How To Cure Your Marijuana Crop

[BulletTooth]

This is halarious. Ok kiddies let's keep it simple. When you chop your plant hang it up in a dark room at ROOM TEMP with a fan moving the air in the room but not blowing on your buds. When the big stems bend(don't break) and the smaller stems snap , get you a jar and fill it 2/3 of the way up. Drop a calibrated hygrometer or a humidipak in there. First 5-7 days crack the top for a min or two to let it air out and check for any funky (bad) smells to make sure your not growing mold or bacterial creepers. After a week leave it sealed and keep a check on your hygrometer to make sure it stays between 62-63% keep it in a dark place and if it's too dry don't. I repeat DONT add any water or any other horse shit to the jar. Curing is much more than how wet it feels and processes that are occurring in that bud are much more complex. If you add anything to your bud during this process you are going to ruin it. Better for it to be a little dry than all fucked up. But hey if you don't care what you put in your body or how your product turns out then go for it. The dumbest thing I ever heard was using a dehydrator. That shit tasted like grass jerky off a 93 year old strippers back to me. They all thought it was the best cause it made them cough alot. But it destroyed the potency and the flavors as well as the look and feel. So stick with what works. Dry it slow, cure it slower.

 

[Regi254]

I am drying now. And I ONCE grew 2 and their schedules stayed in check. This time #2 is (or was 2 blue dream and a clone from my1st ever grow. I have made this more complicated by experimenting with different ideas I run across. Someone cut down 1 1/2 blue dreams out of two plants. Left the bottom to grow for a bit on one. Well, it worked for me. I'm not the best judge of anything but I am pleased with the results. And exhausted. I can't imagine what I read on here. I have opened mine everyday for 3 weeks. I'm putting them away now. Yay!

 

[Kam1133]

Hi I am also a "newbie" grower, and a question about my white widow bud being on the dry side while it's in jars curing. What can I do to add moisture without causing problems and or is this maybe typical of the strain, do you know? This is a great source of info! Seriously my husband and I just harvested our 1st grow- medical for him, and we were given 2 plants, didn't know, still don't know exactly what one is, and we were a little overwhelmed, harvesting 4 different strains from 8 plants. I don't want to mess up! Have found so many great tips on here! But not sure what to do about the dry bud? Thank you!

 

[TorturedSoul]

bud being on the dry side while it's in jars curing. What can I do to add moisture without causing problems

Curing is a biological/chemical process which requires a certain temperature and moisture range in order to take place. Allowing the bud to dry out too much halts this process. Think of it like... You are placed into a jar, lol. At some point, you run out of oxygen (or experience a fatal build-up of carbon dioxide). The next day, someone is nice enough to add more oxygen (or to remove the carbon dioxide) to your jar - but, alas, you are not able to start breathing again at that point.

You can add more moisture, but it could cause mold. A safer alternative would be to ensure that it does not get even more dry during storage (assuming it is too dry all the way through the buds instead of only on the outer edges) and then to raise the moisture content of a much smaller quantity; maybe place a few days' supply into a plastic bag along with something like part of a slice of bread (celery, fresh orange/lemon peel, etc.) for a short time and then remove the foreign object. You're less likely to ruin something by adding (a small amount of) moisture if the product is to be quickly used afterwards. Additionally, if you do ruin it, you'll be ruining a much smaller amount instead of... your harvest.

If curing has slowed due to the moisture content being low - but it has not stopped altogether - you might try shaking a few drops of distilled water onto it. But be careful not to overdo it. Close the jars up for just a few minutes at first, as you might find upon opening that they are suddenly all much too damp. If that happens, you might have to remove all the buds and lay them out flat for a time.

Opening a jar that has been in long-term storage and finding that the bud has become moldy... is far worse than opening the jar and realizing that your bud has merely dried instead of cured. The latter is less than it could have been, but the former is... trash.

we were a little overwhelmed, harvesting 4 different strains

As you have found, growing multiple strains - or even multiple phenotypes from the same strain, if they are different enough - can be challenging and a lot of work, especially for newer growers. Differences in growth rates, flowering times, flowering stretch (for example, one strain stretches 2x during the first 40% of its flowering period, while another stretches 3x during the first 40% of its flowering period... you might end up having your light at a level that is too high for some plants in order to not burn others), nutrition requirements, et cetera. The benefits of a successful multi-strain grow are obvious, but many of them end up being less than 100% - there's a fairly wide range where the grower will be able to harvest something from each strain.

It helps if you've done several harvests with each strain that you intend to run together in a multiple-strain grow. That allows you to experiment with different nutrient levels/ratios (et cetera), which will help formulate a plan that gives you the "best average" (where possible) for everything that you grow together. If you're growing strains that are at the opposite ends of the spectrum, however, you might still end up needing to mix up your nutrients separately for each.

 

[Kam1133]

Thank you so much! So much great info that I can use now! Bud is not totally dry so will use your advice here and definitely update! All other strains are curing great, fingers crossed continues, but should ! Our next Grow is specifically 1 strain and only a few plants , and I want to be concentrated on them producing bigger buds- this I am sure is due to the nutrients , but is also same strain that seems driest . Thank you again !!

 

[Kam1133]

I will say we did Very well for a 1st time Grow and harvest, thanks to all your helpful info I read before signing up!

 

[bunkbudz]

Hey everybody, I just had a question about curing and the fresh dried buds. I just harvested my first grow, hung dry for about 6 days until some of the smaller stems snapped. They went straight into mason jars with a boveda 62 packs. I also have some cheap little hygrometers in the jars and they say its about 60% humidity.
They've been canned for about a week and they still have a chlorophyll/ hay kinda smell but when squeezed I get a nice citrus piney flavor. Will this hay smell go away after a proper cure? is this normal or did I screw something up along the way? Thanks

 

[defectndesign]

Hey everybody, I just had a question about curing and the fresh dried buds. I just harvested my first grow, hung dry for about 6 days until some of the smaller stems snapped. They went straight into mason jars with a boveda 62 packs. I also have some cheap little hygrometers in the jars and they say its about 60% humidity.
They've been canned for about a week and they still have a chlorophyll/ hay kinda smell but when squeezed I get a nice citrus piney flavor. Will this hay smell go away after a proper cure? is this normal or did I screw something up along the way? Thanks

I assume youve been burping the jars? I'm coming into my first harvest too so any and all info is a bonus for me

 

[gtrmike470]

I assume youve been burping the jars? I'm coming into my first harvest too so any and all info is a bonus for me

...and when burping, how long should they be left open? For example, I'm using boveda62 and my jars have been stable at 65-68% for at least 48hrs. Should I even bother burping? Or leave them sealed?

 

[defectndesign]

...and when burping, how long should they be left open? For example, I'm using boveda62 and my jars have been stable at 65-68% for at least 48hrs. Should I even bother burping? Or leave them sealed?

I'm a newb so take my advice with a grain of salt. But I've read that the jars should be opened for 10m each day for the first week. Then every other day for two weeks. And then should be good all closed up for a while

 

[gtrmike470]

I'm a newb so take my advice with a grain of salt. But I've read that the jars should be opened for 10m each day for the first week. Then every other day for two weeks. And then should be good all closed up for a while

So is it right to assume that the burping is more fore dealing with the "green" taste, than the Rh?

 

[defectndesign]

So is it right to assume that the burping is more fore dealing with the "green" taste, than the Rh?

That's my understanding. When a friend cured his first crop, he noticed after a few days of burping that the hay or chlorophyll smell slowly went away. And the true smell came back a little. It'll never be as good as it was when growing but better than right after drying

 

[JoeDaddy77]

The longer the cure the better. Usually within first 2 weeks the "hay" smell will go away. I dump my buds out of jars onto cardboard lids for 15 minutes a day for first 3-4 days. Then burp 15-30 minutes a day for bout 2 weeks with boveda 62 packs after that they would be good from there. Maybe burp monthly just to check on them.

 

[bunkbudz]

Its been almost a month in the jars and it still smells like hay. I was burping everyday and i think that can get rid of excess moisture and to allow some fresh air to replace stale air. I think my problem was my initail dry was too fast. I think the bud tried too fast and too much which never allowed the cure to even begin. I hung dry from the ceiling in my tent, im guessing my exhaust fan was too much airflow. Next time im going to dry in a cardboard box in the tent.

 

[JoeDaddy77]

Its been almost a month in the jars and it still smells like hay. I was burping everyday and i think that can get rid of excess moisture and to allow some fresh air to replace stale air. I think my problem was my initail dry was too fast. I think the bud tried too fast and too much which never allowed the cure to even begin. I hung dry from the ceiling in my tent, im guessing my exhaust fan was too much airflow. Next time im going to dry in a cardboard box in the tent.

Yeah. I'm running into the same problem on my current jars of smoke. I believe I dried them too fast too. My last few were okay after a couple of weeks in jars but these still smell like hay and I believe it's bc I put the fan on them to speed up the drying process.

 

[Cowpert909]

Wow

 

[Calvados]

Its been almost a month in the jars and it still smells like hay. I was burping everyday and i think that can get rid of excess moisture and to allow some fresh air to replace stale air. I think my problem was my initail dry was too fast. I think the bud tried too fast and too much which never allowed the cure to even begin. I hung dry from the ceiling in my tent, im guessing my exhaust fan was too much airflow. Next time im going to dry in a cardboard box in the tent.

I did a very half assed job drying my first plant. I did it outside of the tent, which really stunk. I rigged up a box inside the tent, but it really wasn't large enough. They still smelled like hay when I jarred them (what an idiot). Anyway it seems to fade, but then return. I'll keep burping them until I get bored. The second plant hung in a box in the tent and I did it without hurrying. All in the jars now and it's going to be awesome. No short cuts I guess.

I'm planning on using the whole tent for my last 5 plants. Sounds like I just want to run the extractor and turn off the other fans. I need to contain the smell. I'm hoping that 5 plants at once won't overwhelm the filter. It should just be lights out and come back in a week or so. If humidity is too low, I will try the damp towel to slow down the drying.

 

[Cowpert909]

Bummer. I hung mine in my closet for two or three days until the outside was dryish. Then I did my final trim and put them in jars. The first few days I opened them for about 10 minutes. Then just burped them until the last time I opened them I could feel they were done. Not too crispy but not wet either. Smell is really good. I noticed a difference curing them in Ball jars and regular walmart jars. The ball jars work better for some reason.

 

[Calvados]

I'm guessing it has a lot to do with the RH at the time. I can't really control that part where I live. I'm limited to where I can dry. Anyway it's hardly a disaster. I have some boveda62 packs. I've not used them yet. Should I put one in with the buds that are dry and cured for a few weeks? How long do they last?

 

[Loungelizzard]

I have a question is there any reason to keep the roots connected and leave them hang for a day or so