Simple Harvest and Cure (Step By Step)

Rumple

Well-Known Member
I have been asked a number of times about harvesting and curing. I understand that there are as many ways to cure Marijuana as there are Marijuana strains. It seems that no two growers do it alike.

From harvest day to bong. Here is my method:

I can't tell you the exact time to chop your plant down. Some research can tell you how long to flower your strain for best results or you can check trichome color. Either way, you will have to do a bit of trial and error to find the very best day to chop the girls down.

At day 60 my White Widow shows a mixture of trichome colors. Most of them will be milky or amber, with a small percent of clear ones scattered about. Use a jeweler's loupe/magnifying glass of 20x magnification or more. A small pocket microscope can be bought at RadioShack:






I have grown this strain long enough to know that day 60 gives the best flavor and effect.

Day 60. My single plant grow:








Time to chop it down: Even if you can take the whole plant in one single cut, I would break it up into large sections. This is so it can get lots of air while drying (branches won't be touching).
I take one cola/branch at a time. It is very important to take your time and be gentle in every step of harvesting. It's a good idea to always be gentle with your weed at any stage. Manhandling your bud will cause the trichomes to break off (you don't want that).

Using a pair of Fiskars® Softouch Micro-Tip Scissors, I take the first of many branches:




Noticed I put on rubber gloves? Get a box of them at the drug store. They are a must have item. You will not get that sap off your hands for days no matter what you wash with.


Tie some twist ties or line to the end:


I like to hang the branch over a bucket or trash-can:






Pluck off all the sun leaves and any leaf that is big enough to pull off (without hurting the bud). They can be easily removed by snapping them off while pulling up or you can use scissors:




You don't have to get them all. Just get what you can and save the rest for your "Trim-Party".
Before:


After:


As you finish, stack them on a near by table:





Dry Time:

Try and find a cool, dark, preferably ventilated space such as a closet, basement, or winter attic. I have no such space at my home, so I use the attic all year. It is dark and ventilated but not always cool. Works anyway.
Try and hang all the branches so they don't touch anything:




A small oscillating fan on low will help things along real nice:


Place all the leaf in a few paper bags and place them in the same space as the hanging branches. Leave bag open.




TRIM-PARTY!

Let them hang for three days (72 hours). After three days they my feel real dry or real damp. It does not matter.
Note: You might want to stir the bag of leaves after a day or so. They tend to be real wet.

Three days later. So sad the big bud is so small now:


Let's get this party started. Lay out all your trim gear.
A trim tray (cookie sheet will work), rubber gloves, micro-tip scissors, large paper grocery bags, small brown lunch bags and a few razors (to clean the scissors). Music helps or someone to talk to. It becomes un-fun in 15 minutes (trust me).




Most the water has evaporated out of the branches.

Before:


After:




Time to manicure and finish your trimming.
This task takes some time and a whole lot of patients.
Take a branch and start at the bottom, cutting off all leaves and bud leaf tips. After your get all the big leaves off, pretend you are giving a slight trim to the whole bud. The very tips of the bud leaves will cause the smoke to be harsh, so just do a slight trim all around.


Before:


After:



Now clip the buds off the main stem.





Glad that's over:





Brown Bag Um:

Get a few brown grocery bags and a pack of brown lunch bags. Shred the brown lunch bags (not confetti but strips). I bought a cheap shredder to make strips from the lunch bags:



Now lay down a layer of bud at the bottom of the grocery bag (one bud thick):



Place a layer of the bag strips over the top of your bud:


Place another layer of bud on top of the strips:


Keep making layers until the grocery bag is full. Your last layer should be strips:



Place your grocery bags in a cool dry place for two days. Churn/mix the bud and strip layers gently and place back for another one or two days:



Your bud may look over dry or a little crisp when done. Over dry is much much better then moist. The texture and smell will come back while curing in the jars.

Your bud is smoke-able but harsh until cured in jars. The longer it stays in the jar, the smoother the smoke and the stronger the smell.
I like the 32oz wide mouth Ball mason jars. They can be found at every grocery store, but next to impossible to locate the isle they are on. Look hard:


Don't pack the bud in the jar. Fill them up about 80% to 90%. You can get close to an ounce of small buds in a jar (could be wrong about this fact). Less if they are bigger bud:







If the bud it a bit too long, don't squish it or bend it. Just cut it up:




After your jars are filled, take a break (you need it):


Always store your jars in a cool, dark, and safe location. Light is bad for your weed.
Try to remember to open each jar twice a week for the first month. Leave it open for a few minutes and seal it back up. I don't always do this (I forget), but it makes a difference. It's also a good idea to check for mold while opening each one.

We can never wait the month that is recommended for jar curing. But it does get much better as time passes. After a month it is killer.

Best of luck,R
 

Serapis

Well-Known Member
I've bookmarked this to provide to future requests on help with harvests. Good, up to date how to.
 

Plants ftw

Member
Awesome tut. you made everything extremely clear, +rep.. only question i have is what did you do with the leaves you put in bags to dry with the bud?
 

bamse

Active Member
hello, I still grow White Widow FEMINIZED, after how many days of flowering plants should be cut ??
and at the end of flowering of plants left in darkness 24 hours or 36 hours or 72 hours before cutting ??
thanks man...
 

Serapis

Well-Known Member
My damn shredder cross cuts..... I end up with confetti, a shame too, I have 6 clothes hangers full of drying bud and this looks like a great idea for finishing the drying... crumpled paper might work, but not as well I would imagine.
 

Thebogie

Member
Well done!! I am a newbie and appreciate your time on this fine post. Question why leaves in the bags and
why dry them? Thanks
 

ColoradoLove

Well-Known Member
So would you say your buds smell and taste really nice using this technique? I'm still looking for that method that gives me knockout taste and smell
 

chb444220

Well-Known Member
hello, I still grow White Widow FEMINIZED, after how many days of flowering plants should be cut ??
and at the end of flowering of plants left in darkness 24 hours or 36 hours or 72 hours before cutting ??
thanks man...
im sure u probly got the answer to this already.. lol. but i grew a FEM WW twice (nirvana) and mine finished around 9 weeks flowering.. but if ur patient enough.. i would go for 10. =) its a great strain..

adn as far as the darkness thing.. ive tried that with 1 of my WW's... adn didnt with the other.. and didnt notice a difference.. u can do it if youd like. but i dont think it matters. its "supposed to" give you more trichs.... but trichs cant form in 1-3 days ya know...? i think wat it actually does is stress the plant out... since hte light cycles fucked up.. and due to the stress.. it will make the plant finish a lil faster.

1 tip for u.. which worked great.. adn will work good with this great idea. =) wen u are close to harvest time... try NOT to water the plants for the last 5-7 days... this will cut the drying time by alot!!! good luck
 

chb444220

Well-Known Member
Thanks, Kindone.

great job man.. a VERY nice tutorial.. ive never seen any1 use the shredded paper bag method.. thats deff a new one. hahaha. i feel as if this works beter than hanging them as well.. cuz wen u hang them.. the buds are sooo big.. the middle never dries.. and once u put them in jars for 1 day/night.. the buds are wet again cuz all the moisture from the middle expands...

one thing i wanted to ask u about... do u think its easier to trim after letting it hang for a few days?? i always had a harder time trimming after a few days of drying.. cuz the leaves are almost.... soggy-ish? u kno wat i mean? but regardless man... nice nice nice job!! deff subbing and gonna post this in a few of my threads to show ppl/
 

Benelli

Well-Known Member
+ REP! This is a fantastic tutorial. I am about a week away from chopping my 3rd plant. I got some mold on my 2nd grow from middle buds being too wet still and when I put them in jars got a little mold so this a great route. thanks
 

auntavis

Member
I'm a couple of weeks out from my first cut, dry and cure job and this was awesome instructions for me! Thanks and a rep for you! Clear and informative!
 

Bluntman4life

Active Member
Just wondering what the final Dry weight was on the one plant..... have similar setup with homer buckets DWC and wondering if I should use the screen method......

Looks good
 
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