Okay so we talked about washing buds and the benefits, but drying and curing we can all agree has a huge impact on taste, smell, etc. So, I have been trying a few things like cutting up the whole plant, hanging each stem or node section with most leaves intact, then trimming all the leaves off 48 hrs later except for most single sugar leaves. I also have been doing the same as mentioned above except i trim everything off. Usually i keep my diy drybox between 71-75 degrees f and 45-55 rh and it seems to do the trick. I keep an air filter in dry box to circulate air every few hrs, and dehumidifier just in case, and i also like to run the dehumidifier a few hours right after hanging, it sets the tone right away and the reason is my box will hold alot of moisture in the air with a few ozs of nugs hanging, so having the outside air at a lower rh, lets say 35 to 40 rh, everytime i cycle my little air cleaner it pulls the dryer air through the vents very slowly replacing the moist air that can cause mold. Ive noticed matter how I trim using this method worked well for both. Also, anybody want a cheap idea for a simple clean room drying, let me know and i can give you specs on my DIY dry room.
After the outside is more crispy and stems are dry but dont snap, i place them in jars with miniature rh meters. Once i have the humidity dialed in below 68 rh i lock them down in the dark and vent them everytime the humidity slowly creeps back up until i have it locked in around 62 to 63 rh and then the long nap. 3 weeks later and wow delicious smoke!
I hope this can help a nooby out a bit with any drying and curing needs, but i also want to hear other great methods or even something I can do to make it better in the long run, as this is essential for a quality bud. Any questions feel free
Okay I didn’t read that whole post because honestly if there aren’t paragraph breaks I can’t follow it, anyway I read the first part and I just did this for the first time ever, I hung the whole plant
Some that I cut to small, single branches dried in about six or seven days as usual, but the whole plants took 2 weeks and I could have left them longer
Personally I like the slow drying I don’t always have that option but this time I did and if I had my druthers that’s the way I go
I may try it with my sour diesel, hanging the whole plant, but thats pretty much what im doing now except i cut the stalk about an inch above and below the nodes and hang all branches on that node together.
@Paranorman Do you trim anything before hanging the whole plant?
This time I trimmed it on the second or third day only because I got to some others first
If you have two of the same strain and do a comparison that would be awesome let us know ! 
I prefer wet trimming lot easier than not it’s bad enough if u get good yield it shouldn’t take more than five days drying b4 u r curing
I understand from your bio you’re a beginner Mike so you might want to keep in mind that everything doesn’t dry at the same rate
Bud density, humidity, temperature, lots of things affect drying …one size doesn’t necessarily fit all
I just put my Obi Wan and Critical Mass in jars andbthey onky hung for 5 days. If i waited i would have dry buds no good for curing. I locked them in around 60-65 rh and ive always had good smoke.
I am curious is to why people say let them hang as long as possible, because I can imagine they are curing buds way too dry, unless they are drying in a jungle, but my climate is temperate and humidity is always forgiving…hence my setup
But everything isn’t the same or one-size-fits-all
Buds thick around as a beer can like I grow them aren’t going to dry the same time as thick as your thumb buds, and it also depends how much you chop them up
Thats my point, and i should have clarified a bit more. My method is best suited for the “right now” on east coast which is cold and low humidity, so improv is a must to get it right.
I think this is where people are messing up, because they see folks say the longer the better and end up with stuff thats too dry to even smoke.
Tayloring to bud size, humidity, and temp is and can be tough this time of year in some locations especially if its super low humidity.
If my humidity gets too low, i simply wet towels and hang over my dry box and turn on circ fan in the box. It will SLOWLY brings the moist air in and you back where you need to be without any risk.
I love cheese I just grew a bunch of super cheese not sure if that’s the same but I think it is maybe just another Seedbank
You’re exactly right I’m in the Northeast to where are humidity right now is around 30 so it’s different than the middle of the summer, it’s different than a guy right now in Hawaii so saying five days would be an incorrect statement in my opinion
Also some of the people telling us how long to do it also say their beginners, so I don’t see how they would have any idea unless Im misreading something ?
Either way peace I’m out
Man i know every setup is different, and Im not trying to sya my way is the only way, I was just surprised how good my system did for me so i figured I would let yall know. Plus everything I have done is a hybridization of other folks methods and dialed it in for me. Goodluck @paranorman, if you want man hit me up for anything bro. Later
Yes, i hang the whole plant cut up in sections, and it has ranged from 5 days to 10 days for me, but the lower humidity the faster it drains the buds. Thats why RH meters are a MUST for both drying and curing.
@paranorman. I did that test with the cheese. One set of nugs i trimmed off larger non sugary leaves and the other set, i did not.
After hanging 48 hrs, i trimmed the first set, and they were still pretty moist, while the others were already getting crispy, and ended up jarring those first.
After i put them in jars, the ones i trimmed after 48 hrs gets another trim after the humidity settles, them i clean off most sugar leaves, almost clean clean.
Now, the other ones I trimmed wet that went in jars early seemed to lack the very potent smell unless you tear a bud open then boom smell goes wild! Although, the others that were trimmed little by little pack the greatest smell.and flavor by far.
Another plus in this process, is those super resiny sugar leaves fold over to protect the trichomes on the inner bud while in the jars, so when you trim them away, they are perfect, where the trimmed ones are not nearly as nice.
So even if you whole plant hang or cut it up a bit like me, taking off the vegetation as you go makes some nice smoking buds, mostly because it allows the natural ant process to happen.
Slow trim and slow cure is the best method for me so far. Going to try this method with whole plant one day not cut up.