Help with the final decisions of my first cure please - With Boveda

[vyserage]

Hey guys so im struggling with figureing out my final touches to my cure. I would greatly appreciate replies from others who have used boveda packs.

Here is my process im using:
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DRYING:

• Hang dry for 3-4 days in closet via hangers or drying rack.
• Humidity set to 55 at medium spray
• After 4 days as long as bud is crispy on outside, jar it up.
• If Rh = 71% or higher, ill empty jar back into drying rack for 1 to 2 hours and rejar, repeat as many times as needed until humidity in jar is 70% or lower after sitting in jar for 1-2 hrs.

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CURING:

• 70%-65%: Burp 2x a day for 15 minutes. This is to increase aroma, THC, flavor. Burp in closet with Rh set at 65% to 70% max. I plan to burp at 5pm and 5am (since those are the times im up) until i hit 65%.
• 65%-60%: Burp 1x every other day for 2-3 minutes until it hits 60% Rh. At this point, i would throw in a boveda pack(62% 8g with each mason jar being 1 qrt)
• 60%-55%: Burp 1x a week for 5 minutes. At 55% its ready to be stored for long term.
• 6 Weeks Curing: Burp 1x/month for 5 minutes and repeat.

i have dried in 3 days and spent a few days constantly opening lids because it would jump back up to 71-73% humidity in jar. When this happened i eventually decided to leave bud in dry rack for over 8 hrs (overslept and it stayed out longer, maybe 10-12 hours but this only happened to 1 plant) and it overdried and was always around 58%, i added a boveda pack to it and will burp once/week is what im thinking.

So thats what i've come up with after a lot of reading about curing from many different people. I have 3 hygrometers so im able to watch closely on rh. What im a little confused about is this:

If i only burp once a week at say 59%-55%, i dont see that happening with boveda packs forcing it to 62% which is in the range for the burping 65-60 which is to burp every other day. Wouldnt this be a bad idea opening a jar with the boveda once every other day? So shouldnt i just follow that rule until i hit 60% naturally without boveda and THEN add the boveda and follow a new burp once a week to all jars with boveda? I feel like if i burped the jars with boveda every other day, it would kill the pack faster (but maybe its better for the bud quality for more frequent burps?), thoughts?

 

[Dwight Monk]

Re: Help with the final decisions of my first cure plz (With boveda)

I don't use the packs personally, the burping is part of the curing process. Everyone a bit different as to "how dry" they like it, also slightly depends on how you are using it (pipe different than a jay or bong far as how wet it can be, but mostly a personal preference thing IMHO). Once it is stable it will stay at whatever you aiming for w/o the packs as long as the seal on the jars is good as the outside of the jar RH doesn't factor in unless you opening the jar all the time. Personally I prefer it under 62 so 58-60 is where I aim for, anything over 65 and you run a higher risk of it molding over time.

I take it out of jar for a few hours if it is too high, once I get it stable and where I want it I burp jars once a day for two weeks and then a couple times a week for the next two weeks, after that I leave it alone as it is cured IMHO after a month. Light and air affect long term storage as either can break down the potency from what I have read, but back in the day had stuff get "lost" for a year and personally never noticed any difference in quality/potency. I have the packs but would only use them if I got it too dry and was trying to bring up the RH (hasn't happened yet, as so far I put in jars when it was still higher than what I was aiming for).

But that just way I do it and like most things in life you will find opinions all over the place, so go with what makes the most sense to you and you should be fine as long as you are under 65% range for longer term storage.

 

[HopHead]

Re: Help with the final decisions of my first cure plz (With boveda)

Sounds complicated to me vyserage. This is how I cure mine. When the plants are ready for harvesting I leave them in total darkness for 48 hrs. I used to leave them for 24 hrs but forgot them for an extra day one time and they turned out stronger than those left for 24 hrs. A friend of mine follows the 48 hrs too because he has found the product more potent. I then cut down the plant at soil level and hang the plant upside down. I hang them for 7 days where there is air flow. The darker the better. 60% air humidity or less is better. Air flow is better to prevent mold. After 7 days the buds should be dry on the outside but have some moisture inside. You can tell by a light squeeze. I then clean the bud and either jar them or if still too moist leave them spread out on a table top to dry for a day. When I bottle them I include a hygrometer so I will know what the humidity level is in the bottle. If the humidity is too high then I remove the bud and spread them out again. If the humidity is higher than it should be but not sky high then I will leave the top off the jar for as long as I feel is needed. You'll get a feel for it with some experience. I check the jar on a daily basis and open/burb, spread out or leave the top off overnight. After a week in the jar the humidity should be stabilizing and less action on your part is required. You'll find checking once a week will suffice. Once the desired humidity is reached and stabilized then not much more has to be done.

When I first jar the buds I leave empty space so I can shake the buds around to make sure there is air between the buds. If they are packed in tight with too high humidity then mold has a better chance of growing and ruining your crop. After they're stabilized they can be packed tighter. The boveda packs are good for maintaining the humidity or raising it if too low. I just add a grape or cherry to the jar if too low.

My present grow is Malawi Gold and I will try sweat curing it in cobs; something I've only read about.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[vyserage]

Thanks guys I now have a routine im going to go with

My version of the cure:

71% or higher = let sit in dry rack for 1-2 hrs. Rejar and if raises back to 71 or higher, repeat.
70-66% = Burp for 15 minutes 2x a day
65-61% = Burp every other day for 3 minutes.
60% or below = Put in boveda pack.
60% or higher with boveda = burp once a week 3 minutes. After 6 weeks of cureing, ill switch to burping once a month.

i feel confident that should suffice. I do of course shake the jars to avoid clingers, at every burp. So far everything is looking great. I've noticed the bud still on my closet shelf (in the Rh range of 70-66) doesnt have much of a smell aside from the tea smell with something else hidden in there lightly. Whereas the jars sitting on the floor with boveda packs in them (because they have already hit that 60% point over time and had 1 thrown in, now they get burped once/week)have a more bud smell as they should