Hey ya all! I m a second time grower.. This time I have some problems with curing...after letting the bud dry for about 5 days, I put it to mason jars. It`s been a week now and the bud is still bone dry, it hasn`t gained a gram in weight. What I am doing wrong? I open the jars every day for about 15 minutes. thanks in advance
That looks tasty...... I don't think its suppossed to gain any weight when you are curing, more likely you loose a couple of grams once the water dries out.
You are opening your jars way too much, Seal them up and leave them closed for 24 hours at least then let them breath for 2-3 hours and seal them up again. As you go along and most of the moisture is removed from the buds the longer you leave your jars sealed the better, So keep a stash to smoke so you do not need to open your jars. after 2 weeks of sealing and breathing, Seal your jars for 1 week with out opening then breath the jar for 24 hours, after this you will have a smooth sweet smoke but the longer you cure the better it gets.
dude, you said he's opening them way too much but you're telling him to do it for longer. so which is it
His method is fine the way he's doing things, he must have midread or misunderstood somewhere along the way what curing actually does for bud. Curing just makes the smoke better, the smell stronger, and overall danker. The bud will lose water weight over the time it cures because when you open the jar, you are letting out moist/stale air in exchange for fresh oxygen. If you dont air out the jars on a daily basis, mold could begin to grow.
If you would read carefully you would see that I told him to leave the jars sealed for more then double the time than they are open, Giving the buds longer to pull moisture from the stems then allowing to dry a little more and sealing again until finally sealing them for long periods of time. Opening your jars too often will just continue to quick dry the buds instead of slowly drying, re-moisturizing and vice versa this allows the chlorophyll to be broken down by natural depletion and enzymes and bacteria in the air and sweated out of the bud. So the key to curing is leaving the jars sealed for longer periods of time than they are open.
The purpose of Curing is to remove the chlorophyll content of the weed which gives the fresh weed a grassy bitter flavor and harsh smoke. But Curing is most effective when uninterrupted, For the first few days opening the jars is important, But after most of the moisture is pulled from the center of the buds opening your jars on a daily basis is just defeating the purpose and slowing the actual cure process. Mold will occur only if you did not dry properly and or cram too much into one jar not allowing good air circulation.
I read from somewhere that buds are supposed to gain weight up to 75% of what they used to weight before drying. Why I am so concerned is because the bud really is dry, I can easily crush it between my fingers. It burn very fast too. Maybe I should try water curing?
NO way do not ever put you weed into water. Water curing is a tactic of guerrilla growers who have more weed then they can process and must submerge it in water to cut down on smell. This is what turns some ok green weed into brown schwagg. If your buds are that dry then just fill a jar to the top and seal it up for 2 days if they are still crispy after sealed for 2 days, then you over dried and made it worse by opening your jars to much. But still just keep them sealed as much as possible for at least a reasonable cure but the buds will never taste as smooth as they could have with a proper cure.
you read it backwards, they loose about 75% of the initial weight. after the drying, then curing process they will weigh about one third of what they weighed when you harvested the plant.
be careful on the orange peel. if you leave it longer than a day or two, it will start mold. I like to pull a fresh green leaf off a current grow and insert in the jar for a day. that will add a little moisture back to your bud. ciao, linedrivr
i don't like using orange peel, it can cause a funky smell/taste. i always use a tortilla, but the freash weed leaf sounds like a good idea too, i'll have to try that
nice, good idea with the leaf, i'll have to try that at some point. i've always been a fan of the orange peel as long as you know not to put too much in and are able to check the moisture content of the weed every once in awhile. mmmmmmmmm some of the best i've smoked burned absolutely perfectly and had a hint of citrus to it after that peel, but mold is your enemy.
Putting a bunch of leaf in a garbage bag when it gets dry is also a dirty trick to get some weight back.....
How much is a good amount for each jar, in order to not over cram? My first grow will be done in a couple weeks so I am a newb when it comes to curing.