Drying/Curing advice please

[Catfish22]

Cut down the Northern lights and trimmed it, I've got it hanging and I have temps at 70f (20c) and RH 50-60%.
Can anyone describe how you tell the difference in dryness, too dry vs not dry enough. I know about the small branches snapping but how small is small. The only small branches I have are the ones holding the small buds. Are there any other indications you personally look for?
Just don't want to mess up now.

[9fingerleafs]

You gotta gently squeeze and twist buds to get an idea on how dry they are. Only experience can teach you how it feels. I can tell you about the sound it makes when you squeeze. How the branches snap. The smell they put out. But only doing it over and over will make you truly aware and understand the drying process. Moisture can be released every day but you can’t just re hydrate if you dry too much. Better to stay in the too moist zone for a few days. If it dried enough to be grinded up then it’s too dry for curing.

[Farmbuck]

I agreed with you but what would be the optimal for a good dry ? Humidity, temperature, time...For me light is also something to add on, I like to dry mine in a dark room.

[TheKieftan]

Small is between toothpick and kabob sticks and honestly theirs a few ways other than that I have a fan blowing gently on the weed I dry when I start seeing the weed sway in the gentle breeze I know it’s close then I start taking a nug off a day and break it up by hand until I’m happy with the dryness at which point I jar all of it

[crucialbunny]

Drying your weed is one of the most important and troublesome aspects of the whole process of growing. For me there has never been a tried and true method and I rely primarily on feel and smell. I've had weed where the branches never snapped and have had ones that did long before the buds were dry. My rule of thumb is that if I give a bud a little squeeze and it stays compressed it's not ready. If it slowly returns to shape then I know it's ready to go. Another telltale sign that it's not ready is if it still has that chlorophyll smell like fresh cut grass. Checking it multiple times a day is a good way of making sure it doesn't go to far in hang time. When I jar I will often keep the lids open for a day or two so I know it's breathing. When I do cap them I will leave the lids off for hours at a time for the first few days and then lessen the amount of open time as time progresses. Like @ninefingerleafs said, it's all a matter of experience and developing a sense of what to do and when. I've grown really good weed that ended up lame because I screwed up the drying process.

[PLreef]

I pretty much use the same method as mentioned here.

[JeffInCanada]

Hey Catfish22
Here a few things to keep in mind that work for me that may ease your mind....I do not worry about the breaking of branches. Let it hang until the buds feel dry. For me at about the same temp/humidity as you have it's about 3 to 4 days. You will touch them and think to yourself, these seem pretty dry. They almost feel bag worthy dry. Trim the buds off of the branches and put them in jars. Of course you are going to use at least one humidity measuring device inside one of the jars because trying to do it without one is silly. A calibratable one is best.. Fill all of the jars about the same. Seal the jars and let them sit for a day. You will probably be surprised at how much humidity is still left in the buds after they sit in the sealed jars. Read the humidity meter, if it is too high, leave the lids off for 15min. Sometime I burp twice a day if the humidity is way high. Keep doing this until the humidity in the jars is steady at what you want it. This will take weeks. At the point where you are at, you do not want them to dry out too much before they go into the jars. If you happen to put them in the jars too early, your long burping will eventually straighten the humidity out. The attached file has helped me out immensely.

[RetiredGuy]

Great write-up, thanks for posting it!

[BigMak]

Awesome, definitely be referring back to this when my first grow is ready to harvest. THANK YOU!

[DeadlyFruit]

I agree with crucialbunny and the others.

It is a vital part of the process and best to take time to do it gently and carefully. I will snap the sticks, try to snap off the buds, squeeze the odd one gently (trying not to damage the glitter) and generally smell and eyeball them. Agree with keeping in jars with the lids off at first, and then for the first few days at least I watch the hygrometer inside the jar like a hawk for spikes in humidity. If I get a spike then I slow down the jarring process (I am really slow anyways). My good friend mr boveda is also a real saviour once in the jars, saving me from myself.

[Sungazer]

If you do over dry it put it in a jar with some other weed that has just been cut and the two will equal out somewhat. I think keeping it on the wetter side initially is the way to go as it will dry out over time in the jar each time you tax the jar for a little sample. As long as you stay away from being so wet that mold may form its easier to dry than hydrate to the sweet spot.

[MagicMike66]

Drying and curing was always the most concern I had with early grows. The thought that after 6 months or so of hard work and dedication, a wrong dry/cure can totally fuck your entire crop! Personally I found that you can’t really tell until you’ve had a couple of harvests, by then you’re able to tell by ‘feel’. Nebula’s tutorial is also pretty good. Good luck 👍🏻

[SoOrbudgal]

Accidents happen when you first do this......rather be too dry than too moist when jarring. Even if you store and burp leave a moist bud in with the tiny buds in the jar. I'd rather have dryed buds in my jars as the cure continues over time while the resins are still moist

[Cheeba]

Best thread I’ve read in a few weeks here. As with many growing questions, it takes practice to gain the necessary experience. Our seasoned growers can share their knowledge but we have do it a few times yourself to understand the process. I have to keep reminding myself because as a new farmer (on 3rd grow now) I want a road map with clear instructions. But even with great tutorials and expert resources, it takes actual growing experience to see what works.

[Catfish22]

I was just referring back to this thread as I chopped the runt and am drying it. It was such an excellent thread that I thought some of the other new growers would appreciate it as much as I did.

There is enough invaluable information here that this deserves a bump.