Help with drying needed!!! Whats gone wrong?

Ok well i cut down my two plants last week trimmed up seperated all branches as probably 15 large colons on each plus lower buds and have hung it and hung to dry 7 days ago now. Still smeels of well damp leaft smell in cupbard but if you rub bud smells lovely on fingers
Its hung in a large cupboard with air being sucked out permantly via extraction on wall not directly on to bud it has temp of about 18c and humidity has been about 55-65% in there.
My issue is branches still not snapping although bud feels dry and even ground up well but when smoked still TASTED DAMP AND HARSH!!
Do i just need more patience and leave it hanging! Or do i box it up and see if can cure in box to help this? There is no sign of mold on bud i have checked.

I'd say at this point you buds are ready to be put in jars and start curing. It's the curing process that gets rid of the leaf taste and smell, you should cure for at least a month, the longer the better. I don't bother too much abt the stems snapping or whatever, if the buds feel dry to the touch I jar them for curing, I also use a hygrometer to keep track of the moisture content, burping jar now and then, I strive for 55 to 60% moisture content.....hope this helps.

cut the stems ...if the branch is 18 inches ...cut it to 3 sections 6 inches each...

Sounds like your getting impatient, IMO I would continue to dry them a little longer. I usually dry for ten days or so with your described conditions, given the buds are pretty dense. Sometimes even longer though, you want the insides of the buds to start to dry as well. Just my take, good luck.
KnB

DeeTee said:

I'd say at this point you buds are ready to be put in jars and start curing. It's the curing process that gets rid of the leaf taste and smell, you should cure for at least a month, the longer the better. I don't bother too much abt the stems snapping or whatever, if the buds feel dry to the touch I jar them for curing, I also use a hygrometer to keep track of the moisture content, burping jar now and then, I strive for 55 to 60% moisture content.....hope this helps.

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Im sorry but I 100% disagree with this method. I use to do it with very inconsistent results. It can work but it takes forever. Best way for quality is dry the plant whole then trim when the stem snaps and jar for curing. It smokes good and taste good right after the dry but after 3 weeks of curing it is absolutely amazing. Im not trying to sound cocky but I just had a grower friend tell me I need to send my pineapple express into a contest. I just laughed. Haha I wish! Oh and that PE was only whole plant dried and cured for 3 days before that person got any. I usually cure for a week but after showing my friend the jars, he was begging. lol.

I also dry the plant with all leaves ect still on it. I do some trimming the last week before I pull them, I cut them at the lowest point and hang them in my closet with a fan running every few hours. I dry until the buds feel dry and the stems almost snap. It only took 5-6 days for them to dry. Then I do my trimming and jar for curing. My plants never smelled like hay or grass while drying.