adjusting drying time to meet personal schedule_

[ZigZag]

My plants were a few weeks behind schedule when I harvested them in mid December. I was concerned that they would dry too fast and be "crunchy" by the time we returned. From past experience it usually takes 5-7 days to dry enough to start the cure where we hang the trimmed colas, depending on when I watered last before harvest and how large the plants were when harvested. So this time I watered them well the night before and then the next morning only trimmed the fan leaves from the plants and then cut them down just above ground and hung the whole plant to dry.
when we returned two weeks later it was a relief to find they hadn't dried too much. I trimmed the colas well and jarred them right away_ filling them right to the top. 24 hrs later I checked the humidity in the jars and it was only 54%. After two days the humidity rose to 55%. After a week it was up to 58% and then by week 2 it was up to 60%. At this point I put 62% bovida packs into the jars and now they are holding at 61-63%. Perfect. Nice hard, dense but pliable bud which smokes real smooth.I am on my knees with thanks to the gods! Has anyone else tried varying their drying time by any other other methods ? This worked for us but I was pretty nervous for that first month_ not a fan of bud thats been dried too much but it all worked out in the end. Thanks to all!

[Canuck147]

Thanks for letting us know. Smooth smoke is always good.

[ZigZag]

Couldn't agree more. I usually can't resist trying a bit of a bud soon as its dried enough_ just to satisfy my curiosity_but then wait for 4 weeks while they cure in the jars. Checking on a regular basis.
That is if I still have enough left from the last harvest. Which isn't usually a problem. If I have any bud left after 4 months in the jars then I pack them pretty tightly in 1 cup jars and put them in the freezer. When I want to "thaw" some of those buds I take the jar out and set in a 68-72 degree room, wait until the outside of the jar stops "sweating", then dry to off, open and enjoy. By waiting until the buds in the jar have warmed up to room temperature they don't get any water condensing on them so they are just like they were when they were packed into the jars. I pack them pretty tight so there isn't much air space in the jar but not enough to squash them. works great for me. No worries about mold or anything unpleasant either. Cheers!