutes each day.
 
Harvesting and Curing
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:

280072d1230367024-stealth-hydro-bubbleponics-systems-my-girls-2008-064.jpg

280063d1230366940-stealth-hydro-bubbleponics-systems-my-girls-2008-063.jpg
 
We DRY pot, so we can CURE it.
We CURE pot, to make it taste sweeter, smell sweeter, to avoid bud-mold, to make it more Smokable, to get the chemical and clorophyll taste out, and to increase the potency. A GOOD cure takes 4 weeks, and some conisours (mispelled) cure it up to 6 to 8 weeks.

The idea behind curing was learned from tobacco growers. Curing is a biological process of allowing the SUGARS and STARCHES to change into something MORE pleasant to the taste and smell. Normally the SUGARS and STARCHES taste HARSH and not so pleasant. To grow, Plants need SUGARS that convert into starches from Fertilizers and sunlight. Curing also removes alot of clorophyll or the clorophyll taste that is sort of a grassy leafy medicine chemical taste and leaves a sweet tastey pleasant taste.
Also, we cure pot to avoid MOLD that can come within 30 days AFTER Drying.

We cure pot in jars, in darkness, in a cool place. After being placed in the jar, we store them in a dark cool place, then we re-open the jar once a day, smell it, inspect it, let it breathe for a few seconds and then re-seal it. IF we smell an unpleasant "nose pinching" smell, or see white growth, we need to immedialtey remove it from
the jar and DRY it some more for a few more days.

When you first harvest the buds, save some moist large stems in the refrigarator, in a baggie. If you dry it too much, you can add a small piece of stem back, to remoisten it some.

I have CURED pot one week in jars, and tasted it, and then Cured it 4 weeks and tasted it. If you will try the same experiment, or ask any experienced grower, you'll learn (taste) the difference. It is much more potent, and mush sweeter tasting, and smells much better too.
 
Roseman said:
We DRY pot, so we can CURE it.
We CURE pot, to make it taste sweeter, smell sweeter, to avoid bud-mold, to make it more Smokable, to get the chemical and clorophyll taste out, and to increase the potency. A GOOD cure takes 4 weeks, and some conisours (mispelled) cure it up to 6 to 8 weeks.

The idea behind curing was learned from tobacco growers. Curing is a biological process of allowing the SUGARS and STARCHES to change into something MORE pleasant to the taste and smell. Normally the SUGARS and STARCHES taste HARSH and not so pleasant. To grow, Plants need SUGARS that convert into starches from Fertilizers and sunlight. Curing also removes alot of clorophyll or the clorophyll taste that is sort of a grassy leafy medicine chemical taste and leaves a sweet tastey pleasant taste.
Also, we cure pot to avoid MOLD that can come within 30 days AFTER Drying.

We cure pot in jars, in darkness, in a cool place. After being placed in the jar, we store them in a dark cool place, then we re-open the jar once a day, smell it, inspect it, let it breathe for a few seconds and then re-seal it. IF we smell an unpleasant "nose pinching" smell, or see white growth, we need to immedialtey remove it from
the jar and DRY it some more for a few more days.

When you first harvest the buds, save some moist large stems in the refrigarator, in a baggie. If you dry it too much, you can add a small piece of stem back, to remoisten it some.

I have CURED pot one week in jars, and tasted it, and then Cured it 4 weeks and tasted it. If you will try the same experiment, or ask any experienced grower, you'll learn (taste) the difference. It is much more potent, and mush sweeter tasting, and smells much better too.
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thanks everyone for the help verymuch app. another ? is im running one 100w hps( yard light)modded and 30 cfls..(for flowering)like i said i am an amature and took horticulture all thru highschool so i have knowledge just not much expierence..i cannot get a clone to survive i have tried several methods..how can i make clones survive and safely get 2 400w hps w/o suspicon?
 
[/QUOTE]yea i was very impressed being my first complete grow.. trimming was a lil tricky but aftr 3 or 4 branches it gets better..i have learned more in the past 6 mo than i did my entire school years... superthrive? is it worth a shit? ... when i noticed the trics were becoming milky i pulled a flower and let it dry 2 wks. as im sure any first grower cannont resist trying it too soon. it did the trick but i might as well have pulled some grass from the yard. i think it was the chlorphyll.. ...did they change the way to post pics?
 
Roseman said:
We DRY pot, so we can CURE it.
We CURE pot, to make it taste sweeter, smell sweeter, to avoid bud-mold, to make it more Smokable, to get the chemical and clorophyll taste out, and to increase the potency. A GOOD cure takes 4 weeks, and some conisours (mispelled) cure it up to 6 to 8 weeks.

The idea behind curing was learned from tobacco growers. Curing is a biological process of allowing the SUGARS and STARCHES to change into something MORE pleasant to the taste and smell. Normally the SUGARS and STARCHES taste HARSH and not so pleasant. To grow, Plants need SUGARS that convert into starches from Fertilizers and sunlight. Curing also removes alot of clorophyll or the clorophyll taste that is sort of a grassy leafy medicine chemical taste and leaves a sweet tastey pleasant taste.
Also, we cure pot to avoid MOLD that can come within 30 days AFTER Drying.

We cure pot in jars, in darkness, in a cool place. After being placed in the jar, we store them in a dark cool place, then we re-open the jar once a day, smell it, inspect it, let it breathe for a few seconds and then re-seal it. IF we smell an unpleasant "nose pinching" smell, or see white growth, we need to immedialtey remove it from
the jar and DRY it some more for a few more days.

When you first harvest the buds, save some moist large stems in the refrigarator, in a baggie. If you dry it too much, you can add a small piece of stem back, to remoisten it some.

I have CURED pot one week in jars, and tasted it, and then Cured it 4 weeks and tasted it. If you will try the same experiment, or ask any experienced grower, you'll learn (taste) the difference. It is much more potent, and mush sweeter tasting, and smells much better too.
Click to expand...
they have been like this 5 dayz...should i cut the buds off and do like u have them or leave it alone the stems will snap but not like the bud i smoke does..also my fan is blowing inside box at low speed , blows branches around im guessing thats ok?
 

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looks good. i hang mine in my flower room. i put a string up 2" from the celling. pending on the denedy of the bud depends on the hang time. the dencer the buds the longer they will have to hang. my buds are hard as hell and i hang mine for 5 days or tell the buds it self are dry. then i cut the buds off the stem and weigh up the buds. then i place them into a papper bag for a day then into a mason jar.. reapet the papper bag and jar thing tell cured to your satisfation...
 
sweet not bad for a first timer ive bn very quiet so i have had to self educate.. trying to get the 400w hps but curious of getting one off ebay and there not available around here. jus growin to smoke but anything i do deserves to be done right. so if my stems are not dry enough to snap but the buds r dry i should go ahead and bag them this is 5th day drying.. thanks
 
i.prefer.indica said:
sweet not bad for a first timer ive bn very quiet so i have had to self educate.. trying to get the 400w hps but curious of getting one off ebay and there not available around here. jus growin to smoke but anything i do deserves to be done right. so if my stems are not dry enough to snap but the buds r dry i should go ahead and bag them this is 5th day drying.. thanks
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to bad u didn't live near me 1000wtt HPS $100
yes bag them for a day then back into a jar. reapte till to your desire
 
sux.. im gonna have to send someone to the city to make a few purchases... do u prefer rockwool,lava rock, or soilless, of the trhee i listed as the best and most stable way to grow/: im runnin arond 20 23w cfl and 1 100w hps for flwr and 8 t12 tubes and 1 flourex 655w cfl for veg
 

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i.prefer.indica said:
sux.. im gonna have to send someone to the city to make a few purchases... do u prefer rockwool,lava rock, or soilless, of the trhee i listed as the best and most stable way to grow/:
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im a dirty old man,not hydro.. sorry to be ofno help on that one.. one day i'llget the balls to burn up a1st hydro grow.....LOL smoke on
 
check out the post right above ur last.. whatcha think of my setup.. i use soilless peat,ver,per,,, i wanna get into organic nutes but not sure.been 100 on my method now...of course i want it to be better but im very new and got tired of havin to hope u can find it and all that good shit ridin with it...ect
 
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