Harvest Questions

[Ripples]

I will be ready for harvest in a couple weeks... I have a 4x4 well vented tent... Stopped nutes and starting the flushing process... Will be cutting based on trichomes (cloudy/clear)... Checking in with my fellow growers with more experience than myself on the correct way! Do you dry with the lights on or off? Best temps and RH? Aprox. how long? Warnings? Any and all advice is welcomed... I have read plenty on the subject but like to hear from personal experience on what works best... Thanks!!!

 

[oiuhdfukg]

Re: Harvest Questions...

Give them 48 hours of total darkness right before harvesting in order to stimulate resin production. Chop them at the end of this dark period, before they are exposed to light. When they are exposed to light they'll re-absorb some of the harsh stuff that'll have to be removed during the curing process, so this will save you a bit of time when you start curing. Keep the temp around 70 and humidity around 40% when drying. Keep the area dark. Drying will take about 5 - 7 days and curing can take anywhere from a week to a month. You'll hear different approaches to curing, but you should dedicate a couple of weeks to it.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Re: Harvest Questions...

I put my trimmed buds in a drying box with screens, which has a computer fan drawing air through it. As I'm sure you've read- once the stalks are dry enough that when you bend them 90 degrees they make a sort of snap- put them in jars. 3 days to get to that 'snap' seems like the bare minimum but i like it to take 7. I like to use large (1 gallon) glass jars (bulk pickle jars in this case). I throw a hygrometer in there and close the lid. After equalizing for half a day or so it usually reads about 65-70 RH. Under 65 and you're in a mold safe zone I believe. 70 or above and you should probably get it out of the jar again for a while. I keep 'burping' the jars for a couple weeks and get the RH down to about 55 over time. Knowing your RH is the best way IMO-takes the guesswork out of things and is pretty much foolproof. I'm sure you've read about this technique.
The accepted wisdom has always been that drying in a lit area destroys thc. I'm starting to question this idea about the thc degradation. I think for the initial 'drying till stems snap' period could be maybe (?) done in the light. People in the bud washing crowd are doing it. But I still somehow believe that keeping drying herbs in the dark or at least dim, improves flavor. I dry my garden herbs like basil and such this way and I'm sure the flavor is much better. Also worth checking out the Boveda packs which sound handy.