Drying Question

[totung]

The first and last two grows that I have gone through have been small. 4 and 5 plants.

 

The grow that will be harvested tomorrow is 12 plants.

 

I bought a 20 slot sheet pan rack off craigslist and made 20 screens for drying.

 

In the last, I would trim everything up and hang until the branches would snap. Then, cut the buds off and let dry more until ready to cure.

 

Would it be stupid to skip the hanging and cut the buds off right after trimming and placing them on the drying screens that I just made?

[CedarSpringsCG]

I tried screen drying this last time and it worked out for me. I would recommend you cut them into large sections, not bud by bud, and make sure to turn them a couple times a day. They do end up getting a little smooshed, but fully drying and curing seems to have made that less noticeable.

 

Cedar

[Jipo]

I rack dry everything, I trim it wet, leave the whole branches in tact and lay on screens, it flattens the buds a little if they're not rotated a few times a day for the first 2-3 days, but nothing thats not gonna happen when you stuff them in jars to cure as well. I use racks because of a lack of hanging space, never had an issue, probably wouldn't have invested had I been able to hang everything, but again never had an issue at all, also don't wait til the stem SNAPS to cure, you're to dry then, the stems should CRACK when bent, then you know its ready to cure, if they snap clean your dry to the bone.

[rockinlespaul]

I use to trim wet and hang the branches but now I trim wet and remove the buds and rack dry.

[totung]

What is the benefit of trimming then laying on racks with the buds still on the step as opposed to trimming then cutting the buds off the stem and laying on racks?

[bobandtorey]

IMO take off the bud and it will dry faster and then take your time the longer the better for curring and then only the judge will know if it's ready LOL

[I*M*Lady*Zandra]

You can do it either way... laying then down can compress them a bit depending on how much sugar leaf you trim off and the strain you grew... but they will dry a bit faster on the screens - usually because you cut more off the larger stems to do it that way.

 

it is a myth that hanging changes potency... once the plant is cut-- unless immediately put into aerated water, it is dead in about an hour. All metabolic processes stop and it's chlorophyll begins to degrade (a good thing!) a long slow even dry, then a good cure can really make a huge difference in the quality of your finished medicine.

[totung]

Thanks for the info everyone.

 

Today is harvest day and I have decided to hang them since I have the room.

 

They will be on the screens once they have dried out a bit while hanging.

[Jipo]

What is the benefit of trimming then laying on racks with the buds still on the step as opposed to trimming then cutting the buds off the stem and laying on racks?

 

The main stems hold some moisture and such, it slows things down, when you clip every bud from the main stem they dry a little bit quicker, the more material you remove the less "water storage" the buds have left. I try to slow things down as much as possible without making things tedious, trimming dry plants is a pain in the donkey in my opinion, so trimming them wet goes quicker, leaving as many buds attached to the branch seems to add about a day before I get them into jars.

 

IMO take off the bud and it will dry faster and then take your time the longer the better for curring and then only the judge will know if it's ready LOL

I agree, its all about the curing time and catching it at the proper point to go in. Some people say if your plants dry in less then a week they're going to be worse then peoples who dry slower. In my opinion though the jars do all the work, proper curing whether it was ready to cure in 3 or 7 days is the key to everything.

 

Thanks for the info everyone.

 

Today is harvest day and I have decided to hang them since I have the room.

 

They will be on the screens once they have dried out a bit while hanging.

 

Let us know how it works out for ya. To each their own, there's not much right or wrong ways to harvest, as long as the end result is a nicely cured nug.

[totung]

So far, so good.

 

Cut the buds off last night onto the screens.