Okay so I know these things have multiple methods and that there are specific reasons to follow those methods. I have recently caught a wild hair up my ass and wondered to myself what the outcome would be if I cut a girl down a week or 2 early, quick dried on top of a 400 watt mh lamp, and then cured the usual amount of time. Wellll I decided to go ahead and do it. I had a nice sized midget close to her cut date that I chopped up this past Monday. I quick dried her popcorn nugs for 12 hours. Then put them in a jar to cure. The nugs were dry on the outside but still a bit spongy after that quick dry so I figured the residual moisture left inside the nugs would be enough for the cure. I'm letting the actual premature buds dry normally and going to cure them regularly. Then I'm going to let some stoners besides myself test both methods first on the same day and then on different days and give me feed back on the taste smell and potency. Hopefully they tell me it's the exact same with both test cures and I can cut the time down on a bagseed harvest by a few weeks. Just to clarify. I know the proper way to dry and cure. I know most people would call this a waste of time. If anyone has tried this out, I'd be happy to listen to their experiences and then compare mine with theirs.
I've had to chop a few outdoor plants early due to weather & that was shitty enough but never have I ever quick dried. You've waited long enough for them to get to that point, might as well wait the weekish time for them to dry properly lol. They might get high, but it's going to be "harsh" and taste like shit.
I have another finishing up soon the one I chopped early was showing a mix of clear/cloudy/amber trichs and after a test the high is there the nugs smelled skunky/sweet before chop. I'm not expecting anything but I'm hoping my experience is different than yours.
My papaya is cured for a year or so. I had to chop the plant right before visitors came. Only had 2 days to hang before I tossed them in mason jars. For the first few days I buried and left open about 30 minutes. Then we went on a road trip for 3 days. Once we got back I and the guests left I began a month long burping program. 2 times a day with jars open 30 minutes occasionally moving the inner buds to the outside. My concern was mold, it never developed. What is cool is the buds have an elasticity that is similar to cured tobacco leaf. Smokes great when rolled, piped, vaped. My next adventure will be making e-juice with those buds. I plan to use EverClear, billable tea bags, small tea seeping stainless steel ball, and Vapuor Extract's e-juice starter kit.