pls tell me all the diff ways u can tell when buds are dry and ready to cure. i picked many individually over the last 3 weeks and spread them out on screens w gentle fan but i got times of harvest mixed up so need some rules of thumb
I hang mine up for about a week or so until the bud starts to feel firm to the touch I then seal them up still on the stems. When the moisture inside the bud and stems evens up they become soft again. I then leave them in containers but with the lid slightly ajar. The relative humidity is measured and once it gets down to 62% they are sealed up. If the humidity rises they are opened to air out. If they stay at 62% they are left sealed. After about 4-5 weeks the cure is really noticeable but carries on for a number of weeks
I put the bud in these buckets that have hygrometers sealed in to the lids. They were only a couple of bucks from eBay. I have only tried this method once so far but it worked really well
I mean the hygrometers were only a couple of bucks from eBay. I sealed them in the bucket lids myself
When you first cut the bud down it will feel soft, it will flex a little. When it's dry enough to seal them up in jars or buckets or whatever they become firm. You can feel the edges as you move your fingers across the surface. It will feel rough and if you squeezed them they might feel sort of crisp. This will only be the surface though, the centre will still be moist and that will even up once they are sealed in jars. It's really hard to describe but you will know when the time is right, it's a pretty sudden change. At this point it will still have some drying to do so don't worry about it becoming too dry. Some people dry theirs until the stems are able to be snapped. But in my opinion at this point the bud has been dried too much and will not be a great smoke