When you first put your buds into jars, moisture comes back so you open the lid and air it out. The top buds get dry while the bottom doesn't dry out as much. When you close the jar again, will the moisture from the bottom buds travel up to the top making them all the same moisture level again?
Flip them by sitting the jar on its bottom a couple days then on its top for a couple days. There shouldn't be alot of moisture in the buds when you put them in the jar. A good way to check if it is ready is if the stem at the base of the bud snaps when bent instead of just bending.
My room gets dry and in 3 days my stems start to snap. I cut them off a bit earlier and put them in jars to let them dry off slower and to let the buds tighten up a bit more. I usually take the buds back out for 30 mins or so then put them back in and do it again if its still not at where I want it. I'm getting lazy to do that step so was just wondering if I could leave the top open to dry the top buds out really dry and then seal it back up so it somehow evenly sucks up moisture from the bottom buds even when its near dry to the point where you can start the actual curing.
use a paper grocery bag to dry them in that way you can control the drying time by opening and closing it and at the end put the bag in a plastic bag to draw the inner moisture out if you have to take them out you are putting them in to early and drying them too fast. use the coolest place in you room like a closet to slow it down.
curing starts when you start the drying process it should take 5-7 days if you are getting moisture in the jar they are not ready to go into the jar. there are some great posts in the curing forum.
My point in putting them in jars a bit earlier is to have them nug up and compressed a bit more on the outsides of the bud. If I leave them a little longer till the point where I dont need to burp or only need to burp them a few times, they turn crispy and hard so crystals/sugar leaves fall everywhere when you touch them. I like to put them in jars and finish drying them that way, all the hairs and leaves fold inwards. I am not starting the curing process yet, just want to know if I can finish the last bit of drying that way. I've figured out that the moisture will slowly travel throughout the jar eventually making the top buds moist again. Thanks for the suggestions.
Putting them into jars too early is a mistake(I know from exp). The secret is slow, balanced drying. On day 3-4 of my dry I load everyone into a baking dish with a Rubbermaid top. 12 hours later I push on the lid to burp it and to compress the buds into "nug" form, just a bit. 12 hours later when I pull them back out, they're wicked moist. This is because moisture hiding in the stems and inner bud have spread out to the whole bud. Back out onto the rack for two days. Then another 24 hrs in the dish. One or two days after pulling again they're ready for jars. In my basement 7-8 days this way is perfect. At this point my tiny stems snap and my bigger stems break, but with some flexing and not with that super dry feel. I always do a 24 hour lid pop after this. If I smell even a hint of ammonia they dry for another 24-48 hrs. This hasn't happened since using the baking dishes, which promote moisture transfer pre-jarring. Be kind. Perfect your craft. Give more than you take. We are family.
It took me a while when we were first starting out to get to the point where I knew exactly where they needed to get to regarding dryness before they went into jars. Too soon and you can end up with mold because you didn't get enough moisture out. Too long before, you can dry them up to dust. So there's a fine line in between the two and about the best way I know to tell you is to experiment with it...but mine always seems, to the untrained, to be too dry when it goes into the jars. But when a good dense bud will still have a lot of moisture deep down inside and sealing it up in the jar just allows it to spread into the rest of the bud. It's a truly beautiful thing! LOL
the trick is to keep the buds drying/curing evenly if the outside gets crispy the outside is done it was flash dried you can do that in a microwave and even if it absorbs moisture again it is not going to 'cure' to do it right they have to lose moisture evenly and three days isn't long enough to do that.
Usually my stuff is dry enough in 3 days to go into jars to sweat out excess moisture in the jars. I burp them and leave them out for 30 mins or so and then put them back in. Repeat if I have to. I'm not talking about trimming them off their stems early then put them in the jar and think I'm curing them just because its in a jar. I'm not going to put them in any microwave and mess them up further either. If I wait 4 days or any longer they're going to get too dry and when I put them in jars they will not fold/nug up because they have already taken their shape and crystals/dry sugar leaves/ hairs fall everywhere to the touch because they are sticking out. Thanks for the help. I have figured it out. All I wanted to know is if the moisture from the bottom buds will travel to the top buds.
Have you tried taking a coagulated box or container like a tote where you can control the humidity and temp to remove the moisture at a controlled rate? hanging in a hot dry room is too fast. try a search on YouTube for drying chamber. .
Ahhhh yes good idea, I should look for a nice diy drying chamber where I can control temp/humidity and be able to hang dry or dry on flat surface. My problem is always having larf that needs that little bit of compression to make look better. I live in a dry area, my drying room is constantly around 20% humidity and temps are in the 70s.
I'll cut and paste this from elsewhere.. This should solve most of your issues as I've worked this out over the past 5 years.. ============================================= My grow is So Calif and between the temps and the very low humidity it's very easy to over dry.. Even a single day to long on the line can ruin it all.. To keep the wife happy all my work is restricted to the garage so I get to be inventive at times.. If you search long enough you'll come across the 777 of curing .. This being the 7 days @ 70 degrees @ 70% humidity.. Works well if you have a temp and humidity controlled room.. We don't so we use jars to achieve the same ends.. While I started in jars this soon proved impractical trying to unscrew all the jars over and over.. Some trial and error later I worked out a method to limit exposure to our stone dry air and still get things done in a timely way.. I take the plant a branch at a time and trim close while seconds off the living plant.. All the leafs are standing tall and you don't get a better shot at trimming.. Hang.. http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1393031894.jpg Depending on temp and humidity this stage can take from 24 hours to a week.. just hung bud is dead limp to the touch after 12 hours or so.... When the buds start to stiffen when slightly compressed I remove from the branches.. http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1393031909.jpg And the buds get placed in cut down paper shopping bags about 3 inches tall.. http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1393031922.jpg Next I place the bags in a air snug-tight container.. Mostly I use either an Ice Chest or a New unused Trash Can.. I try and size the container to the load.. You don't want 1 bag of buds in a trash can.. While I did use several hygrometers early on for this stage I've since found I can do it all just by feel now.. Leave bags in can till limp to the touch again.. This first day that won't take very long. a couple of hours... Once limp remove from container and set bags out till stiff when compressed slightly.. I'll flip the contents of the bags to a third bag to get the lowest buds up on top.. I'll continue this rotation of the bags into and out of the container gradually spending less and less time exposed.. the last few days the bags will only be out an hour or so.. This takes me about 7 days.. This is where I do use the Hygrometers.. The can is now acting like a large jar.. Your best readings come in the morning after the can has had 12 hours or more to stabilize and will tell you how much exposure your product will need that day.. Combined with a hygrometer telling me what is outside helps.. http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1381192804.jpg A full can requiring a single meter as well as being able to get the product in and out rapidly made this a much more practical way at least in the extremely dry SW USA.. Once the can has reached 65% and 7 to 10 days have elapsed It gets jarred in Half Gallon mason jars with a 62% Boveda 60 gram and I'm done.. 60 days minimum cure time for me.. Longer is better but you'll have a very respectable smoke in 2 months.. http://forum.grasscity.com/uploads/m...1393296931.jpg Caution this may get you a large container of mold in a less dry area.. Just what I've worked out in my smoking hot and extremely dry garage.. BNW
