Hanging to dry

B

BobOJ

420 Member
Hi folks. I've read a lot of info about drying. Not all of it is consistent and there seems to be several ways to "skin this cat". I have a 30x30 flower room, with 85 plants (slurricane and PB&J). The room is air conditioned and I have two Quest dehumidifiers as well (a 155 and a 105). There are also multiple fans to circulate the air.

I harvested these night before last. Took me and a friend over 12 hours to cut and hang them! The first few dozen we trimmed off all o the big water leaves (and many of the smaller ones too), but it quickly became apparent that we didn't have time to continue at that pace and so the rest of the plants got a minimal trimming of water leaves, but to be honest by the last dozen we were just chopping and hanging. We started at 10 PM and finished up at about 10 AM the next morning.

Now on to my questions. Should I go back today and remove as many water leaves from the hanging plants as I can? This would have to be done from a ladder (they are hanging from 12' high rafters) and now that the plants are hanging, its going to be a little difficult to get to the leaves on the inner branches, but it is certainly doable. But is it necessary or even desirable?

How long should they hang? Any thoughts on how I should cure (or not) given that this is for sale to dispensaries and like everyone else, I'd like to get this to market as soon as I can. Its also hanging in m flower room and I have another crop ready to flower in the veg room, so every day they hang, pushes the next harvest back another day. Clearly I did not plan well for this first harvest...

This appears to be some very good product and I really want to ensure the quality of what I deliver to the customer. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
This is the issue a lot of dispensaries are having lacking the patience and improper planning. If you are that concerned about quality never rush the harvest and especially the dry and cure. If it was me I would properly trim them. In my opinion it's easy and you get a better quality trimming when wet. When they are dry and you go back to trim them you end up with dry flakes of fan leaves and sugar leaves on the bud. In my opinion making it harsh and lowering the quality.

Always plan a full day for a trim. Have proper airflow not too much to where you dry them out and lose your terpene profile. What's your humidity? Temp? Main thing is location and size of the the colas. I'm in a dry humid area pretty dense nugs take 4-6 days to dry enough to start the cure process.
 
I personally trim the fan leaves then take off and collect as much as the sugar leaves as possible. If you are in a hurry don't worry about it too much. Then once they are about to go into the cure process I trim the remainder leaves and pistils giving the bud a nice trim and you have smokeable trim. Then I put them in the jar and burp for weeks. At the end you'll have beautifully trimmed nugs jars that when opened stink up the place and nice smooth non harsh buds.

Pidgeons420 has an awesome video on when to tell when they are "crunchy" enough for the jar. I also believe grateful grower has a few awesome videos.
 
Leave them uncut in the coolest climate ( below 19°c) with air exchanging. let dry till snappable then trim ALL the keaf off including the sugar leaves. should take about 10 days to dry properly and wont need a cure in the jar. love this method and do it always for great bud
 
Oh and it would be dangerous to trim on the ladder. The investments would be worth it to take it down and re-trim them especially if they are being sold.
 
Thanks GanjaGD. That sounds like a plan.

For the first 30 hours or so I had the humidity down to 40% 79F, then kicked the humidity back up to 60% and 75F.
 
There is no right way... depends on your environment, i remove all the fan leaves then hang the whole plant, once the stems can be snapped i trim and remove all the sugar leaves/popcorn buds to bubble... the main buds go in jars to cure.
Each to their own :thumb:
 
BobOJ said:
Thanks GanjaGD. That sounds like a plan.

For the first 30 hours or so I had the humidity down to 40% 79F, then kicked the humidity back up to 60% and 75F.
Click to expand...
If it dries too fast you will get very harsh and flavourless weed. dont be fooled into thinking "curing" brings back taste as this is never the case. So many harvests get ruined by drying too quickly. 75 is still very warm and will dry her too quickly to use up the green chlorophyll in her leaves. Lower Rh if you can and get below 66°f . low and slow mate. let her finish doing her job of using up her stores while she is trying to keep her buds fresh for germination. Even when uprooted , she will keep converting until dehydration finally kills her. sounds brutal when put this way but is exactly what is happening during the drying process. have read up on this process as it is key to getting your intended result. I have been a grower for decades now and for me to date , this method nails it. There is a great thread here on using refrigerators to take the process further too. amazing results and ideas happening as the thread grows and the method is perfected. This is my own goal eventually but for now , "Low and slow is the way to go" for me. As mentioned by Jimbob , each to their own and you will find a way that suits your needs , and then change it !!. This is the way of the weed. lol
good luck with your drying and let us know how you got on bud. Hope your planning your next run or popping seeds. Give some Barneys Farm a go , great strains and genetics and unbelievably forgiving of any issues we throw at them.
 
I'm in the same predicament. I can get easily 12 pounds from my greenhouse, and by harvest I am usually less concerned about cutting them down and curing properly, than I am about a hard freeze. I normally end up having only a couple of days to harvest by myself, and I'm in near panic mode. I end up cutting branches 2-3 feet long and hanging them that way. I hang these on a wire in a cool room. I start trimming the leaves while they are hanging and I just let them fall to the floor. I don't save anything but buds, as I have plenty without messing with leaves.
 
BobOJ said:
Hi folks. I've read a lot of info about drying. Not all of it is consistent and there seems to be several ways to "skin this cat". I have a 30x30 flower room, with 85 plants (slurricane and PB&J). The room is air conditioned and I have two Quest dehumidifiers as well (a 155 and a 105). There are also multiple fans to circulate the air.

I harvested these night before last. Took me and a friend over 12 hours to cut and hang them! The first few dozen we trimmed off all o the big water leaves (and many of the smaller ones too), but it quickly became apparent that we didn't have time to continue at that pace and so the rest of the plants got a minimal trimming of water leaves, but to be honest by the last dozen we were just chopping and hanging. We started at 10 PM and finished up at about 10 AM the next morning.

Now on to my questions. Should I go back today and remove as many water leaves from the hanging plants as I can? This would have to be done from a ladder (they are hanging from 12' high rafters) and now that the plants are hanging, its going to be a little difficult to get to the leaves on the inner branches, but it is certainly doable. But is it necessary or even desirable?

How long should they hang? Any thoughts on how I should cure (or not) given that this is for sale to dispensaries and like everyone else, I'd like to get this to market as soon as I can. Its also hanging in m flower room and I have another crop ready to flower in the veg room, so every day they hang, pushes the next harvest back another day. Clearly I did not plan well for this first harvest...

This appears to be some very good product and I really want to ensure the quality of what I deliver to the customer. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...
After legalization in Canada I thought good bud would be abundant but sadly I was wrong. Like any business it comes down to the bottom dollar, get the product out the door and start again. Problem with this is the product hasn't been dried or cured with any great care and we as the consumer pays the price with a sub par product. Probably the main reason I grow my own for rec. and medication. Small personal growers can and do put out a far superior product then I can find on the shelves around here for the simple reason is they are usually not on a time restraint. You said eighty five plants, a medium to large sized one can take easily an hour or more to cut and trim. I just did a thirty plant medical grow that took a combined time of thirty six hours to cut and trim. Hope your product turns out top notch and puts a smile on a lot of faces. :smokin:
 
What would be considered the best way to "cure" this much product? Or is leaving the water leaves (or at least most of them) and hanging longer (10 days or more) the best way? I just want to be able to bring quality product to market in some kind of efficient manner.

I have the a/c maxed out right now to keep 75F during the afternoon heat (high 90's). I'd get it cooler if I could.

Thanks.
 
For me , leave everything on to assist with a slower dry. logic is that she will deplete the chlorophyll in her leaves to stay alive as long as possible to germ her buds. Her processes continue during the drying so she needs her stores to complete the cycle and use up all of the harsh tasting chlorophyll. Any green leaves within the dried bud also contains chlorophyll so when it comes to trimming , take them at their bases so no leaf matter is left on.
keep good airflow with no direct blowing on the buds too. Curing is a misused term for storing your weed. real curing is a very very long process of fermentation of the sugars ect so it gets confused regularly with slower drying in storage jars while the chlorophyll evaporates more. I think this is why it gets called curing wrongly. If dried low and slow then the storing is just that , keeping weed at an optimal humidity while stored. . phew took some typing this early in the day. warmth and light are terpines enemies.
 
Thanks GangaGD. I'm already committed to the method you suggest...even if I did come to it by accident :)

I was just curious what was the "accepted method" being used by most commercial indoor growers.
 

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