Weed too dry to cure

[PopAndSonGrows]

@xtsho nailed it. I agree, there's too much hype around curing when, quite frankly, "curing" as it's often discussed is really just a misnomer for "long term storage".

 

[StonedGardener]

So at day 5 of drying at 55% RH and 22-25C I put the nugs in a jar and in one or two hours it shoots up to 71%. I thought it's too wet, I put it back on the drying rack. I had to go out of town for a few days, I come back on day 9 and they are bone dry. Stems snap.

I put them in an air tight container and check after a few hours and it's at 35RH, which is just the normal humidity of air here right now. I sleep and wake up this morning after 12 hours and check again. It's at 35% RH, didn't budge, the humidity in there matches the humidity of air outside.

My dumbass knowledge of cannabis growing tells me I have fucked up, this weed is not curable anymore and that next time I should jar at day 7 which is in the middle. What do you think of this and what should I do next time?

There's always a " Silver Lining " ...........at least you have weed ya can smoke !
Beats the Hell otta f'ing it up from under-drying ..........so sad looking at large canning jars filled with buds covered in mold ! At least ya got something.......
I do " hear " ya........been there......it doesn't make ya smile .

 

[Bud man 43]

You have reached the "point of no return".. once you can't raise it back up.. esp at 35%, you're just stuck there. You've dried it out so much, that there is not enough moisture at the center of the bud to draw it out. Game over. As BK said, if your harvest is ripe, and has dried to the 58-63% range, and is stable,.. you can store it for a looong time. Better to overshoot than undershoot your dry level. You can always fix over... but not under.

I would like to know why this may be correct?
If it was a short period of time that it was “too dry” and you bring it back to 58% with a boveda, what would exactly happen that is so bad?
I know a short cure has changed the buds for the taste and smoothness, removes the green taste. Not totally sure if the strength went up or down because it was cured as every bud has subtle differences from being higher or lower on the plant anyway.
I don’t have enough curing experience to know which is right or wrong.
I do have over 40 years of experience with cannabis and it worked pretty good then without all the new information we have so I think a lot of it is over thinking things.
I seriously doubt they were testing rh in their buds before shipping- just drying the shit out of them to survive the trip.
I am asking because I like to learn something every day-

 

[J. Rocket]

So at day 5 of drying at 55% RH and 22-25C I put the nugs in a jar and in one or two hours it shoots up to 71%. I thought it's too wet, I put it back on the drying rack. I had to go out of town for a few days, I come back on day 9 and they are bone dry. Stems snap.

71% isnt too wet to be in a jar. just open the lid, let it breathe, close, repeat until meter reads 58%-62% after overnight closed.
the RH will come down more slowly and evenly than hanging or on a rack. slow makes for better cannabis IMO.

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

You purchased strains that claimed to have 39% THC. Like many claims related to cannabis I wouldn't believe the 39% claim. It's like cannabis specific nutrients claiming a 25% increase in yield if you use their products. Just more false claims. I suppose the 39% claim is possible but they would have had to fortify the weed with something the same way they fortify wine to make it stronger.

Kief dusting is a good lab trick. That, along with over drying your sample to get the water activity down. More water activity = more mass, dilution of the THC, terpene profile.

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

I would like to know why this may be correct?
If it was a short period of time that it was “too dry” and you bring it back to 58% with a boveda, what would exactly happen that is so bad?
I know a short cure has changed the buds for the taste and smoothness, removes the green taste. Not totally sure if the strength went up or down because it was cured as every bud has subtle differences from being higher or lower on the plant anyway.
I don’t have enough curing experience to know which is right or wrong.
I do have over 40 years of experience with cannabis and it worked pretty good then without all the new information we have so I think a lot of it is over thinking things.
I seriously doubt they were testing rh in their buds before shipping- just drying the shit out of them to survive the trip.
I am asking because I like to learn something every day-

IF you can bring it back up from 35% to 58% with Boveda packs. But I've never seen it happen. Boveda packs are really made to "stabilize" your weed at the 58-61% range, not magically bring it from 35% to 58%.

 

[xtsho]

Kief dusting is a good lab trick. That, along with over drying your sample to get the water activity down. More water activity = more mass, dilution of the THC, terpene profile.

Exactly

 

[tstick]

I'm an advocate for curing. I got myself into a similar situation as OP on my last run. The problem I had was that I took my plants to 15 weeks to "over"-ripen the buds. What I didn't foresee was that some of the upper buds started to dry while they were still growing! When I hung them to dry, the upper buds dried out faster than the lower buds and when it all finally made it into the curing jar, the humidity was right at 55% and it didn't move even after being sealed for a week. It was still capable of curing at that RH but it was going to be a really slow process. Now, after being in the jars for nearly 8 months, the RH came up to 61% and the flavor has finally started to come out. It was a very mild flavor to begin with and it need some amplification to get it to where it tasted its best. I popped a couple small Bovedas in the jars to maintain the RH. I think curing really helped.

 

[bauty67]

The cigar guys, if I'm not mistaken, will say that you can rehydrate cigars and after a month or so of that they will be back to their previous state. But I think where you will have a problem isn't getting the RH back up it's getting the weed to off gas or degrade stuff like chlorophyl. It's my understanding, based on my limited personal experience and word of mouth, that ones that process stops in cannabis it doesn't start up again.

Not sure that helps but let us know if you happen on a successful strategy.

I agree one of the main reasons for proper drying is to break down the chlorophyll so your weed doesn’t taste and smell like hay.

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

I agree one of the main reasons for proper drying is to break down the chlorophyll so your weed doesn’t taste and smell like hay.

Yes.. nice and slow. 65 degrees/60%rh for a week, the drop the RH down to 55 for another week... should be in the target range, depending on the density of your material.

 

[J. Rocket]

IF you can bring it back up from 35% to 58% with Boveda packs. But I've never seen it happen. Boveda packs are really made to "stabilize" your weed at the 58-61% range, not magically bring it from 35% to 58%.

exactly, humidity control packs are meant to maintain a rh.
use a folded piece of paper towel damp with clean water on something waterproof in the jar on top of the weed to re-humidify.
I used a small scrap of panda film.
wont ever be the same though. been there done that smoked the stuff.

 

[Bud man 43]

IF you can bring it back up from 35% to 58% with Boveda packs. But I've never seen it happen. Boveda packs are really made to "stabilize" your weed at the 58-61% range, not magically bring it from 35% to 58%.

The boveda pak will add or subtract moisture to get the closed environment to the humidity on the pak. I prefer the 58% as it is just about perfect to smoke. I found i had to let the bud sit out a while before it was good to smoke when I tried the 62%.
It is simple physics that any porous item will acclimate to the rh of the closed area. Every bit of the bud, stalk and all will stabilize to 58% if left long enough.
Now the packs have different sizes for different size containers so it can handle the load so to speak. If the pack completely dries out- remove it and add a fresh one. Each pack has its physical limitations to how much it can absorb or give off.
As a beginner in this, I seem to have been pretty lucky using the boveda technique as I have had no issues with bud rot or mold.
I have not been testing the moisture content before jarring, just drying out until I feel it is close to 60% and jar it.
It is difficult to know if it could have been better or worse as I use it- I just know if it is working good or not.
I think as my tolerance went up over the years so has the potency, so I can still be satisfied with a bong hit or two at a time- no different than 30 years ago
So far the longest I have had something jarred up before using is around 6 months- with the 8gram boveda pack in each 32 oz jar. Everything seems just as it was- but again it would be difficult to tell a difference unless it was drastic.
The boveda paks are simple to rehydrate- put an inch of water in a container that can hold a small glass. Put the packs in the dry glass and close the container until the crystals have gone away.

 

[keifcake]

Just get you a few cardboard boxes to keep around for drying. When you harvest, leave the buds attached to the stem, I usually trim before putting it in the box, but not always. It takes around 10 days usually for mine to be dry enough to put in the jar, and then I'll burp it after the 1st day so I can get a feel of how much moisture is left in the buds, and then it's usually a few days before do it again.

I used to struggle with drying and curing process as well, but the boxes help slow down the drying enough that it smells wonderful when it goes in the jar. I havent had any hay smelling bud in a long time, like I used to when it would dry out in 4 to 5 days.

I used to put a hygrometer in jars.

The sat/indica hybrids are pretty good to smoke within a couple weeks, but the sativas I find don't burn very well until a couple months.

 

[nonamedman420]

IF you can bring it back up from 35% to 58% with Boveda packs. But I've never seen it happen. Boveda packs are really made to "stabilize" your weed at the 58-61% range, not magically bring it from 35% to 58%.

It will bring the rh up and make it burn better, but the terps are lone gone and that's where the character of the high comes from. You might be able to, with limited success, get some terps back in the bud by putting a recently harvested bud in the jar with the dry bud, or use an orange peel like has been done for decades. No matter how you look at it, rehydrated bud is better than bud dust imho.

 

[Bud man 43]

It will bring the rh up and make it burn better, but the terps are lone gone and that's where the character of the high comes from. You might be able to, with limited success, get some terps back in the bud by putting a recently harvested bud in the jar with the dry bud, or use an orange peel like has been done for decades. No matter how you look at it, rehydrated bud is better than bud dust imho.

I know everyone says this-however what is the reason or science behind this claim?
Theoretically- If I dry a bud to 45% for 1 or 2 days- what exactly happens to the terpines so quickly?
Before everything was legal- did growers in Mexico specifically dry the bud to 58-62 %rh and carefully transport it in these conditions?
I am not sure but I doubt it. So I guess it “could have been better “ if it was carefully handled- but it worked pretty good.
I have had thai sticks, skunk and hawaii grown
(travelled to Oahu) and it could have been never below 58% before I got it- however I doubt it, but these mentioned were crazy good and strong.
I have put orange peels into bags to rehydrate long ago- simply judging by how it broke up, as you said, if it is dust add moisture.
When I made the adjustment it was fine.
40 years ago that’s what we did. No hygrometers or anything.
I am not arguing that the terpenoids don’t degrade as you said, buy why?
Long ago we would control the moisture content by not breaking down the bigger sacks until it was needed, and judge by feel.
Edit- reading an article about Ed at High times and he prefers 50-55 % during cure to avoid any moisture issues, along with a long cure- 2-3 months.
what is the rh and length of time that evaporates the terps quickly?

 

[PopAndSonGrows]

^ Mexican brick weed was never about terps, or trichomes, or about ANYTHING relative to good cannabis. Odd comparison.

 

[Bud man 43]

^ Mexican brick weed was never about terps, or trichomes, or about ANYTHING relative to good cannabis. Odd comparison.

I mentioned it because it was common then and some was good, some not so good.
The other were top notch

 

[nonamedman420]

I know everyone says this-however what is the reason or science behind this claim?
Theoretically- If I dry a bud to 45% for 1 or 2 days- what exactly happens to the terpines so quickly?
Before everything was legal- did growers in Mexico specifically dry the bud to 58-62 %rh and carefully transport it in these conditions?
I am not sure but I doubt it. So I guess it “could have been better “ if it was carefully handled- but it worked pretty good.
I have had thai sticks, skunk and hawaii grown
(travelled to Oahu) and it could have been never below 58% before I got it- however I doubt it, but these mentioned were crazy good and strong.
I have put orange peels into bags to rehydrate long ago- simply judging by how it broke up, as you said, if it is dust add moisture.
When I made the adjustment it was fine.
40 years ago that’s what we did. No hygrometers or anything.
I am not arguing that the terpenoids don’t degrade as you said, buy why?
Long ago we would control the moisture content by not breaking down the bigger sacks until it was needed, and judge by feel.
Edit- reading an article about Ed at High times and he prefers 50-55 % during cure to avoid any moisture issues, along with a long cure- 2-3 months.
what is the rh and length of time that evaporates the terps quickly?

Terpenes are extremely volatile and evaporate at a much lower temperature than even water does (at least for most terpse as far as I know) so they disappear along with the water. If the water is gone, there's a really great chance the terps are as well. I know a lot of people who smoke bud 5 days after the chop and think it is stronger, maybe they enjoy the the buzz from the terps more than the thc. I know quite a lot of older folks who quit smoking pot because it was so different from the bud they grew up with, and they ended up smoking hemp and loving it.

 

[Bud man 43]

Terpenes are extremely volatile and evaporate at a much lower temperature than even water does (at least for most terpse as far as I know) so they disappear along with the water. If the water is gone, there's a really great chance the terps are as well. I know a lot of people who smoke bud 5 days after the chop and think it is stronger, maybe they enjoy the the buzz from the terps more than the thc. I know quite a lot of older folks who quit smoking pot because it was so different from the bud they grew up with, and they ended up smoking hemp and loving it.

Thanks for this-
How about the RH? What is “too low” for terps to survive? And how long would it take to degrade? 1 day? 1 week?
I had left an 1/8 in my car over a month or 2 this summer. It was so dry it actually changed color- darker.
It was probably not as good as when it was fresh- but it worked perfectly fine.
Also I don’t think you can ever get all the water out unless it is in an oven or kiln. Any porous solid will acclimate to the humidity in the air surrounding it. During the driest days of winter I think the air is still around 20% rh

 

[nonamedman420]

Thanks for this-
How about the RH? What is “too low” for terps to survive? And how long would it take to degrade? 1 day? 1 week?
I had left an 1/8 in my car over a month or 2 this summer. It was so dry it actually changed color- darker.
It was probably not as good as when it was fresh- but it worked perfectly fine.

It got darker due to the decarboxylation process, losing co2 and h20 and converting the acid forms of each molecule to the psychoactive base form. Like for instance thc-a, it is not psychoactive in itself, but when it gets decarbed due to natural drying or by heating it, that acidic form of thc (thc-a) gets converted to thc that we all know and love, but the process of oxidation/decarbing causes it to get darker. Like rosin, when done from a freshly dried plant, to about 63% rh, it can be the most gorgeous colors and more translucent. When it oxidizes or gets cured or whatever you want to call it, it gets darker. When you smoke bud when it is still wet, uncured, un-decarbed etc... it is not as potent as when mostly dry. When you smoke it in a joint, even when wet, some of it instantly decarbs and gets converted and then vaporized, and will get you high, but not as high as if it was more cured/dry/decarbed/whatever. The closer to ideal ideal rh of the bud, when the acids have mostly converted to the bases, is when the bud is most potent. If you smoke it too early, it does not burn well and makes a resin leaking joint and that is a waste and you're not getting as high as you could. when ideal it will burn completely, the small amount of acids will turn to bases and you will get the highest you could of that particular amount of cannabis you consumed. This is why most connoisseurs prefer their bud to be at least partially cured, even if they don't know the science as to why. Sorry I'm super stoned and hope that makes a little bit of sense to you.