bud being on the dry side while it's in jars curing. What can I do to add moisture without causing problems
Curing is a biological/chemical process which requires a certain temperature and moisture range in order to take place. Allowing the bud to dry out too much halts this process. Think of it like... You are placed into a jar, lol. At some point, you run out of oxygen (or experience a fatal build-up of carbon dioxide). The next day, someone is nice enough to add more oxygen (or to remove the carbon dioxide) to your jar - but, alas, you are not able to start breathing again at that point.
You can add more moisture, but it could cause mold. A safer alternative would be to ensure that it does not get even more dry during storage (assuming it is too dry all the way through the buds instead of only on the outer edges) and then to raise the moisture content of a much smaller quantity; maybe place a few days' supply into a plastic bag along with something like part of a slice of bread (celery, fresh orange/lemon peel, etc.) for a short time and then remove the foreign object. You're less likely to ruin something by adding (a small amount of) moisture if the product is to be quickly used afterwards. Additionally, if you
do ruin it, you'll be ruining a much smaller amount instead of... your harvest.
If curing has slowed due to the moisture content being low - but it has not stopped altogether - you might try shaking a few drops of distilled water onto it. But be careful not to overdo it. Close the jars up for just a few minutes at first, as you might find upon opening that they are suddenly all much too damp. If that happens, you might have to remove all the buds and lay them out flat for a time.
Opening a jar that has been in long-term storage and finding that the bud has become moldy... is far worse than opening the jar and realizing that your bud has merely dried instead of cured. The latter is less than it could have been, but the former is... trash.
we were a little overwhelmed, harvesting 4 different strains
As you have found, growing multiple strains - or even multiple phenotypes from the same strain, if they are different enough - can be challenging and a lot of work, especially for newer growers. Differences in growth rates, flowering times, flowering stretch (for example, one strain stretches 2x during the first 40% of its flowering period, while another stretches 3x during the first 40% of
its flowering period... you might end up having your light at a level that is too high for some plants in order to not burn others), nutrition requirements, et cetera. The benefits of a
successful multi-strain grow are obvious, but many of them end up being less than 100% - there's a fairly wide range where the grower will be able to harvest
something from each strain.
It helps if you've done several harvests with each strain that you intend to run together in a multiple-strain grow. That allows you to experiment with different nutrient levels/ratios (et cetera), which will help formulate a plan that gives you the "best average" (where possible) for everything that you grow together. If you're growing strains that are at the opposite ends of the spectrum, however, you might still end up needing to mix up your nutrients separately for each.
