How are you guys and gals drying your flower?

Monitor the rH where you dry, try to keep it in the 60s and then you can leave it hanging longer. Most people hang to dry for a week or more. You can usually tell when it's time to jar by the stems, they should almost snap when bent. Another way to tell is by putting the buds inside a tote after a few days to see what the rH settles to - to me that was more convenient than buying mini hygrometers for my jars that are generally inaccurate, plus it lets me get a few more days of drying before they get jarred. Open the tote for a few minutes twice a day and shuffle the buds around. Be aware that once you destem, the humidity will drop considerably, so if you tote the buds and you're reading upper 60s it's probably time to jar in something more airtight than that tote. If done well, you can usually hang for a week, tote for nearly a week - then jar. Once jarred, burp the jars for a couple minutes twice a day for the first two weeks. After two weeks or so in the jars, assuming you didn't jar too early and didn't forget to burp, the risk of mold should be mostly mitigated. Afterwards, you can burp a couple times a week for another 2 weeks or so, then after that once or twice a month should be fine. Your goal is to keep the humidity level up and replace the oxygen in the jars without doing so too often. Yes, it's a bit of a pain but a good cure makes all the difference. I have jars that are still dank after doing this for more than 10 months... I know someone is laughing somewhere but ya, that's how I do it.

edit: If you jar too early and forget to burp you'll run into problems but otherwise you'll be fine. If you ever run into an ammonia smell, that's a strong indication something went wrong. If so, remove the buds from the jar and leave them in a paper bag for a few hours before jarring again. Cheers.
 
That should work to regain moisture, I haven't tried it though. One time to rehydrate, I screwed a piece of lettuce wrapped in a paper towel under the lid of the mason jar lol. It did seem to work a bit but honestly I recommend bovedas for long term storage if you can get them. It makes things a little more forgiving. I managed to mess up a couple jars of outdoors this fall and it was from jarring too early and not burping while I was busy with a move... sucked big time.
 
Backyardigan said:
@Regrowth I heard of guys throwing orange peels inside paper bag after hanging... any truth to this?
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Yes it is true that some guys are throwing orange peels inside of paper bags.;)

I have done it myself as an attempt to bring the moisture of over dried weed back up. One problem I noticed was that orange peels have different levels of moisture depending on the variety of orange. 'Navel Oranges' have a lot of moisture and the weed can get over-moist which might lead to a mold problem in a few weeks.

I was going to bring up the best overall method but @013 was on the ball and just did it.. For the last year or two I have gone with the Low and Slow Drying in a refridgerator. Then once the buds have dried to the level I want I will take them out of the bag and put them into jars for the cure.
 
013 said:
Save a few chunks of your weed stem just in case, they can be soaked in water and used to rehydrate your jars if necessary.
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Yep. I save some of the stems when harvesting the plant. No leaves, just sections of stem about 4 to 5 inches long. They get put into zip-lock bags and then into the freezer. If when the dry is done and I think that the buds have dried out a bit more than I want I get a couple of stems and put them in the jar to adjust the moisture level and level out the cure. Found the stems to be easier than trying to do the same thing with 'humidity packs'.

"More than one way to skin a cat" as the saying goes.;)
 
Low and slow is the best, easiest as well. Here's another link on it:

Sauga's Ride On The Pineapple Express

I come preloaded so I’m good to go :rofl::cool: But probably like an ink jet printer, expensive to refill and needs so often.
www.420magazine.com


And if you don't have a fridge to use, I'd give this a read over:

Post in thread 'How To Cure Your Marijuana Crop' How To Cure Your Marijuana Crop
 
As has been said, low and slow. I hang mine, fan leaves and all, let them dry in the tent with the lights off for several days to a week, RH in the drying area should be around 60%. When the fan leaves are dry, but there's still some mosture in the petioles, I trim and jar the buds, the RH is usually abot 75-80%, you have to be vigillant in burping or leaving the tops off the jars until you get the RH down to about 65%, then short burps and "mixing" the buds every day until it gets down and holds 60% RH. Often the meter will show 60%, but when you put the lid back on the RH will rise. I harvested some Mimosa in Mid-August, it's just now down to 60% RH, and it's sweet smoke! Do not overdry, once you get the RH down to about 55% all curing stops. In a former life, I grew in Humboldt Co., drying took many weeks just hanging in a room, since the RH in the air was about 75% most of the time.
 
Take a look at Grove Bags for curing. I have been playing around with them, and they seem to do everything they say. I have not harvested my first grow yet, so take that with a grain of salt.
 
all times relative to ones drying room rh

four days hanging for fluffy buds gets it to a bit over 60 rh

Jar it from there and be diligent about burping twice a day to start and do not forget to burp regularly for the next month

I cure my weed in coffee tubs. Freshly used ones. Not air tight but just enuf
 
SmokingWings said:
Yep. I save some of the stems when harvesting the plant. No leaves, just sections of stem about 4 to 5 inches long. They get put into zip-lock bags and then into the freezer. If when the dry is done and I think that the buds have dried out a bit more than I want I get a couple of stems and put them in the jar to adjust the moisture level and level out the cure. Found the stems to be easier than trying to do the same thing with 'humidity packs'.

"More than one way to skin a cat" as the saying goes.
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i've used stems in the jars as well. they will work to a point and then begin drawing moisture out instead of putting it in. i use bovedas for long term storage and recommend them for that purpose. stems are old school. i love it. that's exactly what we did in the 70's / 80's.

i often use bovedas for the cure as well, but that's just a personal oddity, i bury them in the jars .. :p
it's a carry over habit from the stems. i don't actually recommend that unless you know what you are doing.

i face drier conditions than ideal for most of my harvests. so i've adapted my hang times and curing a bit. most recommend hanging anywhere from 7 - 14 days at 55- 60% rh. my rh typically sits between 25 - 35%. often lower.

i prefer to hang the plant whole at chop. not individual branches. this keeps more moisture around and buys some hang time. i usually remove all the fans at chop and leave the sugars on for final trim.

my hang time can be as short as 3 - 4 days. which is extreme. i shoot for 5 - 7 but it all depends on how the drying buds look / feel. hang time is dictated by the buds.

i try to get them in the jars about 60ish% rh. a touch higher is better for me. if it climbs a bit in the jars i'm ok with it. that's what the cure is for. it's also the reason for stems / bovedas.

i do use some cheap hygrometers to give a rough idea of where i am. individually they can be off by as much as 10%. i don't care. they average out, and i only need a ballpark. i've cured without them for ages previous. they just add easy. i would recommend them.

my burp and cure is long. really really long. that is key. i burp the jars until the rh is stable. when i burp i start with at least two a day, and open the jars for 20 - 30 min if they went in wet, and 15 - 20 min if they were drier. as the jars get more stable i reduce to one burp a day, then every other day, and the time gets shortened.

my avg burp time ranges 4 - 6 wks. i work piles out in the jars. after that the harvest gets sealed up and left to sit for a minimum of a month before i'll consider it testable.

i normally like it starting about month 3. moving forward it just gets better. ive got some stuff a couple yrs. you'll see a lot of folk on the board with the same.


i used to just do this by feel literally, dragging some bud out of the jars and touching to gauge how dry it was. now i just check on the cheap hygrometers
 
I’ve tried a number of different drying techniques and all have given good results. I’ve also noticed the longer a slower you bring down the r/h the tastier and nicer your smoke will be.

The most important piece you will need and absolutely should not be left out is a number of cheap hygrometers. Without them your just guessing. Get some hygrometers.

When you do get your bud down to the mid 60’s r/h do not over fill your jars.
 
Look up Boveda packs for curing.
For drying, slower is better, they say. I dont always agree, as even oven dried bud tastes way better than anything I can get from a dutch coffeeshop.
 
After hang/trim, I still put it in a cardboard box with newspaper until any green smell has totally gone, then jar/burp
Means I can leave it somewhere warm if it's a bit wet, or cooler if it's drying nicely
Allows for a huge window of a week or so when it comes to 'ready for the jar'
 
Growings said:
After hang/trim, I still put it in a cardboard box with newspaper until any green smell has totally gone, then jar/burp
Means I can leave it somewhere warm if it's a bit wet, or cooler if it's drying nicely
Allows for a huge window of a week or so when it comes to 'ready for the jar'
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cardboard is a dessicant. it pulls moisture and flavour out.
cardboard is a old trick i used to quick dry stuff when i was ruled by the marketplace. piles of small commercial growers use it.
 
bluter said:
cardboard is a dessicant. it pulls moisture and flavour out.
cardboard is a old trick i used to quick dry stuff when i was ruled by the marketplace. piles of small commercial growers use it.
Click to expand...
I know some commercial growers that box and 'sweat' bud for a quick dry (Ummm...)
The box method isn't a million miles away from 'paper bag in the fridge' method - my fridge seems to be too humid, but I can totally control the bathroom so that's how I make it work here
 
Growings said:
I know some commercial growers that box and 'sweat' bud for a quick dry (Ummm...)
The box method isn't a million miles away from 'paper bag in the fridge' method - my fridge seems to be too humid, but I can totally control the bathroom so that's how I make it work here
Click to expand...


they sweat cause the cardboard is pulling it out. that is exactly how it works. cardboard is a million miles away from the fridge method, unless you are putting the box in the fridge lol.

there's nothing wrong with using it if you are facing high ambient humidity. it's how you get a proper hang in if you have a steady 70% or greater ambient rh. ambient rh is the atmospheric rh outdoor.
 

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