Whack it at the base - WHOLE plant drying

kushgrwr

Member
this technique is great if you're drying 5-10 plants... what about 200-300 plants? Do you guys just do a wet trim and dry? or trim on on the plant then hang the whole plant to dry? I've just been doing wet trims then laying the buds out on drying screens. dry for 4-5 days at 75F, 55-60 humidity. then bag it all for 24 hours to sweat, then bag it and weigh it... does anyone have a better way to process 10-15 pounds in a single day?
I may try drying at a lower temp as recommended, this time I'll try drying it at 70F and see how it goes.
 

rocpilefsj

Misguided Angel
I was very impressed at the results with this method. I chopped 4 afghan kush at the base and hung up with zero trimming. Temps were in the 15-20 degree C mark, humidity fluctuated between 45-60%. It took a good 8 days for the plants to dry to the point where I thought they were ready to get jarred, I could have waited an extra day or two because I ended up dumping them back out as they were still pretty wet (the larger buds anyways). The smell is pretty good already, after the cure it will be even better. Trimming was a lot easier than I thought it would be, the fan leaves which didn't fall to the floor were easily plucked off, the smaller sugar leaves were dry and brittle and came off pretty easily by either pulling them off or rubbing my fingers gently over them so they fell off the bud. I thought the trim would turn to dust and be useless for hash but it wasn't. I think if you trimmed too early while the sugar leaves were still wet would be a pain in the ass, but I think if they are still wet then your buds are WAY to wet still. I think I would definitely use this method again. No pictures of them hanging but here is a pic of some smaller buds I sampled: (I am horrible when it comes to pictures, same reason I don't ever start a grow journal because it will never get updated:lol:)

IMG-20121229-00286.jpg
 

GratefulJoe

Member
Some people cut the plant at the base and hang right side up as if it were still in the pot. I suppose the equivalent would be to just stop watering. They say the leaves fall away from the buds and is easier to trim.

I chose to hang upside down so the leaves would "cup" and protect the buds. I don't think it matters much, BUT I have not tried right side up yet.
I have tried trimming both ways and prefer a whole plant hanging upside down. I'm not sure if it matters but after a few days after the leaves have fallen around the bud, cupped like you mentioned, I take the leaves and twist them around the bud so the bud is wrapped by the leaf. I have found it protects the bud and helps it dry a little slower. Just a random tidbit :)
 

HighLowGrow

Well-Known Member
Unknown plant has been hanging now 8 days. I decided to keep the temp where it is. 55 degrees. Humidity is holding at 60%.

Comparing the two plants so far.

1. Connie Chung hung for 8 days and trimmed. Temp ~ 65 humidity ~45%. Buds were very solid but the outside was a little dry and brittle.

2. UNKOWN plant currently on day 8 of hanging. Temp ~55 humidity 60%. Leaves are getting brittle but the buds are solid and sticky. Very nice feel to them.

I'm shooting for a hang time of 10-12 days.


I'll take some pics tonight.
 

HighLowGrow

Well-Known Member
Unknown Plant. Temp 55 Hum 60% Today is day 9 of hanging. I decided to cut a couple branches off and started trimming.


Unknown plant 9 days.jpgsecuredownload.jpg

Trimming was a little sticky. Not too bad though. The buds felt a little wet to me so I stopped after a branch and a half. I'm going to let this hang another 2 days.

Here are a couple bud shots.

Unkown bud shot 2.jpgUnkown bud shot 1.jpg
 
I cut mine at the base, but first I completely trim the plant of every single leaf and let them dry separate. Then I just hang the plant by the a low node on the plant and let it sit until the stems are dry enough to crack. I can't see leaving all of the leaves on when they would just drape down over your buds. But this method would be too time consuming on a large grow. Never really tested temps or humidity just left them in a ventilated and dark closet.
 

intenseneal

Well-Known Member
I cut the whole plant at the base and dry it hanging upside down before I do any trimming. After it is dry I trim, jar and cure. I can normally start smoking some good tasting buds after 2-3 weeks of curing.
 

Chezia67

Member
Just wanted to compliment you on the babies . Beautiful .

There is some beautiful purple in there.


I'm doing my best to hold 65-70 degrees and 50% humidity. It's friggin getting cold. The dehumidifier is running and holding at 50%. The actual temps are 60-65 right now. It's hanging in the corner of my flower room with a barrier up to block the direct light.

Like I said, I'll be throwing some pics up every day until they go into jars.

-HLG[/QUOTE]
 

HighLowGrow

Well-Known Member
Unknown plant day 12. Temp 55 60% hum. Time to come down. I gotta say, the texture of the bud is perfect. On the other hand, the smell isn't as strong as I would have liked at this point.

Here is what I did. After I trimmed everything up, it all went into paper bags and is currently hanging where the plant was drying. I increased the temp to 65 degrees and dropped hum to 50-55%. Most likely, I'll jar these up today.

 

unknown1231

Well-Known Member
Hey Guys,

Last time I checked in I had just cut down my second girl. It has been hanging for 11 days and I've gone ahead and cut it up and jarred it for the cure. On the 9th day of hanging the buds felt a bit too crisp so, as someone else in this thread suggested, I hung a trash bag over her for 24 hours which made the buds a little softer to the touch and brought a bit of the nice smell out.

**Note: I decided to trim the sugar leaves I left on around day 7, they were just too dry and getting to the 'crumble' stage. Going forward I will be trimming all sugar leaves the day I cut the plant down. Its just too tedious to trim the buds when all the leaves are dry and curled- too many mishaps with chopping into buds! I will leave all the buds on the plant, fully trimmed, to dry for 10-21 days (whenever it feels right- this is totally contingent on the size of the buds- My plants are 2-3 feet tall and all topped so the buds aren't huge. If I were to aim for big buds the dry is obviously longer).

Temp: 60-65 degrees
RH: 60%
(on some days I aired out the room which brought RH down to 50/55 temporarily)
*Hung in the dark, only light received is from a CFL in the ceiling when I would walk in to check on her.

After 11 days of hanging my plant has these characteristics:

Buds dry to the touch
Buds don't have much of a smell, there is a very very subtle 'green' smell but it is nothing compared to what it was for the 10 days prior to jarring.
Stems have shrunk probably by 80%
Stems bend and ALMOST break, essentially on the precipice of being too dry.


At this point I've jarred the buds and will burp for 20 minutes every day or every other day depending on how much moisture I deem to be in the buds- I doubt there is much so planning on burping every other day for 2/3 weeks.

I will follow up with you guys on this thread once the cure is complete and will let you know the results of the smoke!
 

unknown1231

Well-Known Member
I have an update on my experience. Since jarring overnight I'm sad to say that the dreaded green smell has arrived. I'm thinking maybe I jarred too quickly. Thankfully this is only one plant and since they all seem to be finishing at different times I'll have the opportunity to try again and again and again ;)

I just took down another girl last night, she will hang for at least 10 days, probably closer to 14. This time around I'm going to let the buds get DRY instead of somewhat dry. I'll update you guys in a couple weeks and we'll see how she is!
Here we are roughly two weeks later and curing the first harvest in the jar has really brought out a strong sour smell, very please with the aroma. I didn't think the cure would do much but it does. Not only the aroma has changed but also the texture of the buds, more pliable, sticky, what you'd expect in some good bud.
 

HighLowGrow

Well-Known Member
1.jpg2.jpg

Another AKR. I cleaned this one up a little better and chopped it at the base about an hour ago. Perfect timing. We are suppose to get some rain for the next 2-3 days or so. On and off.
 

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