Mold and curing?

N

Northernlightslover

Member
Hi guys so this is the first time ever curing cannabis and I am nervous that I am going to over dry or cause mold to my buds, any insite to help prevent those should help :)
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Worry more about molding than over drying. Hang dry your buds with stems mostly intact ideally at room temp or lower in a space with little to no circulation. A grow tent or similar type enclosed area with limited airflow is good. It should take no less than 6 days to hang dry and preferably more like 8-10 days....when they are ready to jar cure the stems will snap like a twig. If they bend or don't snap off completely like a green branch of a tree they need more time to hang. You want the bud crispy dry yet still some moisture on the inside which is kinda tricky to determine sometimes. The branch snap trick is the best way to know for sure they are dry enough to jar up. Even when you jar them leave the lid loose for the first day or 2 to be sure buds are dry enough. Open the jars every 12 hours for about 10 mins for the first week then just once daily the second week. Then you can leave the jar lid on tight & burp them just once a week.
Too much moisture and the buds will be very wet when you open the jars and will get moldy very quickly after that so follow your nose....it always knows: everyday maybe even twice a day at the start open the jars and get a good whiff..,. if you detect even the slightest hint of hay smell in your jar dump out the jar and let the buds dry out some more. Always cut down big buds into smaller nuggets when possible; bigass buds need longer dry time typically so break them down as small as you can to get them to dry evenly. After a couple weeks you won't have to worry about molding as the moisture leaves the bud and they begin to cure; they will get even more potent as they cure.
If you go the other extreme and forget to put the lid on your jar(s) back for too long while curing or hang too long just drop a fresh green pot leaf in the jar to moisturize. Bovedas 62 packs are good for this too; some peeps swear they cure the buds for them but IMO they are better suited for long term storage. They don't eliminate the dry/cure process just prolong the amount of time that buds can be stored in a jar.
What really demystified the dry/cure process for me was those little jar sized hygrometers designed for humidors; they tell you the RH so you know if the bud is too wet to jar up. Only trouble is they need to be calibrated periodically; but once you sort of know what a 62 RH cured bud is like you may not need the hygrometer after awhile. Curing to dankness takes a little trial and error but once you get it right you'll know what to do each time from there on out: it's all about letting it dry well enough to begin curing. Do that and the rest is gravy
 
Cyrus420

Cyrus420

Well-Known Member
Richard Drysift said:
Worry more about molding than over drying. Hang dry your buds with stems mostly intact ideally at room temp or lower in a space with little to no circulation. A grow tent or similar type enclosed area with limited airflow is good. It should take no less than 6 days to hang dry and preferably more like 8-10 days....when they are ready to jar cure the stems will snap like a twig. If they bend or don't snap off completely like a green branch of a tree they need more time to hang. You want the bud crispy dry yet still some moisture on the inside which is kinda tricky to determine sometimes. The branch snap trick is the best way to know for sure they are dry enough to jar up. Even when you jar them leave the lid loose for the first day or 2 to be sure buds are dry enough. Open the jars every 12 hours for about 10 mins for the first week then just once daily the second week. Then you can leave the jar lid on tight & burp them just once a week.
Too much moisture and the buds will be very wet when you open the jars and will get moldy very quickly after that so follow your nose....it always knows: everyday maybe even twice a day at the start open the jars and get a good whiff..,. if you detect even the slightest hint of hay smell in your jar dump out the jar and let the buds dry out some more. Always cut down big buds into smaller nuggets when possible; bigass buds need longer dry time typically so break them down as small as you can to get them to dry evenly. After a couple weeks you won't have to worry about molding as the moisture leaves the bud and they begin to cure; they will get even more potent as they cure.
If you go the other extreme and forget to put the lid on your jar(s) back for too long while curing or hang too long just drop a fresh green pot leaf in the jar to moisturize. Bovedas 62 packs are good for this too; some peeps swear they cure the buds for them but IMO they are better suited for long term storage. They don't eliminate the dry/cure process just prolong the amount of time that buds can be stored in a jar.
What really demystified the dry/cure process for me was those little jar sized hygrometers designed for humidors; they tell you the RH so you know if the bud is too wet to jar up. Only trouble is they need to be calibrated periodically; but once you sort of know what a 62 RH cured bud is like you may not need the hygrometer after awhile. Curing to dankness takes a little trial and error but once you get it right you'll know what to do each time from there on out: it's all about letting it dry well enough to begin curing. Do that and the rest is gravy
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Do you have a recommended RH for the space the buds are drying in?
 
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