How to slow down the dry?

So I'm getting ready for my first harvest and I cut one of lower branches on Wednesday night to test the potency. There was probably only a gram (dried) in that particular branch, but I did a wet trim then hung the branch upside down in a brown paper bag then closed it and then hung the bag near my carbon filter in my grow cab which ranges 77-82 f and 30-40% rh. By Friday afternoon the stem snapped easily and the nug was smokable dry with little scent or flavor. Other than waiting to trim until after it's dry and hanging it as a whole plant instead of branch by branch does anyone have recommendations as to what I can do to slow the process down and retain more flavor? For what it's worth the smoke was extremely smooth and didn't so much as tickle my throat when I tested it, it just didn't have any taste.

when your drying cooler temperatures are better, hang them in a basement in the dark and have a fan blowing on them gently. I like to dry under 70 degrees..

P.S make sure you set up a dehumidifier by your buds to avoid mold**

Weed chopped early dries to smell like lawn clippings.

It wasn't that early, through my 30x jewellers loupe I can see about 80% white to 20% clear, it was a creeper high taking about 15-20 minutes for full effect, but itwas a pure head experience. It didn't even affect my eyes and wife didn't even notice I was high. I like bud like that so my plan is to chop when I see the ambers in more than 1 or 2 buds.

As for temps my grow is the only part of my house that gets to 77 at any point in the day except my fridge. I'm stuck to my cabinet also because my wife quit smoking shortly after giving me the green light to start my garden so it's become a touchy subject lately and it really must stay self contained.

I've thought about possibly giving her a big watering at her last lights on and then chopping at the base and hanging her in a bottomless cardboard box suspended above a small fan to circulate air. But at the same time I live in AZ, 40% is high humidity 20% is about normal. That's why I was aldi thinking about hanging her in a closed cardboard box with an ice pack underneath her, then opening the box during the dark period to exchange air. Kinda like drying a little then curing a little all in the same day.

No matter what I'm going to wait and trim after she's dry, but do either of those ideas seem more or less risky or possibly more helpful for the process?