How To Cure Your Marijuana Crop

[David Bowman]

Actually, I put them in the bottom of the glass mason jars so they are not in the way when I do open them up to grab a few buds, plus they are further away from the opening and therefore less affected by any changes of humidity during opening. The reason I did not purchase a C-Vault was the cost, mason jars stored in a closed cardboard box do exactly the same thing for way less cost, plus you can visually inspect your harvest without having to open it up. Humidipaks last longer if they are kept sealed with little or no changes in the environment.

 

[Blazer420]

Thank you, CH! That really helps.

B-

 

[David Bowman]

No problem, you're most welcome Blazer420!

 

[Legalize09]

A couple of the plants in my harvest were not flushed as well as the others. Because if this, they have a "grassy" taste. They used to have a grassy smell, but now they smell amazing. The high is great and they look beautiful as well. They have been jarred for about 3 weeks. The taste has improved already from a week or 2 ago.

My question is, if I keep curing them by letting time pass in the jars, is there hope that the grassy taste will go away? I've read many of the flushing, curing, harvest threads and haven't seen this question answered (granted I didn't look terribly hard, but I read almost this whole site a few years back).

I've also considered trying putting them in the freezer and then fridge (while air tightly sealed in jar of course!). Does this work? I read about it, but haven't heard anyone endorse it.

Open to other ideas as well!

Anyways, thanks in advance!

-Legal

 

[MsBadger]

The main reason for a slow and controlled drying/curing is to aid in the breakdown and transformation of unwanted compounds such as chlorophyll. I would think that a relatively fast dry, hours as compared to days, would not allow this to completely finish and would cause a harsh tasting stash. I've never tried it and I even waited the 5 full days of drying before I vaped the trim and popcorn buds. Even after two weeks of curing I could tell the difference between my cured and not cured stash.

I can't get my RH above 34. Would your Boveda 62% Humidipaks help me. When I cut the buds down with the branches I am afraid they will dry to fast. So can I cut my buds down and place them into the boveda paks ?

 

[David Bowman]

I would not put freshly cut buds into a jar for curing without completely drying first, with or without Boveda Humidipaks. There is simply too much moisture in the buds and they will develop mold. My first harvest dried in 5 days with about 40%-50% humidity. If you can, get a small humidifer to raise the humidity a bit, but you are not that far off from the ideal RH. Once they have dried, then I would cure in jars with Boveda Humidipaks. They may take a little longer to cure if they dried out quickly but the Bovedas will keep the buds at the proper RH during the cure.

 

[MsBadger]

I would not put freshly cut buds into a jar for curing without completely drying first, with or without Boveda Humidipaks. There is simply too much moisture in the buds and they will develop mold. My first harvest dried in 5 days with about 40%-50% humidity. If you can, get a small humidifer to raise the humidity a bit, but you are not that far off from the ideal RH. Once they have dried, then I would cure in jars with Boveda Humidipaks. They may take a little longer to cure if they dried out quickly but the Bovedas will keep the buds at the proper RH during the cure.

Thanks for the answer !
I have a closet with a Hydroponic Plant Drying Rack, 5-Feet by 2-Feet, I have a small personal humidifier I am going to try that in the closet and see what happens. Would you use the humidifier or not ? How long would you burp the jars with the humidipaks in the jar, and what size jars would you use ? I have some pint and half quart jars, could you use those ?

 

[David Bowman]

Would you use the humidifier or not ?

Yes, I would. I used a humidifier while drying my last harvest since the RH was ~20% and that's too low to properly dry your harvest.

How long would you burp the jars with the humidipaks in the jar, and what size jars would you use ?

Interestingly enough, I only burped my quart-size glass mason jars twice, 12 hours after start of cure and 24 hours after that. If you completely dry your harvest with RH between 40%-60% and temperatures between 60°-80° F, the resulting moisture content is well within the range that the Humidipaks can compensate for and maintain the proper environement without much, if any, burping.

I have some pint and half quart jars, could you use those ?

Personally, I prefer quart-size mason jars with the Boveda Medium (8g) 62% Humidipaks. IMHO, it's the best combination of storage size/humidipak size for my needs since I'm growing for personal use only.

 

[MsBadger]

Yes, I would. I used a humidifier while drying my last harvest since the RH was ~20% and that's too low to properly dry your harvest.



Interestingly enough, I only burped my quart-size glass mason jars twice, 12 hours after start of cure and 24 hours after that. If you completely dry your harvest with RH between 40%-60% and temperatures between 60°-80° F, the resulting moisture content is well within the range that the Humidipaks can compensate for and maintain the proper environement without much, if any,



Personally, I prefer quart-size mason jars with the Boveda Medium (8g) 62% Humidipaks. IMHO, it's the best combination of storage size/humidipak size for my needs since I'm growing for personal use only.

So my plan of attack is to cut down the branches that are ready, leave the branch on the stem to help with humidity, and dry for 4 or 5 days. Remove from stem and branches, trim and place in jars with humidipak ( right away ?) in a quart-size glass mason jars twice, 12 hours after start of cure and 24 hours after that. Than just leave in jars.

 

[David Bowman]

Basically yes, you'll know when they are sufficiently dried when the buds feel slightly crisp to the touch but give slightly when squeezed and the smaller stems snap when bent while the larger stems still give slightly. Once fully dried, the buds are immediately ready for curing. How you burp is totally up to you, you may find that you need to burp more or less than I do. I purchased a couple of those mason jar lids analog hygrometers that lets me know the exact (+/- 2%) RH within the jar and they consistently read between 60%-64% and as long as it stays in that range you really have nothing to worry about.

 

[MsBadger]

Basically yes, you'll know when they are sufficiently dried when the buds feel slightly crisp to the touch but give slightly when squeezed and the smaller stems snap when bent while the larger stems still give slightly. Once fully dried, the buds are immediately ready for curing. How you burp is totally up to you, you may find that you need to burp more or less than I do. I purchased a couple of those mason jar lids analog hygrometers that lets me know the exact (+/- 2%) RH within the jar and they consistently read between 60%-64% and as long as it stays in that range you really have nothing to worry about.

Thanks very much ! It really helped.

 

[David Bowman]

No problem, you're welcome MsBadger, anytime! One more thing about curing/storage of cannabis, it does not like heat or light so make sure to store your glass jars in a closed container, I use a carboard box, at room temperatures. My last ounce of my first grow has been curing for nearly 4 months now without any issues whatsoever and it just keeps getting better and better.

 

[Jazzed]

New here. Great info.

 

[youngrob650]

if the stem snaps its ready for jars, if the stem is bendy it still needs time to fully dry out.

also i have a question when harvesting
last year i cut branches and trimmed it completely into final nug form, this year i wanted to just cut off and hang dry them and trim them when they get a little bit dryer..

what is the pros/cons to hang drying without trimming first?

 

[David Bowman]

I did it both ways, for my first grow, I washed, hang dried for 2-3 days, trimmed, screen dried for 2-3 days and cured. For my second grow, I trimmed, washed, hang dried for 5-6 days and cured. I prefer the second order for one simple reason, trimming dried buds requires much more time and effort than trimming fresh, just harvested buds. I was a sticky mess after trimming my first harvest, not nearly so much after trimming my second harvest. The shake and loose buds that resulted from trimming after hang drying, first harvest, was a definite plus as I did not wash nor keep the trimmings from the fresh buds, second harvest. It's too much hassle trying to wash loose buds and leaves, best to leave that for whole branches/buds.

 

[youngrob650]

sorry, new to this website! what exactly does "washing buds" mean??

last year i just cut off the branches and trimmed fresh flowers and threw them on the net rack with a square fan under them running 24/7 and jarred when ready. typically, 5-6 days like you mentioned.

anything i should do differently?

 

[youngrob650]

sorry, new to this website! what exactly does "washing buds" mean??

last year i just cut off the branches and trimmed fresh flowers and threw them on the net rack with a square fan under them running 24/7 and jarred when ready. typically, 5-6 days like you mentioned.

anything i should do differently?

 

[David Bowman]

Check out the link on Bud Washing in my signature, youngrob650!

 

[youngrob650]

thanks for sharing the knowledge! will definitely be giving this a shot for harvest

 

[David Bowman]

No problem, you're welcome youngrob!