Hi,
i have just harvested my weed and dried it.
I did dry it slowly in a dark, cool environment.
But it doesn’t smell as nice as I’d like it to.
What are your secrets to make weed smell super nice?
Thanks,
Volker
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Hey Volker,
I have a question about your trimming process…did you trim while the plant was still wet?
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Therein lies one of your problems, my friend. Did you harvest with the lights on?
Try this on your next crop: cut your plants down, then hang the whole thing, leaves and all (you can pluck the remaining fan leaves, if you choose) for as long as possible until the stems become bend/snap dry, but not so dry that the branches break. I try to take 10 days to two weeks at this drying stage. This method allows for a slow dry and a slow gas-off of the chlorophyll remaining in the plant.
It’s at this point you can begin to trim and jar your plants.
Your buds might look like these animal cookies right here:
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Therein lies one of your problems, my friend. Did you harvest with the lights on?
Try this on your next crop: cut your plants down, then hang the whole thing, leaves and all (you can pluck the remaining fan leaves, if you choose) for as long as possible until the stems become bend/snap dry, but not so dry that the branches break. I try to take 10 days to two weeks at this drying stage. This method allows for a slow dry and a slow gas-off of the chlorophyll remaining in the plant.
It’s at this point you can begin to trim and jar your plants.
Your buds might look like these animal cookies right here:
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Cool, thanks.
Will let whole plant dry on next grow. See how that goes.
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I suspect whole plant hang will make a huge difference. Also, always harvest with the lights off under the safety of green light. This practice will also help with the smell and limit the overall cure time.
Another note: never minimize the importance of the flush!
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Its ok to trim wet–my personal preference. However, make sure to not be too vigorous in your trimming as this causes the plant material to expose lots of chlorophyll and this is what you are fighting in dry and cure, post-trim. Nick, has a great approach by going with a dry trim. We see this in most large facilities. Either way (wet trim or dry trim) the best approach to determine when to move from dry to cure, is to use a moisture content analyzer. This is a more scientific approach than the old “bendy snappy” routine. When using a MCA, make sure to take samples of large and small flowers so as to get a representative sample for the batch. Once you flower is below 11% moisture content, your flower is ready for cure. The cure cycle is our speciality. You should place your flower is glass or stainless steel containers, as plastic is bad news for trichomes and may lead to plastics leaching into your flower. If you choose to use glass, opt for the blue glass, as that will help block damaging UV from affecting your trichomes. When you burp, be gentle, so as to minimize trichomes breaking off your flowers. Cure for at least one week, until aroma has reached the level you desire.
Environmental conditions in your dry room and cure room should be in the 50 to 60 relative humidity range and temperature in the 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit range. This will help slow the dry cycle. A rapid dry can lead to vaporized terps and cannabinoids, especially the smaller molecular weight components.
When you are ready to move to an automated curing system, don’t hesitate to contact me. At Cure Advantage (https://www.cureadvantage.com) we supply curing systems to remove the labor component, improve product quality, while reducing cure time. Hope this helps.
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I may be a little on the old-school side, Ruben; but I think you knew that already!
I totally agree with @Cure_Advantage_Ruben here completely! Our industry is moving toward more standardized and scientific means of drying and curing. I know the machine that Ruben created and it is AMAZING! I predict every cultivation facility will have one someday!
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Here to help, @vritzka!
I’m sure other @mastergrowers have something to say on proper drying/trimming/curing.
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60/60 is my general rule. Terpenes begin to volatilize around 65 def F, so every degree above, you are losing something. 60 deg F and 60% humidity for ~2 weeks on a whole plant hang. But after seeing Ruben’s machine in person, I’d rather take the labor, HVAC, and hippy science (bendy snappy stems) out of the equation and have cured perfection each time using science and technology. Hopefully Nick is right that the industry moves in this direction someday.
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Hey Phil, agreed, would much prefer 60/60. So many larger facilities pinch pennies though and just can’t seem to spend the money to get the temp that low…someday 
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After I hang dry I like to bin my plants on the stalk and burp them for another week or so. This really helps to develop the nose and finish the curing process nicely. My burp is usually 2 hours.
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I like 60/65 6o degrees and 65% RH. This gets me about 2 weeks of dry time and a week min. to cure.
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I love reading everyone’s processes and opinions. No doubt you can guess parts of my process
I began wet trimming and thought all was good. Then after reading several debates i decided to dry trim. The difference on the nose was phenomenal. Dry-trim scores much higher on the sneezometer!
Now I clip most fan leaves off the night before harvest. Then immediately upon opening the tent I cut them and hand to dry in several pieces inside the tent. I keep the doors partially zipped.
When wet trimming, the terpenes don’t really smell much at all while in fresh form but when left protected by sugar leaves and left to dry uninterrupted, are so pungent. They smell inside the jar or cvault immediately. I add my Boveda in and leave it to cure for a few weeks. I don’t open to burp but I open to sniff or steal a few samples now and then
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thanks for the infos.
I have dried my weed too warm in the past. Will aim for 60F in next dry.
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This is a pretty good convo…I think it warrants a survey: SO GNET, when do you trim?
TRIM BATTLE: WET vs. DRY
When do you trim?
- A) Wet trim
- B) Dry trim
0 voters
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Yes please, love what your doing and would like to find out more. I’m interested in this final process myself. Too many people I know here in Australia opt for a quick dry and don’t even cure. I have tried to explain the importnace of every stage through the cycle. You have waited this long, why rush the final process as this process is one of the most important stages. Especially if you want a superior end product
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I agree, too many people overlook the importance of the cure! As your market develops and matures a little Down Under I think you’ll find the consumer will demand a well cured product.
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