Drying and Curing

Drying - hang 'em and keep temp.at 70 w/ plenty of air flow. Never needed a de-hum. in OR - maybe if it's really muggy?

It's dry when you think it is - try it. It won't be cured at this stage, obviously, but you can tell if it's dry enough.to smoke correctly. I usually wait until it isn't bendy anymore.

Curing - put 'em in canning jars in the cool and dark and close them up. Don't overfill. Burp and turn twice daily at first, then daily, etc. The green smell and the ammonia smell will go away gradually. When you like how it smells and tastes - it's done!

We used to trim wet, but the last few years we've become believers in the semi-dry trim. We still remove the big fan leaves in the garden or right after we bring the ripe "arms" in. Then we cut and hang pieces about a foot long - when we cut them we leave a "hook" on the stem end so as to easily hang them on coat hangers. At this time we also cut off the medium-sized leaves.

Monitor the dryness every day - after a few days there will come a time when the little leaves on the buds are dry but the buds are not. This is the time to clip off the little leaves and cut the buds off the sticks. Finish drying in bags - we use paper; some folks swear by plastic, but I think it makes them sweat - placed on racks to promote good atr flow.

When they're dry.

You don't run into any bud rot issues using the semi-dry trim method?

Haven't so far.

growing weed is kinda a pain in the ass...

Well then Surf I'll give it a try with some of mine to see how it  works. If I post a photo can you tell me if I did enough trimming prior to hanging?

Turtle, are those plants still growing? I kind of lost track.

How's this look Surf? 

Looks like weed.

I usually take off a few more leaves before hanging, but it doesn't really matter as long as they get enough air flow.

The leaves that you see are the ones that won't pull off easy as they're buried in the bud and need scissors for removal. I guess this is one reason that I never did it this way because if im there taking off those leaves with the scissors already I might as well trim up the buds. I'm gonna give this a shot though, thanks!

Yeah, you can pop 'em off or scissor. The reason I like to wait for the final trim is that it's less messy/sticky, and tends to damage the buds less.

Bag should be open and large enough so the buds are no more than a couple of inches high. I use a standard large shopping bag, or a smaller one if there isn't much to dry at that time.  I do turn them gently once or twice a day.

I created this a few years back, and just rediscovered and fixed it up.

Processing Outdoor Buds

(most of this is also applicable to indoor crops)

A bud is ripe when about half the white hairs on it have changed color to gold, red, or brown.

Cut off and bring in one or several or a large paper bag full of ripe "arms", or smaller branches if ripeness is more sporadic. Remove any remaining fan leaves with scissors (bonsai clippers are best) or by hand and cut arms into approx. foot-long segments, leaving a “hook” on the stem end for easier hanging. Clip or pop off the medium-sized leaves and hang the branches on clothes hangers. Keep the temp. around 70, keep the racks away from direct sun, and make sure there is plenty of airflow.

Check the hanging buds twice a day for dryness. In a few days, when the small leaves on the buds are dry but the buds are still flexible the leaves will be easy to remove with clippers, or by hand if dry enough. Cut the buds off the sticks and put them in large, open paper bags - on a grate to improve air flow - to finish drying. Don’t put more than a couple of inches of buds in each bag and turn the buds gently once or twice a day.

When the buds are dry (barely not bendy) they go to large (or small if you only have a small amount of that strain) canning jars for curing and storage. Keep them closed and in cool, dark, and well-ventilated conditions. Spin the jars (to keep the buds from sticking to each other or the jar) and vent them as they cure, maybe twice a day at first, then once a day, then maybe every other day. The green smell will go away, and in a week or so they'll be usable. If you smell an ammonia odor, turn and vent more often until it goes away.

The buds will continue to cure slowly and attain their true flavor over several months, but they probably won't need any more venting during this time other than what they get when you take some out for use. I keep a small jar of each type for use and replenish them every week or two, depending. That way the larger storage jars don’t get opened too often and the contents overdried.

Good luck!

The humidity, moisture, temperature, environment. airflow, quantity of plants and dimension of its cure dwelling dictate how to dry to get a proper cure started.

Applicable advise would be coming from some one from what ever state you reside in. If that's Vermont & no one is offering help, that's strange..

Anyway ~ "The Dry"

As I write this, in the state of Vermont; which is only 45 miles south of Canada; the humidity is at 90%, but the Precipitation is at Zero.

That translates indoors quickly & does leave for 24 hours in your home and until that weather system fades.

You can't rest on your laurels to what was initially gauged, the plants have to be monitored every 5 hours

An over-dry can happen with-in 24 hours & your weed will be just dust.

You need fans & space between the plants as they hang upside down

Curing is easy..

Supposed to be sunny and warm this week. This one (Sour Strawberry) is further along than my other one. Love the purple colors coming out in the last week. I am pretty much a novice here but hoping to take her down at the end of the week. 

nice plants, boone and wngfan!

So my experiment with the wet trim vs. semi dry trim is over. I chose one strain, Critical Kush for the experiment. The ones that I wet trimmed were hung and dried for 5 days and they were ready for curing, no further manicuring was necessary. The semi-dry trim were dry enough to manicure after 5 days, but after the final trim, they are no where near ready to go into containers for curing. I expect another 2 to 3 days drying time. Also, the final manicuring was a total pain in the ass and the final product isn't nearly as eye appealing as the ones that I wet trimmed. I'll post some photos when they're ready to start curing.

So for aesthetics and time purposes I believe that I'll stick to what I've done in the past and trim wet.

trimming wet ruins your plants fyi. don’t do it. 

>> trimming wet ruins your plants fyi. don’t do it. 

Erm...no. My shit gets many compliments and is sought after...

^yes, it’s true. wet trimming drastically impacts flavor and looks. these are facts. indisputable. any experienced grower will tell you that. never wet trim and dry at 60/60 (don’t ever go above 60rh). 

>>> dry at 60/60 (don’t ever go above 60rh).  <<<

What is an rh a measure of?

...not to butt in but I believe that represents "60 degrees and 60% Relative Humidity"

So, for clarification, Pyramid, your position is that wet trimming is unfavorable and for better/best results, keep drying conditions at or below 60 degrees & 60% RH?

There seem to (obviously) be lots of different takes on this and I have heard it discussed at length too. I am not picking sides - every grower seems to have their own way of doing things within the basic "requirements"...but, wet trimming seems overall better for ultimate appearance and possibly cleaner flavor/taste (given proper flushing) as more leafy material can be removed before it shrinks into the flower while dry trimming seems to yield overall more complete terpene profiles and deeper dankness. But I dunno....I dont argue with long-time experts in the field ;)

wet trimming is like molesting your plants. i used to do it as well-i did it to get the “best of both worlds”-meaning i wanted to try and get the melty ice hash w/ trim, so i’d wet trim and freeze the trim then dry the flowers. the frozen fresh (wet) trim makes wayyyy better ice hash than dry trim (of course, same for fresh frozen flowers). 

harvesting then drying the plant, not trimmed, at 60 degrees and 60rh, results in far superior flowers than wet trimmed. fact. 

of course, there are many variables, most important is how good your are at growing cannabis and the genetics you are using. 

^it matters very much if you want the best flavor from your cannabis. 

Congratulations - a winner branch! You look happy.