My maicured buds... Brown bag or straight to jars?

[Slartibartfast]

I cut my sativa Tuesday the 2'nd and hung it in my workshop to dry for about 8 days. It was an unbelievably huge amount of weed (I'm used to those little toy indicas ) It felt very dry at that time, but I couldn't manicure it that day, so I cut it into 12" lengths and stuffed it into a brown grocery bag and closed the top. It was enough to completely fill the bag. I checked it the next day and it was pretty moist again, so over the next few days I alternately left it open and closed to try and let some but not all of it out. So far so good.

By Sunday the 14th, I had time to work with it. I had planned to trim it up and put in some grocery bags to further cure, but when I started manicuring, I thought it was pretty dry, so I went ahead and started putting it into quart mason jars. I still have another day's work to get it all trimmed but I'm having second thoughts about jarring it so soon.

So we're getting closer to my question. When I manicure a bud, I pull all the shade leaves off and also pull off as many of the other larger leaves as I can, leaving it with just the small leaves that are close in around the flower. I squeeze it carefully in my fist just enough to compact and shape it and make it sort of stick together. It's slightly spongy, but I have to bend it almost in half to get the stem inside to crack. Some of them don't crack either.

1. Is it okay to squeeze and slightly compress them as I described in paragraph three? Does that cause damage?
2. Does it sound like I should take it back out of the jars and brown bag them for a week or so? I would hate to lose all of this weed to mold.
3. How dry should they actually feel before I can safely seal them for the long term?
4. I read that the buds should be packed loosely in the jars. I've been putting enough in so they they all touch (but not pressing against each other) and don't move around if I shake the jar. Does that sound too compact?
5. I read that I should open the jars daily for a while to let them breathe and let out gases. How long until I can seal them permanently?

Thanks,
Rusty

 

[gmo]

First of congrats on what sounds like a really nice harvest. I'll take a stab at your questions.


1. Is it okay to squeeze and slightly compress them as I described in paragraph three? Does that cause damage?
Any handling of buds can cause damage to the trichomes. If you need to feel a bud to see how moist it still is, do it.The bud is gonna be good either way, just keep your hands off of it as much as possible.
2. Does it sound like I should take it back out of the jars and brown bag them for a week or so? I would hate to lose all of this weed to mold.
It sounds to me like you should put them back into the bags for 3-4 days and check again. They are getting close if some of the stems are CRACKING (you'll hear and feel it crack, its unmistakable). Once the majority of the stems crack instead of bend it is time for jars.
3. How dry should they actually feel before I can safely seal them for the long term?
When you put the buds into bags you are leeching out the moisture from the middle of the flower. That is why when you put them in bags they already felt a little bit dry, but after a day in the bags they were moist again. Exactly how dry you want them is preference IMO. I like my buds just the slightest bit moist on the outside when I seal them for good (after a good long cure). Its almost not even moist, its just before the moisture where the buds would crumble if I tried. Instead they pull apart rather easily. After about an hour out of the jar they will be completely dry and crumble (to give you an example).
4. I read that the buds should be packed loosely in the jars. I've been putting enough in so they they all touch (but not pressing against each other) and don't move around if I shake the jar. Does that sound too compact?
As long as your not compacting them down into the jars you should be fine. Them touching one another is not going to do much, if any, damage to the trichomes.
5. I read that I should open the jars daily for a while to let them breathe and let out gases. How long until I can seal them permanently?
Atleast 30 days in most peoples opinion. The longer the better. Drawing out the last bit of moisture prior to storage is a process that will break down the remaining chloryphil. Burping the jars will let the gasses escape the jar and remove undesired flavors and smells (hay, fresh cut grass, etc). Don't seal jars fully until the desired flavor and smell is present for atleast a 10 days, be careful though because the smell will change. You are looking for a consistent smell over the period.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Thanks for the answers. Shortly after you posted, I put it all back in the brown bags. One bag is about 4" deep with the big buds and the other bag is about 4" deep with the little buds.

They're still pretty spongy today. It has been so humid and foggy the past two days, everything outside is damp. Today I brought them from the workshop into the house with for some dry air for a while. Just want to make sure the moisture is moving out of instead of into the bags.

Hopefully our humidity will drop tomorrow. I've got a nice fat bag of little leftovers, not quite cured, but dry. It smokes just fine, so it should hold me over till the curing is done.

 

[Slartibartfast]

It dried quicker than I expected in the bags. It's in jars now. The pics and details are in my journal on page 2.

 

[megan23247]

Sometimes if I dont watch the temps right and I let it dry to quick while its hanging, instead of putting it into the brown bag ill go right into the jar and that always works good for me.

 

[andy52]

i dry good and straight into the jars.you will need to burp them a couple times a day for a couple weeks.then leave them sealed,as long as ya can.lol

 

[Slartibartfast]

A couple of days after I put my bud in the mason jars, I opened all 11 jars, as suggested, to let them air out. When I opened them, the bud was very dry; not overly so, but if it was any drier, it would be too dry and crispy.

My question is: since it is as dry as I want it, is there any reason to ever open the jars again before I use it? In other words, is it still outgassing with the need to be vented?

 

[greenfriend]

i would continue to open the jars every so often. you can always remoisturize the buds with some fresh lemon peel for a few hours so it wont be too dry when you smoke it, but you cant undo mold/mildew if the buds are still moist. i usually chop off big fan leaves and hang the whole plant for 2-2.5 weeks to make sure everything is dry, then manicure and jar for 3 weeks-2 months
happy toking!

 

[leafminer]

Great post GMO, thanks.

 

[gasman]

I dried mine by placing on stainless steel screens then into mason jars ended up with 20 quart jars.Seems like the longer it cures the more potent it gets went from a up lifting head buzz to almost a couch lock.what did I do to cause this. A little goes a long ways now.:holysheep: :shocked: :stoned:

 

[leafminer]

Yeah gasman. I gotta gree with that.
I do things a little differently from most. I like a slow dry. Of course the risk is mould, so I watch them carefully. I pack mine into brown bags and stack the bags in a drawer, and check every day. I like to dry them slowly for a couple of weeks at least, before I use the curing process as described here. Drying slowly makes for a smoother smoke once cured, IMO.

 

[Slartibartfast]

I have opened them a few times to check. Last Tuesday, the 20th, I opened them and the buds in every jar feel very dry. I think they are okay to stay sealed for the long run now. I expect to be using this weed for more than a year, but I'm thinking there's really no reason to ever open them again.

The only thing I worry about is that the workshop is not temperature controlled. They'll probably never freeze, but it can get close a few times. We have a few nights of teens in the winter, but it's significantly warmer inside the shop, maybe as cold as 35-40 degrees. In the summer they may feel the 100 degree heat. I wish I could bring them into the house, but it ain't gonna happen. Hopefully that won't be a serious problem. The jars are in the Mason jar cardboard flat and that is in a black garbage bag.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[megan23247]

If my bud gets too dry after being in jars what I do is just cut a leaf or two off one of my plants and stick it in the jar, it works really good and you dont have to worry about the mold like you do if you use a piece of fruit or something.

 

[GeezerBudd]

I dried mine by placing on stainless steel screens then into mason jars ended up with 20 quart jars.Seems like the longer it cures the more potent it gets went from a up lifting head buzz to almost a couch lock.what did I do to cause this. A little goes a long ways now.:holysheep: :shocked: :stoned:

The result of carboxylization of the THC into CBD and CBN.(Think I spelled em' right)
Exactly what I like-good and strong.


Gb

 

[gasman]

and a very sweet taste take small hits as it expands like a mother but what a rush.:holysheep: :bong1: :joint: