Not a vet not a newb just need some help curing for better quality

I've been growing since a lil before the start of the pandemic and I got the signs of deficiency , temp/humidity contr , lighting etc... down pact and understand what i need to do. My plants look amazing up until after harvest when they are dry, my entire first grow dried too fast( bone dry in about 3 days ) because here in nyc it gets really cold and my closet is close to my window. This caused my buds to get that ammonia smell and taste and i was disappointed since i put in months of work to have it basically thrown away in just a week. So this time around i aimed to dry for about 7- 10 days being max , I ended up chopping a day before 7 since the buds were dry and snapping ( which i think i was also getting wrong since im sure they are supposed to snap slightly not in two). i left the leaves on to keep extra moisture so they wont dry so fast which im told should help but doesnt seem to have given me any different results than last time. My temps would fluctuate ( which is also probably a problem) between 59 - 80 F with extremely low humidity due to the heater with relatively low air flow i admit , so i have 4 more plants ( 3 gsc from nirvana and 1 jock horror from them as well) and want to make sure i can get the best dry and cure to maintain the look and also have a great taste and smell as well. its gonna get hotter here since spring just started so i figured i dont need the heater i had to maintain a higher temp. what are some good ways to not only extend the dry period but keep the humidity in the right place since im sure those are the main issues in my drying set up. Also any tips on rehydrating buds , i still have the buds from the first plant , i was thinking to make edibles so they dint go to waste. i cant smoke them since they're so dry and bovida didnt help after being in the jar for 2 -3 days with the buds

Cool mist humidifier and an inkbird humidity controller

well i tried slow cold drying this year from my outside plants and i can highly recomend it. you will be waiting about 2 monthes from harvest to smokeable buds and the flavour and smell are beutifull.
i was dubious to say the least when i herd about it. i was paranoid that they would go mouldy being left wet for that long, but i was worried for no reason.
in can highly recomend the slow cold drying method

but theres the freeze drying method that works realy well too.
use the search engine and look up

Drying/Curing in cold weather
10 Jan 2015
Freezer weed is some good fucking shit.
3 May 2018
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First off. It's really common for your buds to lose their smell on first curing. An ammonia smell isn't even necessarily a bad thing. That slight ammonia smell in jars is an indication that your bud hasn't gotten too dry and is continuing the curing process. It can take a month or more of curing for your buds to get their smell back. I'm in the exact same climate as you and for my winter curing process I cut and trim wet. Then I hang until the plants first feel crispy on the outside... say a day or two at most. Then I cut the buds off the majority of excess stalk and jar them. I let them sit in the jars and then take everything out of the jar and spread it out until it's feeling slightly crispy dry to the touch again. Your going to repeat this until you let everything sit in the jar for 24 hours and when you open it it isn't wet to the touch. You still don't want it to dry out entirely though. You're then going to start checking your jars every day or two and opening them for 15 minutes or so to disperse any built up surface moisture extracted from the buds. Don't get discouraged because your weed is not going to smell dank while this is occurring. And you will smell an ammonia like fermenting smell when you open the jar. This is good. It means that your bud is in the proper RH range and there is an enzyme breakdown of the chlorophyll in the bud still occurring. You're gling to keep monitoring the weed in your jars for any sort of wet feeling and burp the jars until it feels just dry on the surface. After a good 4-6 weeks the smell of your buds is going to come back pretty strongly. You can also use bodveda 62% packs to keep the humidity in an ideal range but you don't want to start using them until at least 10-12 days into the process. If you do it makes it harder to extract the inner moisture from the buds and can lead to mold. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Cured for 5 weeks before it got its smell back.

Slow dry hanging the whole plant takes roughly 10 days in the right condition s, they smell lovely going into jars and only gets better. Amazes me when I hear after 4 weeks the smell comes back, I’d much prefer the dank smell from day1. V important to chop when ripe.

MFTW_jus said:

I've been growing since a lil before the start of the pandemic and I got the signs of deficiency , temp/humidity contr , lighting etc... down pact and understand what i need to do. My plants look amazing up until after harvest when they are dry, my entire first grow dried too fast( bone dry in about 3 days ) because here in nyc it gets really cold and my closet is close to my window. This caused my buds to get that ammonia smell and taste and i was disappointed since i put in months of work to have it basically thrown away in just a week. So this time around i aimed to dry for about 7- 10 days being max , I ended up chopping a day before 7 since the buds were dry and snapping ( which i think i was also getting wrong since im sure they are supposed to snap slightly not in two). i left the leaves on to keep extra moisture so they wont dry so fast which im told should help but doesnt seem to have given me any different results than last time. My temps would fluctuate ( which is also probably a problem) between 59 - 80 F with extremely low humidity due to the heater with relatively low air flow i admit , so i have 4 more plants ( 3 gsc from nirvana and 1 jock horror from them as well) and want to make sure i can get the best dry and cure to maintain the look and also have a great taste and smell as well. its gonna get hotter here since spring just started so i figured i dont need the heater i had to maintain a higher temp. what are some good ways to not only extend the dry period but keep the humidity in the right place since im sure those are the main issues in my drying set up. Also any tips on rehydrating buds , i still have the buds from the first plant , i was thinking to make edibles so they dint go to waste. i cant smoke them since they're so dry and bovida didnt help after being in the jar for 2 -3 days with the buds

Click to expand...

Dry in an enclosed environment with a dehumidifier. Then outside humidity isn't an issue. I use a sealed tend with a dehu and a heater and small fan for circulation.... aim for 20c and 40% for 2 days 50% for the next 4 days then 60% for 2 more days.

Before the stems snap I trim and put them in a sealed box to even out.... sealing in a box allows the remaining moisture to even out through out the buds.... as you do this the humidity will slowly rise

You then open the box for periods of time to slowly reduce the humidity til your evening out as about 60%

If your in a super dry environment then boxing them slightly earlier than you are doing sounds like the right thing...

You need to slow the dry down too tho