Question about Curing

[Lovie]

Some brief background info. This is from my first harvest ever. In a 4*4 tent I had a Sour Diesel, Do-Si-Do, Blueberry, and Chocolate Thai. These plants encountered a lot of issues and the fact that they even made it to harvest is a miracle. About 1.5 months ago when I went to trim these plants I realized I must not have been paying close enough attention and someone hermied because I found a couple of seeds. A few years ago a few seeds would not have been a deal breaker. Now, with the legalization of weed in my state we have become quite spoiled with the access to premium buds. At the time frustrated I decided that I would just learn to make edibles and use these plants for that purpose. I didn't finish trimming them, I didn't even remove the buds from the branches. I stuck the entire branches with the buds still intact into ziplock bags, then put the ziplock bags into an insulated bag and that is where they have remained until last night. It was never my intention to leave them there that long but life got in the way and I haven't had the time to do anything with them. I did put thermostat/hygrometer in the bags. The humidity level as maintained 67%. The theromstat/hygrometers I have display their data an external display so I did periodically look at the temps and humidity levels without having to open the bags.

Last night I decided to do some trimming on these to see exactly what I had and I realize I may have disregarded these too soon. My question, do I trim these plants now and begin the curing process as though they had just finished drying from harvesting? Or are they cured just from sitting in the bags for 1.5 months even though I didn't even burp the bags. Below are 2 pics of one of the same bud (sorry for the poor quality), just in different lighting.

 

[Azimuth]

They've been curing along the way which is just the converting of chlorophyll and other things into more useful components.

67% is a bit too high for this purpose and you should check carefully for mold. 58-62% is a better range for storage.

When I dry/cure I like to hang branches until the buds feel crispy on the outside and then I start repeated cycles of sweating (enclosing the buds in an air tight container with a hygrometer to even out the moisture across the entire bud) and open air.

Once they get to 62% they get closed up and burped (opening the container briefly to exchange gases) once a day for a week, and then less frequently as time goes on.

 

[Lovie]

67% is a bit too high for this purpose and you should check carefully for mold. 58-62% is a better range for storage.

I have been checking closely for mold and haven't seen any yet. I never meant to leave them there for that long. Just got busy and lost track of how long they had been sitting there I guess. I am not very far into this process yet, and what wasn't immediately snatched up by other people as I was trimming it last night (the next person who tries to snag some weed as soon as I finish trimming it better be ready to sit down with some trimmers!) did get put into a mason jar with a 62% humidity pack.

Should I burp them once a day at this point or just periodically burp them?

 

[Azimuth]

The humidity packs are designed to hold a particular level, 62% in your case, and  not designed to bring them down to that level.

Try my sweating method. Put them in a food storage container with the hygrometer and leave the lid on for an hour or two and see what your base level is. Then take the cover off for a few hours and then re-cover and see how much the humidity level goes down. Jumble the buds along the way to make sure they dry evenly.

You'll have to play around with the length of the cycles depending on your ambient temps and humidity but you'll find your groove.

Once they reach 62% you're ready for longer term storage.

The burping process does two things. First it exchanges more moist air in the container for drier air from the room thereby giving the new air better ability to absorb evaporated moisture from the buds and, second it give the microbes that are doing the actual curing some fresh oxygen. Like us they breath in oxygen and exhale CO2 so it's important to give them fresh air so they don't suffocate.

 

[Roy Growin]

It is often cold and damp here, sometimes I hurry it along a bit by placing the plastic tub on a heat mat [low] with a bag of frozen peas on top
After 5-10 mins excess moisture condenses on the inside of the lid under the peas, easily wiped off
Allow to cool completely before going back in the fridge [or another cycle]
Don't overdo it tho or it'll taste shit

 

[Azimuth]

Don't overdo it tho or it'll taste shit

And like peas?

 

[Roy Growin]

And like peas?

Cold can of beer also works

 

[Lovie]

I guess the 68% humidity reading is coming from the humidity in the branches. I checked my hygrometer's accuracy using the wet salt in a ziplock bag method and they all came back at 75% humidity so my meters are accurate. That being said, my buds are very dry and burn too fast. I have read of a few methods of adding moisture back to buds. Am I too late to try adding moisture back? If I am not, what is the best method?