Detail to DCS (dry, cure, store)

Since different opinions on ways for each, would like some help w detail of my plan for DCS.

1. Hang upside down for a week, give or take. Since 1st time, will go with stem snap. Plan is to do in closet that has vents in door but very limited light in day. Can't use fan in there for electrical reasons. Plan to open at night when pitch dark for circulation.
How's this sound?

2. After a week, into glass jars. Aware I shouldn't squish 'em in but is ok that they are touching (buds)? Kind of like what jar will hold w/o pressing any in.
How's this sound and two areas for help- 1st- about the pack, 2nd and this the critical one- how often and for how long to open to breath them? I have read various from 10 minutes to an hour to every few hours to once a day. I want to err on side of least possible mold vs. perfect curing.

2a. (con't point 2). For what I want right a away (within 2 weeks or so), should I take some from one of the cure jars and let rest in that jar keep curing? Question is based on "observation" that general storage for use (sealed baggie or little jar) is pretty much a con't cure in and of itself, until it's empty and neither get any light except when out on table for an hour, etc.

2b. What is a realistic overall cure time for balance w/o devoting my life to this? Is a month good or should it be stretched out to two or three? This will link to my final question.

3. Store. I understand that it must be dried as best possible for long term storage. I plan to keep in freezer. (see point 2b above). Are normal baggies o.k. for this (I assume the light goes out when I close the door but admit worrying it might not)? Can I also use small tupperware type containers that look like leftovers ? I like this idea better.

3a. Some people write about putting antioxidents in like Vit C? Does this make any sense? If yes, is there a better one, selenium comes to mind or is this whole idea silly?

3b. What about a dessicant of some sort? For cost and ease, rice comes to mind. Again, is this just waste of time/space?

3c. How long, in theory, can it stay in freezer and when it comes out, do you just wait till it comes to room temp and use?

Sorry this drags on, but sure other 1st time people will "sweat the details" too, because, experimenting will be fine once have the confidence to know that a simple effective way results in decent product, thus later can alter a couple variables and see what happens as you have a baseline to work from.

i dont really got the patience to read that but, start here:
Manicuring, Drying, And Curing Marijuana

then if u still got questions post em

from wat i saw skimin through wat u wrote i think it'l prob cover everything

This is by no means a definitive guide to curing, only the methods I've used since I began growing.

1) I always end drying and begin manicuring when the stems feel fairly brittle, or snap in half between my thumb and forefinger. And you don't need a fan inside your closet, but you should try to keep air circulating NEAR the closet as much as possible. Maybe keeping a fan positioned in the room to blow on a barely opened closet door? Either way, you don't want the air inside the closet to be stagnant for most of the day.

2) After manicuring, into the air-tight jars they go! And, I probably break all sorts of curing guidelines here, but I like to slightly compress each bud with my fingers before placing them in the jar. I've just noticed that they seem to remain a little denser when finally dried, but you will end up removing a fair amount of trichomes from the outer buds this way. Not a bad method of making finger hash, though. (Probably shouldn't do this if it's not a very resin-laden bud...as it would take away some amount of potency. But if it's covered in frosty trich's, the effects will be less noticeable.)

2a) I like to keep my "sample" buds separate from the other buds that'll be slow cured, so that I can water or heat cure them all at once.

2b) One month is the minimum amount of time that I let them cure. If I'm not in desperate need of replenishing my stash, I'll keep them in there a bit longer. The longer the cure, the better the taste and aroma of the end-product.

3-3c) If I have any amount that I want to store for any extended period of time, I will generally just use a thick Ziplock (or similar) bag, and vacuum seal it. The buds are going to compress quite a bit, but as long as they didn't dry out too fast, they'll fluff right back up as soon as the bag is opened again. I don't keep anything in the freezer, because I plan on consuming it within a fairly short amount of time...but if I were wanting to preserve a batch for months to a year for whatever reason, I'd probably keep in a freezer. Otherwise, I keep the bags in the bottom drawer of my nightstand, where no light can touch it...and temperatures aren't high.

I suppose the Tupperware idea is feasible, but would probably be a bit more difficult to vacuum seal. If there's excess moisture inside the container, and you end up freezing it, it can probably do some damage to the cells of the buds...possibly affecting potency. Not 100% about this, but it seems fairly logical. Perhaps this is where a desiccant agent would be useful?

Again, since I do not freeze my buds or add any agents containing Vitamin C, I have no advice to offer about length of time between thawing and consuming, antioxidants, or preservatives. But I'm sure someone will read this who does freeze their buds, and they'd probably be more than willing to share their methods with you.

Hope that at least answers some of your questions.

Mr Old,

With greatest respect and politest of tone in writing this, do please understand I did read EVERYTHING.

What I wrote were questions based on that because many topics had very varying ways to do the same thing.

My concern was some may be outright wrong, or, perhaps one way is proven to be much better over another.

Fast example- maybe burping from mason jars 10 minutes once a day produces best result yet most likely to cause mold. Maybe burping one hour twice a day is safer but result no so good ( I would choose this). Or, maybe I have it backwards (maybe long burp time equals more moisture exposure, etc.).

Hope this makes it clearer.

Mr Clan,

That was great! Thanks much. One quick question-

When you cure in the jars, how often and for long do you open to "burp" them? Or, do you not even need to open for a full month?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lamin111

Mr Old,

With greatest respect and politest of tone in writing this, do please understand I did read EVERYTHING.

What I wrote were questions based on that because many topics had very varying ways to do the same thing.

My concern was some may be outright wrong, or, perhaps one way is proven to be much better over another.

Fast example- maybe burping from mason jars 10 minutes once a day produces best result yet most likely to cause mold. Maybe burping one hour twice a day is safer but result no so good ( I would choose this). Or, maybe I have it backwards (maybe long burp time equals more moisture exposure, etc.).

Hope this makes it clearer.

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That would be because everyone have there own opinions and ways THEY like to do it.. could ask 1000 people and get 1000 different answers. The key is experimentation

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lamin111

When you cure in the jars, how often and for long do you open to "burp" them? Or, do you not even need to open for a full month?

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I try, at the very least, to open the jars for about 10 minutes or so three times per day. When you open the jar up the first few times, you'll be able to smell the humid air that's been trapped inside. Usually after 10-15 minutes or so, that smell will dissipate, indicating that plenty of moisture has been expelled. And it'll be safe to close it back up. You can leave the jar open for longer periods of time, and it'll actually fully dry out quicker that way, but I'm just a fan of a longer curing time (as I said, at least one month) because I feel it helps the buds reach their full potential in terms of taste and even burn.

You should definitely make attempts to "burp" the jar at least once per day, though...more so if possible. Without getting that excess moisture out, you'll be running a huge risk of letting mold develop inside. It's less the outside humidity you should be worried about, and more the moist air that gets trapped inside the air-tight jar.

Good luck with it...and in respects to Jimmy, after you've done it a couple of times and experimented with the process, you'll eventually find a method that works best for you and your circumstances.

Be good. :jointsmile:

Mr. Old,

I understand that. Again, it's minimizing risk I am concerned about. I am convinced that some ways may lead to better results but have higher risk for having to toss everything in the trash (bad for ego on first run).

And, I'm convinced that some ways may be not so likely to improve quality, but have much lower lever of having to toss product in trash.

On first try, there is not exactly a lot to experiment with. If I mess it all up, I may say "screw this", I'll risk getting stabbed or shot by buying from a criminal in the street, who is buying from professional criminals, who use their proceeds to blow stuff up to further their non understandable (to me) politics/religions.

This DIY thing is all about not letting bad people profit from something that also happenss to take far less lives in accidents in cars than alcohol ever will.

So it's important I learn from the best. If I go looking on the street to buy, my 300-400 purchase may find part of buying weapons that are used to hurt children. That bothers me a lot. So, doing this correctly helps me do my part to keep the world a little safer.

Hope this helps.

That sounds good. Yes, if I do it right this time, hopefully yield will be more next time and I will follow his (Jimmy) advice and try different times, etc.

I wrote my post to him before reading this- hopefully he will understand I was frustrated w myself for not making my concerns clearer.