This is my second season. Started late (several seedling failures) and just harvesting now (November). Confused about vague difference between curing and harvesting. In Berg’s Bible is says a hang cure takes 4-6 weeks in a non ventilated room around 90 degrees. Then drying phase just seems to add ventilation. In this forum I have seen cure temp should be 60-70 degrees and take a few days. I have even seen posts that say to dry first then cure in jars. Is there a clear explanation of these process and why theu might differ so much in the forum somewhere. I only grow a few plants at a time so I don’t want/need anything that involves large scale processes. Thanks
Hey some more knowledgeable growers will probably pop on here before long but the basic process is harvest, dry for 7-14 days as close to 60 degrees 60% rh as possible, then cure. I cut off colas and hang but some hang the whole plant and some take off the buds. Your drying conditions can sometimes help you decide what will work best for you, if you live in dry climate might be best to hang plant whole to extend dry time, if it’s wet climate you might be better off taking the buds off to dry. After your buds reach 58-62% humidity when in a closed container, or when they read 13% with a moisture meter, you are ready to start with cure. This can take 1-6 months for full cure. I would recommend grove bags to cure in, just toss buds in and forget about it. If you cure in jars you’ll have to look into burping the jars.
I do a dry trim so after they’re dried I trim up and toss in grove bag, if you want to wet trim trim them up at harvest then start the cure when they’re dry.
From what I can tell around 70 degrees is a good curing temp, seems like it might take longer when it’s colder, I keep mine in a dark room that stays around 60 degrees.
I do a wet trim while still in the bucket(water or soil) while plant is still alive.
Then I cut and hang in 65-70F 45% humidity for about 1 week. Make sure each cola branch is spaced apart to allow air to flow. No fungus among us is my slogan.
When twigs can snap when bend they are ready for storage in 32oz wide mouth mason jars for me with hygrometer in each jar.
I use these little ones for my jars.
TASOGEN 6 Pack Mini Digital Thermometer Hygrometer,Indoor Temperature and Humidity Gauge Meter Monitor Fahrenheit (℉) for Humidor,Greenhouse,Reptile Tank,Home,Jars
https://a.co/d/1uMWulx
Burp(burp) jars daily to release gases and allow dry air in. After a couple weeks you’ll stop hearing a daily burp and you can switch to every other day.
Monitoring the humidity inside each jar. Once it gets to 62-65 switch to every week.
Once the internal humidity remains between 62-65 your done burping every week.
Now just check every other week for humidity. Once it stabilizes between 62-65 they are dry.
Now th cure is on. I think my flowers are best after 3 months. Not that they aren’t sooner but for me.
Walmart has the 32oz wide mouth jars for about $15 for a dozen.
I suggest going to growweedeasy DOT com and read their articles on harvesting, drying and curing.
Harvest
Dry
Cure
Once the flower is trimmed and dried it is cured.
Agree with others on resources out there to learn more. Drying is the process of slowly bringing the bud moisture down to 11 - 14% over 7 to 14 days…to get them ready to cure.
Curing is a chemical process to break down the chlorophyl that is accomplished by maintaining an environment of around 70 F and 62% humidity. If you use jars they need to be burped to off gas this chlorophyl (and other stuff) This process is about taste. Some flavors take months to come out. Minimum is about 4 weeks…I usually do 8 weeks. I have cured for as long as 6 months.
As a point of reference. I read that bud submitted to the cannabis cup is cured on an average of 6 months.
Good luck…I think this is the most important part of the growing process
When you harvest you need to dry first and then cure. Most hang to dry with light air circulation underneath. Then you immediately start to cure. Some use jars, food containers, buckets, grove bags, or commercial machines. Unless using a commercial machine or grove bags you will need to open your containers (burp them) to let gasses escape once a day for 2-3 weeks then seal them up. This process should be done at aprox 62% rh and what it does is let chlorophil and amonias to escape and to bring the moisture from the stem out through the bud and stabilize it which kind of locks in freshness
Remember when you are hanging that light can damage resin quality. It is always best to hang/dry in 100% dark. 65%rh is a solid number to shoot for when trying to achieve a 7+ day plus dry time. You want even airflow in the room but you do not want defect airflow moving the buds around.
Once the product is dry we put them in tote with lines while still on the stalks. This allows us to monitor the product more closely and achieve the proper dry we are looking for. I always make sure to rotate the product when I bird the lids for the first couple of days.
After the product get to an even stable dry I pop the tops me roll the tote liners close. This will cause “any and all” extra moisture from the large stalks to be forced to the outer flowers. Making for a nice sticky feel on the reason heads.
After this we start the bucking process of removing the flowers from the stalks. Followed by a true trimming.
If the drying process is done correct the cure will naturally come over time. (If stored correctly)
Damn I love cannabis.
Happy farming…
damn Growmie!! I’ll say. Excellent method you’ve perfected
Just buy yourself and cannatrol cool cure machine and it does all that for you. No guess work, no mold issues, no over or under drying , no drying to quickly. Non of that horse crap.
Simply put in , press a few buttons , and cone back to buds that was properly dried and cured under the perfect t conditions and a slow release of moisture by means of vapor pressure. Basically seals in your terpenes. I just got mine. Their motto is friends don’t let friends burp jars.
So all you really gotta do is flip the buds every other day so they don’t get flat spots. Make sure your sponge stays moist, and check the water drain spot on back every so often. Then when the cycle is done you can press the " hold" stage and it keeps your bud that perfect moisture indefinitely. . Is kinda expensive but a simple grow will get your money back.
I will gladly store those totes, if you run out of room, just saying, my friend.
Thanks for all the input guys. Seems like everyone here is saying dry then cure. Thats backward from what the ILGM grow bible had. I am small potatoes compared to many of the responders. No ball jars or grove bags just hanging for both stages. One temp/hum device for the hanging area. Dont know how you check the %hum of a plant during the process and not getting that involved, but you have helped me understand the process better. Not sure if thats good or bad because now I have doubts about the hanging process which worked well last year.
You have to have jars or bags to cure your buds it’s a very important part of the process I would search drying/curing on forum you need to do it right for good bud just my opinion
Absolutely. So important to get the dry and cure right so as not to loose the grow harvested.
Good reading available this forum or YouTube Videos.
Damn dude, your just on a totally different level nice . Living a dream there aren’t ya.
I just befriended a licensed farmer that worked up at my local hydro shop. Same tote set up.
Can’t wait till I’m able to wake up and walk into feild of goodness like that.