hard to tell when to jar after hanging

obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
I have my buds/branches hanging in an open closet on coat hangers. Dark room. I hung the first half of the plant Wednesday, the rest yesterday. Average temp in the room is probably mid-70's, and I had the overhead fan in the room running.

The outside of all (especially the Wednesday batch) is all crispy, the stems are a little tough to bend, so I turned the fan off and closed the closet door so it's about ajar about 12 inches. . It's hard to judge what the inner part of the bud is like moisture-wise. I always hear 7 days drying before jarring, but I'd think that may be too long. Too early to jar after several days, or should i wait a full week? A few buds the size of a ping-pong ball broke off during trimming so I clipped them on a hanger, they seem pretty dry already and are not attached to a stem
 
rucca

rucca

Active Member
Try to smoke a J - if it stays lit you can jar it. After, what, 3 days, I don't think it will stay lit. I like them to dry for 7 days, but have had dry plants in 5.
 
Serapis

Serapis

Well-Known Member
You can also test it in a bowl... If it stays lit and allows a hit, it's dry enough. Don't forget to burp your jars several times a day in the first week.
 
rupert pupkin

rupert pupkin

Member
drying time varies on several factors like temp, humidity, when was your last water before harvest, etc... i've had the good luck jaring up when the stem has a little "pop" in it when it bends before the buds get crispy. i've had stuff be ready in 3-4 and in 7-9days. its gonna be your call, try a couple different methods and find what you like the best.
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
As a test I took some bud, trimmed them up and put in a jar. They seem pretty gooey, so I'll keep checking and burping. I'll know in the next day or so if it's too early. If I get too much moisture I'll leave the jar open for a day...or take the buds and leave them out for a day.

I really want the best cure possible, not only for potency but I hate the green hay/grassy smell and taste. last time I grew (25 + years ago) we hadn't heard of curing. We just hung, bagged and smoked
 
petert

petert

Well-Known Member
obijohn said:
As a test I took some bud, trimmed them up and put in a jar. They seem pretty gooey, so I'll keep checking and burping. I'll know in the next day or so if it's too early. If I get too much moisture I'll leave the jar open for a day...or take the buds and leave them out for a day.

I really want the best cure possible, not only for potency but I hate the green hay/grassy smell and taste. last time I grew (25 + years ago) we hadn't heard of curing. We just hung, bagged and smoked
Click to expand...
Same here. I chopped and trimmed hung for 5 days then jarred. They seemed a little too moist so I'm brown bagging them for the weekend and back in the jars they go.
 
SnowWhite420

SnowWhite420

Active Member
ive only harvested once but this is what i did

3 days hanging untill the outside of the bud felt crispy
3 days in paper bags(this seems to really dry them out, so check them everyday)
then put in jars and burp'd for about 5 days..

came out as fuckin dank
 
Snow Crash

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
I dry for 5 days minimum. There is always residual moisture in the buds and stems, even when they snap nicely. After a week of jarring the moisture "returns" and they tend to cure a little better for me. Personally I just error on the side of caution and keep the mold out and the curing times long.
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
So the jarred material from yesterday is evenly moist, but I'm leaving the lid open for the day. I just manicured and jarred all the rest that was cut Wednesday, outside is crispy and the stems aren't dry enough to snap, but kind of "pop" and bend easily. It appears the buds could be smoked at this point. I'm just afraid of them getting too dry and not curing right. The rest of the plant (which I cut Thursday) will get jarred tomorrow/Monday.

Haven't seen any condensed moisture in the jars, is that what I'm looking for if it's too damp to jar?
 
T

TheDude007

Member
Getting into jars before they are too dry is the key. Most people say dry for longer, to be on the safe side, but that's incorrect. Drying+Curing is a difficult process that if done improperly will make your buds taste like ass or reduce your potency. The thing that most people who offer up their advice on drying times don't realize is that the humidity of the place your drying in GREATLY affects the overall amount of time it'll take you to dry.
If you live in Hawaii, where humidity is constantly above 50%....it's gonna take 7 days. If you live in dry arid Colorado....2-3 days. I think the key here is that you need to figure out how long that process takes for you.
It could be 2 days, 3, or at long as 7.
then you must cure....which is a whole process....
 
S

sparkjumper

Member
Man if you can smoke a decent joint without it cracklin from all the still present moisture after 3 days 5 days a week..I've heard it all.If this is true all I can say is you harvested dehydrated or nearly dehydrated plants.I water my plants thoroughly until runoff then harvest the next day.You wont be rolling a joint in a week that will burn well thats for sure.Harvesting fully hydrated and setting the dehumid from 45-50%RH and in two weeks at the very earliest,you will have some smooth correctly cured out erb.Three weeks is the norm for me.I cant believe I hear of people smoking after 3-4 days of harvest,thats ridiculi
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
I've been told not to water the day before harvest or it'll drag out the drying process.

Just finished up jarring everything, outside crispy inside wet and gooey. Leaving the lids off for several hours twice daily. Tried a separate dry bud last night, very nice! Can't wait for the full cure to see how it affect the potency. We're pretty dry in this part of Nor Cal, low humidity so even in a cool closet 3 days seemed perfect.

I guess I just need to experiment with the burping. Ballpark, how many days of burping until I can leave 'em sealed?
 
K

klmt

Well-Known Member
from what ive read, once you stop seeing excess moisture buildup in the jars day to day, then you dont have to burp every day, and the burping will happen less and less often, untill it is dry to your liking
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
Really? Jarred the first batch and it was kind of wet, didn't burp til 24 hours later, and there was no moisture at all on the glass. So if I see no condensed moisture I can leave 'em sealed and not worry about burping?
 
S

sparkjumper

Member
obijohn you have been informed correctly on the subject,hydrating shortly before harvest will definately drag out the drying process.What I dont understand is why you believe this to be a negative thing??Would you rather have "quick dried" erb or would you rather have slow dried smooth tasting erb?Its up to you
 
Spanishfly

Spanishfly

Well-Known Member
Just let the cure go on for a month - internal moisture will spread all through the jar and then go when you pop it each day. Don´t rush it - you arent growing to sell on the street as fast as poss.

Even if you are growing to sell your properly cured bud will get the best price.
 
ganjaluvr

ganjaluvr

Well-Known Member
If I may try and help..

take a look at my signature. I wrote an article on Drying & Curing (the proper way). I promise you.. its easy to understand and after reading it, you'll be like "holy shit, I didn't realize it was that eazy!" No joke.

I think a monkey could do it after reading my article.

anyhow, just trying to help.

peace.
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
Holy shit, I didn't realize it was that easy! ;)

Thanks, good info. They are all spongy, stuck together and shaped to the bottom of the jar every day. I've been doing just what your link says, opening them up every 12 hours for an hour or so, still seem pretty wet but when I close up the jar the outside of the buds on top are slightly crispy. Haven't grown in a while, we didn't know about curing 25 years ago. Based on pics I see of jared stash on here, I'm guessing the color will change slightly brownish?

Anyway, thanks for the info, great article on the process


 
djruiner

djruiner

Well-Known Member
its pretty simple...after placing it in the jar...stick a hygrowmeter in there with the bud...try to use the smallest you can find..if the RH is 70%+ its still too wet...will mold...try and shoot for 60-65% humidity...anything under 55% is too dry and wont properly cure
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
Alrighty, they've been in the jars since the weekend. No visible moisture buildup. I'm wondering if I should just leave the jars sealed at this point. Every day I've been opening the jars, rearranging the bud so the bottom ones are on top of the jar, then leaving it open for up to an hour. They don't really seem wet, just really spongy/sticky. And after having the jar open a bit the outside seems a little crispy.

So far it seems this whole process is going way faster than what I've been reading. The buds were dry on the outside after 3 days hanging when I jarred them, and after several days jarred seem to be drying really fast (Kerr jars with rubber seal) I want a good cure.

If there is no condensed moisture buildup can I just leave the jars sealed?
 
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