HomerMillender
New Member
I hope they turn put to be great plants.
You here this all the time. What is your process? People come here and argue facts like flushing, leeching, how to harvest. To be honest its something your NOT doing that is causing your issue. Not trying to be a dick but it is definitely in your schedule. Proper nutrient delivery is key to flavor, overloading causes harshness and under feeding will lessen yield and quality. Leeching is critical for all hydro systems to allow for proper uptake of nutrients throughout the cycle. Dropping your nutrients at the last few weeks will also help in flavor and smell. Harvest can also affect your product, a slow dry is better then a quick dry. If you cure are you trimming correctly, leaving large amounts of sugar leaf can also leave a smell. Curing should be done somewhere from 50-60% and cured down to 20%, there are many ways of curing but removing moisture regularly is the key. Cool dark is your friend...JASI've read lots of different things about curing and I understand it. However I need someone with experience to tell me if what's going on is normal or not. So my specific question is: Is the fresh, not so weed like smell normal? They've been curing now for less than a week but it doesn't seem to be getting better. I have patience but I wonder if the end result is going to be what I want. Someone please answer me!!! I'm desperate!!!! I don't want all my hard work to go to waste.
Thanks
i smoked some bud that tasted great after 3 days of drying and another that makes me cough like hell after a week and a half. IMO depending on what methods used, a good dry period is required, along with a cure.
by a good drying period , i mean 1-2 weeks. Achieve the slowest dry possible while preventing mold by pulling air past the chopped down plants (i leave the plant whole hang dry )
after a good 3-4 days, i either shut the fan off intermittently , or i pluck off the fan leaves cause they're dry, cut up the branches and put the buds all closer together, to get a slower dry.
probably by the 7th or 8th day, i can shut off the fan and just let it chill there, hopefully making it to 12 days (i can't seem to get to day 14 here)
the buds burn great it's just some have slowly been getting their smell back, and I think it has a lot to do with chlorophyll in the main stems, and how much stem your smoking in that test bowl. Once the cure sets in the small stems will burn fine and all will be great
slow dry is key though, just be careful for mold (can't be too careful)
then you cure it. I take a huge jar and just stick my acurite digital humidity/temp sensor in there for a few hours, check the RH (relative humidity, the humidity of the air related to the humidity of the buds)
basically RH changes as things equalize; the more equalized things get, the slower the RH will change. This is a good sign that it's time to keep the lids closed and let the cure come in.
it's also a good idea to get a dehumidifier, set at 63 inside the drying room, with a direct drain to the outside (to avoid mold buildup on water reservoir)
I hung my girls up to dry for 3-4 days in my dark tent with a fan on but not pointed at them. I read that once I could smoke a joint with out it going out they are ready for jars. So I cut the buds off the stems and put them in sealable containers. I let them sit in the containers for several hours before putting the lids on. I then put the lids on for 12 hours, then took the lids off for an hour of so. I do this twice a day. I'm on day three now and they still don't smell the way I'd like. They have a grassy smell to them. Is this normal? If I continue to do this process are they going to start to smell like I want? My last grow I made the mistake of not curing at all. After hanging them for several days I put them in containers. As I'm sure most of you would expect they were moist by the morning. Then I just left them sitting out all night and day to dry which they did but that grassy smell never went away. My buds weren't as nice that time as they are now so I want to make sure I'm going about it the right way.
Thanks!!
I've read lots of different things about curing and I understand it. However I need someone with experience to tell me if what's going on is normal or not. So my specific question is: Is the fresh, not so weed like smell normal? They've been curing now for less than a week but it doesn't seem to be getting better. I have patience but I wonder if the end result is going to be what I want. Someone please answer me!!! I'm desperate!!!! I don't want all my hard work to go to waste.
Thanks
Something that I haven't mentioned yet is the fact that my buds are still moist. They haven't completely dried out. So back to my original question is this "not so weed like" smell going to go away and the dank smell we want going to be more as I continue to cure or is the smell of my crop simply fucked?
This slow dry 1 to 2 week bullshit is just that BS.
its a great way to make a grass smell. Just hang the whole plant (leave all leafs on they suck the moisture out from the stems and inner buds) and dry it enough. For those that dispute this I have dried every fucking way and at every fucking humidity possible. (high humidity sucks for drying)
I like to paper bag it for a bit after that
If you dry it enough the trimming will be much easier than wet trimming
If you dispute this you have not trimmed enough!
The dry is way more important than the cure and where it is usually fucked up.
if it goes to over 64% -65% humidity in the jar, container etc.. it will end up like grass and should be completely taken out for a few hours or more not burped cause you aren't drying it enough.. .Try using bags not jars
when its to wet in the jar (looking at your hydrometer) its much easier to open and get lots of air in to dry it a bit more than when its packed in a jar. Jars should be used for storage only. master the dry the cure is nothing but letting it sit for a week or two
If you wet trim you usually have grass and curing wont help
Buds always become dry on the outside and stay way to wet inside if
wet trimming. People then jar it and have grass.
Burping is only to adjust the humidity in the jar SLIGHTLY not to dry it. Its smoke and storage ready at about 58%-59% under 55% its fucked up
Get a hygrometer and calibrate it with a boveda pack
In conclusion dry that shit all the way get it down to 58%
So much bad information in this post, where to start? No, slow drying your plant isn't bullshit, no slow drying your plant doesn't give you a grass smell, and that is exactly what you are doing when you hang the entire plant up. No, the leaves are not sucking moisture from the stems and inner buds, the plant is losing moisture from every single stoma on the plant. I am disputing it. No, dry trimming is more difficult than wet trimming, and you follow that statement up by saying if you disagree...you haven't trimmed enough? I don't think you've ever trimmed a plant in your life. How can the dry be more important than the cure, when it is impossible to cure your bud without a proper drying process? They are related, not mutually exclusive. Wet trimming has nothing to do with the grass smell, and definitely has nothing to do with "always become dry on the outside and stay wet on the inside".
I dry the whole plant then trim and never had an issue, it does extend the dry for me, if i trim and dry they are dry in 2 days and its harsh and nasty.. whole plant it extends to 4-5 days, then paper bag for 2-3...and at this point its like itd been cured ...however stick it in a jar for a week and it gets sticky....2 weeks tops for drying and curing from chop.... exactly what you do in a desert climate. Not counting my first 3 grows, but the 17 that followed.... Never an issue dank everytime.
Guys, great info and thanks for giving me some better idea about the whole drying and curing process. To give you all an idea of what drying conditions are like my neck of the woods i.e Bay Area by the Ocean . I can take a sample bud close to finish and trim some of the smaller leaves off . This bud is left in at room temp away from direct sunlight. From the time of cutting till the bud is dry enough to smoke is approx. 5 days. This is with dry warm weather. Now the temps will dip a bit over the next month or so . If I go all out and hang my plants to dry complete with leaves , this might take 2 weeks given the climate around here . Again by the sea , though dry , but with higher humidity. Is there any way of knowing if the drying is going as planned with a rule of thumb indicator of dryness needed in a set period . Like say after one week , how should the drying progress be ?.........I want to make sure no mold ruins my harvest...........I have a dehumidifier if needed in my grow room ....
If you are drying a whole plant in 5 days you're doing it wrong, if wet trimmed bud dries in 2 days, you're doing it wrong. Paper bag? You're doing it wrong. No, at this point it isn't cured, not in the slightest. Uh no, curing in two weeks? No, just, NO! What do you do in a desert climate? You control your grow and drying environment with a humidifier. I am not concerned with what you find is quality smoke, you're doing it wrong.
All you have to do is stick a little temperature and RH gauge in your drying environment. Is the temperature between 65 and 72 degrees? Is the RH between 40% - 55%? Then you're good, the conditions is what lets you know your plant is drying properly. Also looking at the stems, as the plant dries the stems turn from green to a lighter brown. That lets you know that chlorophyll is being broken down.
With humid environments like yours, I always recommend a de-humidifier. This allows you to keep an area at a certain R/H and draw that dry air through your dryer. Once you have a constant R/H you will be able to build a decent timeline for a decent dry. Drying and curing are different things, if you plan on curing then your bud should be at that 50-60% before removing from your drying racks and placing in jars, this is when the cure starts. If you don't cure then leaving your herb on the rack until its around that 20-25%, perfect smoking moisture. A easy way to tell is pick up digital fish scale, hang your drying rack on it tare it off, place your product on the rack, take a weight. This is your starting weight or wet weight. Divide that number by 5 and now that becomes your dry weight of your product. Once every morning turn on the scale, take a reading and once you hit your dry weight pull the rack. JASIs there any way of knowing if the drying is going as planned with a rule of thumb indicator of dryness needed in a set period .
So much bad information in this post, where to start? LOL your wrong No, slow drying your plant isn't bullshit, no slow drying your plant doesn't give you a grass smell, and that is exactly what you are doing when you hang the entire plant up.-Your basically composting your weed with to slow of a dry I have been doing this many years I have used digital humidifiers and digital dehumidifiers and compared drying lengths and humidity levels No, the leaves are not sucking moisture from the stems and inner buds,-stupidest post you have made yet actually pitiful the plant is losing moisture from every single stoma on the plant. I am disputing it.Go ahead you are clueless No, dry trimming is more difficult than wet trimming,-BS and you follow that statement up by saying if you disagree...you haven't trimmed enough? very true I run 72 good size plants legally under 10 1000s I don't think you've ever trimmed a plant in your life.LOL your a joke How can the dry be more important than the cure, when it is impossible to cure your bud without a proper drying process?you just said it They are related, not mutually exclusive. Wet trimming has nothing to do with the grass smell,BS again and definitely has nothing to do with "always become dry on the outside and stay wet on the inside".-BS again your good at that!
With humid environments like yours, I always recommend a de-humidifier. This allows you to keep an area at a certain R/H and draw that dry air through your dryer. Once you have a constant R/H you will be able to build a decent timeline for a decent dry. -
QUOTE]Uh no, curing in two weeks? No, just, NO! What do you do in a desert climate? You control your grow and drying environment with a humidifier.
Paper bag? You're doing it wrong.