Options for curing

[UrbanHillbilly]

I have a few grows under my belt and I'm looking for better options for curing. I have two small tents, one 3x3x6 and one 2x2x4, For the first couple grows I just grew in the larger tent and cured in the small one and didn't pay much attention to the temp and humidity. Since then I've been using the large tent for clone/seedlings and veg, and the larger one for flower. I really don't have anywhere in the house I can set up another tent. Closet space isn't much of an option for reasons I won't go into, although there is one under the stairs to the second flower that might be an option, but no HVAC control in there. The closet is used to store a few things and pet food.

Out of desperation I cured my last small plant in the utility closet with the furnace and water heater, it was the only spot I could come up with at the time. Temps in that closet run in the 70s and humidity is, depending on the weather, 30-40%. I even started to put one plant in a large box until I smacked my forehead because I don't have a decent way to ventilate it.

What are people doing to find a passable way to cure with anything approaching an appropriate VPD? This is the one part of my grow process where I'm at a loss on how to sort it out. I can't afford a portable AC so I don't see any practical way to get temps down to ~60F.

 

[Mr Jay]

Dont need 60
Room temp will do.
Are you short on space? Or short on stealth space?

2 parts
Drying and Curing

Drying is simply losing water weight.
Curing happens in a sealed container.

Drying does not have to be fancy, but it it's easier when environmental conditions are closer to Ideal

Temps in that closet run in the 70s and humidity is, depending on the weather, 30-40%

I got tricked on something like that. Plants felt dry and crusty on the outside, so I put them in a jar. They were moldy by the time I looked at them again.
I was on the right track, but I was not keeping a close eye on them. Sometimes, when it is dry and warm they need 12 hours in the jar followed by
12 hours out of the jar followed by
12 hours in the jar followed by
12 hours,,,

I tried this game with 2 and 5 lb Terp-loc bags. Worked just fine.

 

[RookieBuds]

I just hang-dry mine in the lung room, right outside the tent. I keep this room dark so it ends up being the coolest darkest room in my house. The oscillating fan at the base keeps air moving & i point another fan straight at the ceiling both on low.

This rack was like $13 online and has been VERY useful, i highly recommend one

 

[UrbanHillbilly]

Dont need 60
Room temp will do.
Are you short on space? Or short on stealth space?

2 parts
Drying and Curing

Drying is simply losing water weight.
Curing happens in a sealed container.

Drying does not have to be fancy, but it it's easier when environmental conditions are closer to Ideal




I got tricked on something like that. Plants felt dry and crusty on the outside, so I put them in a jar. They were moldy by the time I looked at them again.
I was on the right track, but I was not keeping a close eye on them. Sometimes, when it is dry and warm they need 12 hours in the jar followed by
12 hours out of the jar followed by
12 hours in the jar followed by
12 hours,,,

I tried this game with 2 and 5 lb Terp-loc bags. Worked just fine.

Thank you for that correction, unfortunately it's too late for me to edit the thread title. Yes, I'm looking for a viable way to dry appropriately.

I'm a big fan of the Grove bags, I have a small collection ranging from 1 lb to 1/4 oz. I also sometimes toss in a Boveda or similar pack to lend a hand to obtaining the correct humidity. I'll have to look into getting a larger bag or two to try out your method. I will definitely try out your 12 in / 12 out idea. That's what you meant with using the Terp-loc bags, right?

 

[Mr Jay]

That's what you meant with using the Terp-loc bags, right?

Yeah, I graduated from pickle jars. Just too much work.
I have food grade pails that I was using, but the lids are hella hard to get off.
5lb bags are something like 20 inch tall.
Line up the harvested colas single file and stand them up on their own stumps.

With really low humidity it is too easy to dry them out into dust. The flowers lie. They go and crusty, but when sealed up tight , the moisture starts to equalize and seep out from the middle of the buds.
First few hours and days in the bag are crucial. If my bag steams up right quick, maybe I should be leaving it open.
Eventually, the buds will equalize and arrive at the correct dryness.

I also like big bags because I can still keep everything separated with paper lunch bags for long term storage.

 

[Nefar]

Last year this time was my first grow. I ended up buying a cheap 2x2x4 tent off amazon and drying in that. I put a a couple computer fans in the ports pulling some air out and just let them alone alone until the small branches would make a snap sound and not break off. Then I threw them into grove bags and cured it for month. I'm sure it wasn't perfect dry / cure by any means but I had no rot, it gave me a real nice high and let me skip the dispensary for a couple months. Works for me

 

[Southside112]

View attachment 225436
I just hang-dry mine in the lung room, right outside the tent. I keep this room dark so it ends up being the coolest darkest room in my house. The oscillating fan at the base keeps air moving & i point another fan straight at the ceiling both on low.

This rack was like $13 online and has been VERY useful, i highly recommend one

I do something very similar. Like growing curing is perfected over time. Just gotta adapt and overcome and learn.

 

[tony76]

Yes, curing can be tricky without the right space. I’ve been in the same boat. If temps are hard to control, you could try using big glass jars with humidity packs (like Boveda 62%). Just dry the buds a bit slower if you can, then jar them once they feel right.

 

[UrbanHillbilly]

Yeah, I graduated from pickle jars. Just too much work.
I have food grade pails that I was using, but the lids are hella hard to get off.
5lb bags are something like 20 inch tall.
Line up the harvested colas single file and stand them up on their own stumps.

With really low humidity it is too easy to dry them out into dust. The flowers lie. They go and crusty, but when sealed up tight , the moisture starts to equalize and seep out from the middle of the buds.
First few hours and days in the bag are crucial. If my bag steams up right quick, maybe I should be leaving it open.
Eventually, the buds will equalize and arrive at the correct dryness.

I also like big bags because I can still keep everything separated with paper lunch bags for long term storage.

I want to give this a shot. The plant I cut was a real runt of an auto, so I'm hoping one of my 1 lb bags will work. I mean seriously, the entire plant from soil up wasn't much more than 1' tall. It's packed with dense buds though.

I just want to make sure I understand the bag method correctly. You put the undried plant into the bag (with a Boveda pack?) and let it dry there, right? That seems like it would take A few times as long as the regular way. Should I still open it 12/12 like you did with the jars?

 

[DemonTrich]

You only add humidity packs if your flower is too dry, not to add when trying to dry your flowers. It's only adding humidity using the packs in your jars. Your trying to dry the flower, not add rh to it.

Ive done the 60* and 60%rh cure, 75* 65%rh. Big brown paper bags work great for absorbing rh after the initial hang/net dry. Closing up in a bag will help draw rh from center of bags to the outside.

I wet trim, onto dry nets (room at 70-74* and 60-65% rh. Shake net 2x a day to prevent flat spots. 3 days later it's into big grocery paper bags. Opening or dumping of rh in the bag is 65% or more. Repeat until 58%rh. Then into jars. Burping 1x daily for 30 mins.
Once 50-53%rhbis stable for 24hrs. It stays sealed. I still open 1x every 4 days and check rh daily. If rh creeps above 53%, ipen/burp jars daily for a few more days. Now the rh should be stable ar 50-53%. Now your in the cure stage.

Dark cool room for 30 days. Curing is done or nearly done.

My last yr od grow, I'm still smoking. Chopped mid oct, did my above sop (with a few different steps than my indoor grows, as I did a bud washing before I brought the flowers inside to trim and dry). Smokes great, nose is still strong, potency is still strong.

 

[Mr Jay]

You put the undried plant into the bag (with a Boveda pack?) and let it dry there, right?

Not right away.
Typically, I am around %15-20 rh.
A wet trimmed plant with still need a few days of free hanging ( maybe more for big colas )
All these strategies with enclosed tents and big burping jars, and paper bags are simply a control strategy to prolong drying time.

Kind of like pulling a pair of jeans out of a clothing dryer. 90% of that fabric is done, but the pockets are still wet. If you fold those pants up and stuff them in a drawer, the whole drawer will go moldy.
Same reason those cookies need to sit on a rack, before they go into the cookie jar.
Even if the cookies were baked correctly, they are going to steam for it a bit.

 

[RookieBuds]

Vivosun is dropping a neat looking 3-in-1 curing and drying device. Dunno what the third thing is, maybe it smokes it for you too

1000 freakin dollars, though

 

[Willie]

Definitely slightly different methods for everybody due to conditions and product. I have a bunch of gallon glass jars and some plastic gallon ones too. Did that for years. Now I use grove bags placed inside a tote box w/lid. Why?, Cause I am a lazy bastige and those jars are a lot more work, lol. The jars are better than the bags fwiw, but not by enough lol.
In either system the number 1 thing not to do........is to jar or bag up too wet. Loss of terps and the dreaded hay taste can result.
You don't need to burp the bags but ideally you want to be putting in weed somewhere in the 60-70% range, 65 is perfect. For the many years I ran the jars, they all had a small hygrometer in them. I got mucho feedback over time and eventually developed a good feel for when it's jar time. Lots of "practice" as it were.
I typically hang in my garage, just string a rope across, gives me a bunch of hanging space and I add more lines there and elsewhere in October for that load.
The bags are sweet.

 

[Bullfrog]

I'd have to concur with everyone else. My curing is done in terp bags or jars, if using jars I check on them a few hours after putting them in, if they regain some moisture I keep the lid off until they feel dry again. Bags are more forgiving; plants can be a little bit wetter going in.

You surely don't want to put wet plants in bags or jars. I dry them enough to where I think they'll burn, then jar or bag them up. If you're not sure try and burn a little. Once jarred check on them often to make sure they don't regain too much moisture.

Last fall's crop I dried in my barn, the first plants dried fast because the daytime temps where in the upper 70's. When I think they'll burn I bag em. Each plant is a little different, looser buds dry faster, big fat buds and big plants with big stems take longer.

It's really something I think everyone gets better at with practice/experience.

 

[BH]

A side tip is try to use a wood moisture meter , issue with many pheno’s is their stem and bud sizes are diff and to be able to stick ur moisture meter inside bud you will know 100% what’s up. for cannabis process and trimming before u destem u want it at moisture of 12-15% moisture , after trimmed and end result u want it to be at 8-12%. this is issue with many people is they de-stem and have too much to process or trim and they will expose it to air/moisture/light off stem. I recommend if u can keep ur untrimmed on stem and realize leaving it on stem def will save its shelf life by a bunch ( as long as ur storing this in proper environments ). I was super surprised how many plants if stored correctly and left on stem before trimming was def a big obvious on why tobacco to many things if properly stored and done it def will age correctly mp, issue with most people they de-stem,deleaf asap or even before drying and that’s a big no-no after testing the difference.

The meter will expose that many pheno’s and plants def take dif times and before me doing this via stem bending test and/or days of dry (60f/60 rh) I was actually going to long or quick based on such. After I corrected such based on it’s moisture % and also making sure it’s drying and cure is stable it made a huge difference on end results and how long it last.


Many brands of wood moisture meters, this is one I got but doesn’t mean there’s better brands/cheaper. Just poke the probe into the bud and it’ll def tell u what’s up

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00275F5O2/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_plhdr=t&aaxitk=28ab6bf1cd4fd103d24fb2558db31baf&hsa_cr_id=0&qid=1744147543&sr=1-1-9e67e56a-6f64-441f-a281-df67fc737124&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_lsi4d_asin_0_title&pd_rd_w=a7OHO&content-id=amzn1.sym.8591358d-1345-4efd-9d50-5bd4e69cd942%3Aamzn1.sym.8591358d-1345-4efd-9d50-5bd4e69cd942&pf_rd_p=8591358d-1345-4efd-9d50-5bd4e69cd942&pf_rd_r=GF530TD2FZARM6P78C3M&pd_rd_wg=Ti7aS&pd_rd_r=7e7eca20-44a9-473e-8234-bae1ae1030e9

Grove bags explaining moisture and the meter



Moisture meter bud guide

 

[LoboGrow]

Vivosun is dropping a neat looking 3-in-1 curing and drying device. Dunno what the third thing is, maybe it smokes it for you too

1000 freakin dollars, though

It looks like they are putting it on sale for $689 as a test run. Basically going after Cannatrol boxes. Gonna be interesting for sure since it's half the price...

 

[UrbanHillbilly]

Vivosun is dropping a neat looking 3-in-1 curing and drying device. Dunno what the third thing is, maybe it smokes it for you too

1000 freakin dollars, though

I I tracked it down online.

VCure by Vivosun: 3-in-1 Smart Drying & Curing Box for Growers

Revolutionize post-harvest with VCure – the all-in-one smart box that dries, cures & stores. Preserve terpenes & potency with app control and zero guesswork.

vivosun.com

One thing that caught my eye is this:


Others? What sort of competition is there for this device?

 

[DemonTrich]

Imo, the above was catered to the new hobby grower. Makes it "easier" than having to actually be hands on the entire grow, harvest, dry, and cure aspects.

Like those "grow boxes". All in 1 grow setup/system.

 

[LoboGrow]

Imo, the above was catered to the new hobby grower. Makes it "easier" than having to actually be hands on the entire grow, harvest, dry, and cure aspects.

Like those "grow boxes". All in 1 grow setup/system.

The grow boxes are great for a new hobbyist grower like me that is gone 3-4 days per week working on the road, so they fill a niche for sure. You can also dry in the grow boxes, so when it's done, you cure in a jar or Grove Bag and it's all good. Great way to learn how to grow....