Drying & curing

[aussiekraut]

I have a bit of a problem with drying and curing times. Reading around a bit, it looks like most people recommend drying for about 2-4 weeks and then cure for another 4-12 weeks. I read at a few places that the harvest is considered to be dry when you can easily snap a twig between two fingers. Well, that's where my problem starts: This usually happens after about a week!

 

Does that mean the plant is dry enough for curing? I don't want to get them mouldy or anything.

 

On the other hand, quite often when you buy some pot, it is bloody wet as. Actually it is sometimes so wet that you can't smoke it in a joint properly and I usually end up spreading it out in a dry dark place for a few days. Why is this stuff wet? Shure, the dealer wants it to be wet as it means more weight and more profit. But I can't work out why it is wet if it has been dried and cured.

 

Also, it's been said that for example if you dry for 4 weeks, you can cut curing time by 2 weeks. True or false?

 

AK

[WantDaChronic]

depending on too many things to list, drying can take as little as 5 minutes or as long as a month. its really upto the grower, but i like to manicure as much leaf as possible off and then hang the buds up for about a week with a fan blowing over them. from there i put them in a jar to cure, but every day sometimes even 2 or 3 times a day for a week i open the jars and lay the buds out as they sweat while in the jar. once the water has evapourated i put them back in the jars and leave them for as long as possible once the buds stop sweating.

 

drying for 4 weeks doesnt really mean you can cure for less time. well it does cure while drying, but the longer you have the buds drying the higher your chances of mould are and from my expierence the buds end up tasting pretty much the same, sometimes even better when dried over a week compared to 2-3 weeks and then put in jars

[aussiekraut]

Thanks a lot Chronic

 

My humble harvest was pretty much dry after a week of hanging upside down in a dark cupboard. Now it is in an empty coffe tin to cure. It gets burped every day for about 6 hours, the tin is shaken several times during this time, before the lid goes back on. The "wet" smell when the tin is opened gets less and less every day.

 

I take it I am on the right track there?

 

AK

[Cyclone]

But I can't work out why it is wet if it has been dried and cured.

 

Because it has not been dried for long enough, and it sure as hell has not been cured.

[danoz]

there are so many reported ways to dry weed all work yet everyone swears by theirs and tryies to convince u their method is best.

 

Everything you said you have done seems fine. Some poeple may frown upon this but i weigh my bud before i begin drying then let them dry for a week. I then finish them in the oven (shock horror) the oven door is kept ajar at very low temp. I re-weigh after this process checking to see i have acheived 10% moisture content which is ideal. It burns perfect producing unoffensive smooth smoke. You answered your question about purchased weed. Drying weed properly reduces the weight sooo soo so much.

 

Dessication salts will help prevent mould.

[TD.]

Weight shouldn't be a problem if your growing it for yourself, its not like your making money off it.

But if your growing to sell then weight has everything to do with it....so what are u growing for ?

 

Example, if you fill an ounce bag with buds and its nowhere close to an ounce on the scales it shouldn't bother you because there is still alot of bud in that bag....true?

But from a dealers point of view it can be 2 things.

1) if you buy it off some1 larger than yourself the weight will still be correct but u will look at it and be like "fuck that's alot of weed"

2) if you grew it and have to sell it then you will give away most of your plant and not get much money because it weighed sweet fuck all.

 

and all that aside its down to personal choice, i like my weed light and fluffy and dry but sticky. and i smoke with people that stand by the dense nuggets of bud that sometimes contain mold or are still wet (they dont know about good quality weed yet ).

[sunnycoaststoner]

alot of the weed you buy from your "dealers" is comercial weed where supply is far out weighed by demand, so it does not get dryed properly for a start and the only cure it gets is in the bag it is weighed in, you are on the right track but there is no absolute method as all of us have different climatic conditions to contend with. if its good, go with it hey. the stem snap is what i go with and then start my cure from there.

[Al Fish]

Years ago when I was growing the odd plant, I always found drying and curing to be stressful times – only alleviated by the constant and necessary sampling that was called for. I used to dry them in an outhouse than caught the late afternoon sun. After some time I'd transfer them to a bathroom with great window ventilation and then jar them overnight. In the morning I'd rehang them in the bathroom. Even when you think they're dry, err on the side of caution. When you finally store them just keep checking at least for the first few weeks: mould grows fast.

 

Nonetheless, I always went for mellow flavours. Anyone can grow top weed and use a quick dry, but there's nothing like having the perfumed aroma and the taste of flowers.

[Hardhat0038]

I usually put mine in the jars after a week,.. then a bout 2-3 weeks curing ...noone's gonna wait 3 months... Edited January 12, 2009 by Hardhat0038