tips on chop and trim?

[Dr. Green Fang]

Well folks, I jarred the sb and its holding at 61% rh. I shouldn't have burped them at all. At this rh will they cure properly? The buds do seem spongier and less dry.

The cure range is between 55% - 70% soooo, you're in the cure still!

Bovida Pack...62's.. get those, and you'll be at 62% for a long time :aok:

 

[000StankDank000]

70 is too high doc
View attachment ImageUploadedByTapatalk1427767165.776838.jpg

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

Between 55% - 70% RH is the cure zone. :aok:

 

[000StankDank000]

60-65 Is the cure zone 55% RH and below is the danger zone. I wouldn't wanna start going lower then 60% . That's why the 62% packs work perfect .

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

Always gone by Hicks curing by the numbers... not really read much anything beyond that and after reading that, my 2 years of curing experiences.

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54451

Phase one. 70%+ RH: This starts out just like any other time you have done it. Once you have harvested your bud and trimmed it to your liking, hang it in a cool dark place. This is where we will part from tradition. Allow it to hang until the buds begin to feel like they are drying (note the temps and rh as this will rarely be the same during subsequent harvests). They will start to lose their "softness" in favor of a slightly crispy texture. We don't want to allow it to dry until the stems snap. THIS IS WRONG! We want the stems to be flexible. Not totally soft, but not snapping, either. If allowed to dry until the stems snap we risk it drying too much and losing an opportunity to take full advantage of the cure window. You see once the bud reaches the 55% RH range, the cure is dead. No amount of moisture added will revive this. If you are a brown bag dryer you can still use this technique, although I no longer do. I feel it is unneccessary at this point in the drying process. Just make sure you do not over dry. Also, this is a perfect time to calibrate your hygrometers with your new calibrating kit. This phase may take anywhere from 2 to 7 days depending on ambient temp, RH and strain, etc. It is important to be right on top of this phase. Sometimes we will notice thinner stemmed buds getting done quicker. It is ok to take these first and put them in the jar. Just screw the cap on very loosely until the bulk of the bud joins it.

Phase two. 70% to 65% RH: This is where the numbers game begins to kick in. Once you have reached the crispy bud/flexible stem stage, it is time to jar it up. Now there are a few options here.. Really you can jar it up just like always. Only, fill your jar 3/4 to 4/5 full so you have room to use your hygrometer. You can leave it on the stem, stem free, whatever. I personally prefer it in it's finished state, no stems. You can leave just a few stems intact for the sake of testing stem flexibility. Also, with more stems comes more moisture. This may fit well with your style, but it also may play havoc if mold is present. Once your bud is in the jar drop in the hygrometer and cap it. Keep an eye on your meter for the next hour or so. What we are shooting for in this phase is 70% RH maximum. If you hit 71% or greater, you will have to take the bud out to dry more. If this seems a little tricky here, it is. The cure, even though we are still in the dry phase, has been happening to a small degree since the moment the bud was cut. Basically now we are juggling time with mold prevention. We want to avoid any instance of mold, but we want to get every second of cure time in that we can. The goal in this phase is to start at a 70% maximum RH and, in a timely and mold free manner, bring the RH down to about 65%. The reason I say "about" is that if there is an issue with mold (i.e. the crop was exposed to heavy mold before and/or during harvest) we may chose to take the RH even lower, like 62%. This won't leave a huge window for curing, but it will keep the bud safe. Ideally, however, 65% will do. Generally you can tell pretty quickly if the bud is still too wet as the hygrometer % will climb pretty quickly (rate: 1% per hour or faster). You will also notice, at this point, that the bud will feel "wetter". That's ok. The reason for this is that while the exposed part of the bud began to dry quicker than the inside during phase one, the inside of the bud and stems retained a good deal of their moisture. Once in the jars (phase two) that moisture can no longer be efficiently evaperated off and moved to a different area, being replaced by dryer air. Once you have determined the RH, which may take up to 24 hours, you can begin burping the jars. This can be done at a rate of one to two hours once or twice a day, depending on initial RH reading. Your room RH, temp, strain, exposure to mold and hygro readings will dictate this for you and wether to go faster or slower. Slower is always better, but precipitating factors, as stated, may trump this.. Also, at the end of this stage is where most commercial bud will hit the open market, if you are lucky. The bud at this stage should have that super sticky icky velvety feel and the 'bag appeal' will be at it's very highest.

Phase three, 65% to 60% RH: Your buds are in the jar and RH is 65% or less. Perfect. The object of the game, as stated before, is to slowly release the moisture from the jar over time. Your buds are now in the cure zone. At this point we are looking for a much slower release than phase two and will shift to a short burp once a week. Your buds will deliver a nice smoke at around 60%, so the speed at which this is done (which translates directly to duration of burpage) is entirely up to you. It is at this stage that small stems should snap in two. It is also in this stage that you will meet true stability, or equalization, in RH. What that means is that the amount of moisture in the stems is no longer disproportionate to the buds, and moisture transfer or persperation (sweat) slows dramatically. This also means it will take much longer to get a true reading from your Hygrometer. A true reading at this point might take up to 36 hours, but that's ok.

I still believe it's 55% - 70% area, but yeeeessss.. 60-67% is quite perfect. I like it more moist. I'm a 65% RH kinda guy

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

Nice.. re-read my own readings and yep.. Good call Stank, on the specifics!

Phase three, 65% to 60% RH: Your buds are in the jar and RH is 65% or less. Perfect. The object of the game, as stated before, is to slowly release the moisture from the jar over time. Your buds are now in the cure zone.

 

[BROMAN]

Ok im in the game then. Just checked them and one is at 62 and the other at 65 so im good. They dont have that premium smell or feel yet though. They look pretty tasty . The cc are both hangin now and the tim along with some popcorn are in the freezer. I want to try the bUbble bags but i dont have enough will power to not go in on the hash.

 

[Joe420Camel]

month minimum in "the zone"
by then, the magic has started and you'll smell (and taste) the difference.

Keep checking every few days here in the beginning. You'll be surprised just how much they have.
After you don't see any change for a few days then check every week, then every few weeks.

ENJOY!!
:48:

 

[BROMAN]

Peoples.. When do you weigh your harvest? Do you weigh just after drying or after the cure? Just weighed the cc after drying and 1 day or so in jars and im bugging out. 7.65 and 7.93 oz. respectively. The sb scrog yielded more by sight but i have yet to weigh. Oh i did leave a lot of stem so even with subtracting say an ounce from ea its a nice haul.

 

[MR1]

I weigh mine at 57%, I think it is a good standard for weight of your harvest. Anything over that just seems to wet for me.

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

Buggin' out in a good way, right Broman?

I weigh mine after I've taken it from the drying tent, and pluck it and put it in jars. I get almost 0 loss from then to curing. :aok:

 

[BROMAN]

Mr1 I was thinking about them still bein too wet. Btw your avatar makes me think about the range and a carry permit. Dr I'm definitely bugging in a good way:yay::clap::banana::rofl:. 20+zips is more than i let myself hope for.:afroweed::smoke1:

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

Zinnnng!

 

[MR1]

Broman, I have that for my avatar because i don't want people to think I am mr.1, never noticed that when I picked my name.
Just smoked some Satori I left to dry to long, it was cured right , it just got to dry (35%), I rehydrated it with a piece of damp paper towel to get it back to 57%, still tastes great.

 

[BROMAN]

Zing , is right! MR1 that's good to hear cuz the cotton candies we're at 74% so I left 2 jars open and emptied 2 into a pan and left to dry 12 hours or a little less. They were still at 72-73% so I dumped the other 2 and left the tops off 2 for 12. Now they are at 57 up from 45. Humidipaks are on the way. All and all after weighing the strawberry blue I pulled 22 oz out of my 800w closet. Joe what was that strain in the pics?

 

[Joe420Camel]

Almost all the pics are White Siberian (white widow x AK47) from DinaFem

the "BIG buds" (and hand) are from my 2nd grow, the "whole plant" shot was from the first grow.
:48:

 

[BROMAN]

Ooh! Sounds powerful good. How's it smoke? Does it have the power of both?

 

[BROMAN]

This has definitely been the trickiest part of the grow. I've ruined all of the cotton candy. That's 13 zips of dry, crunchy, nearly unscented, fat buds. The hygrometer reads 62° but it doesn't look like anything I'd want to cop. The strawberry blue is much better looking and not crunchy and holding at 64°, still no smell. I've got the packs arriving totomorrow but I don't hold out hope. I'm hurt. I just want to figure out what to do next time. I'm thinking 2-3 day dry with my closets rh at 35° and if jarred at 72 73° I should just open the jars a few times a day. The paper bag method even sounds like a better bet with my rh. I don't know..

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

"I'm thinking 2-3 day dry with my closets rh at 35"

Yes, if your RH is that low, about a 3 day dry is what you want. I thought I said something like that in this thread already?

Sorry to hear man Maybe the Boveda will help your situation at least a little bit.

 

[BROMAN]

Yeah.. Thanks Dr. It probably smokes well but, I had plans you know? If the boveda doesn't work a miracle I will just have more butter than expected. Do folks make bubble with dried choke? Grow and learn. I'm about ready to go again.