When are my buds dry?

[Tight Lines]

Is there a tried and true way of knowing when buds are dry and ready to be put in Jars? I hang mine upside down on the branches after I trim them in my dark tent at about 69 degrees and 40% humidity.

I've read from some people that they're ready when the stems start to snap and I've heard other people say they're ready when the stems bend and ALMOST snap. Any opinions?

 

[Mike Wright]

One good way would be by weight. An average guideline would be about 1/4. So for example, I weighed my buds wet, most were 8-9 grams. When I jarred them they were around 2.5 grams, but that turned out to be a little too damp still. If I had dried to 2 grams that would have been perfect.

 

[Buckshot]

Trim and dry your buds. Go to the pet store and get a hygrometer (relative humidity meter) for lizard cages put it on the lid of your jar and fill jar with buds (not packed) check the RH after about 6 hours. Over 70 and the buds should come back out for a few hours to a day depending on ambient RH. When you get down to 70 keep opening the jar for a few hours at a time each day till you reach 60%. 60% is just right...

 

[trichomes]

when little buds make a SNAP sound when removed from a big bud, it's time to jar them for curing, or smoking if you have no other bud.

Humidity % is very important when drying, more important is to read, read , read,

then puff!

 

[Conradino23]

For pure indicas it's around 5-8 days. For pure sativas it's 3-5. For hybrids 5 days of drying is usually enough. As Pantagruel said, they need to be at around 1/4 weight after drying (you can always weigh them before hanging upside down), but it also depends on the temperature. The higher it is, the shorter you need to dry them. If you're not sure, you can always complete drying by keeping jars completely open for the first couple of days.

 

[Operative420]

I hang mine upside down on the branches after I trim them in my dark tent at about 69 degrees and 40% humidity.

then your product will never be drier than 40%

Curing- please educate yourself on this. it is a seperate topic to drying, curing should be done before 'drying'
my preferences on drying would be 50% on the open market or just dry to the point you no longer need a grinder for personal consumption.

 

[canadarolls]

Ive read a lot of posts on this one.
I suggest the relative humidity gauge.
Im going to dry til the the stalks give a hard bend (no snap) then baggies for them with the meter inside.
After the many openings and closings the resulting relative humidity of 50-55% is what im shooting for.

 

[Buckshot]

Ive read a lot of posts on this one.
I suggest the relative humidity gauge.
Im going to dry til the the stalks give a hard bend (no snap) then baggies for them with the meter inside.
After the many openings and closings the resulting relative humidity of 50-55% is what im shooting for.

cool... if you can, use glass jars, they will not impart any taste or chemicals into your bud

 

[KingJohnC]

I use disposable vinyl gloves and when I harvest a plant I start by cutting the branches off 1 by 1. I take the branch and first strip off all the fan leaves. I then use a pair of Fiskars Micro Tip Pruning scissors and trim all the sugar leaves flush with the bud. I then take the trimmed branches and place them in my drying rack to dry for 5-7 days or until the buds just break off the stems. I then trim off the buds from the stems and place the buds into storage containers. I take the buds out of the storage containers and place into a large bowl for 10 minutes per day for 10 days.

My drying rack

Fiskars Softouch Micro-Tip Pruning Snip recommended by the arthritis society

https://www2.fiskars.com Softouch Micro Tip Pruning Snip


drying racks

2' Dry Rack w/ Zipper Openings - perfectgardens

https://www.accesshydroponic.com 2' hanging dry net-without clips

https://www.accesshydroponic.com 2' dry rack w zipper openings

 

[canadarolls]

Im doin it the hard way it seems kingjohnc.
My thinking was too really slow the drying process as my environment is really dry. I check often so there will be no mold issue..
Glass is totally in my future!