Quick Question About Curing

ok so ill go straight to the point, in 2 days my bud dried, not bone dry but dry enough, looks like it thou. the bud is pretty crispy, when i bend the stem thou it doesnt break, yet it makes a cracking noise but some of it breaks into too, meaning it has some moisture left, correct? so does that mean since i dont have that much moisture left i can just leave it in the jar without burping? or what? thanks for the inputs.

If you see moisture obviously burb

My last grow I dried way too much, mine did snap. However after about 3 weeks in the jar, opening and closing each time i got a bit of bud out etc (rather than regimented burping) it did have a much more pronounced smell and tastier smoke.

ok so i should only burp the jar if i see moisture? cause the bud was crispy, but the stem didnt break as easy. so idk, first time grower.

and about your last grow, did you burp at all or just left it air tight and only time you opened it is when you got some bud to smoke?

and thank you for the reply boss

Why not use a hygrometer to know if and when to burp? I'll post a copy of my journal regarding the curing process....

Originally Posted by Serapis
While there are variables that make it difficult to control the drying time, we can easily control the cure time. I never dry for more than three days. Doing so is counter-productive to a good cure. After 3 days, I jar them, each half gallon jar contains buds still on the stems, and a hygrometer. I don't leave much airspace at the top, and that is for a reason. The buds are in varying shapes and sizes and in order to get a controlled cure, we have to sweat the buds once to get everything even. We do that by jarring up the goods after 3 days dry time, whether all the buds feel dry or not. I leave the jars closed up tight for about 3-4 hours, and then I place them in my collapsible net dryer for just 10-12 hours. In this short time, the outsides will crisp up again, quickly. Don't waste too much time getting them back into the jars. At this point, the hygrometers should be reading just under 70% humidity.. and holding steady. If one goes over 70%, empty that jar onto some newspaper and let it sit out for 6 hours and then jar it back up for 6 hours. Eventually, it should drop below 70% and stay there.

Now is the time to sweat it out, slowly. Once we get the weed down below 70%, we have greatly reduced the chance of mold or mildew and can begin the slow, drawn out cure to improve flavor, THC levels and allow the terpenoid oils to develop that wonderful aroma that drives us all wild with passion. I allow my jars to breathe for about 15 minutes a day, twice a day, as long as the RH is below 70% but above 65%. My goal now is to take about 3-4 days to get my weed to 65% relative humidity when jarred. At 65%, the chance for mold is almost non-existent, and we can start to skip a day between burping the jars. At 65 - 60%, I burp for about 2-3 minutes, once every other day.

When you get to 60% RH in the jars, you are nearing long term storage ability. The goal now is to take your time getting the RH to 55%. At 55%, we want to stop burping the jars and consider a longer term storage that is cool and dark. At the 60% - 55% range, i burp once a week, for maybe 5 minutes. Now I never neglect to check the jars several times a day for mold at first, even when I am not burping. I also cut the buds from the stem after the RH is steady and just below 70% and re-jar, leaving about 20% air space at the top. I also gently shake the jars to move the bud around, and use a chop stick if I have to to break up clingers.

This is how I do it. I learned this method, right here on RIU. It is a simple to follow recipe that takes all the BS out of drying and curing. It doesn't matter if you have a high humidity or a low one, everyone can do this. Regardless of how the bud feels at 3 days of hanging, pull it and jar it. As long as you have hygrometers, you won't fail.... the ones pictured below were only $4 on eBay. Some may wish to spend more for a more reliable one, but these can be adjusted from the back to match your trusted analog or digital meter as well. Every new grower should use these until they have mastered curing. even some masters, including those working in tobacco, still use them.

mhmm, that would work but i dont have one, and dont have the money to spend on that stuff due to my up coming bills and i dont buy stuff off the internet i pay everything in person.

also thx for the reply, for some reason i miss that thread, wished i read that a month or so ago so i coulda bought it when i had extra money.

and real quick, my bud seems wayy different from everyone elses, like all of your guys is like a pack tight bud, while mine is kinda loose and alot of brown hairs.. is this maybe cause of the moisture? or cause its bagseed?

Lack of co2 in flowering can cause loose buds, as can insufficient lighting. A hygrometer can cost as low as $5 at a pet store that sells reptile stuff. I don't know about you, but I find them priceless to prevent mold and rot.... How else can you properly cure? Many would answer that they guess or just burp daily, but that is not a controlled cure.

Good luck

i have a 4 foot cabinet thats 2 foot wide. and i have about 180 watts of cfl. its pretty bright in there, but the palnt that i harvested had many problems, and what not and started off just chillin on my window sill, then had about 20 watts cfl. maybe 2 or 3 weeks before i harvested it, it had the 180 watts of light, i had 2 plants in the box. but anyways, lack of co2 would cause loose buds, is that bad or what? what does that do to the bud besides making it loose?

a hygrometer is the best way to cure because you know when your buds are ready to smoke rather than testing every couple weeks. The only problem is you still have to burp, and there is no set amount of time that you should leave you jars open. It all depends on the climate you're in, the humidity at the point in time that you cure as well as temperature. You will find these variables always changing harvest to harvest. There is always some guess work to curing.

mister632 said:

ok so ill go straight to the point, in 2 days my bud dried, not bone dry but dry enough, looks like it thou. the bud is pretty crispy, when i bend the stem thou it doesnt break, yet it makes a cracking noise but some of it breaks into too, meaning it has some moisture left, correct? so does that mean since i dont have that much moisture left i can just leave it in the jar without burping? or what? thanks for the inputs.

Click to expand...

U need to get a hygrometer. $19. eBay, put it into the jar and monitor RH.
If RH is high u need to dump the buds into a paper bag for a day to dry them out a little more.
When the RH gets down to about 55%, you should smell that resiney fruity smell again. Most of the veg matter is dried out.
You can cure even longer. The longer the better. Cure some bud for six months and you'll see the difference.
Yeah I got mine off eBay

i think im getting a hygrometer tomorrow after work.

but can anyone answer my post before this one? about the bud being loose, its cause of lack of co2 before harvesting, but besides thats what else does lack of co2 do?

ok i bought that hygrometer the 5 dollar one, so do i just stick it in the jar and seal it? how many mins til it reads the humidity level? reason why im asking is cause in about an hour my jar would been sealed 24 hours, and ill have to burp it or something. thx in advance.

edit the hygrometer i bought is the 5 dollar one you can buy at a pet store in the reptile section, the lil circle one, that you just stick to the cage.