Mr Green

Allo,

I waz wonder'n if it's best to dry the buds slow. Is slower better? I'm look'n at all the other threads and everyone wants "dry bud quick" type of thing. What about us patient people....do good things come to thoes who wait? And once the bud is dry (dry enough to cut/snap off the stem) and you through it in to cure....How long would a good cure be? Just a general time...like 1 month, 2 months....ya knowie what I meanie?

So com'on yeall, spill it

thanks
Mr g

PS I just did my harvest

trace beginnings

Mr. Green
It's always nice to see someone who takes their time to properly dry and cure good buds. Well cured buds are the only way to go. A good dry/cure schedule i have had experience with is: hang whole plant upside down on a wire in a room with less than 50% humidity in the low to mid 60's for 5 days and then raise the temperature to low to mid 70's for 1-3 days until the buds are dry. The outside of the bud should be dry to brittle to the touch but a small amount of moisture will still be inside the bud(stem will still bend a little and pop when bent but doesn't snap in half, that would be over dry). This is where curing comes into play. Mason jars with air tight metal lids should be loosely filled with jars no more than half way and stored in a cool dark place. Once a day the tops should be opened for abount 15 min or so, rotate the buds and seal them back up. This should go on for about a month or so. It's really up to you. The longer you cure the better you will like the smoke. I have also heard that water curing works but i have not tried it. It involves re-wetting the bud in water after it has been dried out and letting it re-dry before curing. This is supposed to remove more starches from the bud causing the smoke to be less harsh and will turn the bud a lighter mint green color. I always like to cure for 2 months (to answer your question) but you can always sample a little as you go!
Happy Harvesting

Mr Green

Well that's a perfect answer to a question if I have ever seen one So that's just what I'll do. Thanks TB I'd like to hear more about this other "water curing" thing too. If anyone has some info on this, please let it slide here

now off to find some of them glass jars....

mr g

chronicdj

hey mr green and trace beginnings

just wanted to know how your curing is going mr green?????
is it tasting good?
i realling know nothing about curing
although i am soon going to buy a vacuum packager so they will have no air in there with my buds.

the site for them is http://www.foodsaver.com/HTML/foodsaver.htm

someone was said about the site in another thread
well bye
chronicdj

Phread O'Hinton

Yeah, you should be bout ready, right Mr. Green. How'd it go?

Say, trace beginnings, what about mold? InsaneK9 is having trouble with it, as did I when I was drying my first plant (I'm on no.'s 2-5 right now, see My Cannabis Picts).

The mason Jar system you describe sounds like a ripe grounds for mold to me- unless you achieve the exact dryness before you put them in. That sounds a little tricky to me, especially since there's no good way to describe the dryness of pot as it dries...

Where I live the relative humidity is about 10-15% on average during the winter. This dries stuff really, really fast usualy- no curing involed. Any thoughts on how to slow the drying?

madman420420

hey whats up guys,

I have been reading this thread and have been wondering what it means to dry ur buds. How and why do u have to dry ur buds?

madman

chronicdj

well madman420420 technically u dont actually have to dry the buds, but if u dont u will have a hell of a nasty smoke.

You dry from 2 weeks up to a max of maybe 6 or 7. Generally the slower u dry the stuff the nicer the smoke.

Some breeds can have slight differences and the size of the bad can make a difference.

chronicdj

madman420420

hey whats up chronicdj,

Thanx for your help. There was one thing u didn't tell me. You told me why i had to dry the buds but u didn't tell me how to do it. I heard u can dry it with dry ice and it also makes it more potent, however, i also heard that dry ice is a little expensive. What are other methods of drying.

chronicdj

well trace beginnings above a few messages explains drying and curing very nicely and that should be the answer

yeah ive never used dry ice but its supposed to be expensive and whether or not it works i dont know?????
Sounds interesting though dosnt it.

chronicdj

bgetting

Hey all.

If it helps, the curing is so that a CO2 molecule can be released from THC, making it psychoactive (decarboxylation). This is part of the degradtaion process, and the reason that curing makes herbs better. Other things also decarboxylate (and other processes) and that tends to make the flavor more desirable. So curing herbs makes them the best they can be.

I would stay away from any re-wetting before curing, it doesn't do anything for the internal processes, and by the time that it has dried the first time the damage is done, re-wetting won't bring back enzymes and so forth that will help anything. That is my opinion, though, because I would be more worried about mold than a gimmick that may make your buds greener, but smoke the same.

Dry Ice does help to preserve the herb, keeping oxygen away and therefor reducing degradation. It isn't a miracle ingredient that makes the herb better, it just preserves it better, and I would doubt any of us could tell the difference in a side-by-side.

Mr. Green, how is it looking?