Quote Originally Posted by Rusty Trichome
I think it depends on the local temps and humidity, and where you choose to dry your plants. Leaving plant intact, with fan leaves on is a good way to slow-down the drying, as there is all that 'extra' plant material that remains on the plant. I'm pretty sure this is where the wives tale about hanging them upside down after harvest, to get all the 'resins' to flow into the leaves, came from. But if I'm not mistaken...it was done for slow, even drying and to provide good airflow around the plants.

If in a high humidity area, or temps are low, I'd want to remove the leaves that will potentially retain too much moisture during the drying. (potential for mold) You would also want to keep the fan leaves if drying near your light source, as light can degrade the quality. (the fan leaves act like a sunshade)

Personally, I cut, clean, and place in a brown (un-waxed) grocery bag, opening it a couple of times daily to 'breathe'. After about 4 or 5 days, it's ready to go into the Mason jar for curing.

In emergencies, and with only a couple of strains I work with...I set the oven to 125 to 150 degrees (max) fahrenheit, place buds on a cookie sheet, and "bake" for an hour or so. (turn buds over a couple times during this process) Takes a couple of days off of the dry time. My sativa dom's don't handle this technique very well, (flavor) but most of my indica doms are fine with it. Careful doing this tho...easy to forget, and some ovens aren't exactly on the mark temp-wise. Going over 150 degrees fahrenheit is not recommended, as your kitchen starts smelling like someone is in the oven doing bonghits. (it's your buzz going up-in-smoke)
If this is something you are forced to try, for god's sake, don't do it to your entire crop. Do a sample test-run or two, first.
ok cool ill just do it your way

gonna trim all the buds now then