I was wondering why people hang their plants right after harvest until they are dry enough, instead of cutting the buds off the branches and laying them out on a breathable surface to dry like that? Does the bud retain more weight if it drys slower on the branch? I just recently harvested 40 plants and they are all hanging upside down in a cool dark area with 1 small fan rotating and my humidifier on 45. I took two plants out and chopped them up and manicured them and layed them out on mesh to dry. They are still pretty wet after 1 day of drying, so I don't see much of a difference. Thanks for the input!
You want a drying time around ~7 days.
Many people don't dry their weed properly, they either over-dry or under-dry.
Curing starts @ 65% RH and ends @ 55% RH, it's a tight space to work with, and having a proper drying phase is vital in bringing the buds ready for curing.
And for some people, due to humidity problems, air circulation problems or whatever it might be, hanging the branches up will extend the drying time, thereby giving Chlorophyll (what gives plants green pigment) and other substances a longer time to evaporate.
This is not needed for everyone, but it can be a useful tool if you have a large harvest, tough conditions or the like.
I usually do several different types of drying.
I dry my premium bud as smaller branches.
The bottom nugs and popcorn nugs are dried on a flat surface.
Thus all my weed gets proper treatment, and the drying times are kept as much alike as possible.
The longer time it takes to dry, the better the resulting smoke - and a lot easier to cure.
To some extent yes.
You don't want a too long dry either.
The middle ground is the best way, ~7 days.
