honestly....i am terrified

[loolagigi]

ok, here it goes. i have greown a few succesful grows, but everytime, i think i harvested early, and or, dried, and cured wrong.

i will be harvesting these 2 plants in 8 8 weeks or so, and i am worried i will spend all this time, and have grassy/hay smelling/harsh smoking/burnt tasting homegrown sensi.

i want to break the system on this grow.

i have allready read thousands of posts, and quite a few harvesting threads, and tutorials, but i am still shaking in my boots.

i always used the hand to dry, and jar to cure method. after reading i think im going to cut fan leaves off only and hang. letting the little leaves cover the buds as they dry. then come back and trim the rest of the leaves. then i will slow dry at 74-78 degrees f, and 40-50 rh. then once they are semi dry, place them in a paper bag, and keep an eye on them before jarring. what do you think?

sorry if this thread seems desperate, but it is. i hate paying some money hungry dushe hard earned money for ok mj. lend a brother a hand.
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[2Dog]

ok I am going to be honest...I have cured 3 types of weed. all smoke great and are smooth but the sativa did not look as nice as the indicas not even close but it smokes great. I think it has everything to do with the quality of the bud...not anything special that I do. I cut off everything but the small most crystally leaves for bud cupping..then I hang em in a dark place in the winter I use a fan gently blowing around them not on them. Then I jar em. I open the jars for a lot mroe than a few minutes everyday, if the bud seems to have remoistened I have been known to leave them open overnight. I make sure to roll em and transfer the buds around. Like I said tho I think the smoke mostly comes down to the herb quality. things are harder to trim the longer you wait IMO. I once left a trimming batch overnight and the next day it was a pain trimming it and it takes longer to dry. good luck. maybe the weed you have been growing is just harsher white's tend to be and some other strains.

[brushybill]

thats how i do mine,i like using bags after the initial drying. works great, one thing i've learned is, don't rush the drying process,
i'll keep my fingers crossed for you

[loolagigi]

thanks guys. last time it took 3-4 days to dry, i think thats what made it crappy. i think im going to make it dry a little more slowely withought letting it get moldy. and i would like to trim all the leaf before drying, but have seen a lot of people leaving small leafes on. maybe this captures the fragrence, and taste? i dunno, i havnt figured it out yet. maybe it is the strain, but i think the odds are more in favor for homegrown, rather than commercial.

[Hamster Lewis]

I like to leave a lil more leaf on mine when drying...just a personal preference...I usually hang dry for like 7-10 days then check and if ready right into jars...no brown bagging anymore....

[loolagigi]

Originally Posted by Hamster Lewis

I like to leave a lil more leaf on mine when drying...just a personal preference...I usually hang dry for like 7-10 days then check and if ready right into jars...no brown bagging anymore....

i like that idea......but you used to brown bag? what made you stop?

[Hamster Lewis]

Originally Posted by loolagigi

i like that idea......but you used to brown bag? what made you stop?

I used to brown bag but when I did I did not leave them hanging as long as I do now....After leaving some hanging for a bit longer then a week I realized that the brown bagging part was not needed...when I took them down they were very dry and I put them right into the mason jars and I loved how they turned out so that's my routine now...

[2Dog]

people say they loose the thc in the brown bags...I agree it's better to hang dry and jar. plus it helps get rid of the pot reek in the house when they are jarred.

[loolagigi]

awesome, ok, maybe this was my origional question.....i have read 1000 times to stop drying and start curing when the stem snaps. now, a thin stem will snap long before a fat cola will dry......lets say the cola/buds are crispy on the outside should i still leave the buds to dry some more.
each place is different when drying so i understand the variables, just trying to fix my situation. thanks

[Hamster Lewis]

The last time I dried it was the White Dwarfs that did not get very big... I left them hanging in the closet for 2 full weeks...kinda was busy and just forgot about them...well they dried the best out of all my smoke...I think as along as you check for mold you cld leave them hanging for quite a while and then go right to jars...

[eastla_kushsmoka]

I used to manicure from day one of harvest now i just cut the stalk and hang the whole plant upside down in a dark cab for about 13 days or less it works great with the cure really brings out the smell ,flavor ,and keeps the nice light green color you really want imo but im just a "lurker"

[loolagigi]

awesome replies. thank you all. i guess ill be bringing this up again right before harvest, just needed some piece of mind while im dreaming of my ladies.

[scatking]

I have found that if I trim off all the fan leaves and cut the branches from the main stalk things dry fairly quickly - maybe a week. Next time I'm gonna leave the plants whole and see if that doesn't slow things down a bit. Also, my smoke seems to smooth out after a few months in the jar. After a month it seemed like I was coughing up a lung. the same weeds left to cure for a while was much smoother smoother and tasted sweeter than the early batch. It hard just letting it sit, but as I harvested subsequent grows, I was able to let tie and mother nature do their thing.