Anyone ever worked on a Tobacco farm back in the day? I am using a drying and curing Tobacco analogy to describe the same process for Marijuana. On a Tobacco farm, the tobacco is cut in the field (late September) and hung upside down in a barn loft. It will hang there for a couple months and sell before Christmas.
A barn has plenty of air circulation. It gets cold during Oct, Nov, Dec. There's night and day...
There's snow and rain, etc..
Whether you grow Marijuana in soil or in Hydro, the drying and curing process is the same as Tobacco. With Tobacco, the main thing is to keep a check on it and make sure the leaves don't dry out while it is curing. When the leaves start dying out, it's called "going out of case", which means your leaves are drying out, but the stalks are still green. If the leaves dry out, it will basically turn to dust. Just as with Marijuana, your buds will dry out and turn to dust while your stalks are still pliable. You don't want that to happen. The tobacco farmers take a clean garden sprayer with water and go in the barn and "MIST" not WET, but "MIST" the tobacco so the humidity stays in the tobacco leaves while the stalks are curing. This is called putting the tobacco "into case". Anyway, it's basically the same thing. Of course, all these you-tubes and websites want to sell you something. You have to keep Marijuana leaves "in case" so they don't completely dry out and turn to dust, while your Marijuana is curing. You don't want to freeze your Marijuana. Whether your growing in soil or in hydro, the drying and curing is the same. Unlike a barn, you have more control over a room. Get your supplies together. Room Fan, Room Humidifier, Humidity and Temperature Monitor, as well as a Garden Sprayer, Mason Jars, Q-tips. My suggestion would be to trim all the water leaves off and trim the bud before you cut the stalk. Once you cut the stalk, hang the plant(s) upside down in a room. It's just easier to work with and cure that way and less risk of mold and mildew. If your water leaves and bud are trimmed before you cut and hang it, there's plenty of air circulation on the plant. The Room fan is NOT blowing on the plant(s), but just circulating the room air, so put the fan in the back of the room on low speed. Keep a check on your plant(s) for a couple days and when you feel the leaves start drying a little, turn on the Room Humidifier. Keep checking. If your leaves don't go back "in case" Mist the plant(s). Mold and Mildew grow DARK ROOMS, so whoever is advising constant DARK ROOMS... ah.. NO. Molds grow faster in dark humid rooms. Turn the dam room light on. A regular Incandescent light bulb. It's not going to HURT your plant(s). Jezzus.. Turn the light on during the day and turn the sucker off at night. Anyway, Keep your room temperature cool and your humidity level enough your buds don't dry out. If you will just keep a regular check on them, you will learn about what levels are good for your plants in your particular zone of the world. Just keep them steady once you find a good balance. I live in a desert, so I keep my house at my comfort zone of 68 degrees. So, that's the temperature my plant(s) have to live in or die.
I adjust the humidity as needed for the plants to stay in what? "IN CASE"!
I don't know why the old farmers called it that, but that's what they called it, so that's what I'm calling it.
I know what it means and that's what counts.
Ok, so once your stalks break and not bend, the plant is cured. You can cut the buds off and put them in Mason jars. You keep a check on them daily. When you feel it's a little dry, wet a couple Q-tips and put them in the Mason Jars. I put my Q-tips at the top mouth of the jar sideways so they hold themselves in place, but don't touch the bud. They are just there to add some moisture to the air in the Mason Jar, so the bud doesn't dry out. Set them on a shelf, NOT in direct sunlight and NOT in complete dark. Just put them on a shelf or put them in the refrigerator. Hell, I've even put bunches of them (not n Mason jars) in the crisper drawer in the refrigerator with a wet paper towel to the side for humidity regulation. You just have to keep check on them. It's not going to hurt them. It's a plant or flower just like vegetables or flowers from the store. This is the OLD SCHOOL WAY I learned from REAL FARMERS. It works and it doesn't cost a dam fortune. IT WORKS FOR
DONATION MMJ TOO! Everybody has their own way I guess, but believe me when I tell you that most websites don't want you to be successful unless you buying their shyt and guess what? Your still not going to be successful unless you realize it's a plant and not some woo hoo mystical unreal thing beyond your control. Just trying to help.
