Is my cure ruined?

Greetings Plant Lovers,

Quick question. So I trimmed and left my buds hanging to dry for four days. Took them down, trimmed off all stems and placed them in a jar with a hygrometer. Checked the reading after about 12 hours it was 78%, so I took the buds out and placed them in an open shoe box to dry overnight. Put the buds back in the jar and now after about 12 hours the humidity has only risen to 57%. Have I overdried the buds? Should I put an orange peel or something in the jar to add some extra moisture? If the humidity is already down to 60% or less do I still need to "burp" the jars daily for first two weeks of curing?

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. This is my first grow / harvest.

Thanks!

Doesnt sound like its ruined. I hang mine til u can bend the stalk and it breaks at 55% humidity. Then i fill the jars only half full and burp them daily and leave them open for at least a hr. I also shake them around as well. There are many diff ways. Hope all comes out well

Gr8Xcape98 said:

Greetings Plant Lovers,

Quick question. So I trimmed and left my buds hanging to dry for four days. Took them down, trimmed off all stems and placed them in a jar with a hygrometer. Checked the reading after about 12 hours it was 78%, so I took the buds out and placed them in an open shoe box to dry overnight. Put the buds back in the jar and now after about 12 hours the humidity has only risen to 57%. Have I overdried the buds? Should I put an orange peel or something in the jar to add some extra moisture? If the humidity is already down to 60% or less do I still need to "burp" the jars daily for first two weeks of curing?

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. This is my first grow / harvest.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

You can just do the "google cure" as good ole boy suggested. You should have hung them back up somehow after the trim for a day or two. The shoe box probably ate so much moisture overnight. One reason i dont use paper bags/shoe box's. Dont open the jar unless it starts to sweat again.

Gr8Xcape98 said:

Greetings Plant Lovers,

Quick question. So I trimmed and left my buds hanging to dry for four days. Took them down, trimmed off all stems and placed them in a jar with a hygrometer. Checked the reading after about 12 hours it was 78%, so I took the buds out and placed them in an open shoe box to dry overnight. Put the buds back in the jar and now after about 12 hours the humidity has only risen to 57%. Have I overdried the buds? Should I put an orange peel or something in the jar to add some extra moisture? If the humidity is already down to 60% or less do I still need to "burp" the jars daily for first two weeks of curing?

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. This is my first grow / harvest.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

if it's below 60 then you can store it like that for a couple months, but as far as curing goes it's pretty much done. if it's 60-65 you are right in the zone you want, here you don't need to burp more than once a week for 5 minutes. if you are at 60 i would be careful not to burp for too long. Give it a full day or two before you freak out.

Thanks for the replies. This is my first grow so I tend to freak out whenever something seems to be going wrong. From what I've read about curing you should aim to start with a humidity in the high 60's and slowly get it down to the low 60's over a week or more. Looks like I completely skipped the 60's which seems to be the sweet spot. I think SPLFreak is right that the cardboard from the shoe box sucked all the moisture out. I'll take Samson's advice and wait a few days before the next burp to see if the humidity climbs any more. Over the last 5 or so hours it's ticked up to 58%, so maybe there is hope.

That said, despite over a decade of self medicating I've likely never even smoked any "properly cured" bud. I've already sampled some from this harvest and it definitely gets the job done, so it's all good. I'll just do the best cure I can with what I've got.

What about this "add an orange or lemon peel to the jar" stuff that I've read about? Does anyone actually do this? Or is this an evil trick only first-timers fall for? Seems like it might increase the chance for mold. Any thoughts?

I used to add fan leaves, never liked the idea of adding anything that would change the flavour of the buds... Some people use lettuce as well.

rocpilefsj said:

I used to add fan leaves, never liked the idea of adding anything that would change the flavour of the buds... Some people use lettuce as well.

Click to expand...

I hadn't heard/thought of using fan leaves. Would you add freshly cut leaves to the jar? And would you do this with all the cures or only when you thought the buds were too dry and need some help?

Get some boveda humidity packs. They regulate humidity perfectly.

Gr8Xcape98 said:

I hadn't heard/thought of using fan leaves. Would you add freshly cut leaves to the jar? And would you do this with all the cures or only when you thought the buds were too dry and need some help?

Click to expand...

Yeah just used to toss them right in the jar, only to the ones that seemed a little dry.

Fan leaves are a good trick. Slow buffered release.

I've always wondered if that would really work - putting some boveda 62's in a jar until it stays at 62 a couple days, then putting the bud into a different jar and seeing what it's actual rh is?

SamsonsRiddle said:

I've always wondered if that would really work - putting some boveda 62's in a jar until it stays at 62 a couple days, then putting the bud into a different jar and seeing what it's actual rh is?

Click to expand...

Too much like witchcraft for me lol

EverythingsHazy said:

Get some boveda humidity packs. They regulate humidity perfectly.

Click to expand...

As rock pile mentioned, go with Humidity Packs from Boveda. They take all the guess work out of it, once the buds are in a jar, put a cap inside the lid and it will keep it at 62, it will adjust up or down. I can swear by the boveda, I use it on all my cures.

i dont like boveda 62,they make my bud to spongy.i like my buds to be drier.

resinousflowers420 said:

i dont like boveda 62,they make my bud to spongy.i like my buds to be drier.

Click to expand...

You can use them for curing, and then move the bud to another jar where you burp it until it's dry enough for your preference.

For vaporizing, I find the bud works better when very dry, too, but i still like boveda packs for the cure. They provide enough moisture to allow beneficial bacteria to break down some compounds, and for other chemical reactions to take place, while staying under the limit for high mold risk. Before consuming a bud, you can just leave it out of the jar overnight to dry up. It'll have cured well, and will still be dry enough to smoke or vaporize.