First time grower

[OldMedUser]

The friend I got these from said he ordered the seeds online and they were random feminized seeds. Some autos some not. One finished a month ago so I guessing it was an auto. Turned into a beast producing 7 oz of good bud and 5 g iso oil from trimmings. The last few budded later and didn't get the heat and UV rays in early budding so they didn't explode the same. Damn Alberta summers. To short.

Damn! I need me a nice greenhouse. Preferably one with blackout curtains to flower in the hot summer sun. 9am to 9pm and they would have 12 hours of full-on sun each day.

No shit summers are too short but the fall seems to last a lot longer than it used too. I've been here 20 years next Feb and winters are a lot easier than they used to be. Good old global warming at work! Us boomers planned it just right!

I found a lab that does potency testing for anyone over 19 for only $60! Add $30 to that for THCa And CBDa results. $60 more for a full terpene profile too. Best price and availability I’ve been able to find for half or less than most. Canvas Labs

 

[Backwoods Bob]

Heading out with scissors I think.

 

[Backwoods Bob]

The time has come.

 

[013]

Congrats!

 

[Backwoods Bob]

Then the buds go into doubled paper bags to slo-dry down in my cool basement for about 3 or 4 weeks before going into jars for another few weeks of burping.

Just curious about the paper bag method for drying. Do you regularly check on the buds to make sure they are not molding? Lack of air flow would give me anxiety lol. And does the room have to be about 50 percent humidity then to?

Thanks for all the advice so far. This has all been very helpful.

 

[013]

Absolutely check every day... or twice every day whether in paper bags, jars, gamma buckets or turkey bags etc

technically low and slow is done in fridge but there’s many ways to skin a cat

the goal is to slowly dry them.... from what I’ve read if buds dip to 55rh then the process of removing chloraphyll & converting sugars comes to a halt. The number you are looking for is near 62 to 65 for jarring but they still need daily checks and burping at first.

you really need mini hygrometers or hygrometer jar lids most have bovedas 62% on hand too

here’s link to harvest prep & curing Harvest prep & curing where low and slow plus other methods are detailed..... please do some reading here, this is where the battle is won or lost.

 

[Backwoods Bob]

The plant I did a month ago I hung in a room at 20 degrees at an rh been 50 and 60 and they took 10 days to dry. Burped daily for 3 weeks and it smokes tastes and works pretty good. But that smells up the house. I was hoping for something a bit more discreet so I am gonna try your way.

 

[Backwoods Bob]

And I agree about the Boveda things. I have at least 2 in all my jars at the moment

 

[Backlipslide]

Hey! Welcome to

 

[OldMedUser]

Just curious about the paper bag method for drying. Do you regularly check on the buds to make sure they are not molding? Lack of air flow would give me anxiety lol. And does the room have to be about 50 percent humidity then to?

Thanks for all the advice so far. This has all been very helpful.

The first week or more I dump them out into a clean tray to gently break up any clumps and let them air dry for a half hour or so. The first time or three you do it it'll be all one clump. After about 10 days you can skip a day and depending on the temps it can take 2 - 5 weeks to get dry enough to put in jars and start burping even tho they will still form a mass that needs breaking up so use containers that have smooth walls inside so you don't have to dig them out like with mason jars. I have lots of plastic tobacco cans, 1L and 2L, I use for that. Like with the bags it's open and dump daily for the first while and I only fill half way. Takes about a month of that too but the smoke is so f'n smooth and they smell so good!

My basement is just 56F now but by Xmas will be more like 40F so I can draw out the bag part for 5 weeks and tehy'll still be moist enough to clump up in the can. You can always take out some here and there if you need smoke but I have lots of other stuff for that so don't bother. I like to see what my final weights are which is 25% of the start weight.

The whole idea is to let them dry evenly with nothing getting bone dry like what happens when you hang to dry. Anything that gets dry is done curing. You can make it moist again but it won't change things. The curing happens in the drying process so the longer it takes the better the cure.

Some people use half filled jars on their sides in the fridge with cheesecloth over the tops to prolong the drying and do much the same thing.

Try it, you'll love it!

 

[OldMedUser]

And I agree about the Boveda things. I have at least 2 in all my jars at the moment

I got some of those and IMO they dry the pot out too much but I don't use a grinder or roll joints so softer buds work better for me. I just snip off bits into my pipe and do one hit tokes to titrate my dosage. I'm a med user and an old one at that. 66 today.

 

[Backwoods Bob]

I got some of those and IMO they dry the pot out too much but I don't use a grinder or roll joints so softer buds work better for me. I just snip off bits into my pipe and do one hit tokes to titrate my dosage. I'm a med user and an old one at that. 66 today.

Happy birthday there sir. I have been using my grinder as a humidity checker. If it stays stringy in the grinder then it's too wet for me and don't want it so dry that it crumbles by hand. I smoke joints more then anything so I will try the paper bag. So far wet I have almost a pound from the one plant and it is so sugary. I have lots of dry smoking bud so I will take my time with this batch. I couldn't help but dip into my curing jars and smoke my fresh stuff last time. Hard to justify buying it when I have a half pound in the cellar.