Drying and curing.

So I haven yet got to the point were in drying an curing but I have a few questions that I had about it I have read and seen post saying its best it keep in the darkness and with a 75% humidity or sum shit maybe it was 55% anyways I had a questions after watching Jorge Cervantes video. So here it i how long after cutting it and trimming it do you have to put it k complete darkness? And what does the darkness do exactly. Also does it have to be in a dark area with a certain humidity level. Cuz I have 2 laces I can dry my crop once it's done my closet witch is small and have no doors or my garage that has the washer and dryer both rooms get light and I think the garage would be ideal if the washer and dryer were not there cuz it causes to much hear and humidity at least I think. And my room is a decent temp but the sum comes in still. Any help would be appreciated.

drying in a dark area with no sunlight helps it slowly dry and now dry out too quick, too quick dry equals hay bud cause the chlorphyll has to break down in the drying process, slower dry= smoother smoke, another thing is uv light kills thc, when you cut down your plant its still alive, and light getting into the room can further degrade the thc content of your plant, now having a regular light in the room to see is nothing compared to how strong the sun is, but I wouldn't keep a light on if u don't have too, cover the windows but try to have fresh air moving into the room also with a fan, try not to have the fan blowing on the plant itself, just keep the air moving

Ok so what if I jus put a cover over my closet and put a can aiming at the wall or the ground to keep the air moving?

Covering your closet should work. The main thing is that you stop the production of chlorophyl and cure slowly. The drying buds will continue to utilize the energy in the plant(chlorophyl) during the drying process, this is why if you cure to quick you lock that chlorophyl in the bud making harsh. It should take a week to 2 weeks for the stems to break before you put the buds into cure.

Oh really that long?

Any faster than a week from my experience and you risk making your smoke harsh.

don't rush the final process, you did all this hard work for the end product to taste like shit? this is one of the biggest obsticles people seem to just forget how important it is, your thank yourself later for not rushing things n get pats on the back by friends, or would u rather hear, fuck! this shit burned my throat, kinda harsh man im good on that...patients is the key once u master your patients you will be one with the plant...

I use a storage room of the back of my laundry room to dry. I put black plastic over the window and I put a house fan in there on oscillate but it's low to the ground and doesn't blow directly on the buds. I also crack the door for ventilation. Smell control can be an issue during this part. I could smell mine drying for 50 yards in any direction last year.

I dried my stuff for about a week last year then another week in plastic totes being burped regularly while I trimmed.

After trimming everything will smell like pine trees or fresh cut grass but if you put it in jars for 2 weeks it starts to cure and smell really nice. IMO 30-90 days in the jars is when it's at it's best.

I cut off all the fan leaves before I hang, I don't trim it till its dry and I always have the smell n don't have a pine tree or cut grass smell, I did one year trim it before I hung it and I had to wait 2-3 weeks in a jar before the smell came back so now I just hang it till dry then trim

biscuitkid said:

I cut off all the fan leaves before I hang, I don't trim it till its dry and I always have the smell n don't have a pine tree or cut grass smell, I did one year trim it before I hung it and I had to wait 2-3 weeks in a jar before the smell came back so now I just hang it till dry then trim

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I did try to wet trim some last year. That could be where that smell came from. After a while I decided wet trimming was taking to long (I was racing to harvest with a rainstorm on the way) so I just cut off the big leaves after that.

leading up to harvest day I start removing all the fan leaves till there barley any that way its easy as shit when its chop day! but I notice if you remove at least the fan leaves before hanging you get a smoother smoke as long as you flushed properly etc the reasoning which I learned from someone else is that leaving the fan leaves when hanging makes more of the chlorphyll getting suck into the bud itself as it drys, thus when u remove them before hand less chlorphyll more smoother smoke worked for me

biscuitkid said:

leading up to harvest day I start removing all the fan leaves till there barley any that way its easy as shit when its chop day! but I notice if you remove at least the fan leaves before hanging you get a smoother smoke as long as you flushed properly etc the reasoning which I learned from someone else is that leaving the fan leaves when hanging makes more of the chlorphyll getting suck into the bud itself as it drys, thus when u remove them before hand less chlorphyll more smoother smoke worked for me

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That's my plan this year. I want to start stripping off the leaves right before I chop. My buddy said to remove any leaf with a visible stem right before or as you chop.

Removing the leaves after I chopped was a pain last year so this year I want to do it right before.

Ok thanks guys so hhow do you guys flush what's the best way?

Urhighness88 said:

Ok thanks guys so hhow do you guys flush what's the best way?

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It is usually done with water.

at 50% humidity mine took about 48 hours to dry. had ceiling fan on lowest setting for first 24 hours and I used a window screen to dry the buds.. Then jarred the buds for like 4 hours. Then removed from the jar and dried for about another 15-20 hours... the herb is smooth and tasty after 2 day dry and 2 day cure... (planning on curing the rest of it a couple weeks). just burping the jar a couple times a day, and less frequently as the buds reach the desired cure.

Flushing = watering without any nutrients at the end of the flowering cycle. The amount of time to flush is debatable. I would recommend at least the last 2 waterings to flush.

By dark Cervantes means not to dry in direct sun or an overly bright room because the plant still has the capability to produce more THC even after it is cut, and the darkness slows the drying process. I wouldn't lose any sleep over drying in a room with some light in it, because your bud pretty much already has all the THC it can have, and any gain is really insignificant. You will want to cure and store in darkness as the bud's THC will degrade in bright light. Peace