rangerdanger
05-02-2005, 07:03 AM
With my first 4 years of bud harvests, I dried the pot as quickly as possible, usually on wire screens with lots of fans.
Back in those days (early 70's) there were no grow books, and no internet, and I didn't know anyone else who grew.
Then 1 year, in mid-summer, I went out to water and the plants had been hacked down at the base. Old lady McCrutchen, my next door neighbor, who obviously knew what pot looked like, had reached over the fence with her hoe and killed them (I later got back at her by waxing her front porch steps).
So, not one to waste pot, even though it was only leaf, I plucked them and dried them.
But it was lousy. Barely got me high. So I put them in a cigar humidor as an "emergency" stash (even lousy pot is better than no pot at all) and promptly forgot about it.
About 2 months later, some friends from 1,000 miles away stopped by and begged some weed for the long drive back.
So I figure here's a way to 'get rid' of some of this crummy pot yet do a good deed at the same time. So I gave 'em a big ol handfull.
They called me a few days later when they arrived home and said "wow dude thanks so much for the pot we were high all the way home".
Immediently I raced to the humidor and twisted up a fatty.
It wasn't great, but it was very nice.
Way better than when I put it in.
Hmmmm. I thought.
A few months after that I mentioned it to a girl I had met that grew, and she related a similiar story.
Double hmmmm.
The next harvest, I let some quick dry like usual, and put some almost dry in the humidor.
The buds that had been in the humidor were tastier, smoother, and more potent than the ones I quick dried.
So for years I would hang the buds to almost complete dryness, then seal it up for a few weeks.
Then in like '97, a growing friend told me he slow-dried his in a paper bag, in a drawer. Then when almost dry he would seal them up for the cure.
I did some reading and experimentating, and discovered that it you bag the buds right after harvest, You "Kick-start" the curing process.
Curing involves breaking down the chorlophyll, and converting non psycho-active alkoloids into psycho-active ones. And it has something to do with breaking down plant sugars too. Basically, it's composting.
When the buds are touching each other, like it a bag, this starts them composting right off the bat.
During bag drying, you need to lightly "comb" the buds with your fingers daily, and if you live in a very humid environment, this method is not recommended.
When they're almost dry, seal them for additional curing.
Back in those days (early 70's) there were no grow books, and no internet, and I didn't know anyone else who grew.
Then 1 year, in mid-summer, I went out to water and the plants had been hacked down at the base. Old lady McCrutchen, my next door neighbor, who obviously knew what pot looked like, had reached over the fence with her hoe and killed them (I later got back at her by waxing her front porch steps).
So, not one to waste pot, even though it was only leaf, I plucked them and dried them.
But it was lousy. Barely got me high. So I put them in a cigar humidor as an "emergency" stash (even lousy pot is better than no pot at all) and promptly forgot about it.
About 2 months later, some friends from 1,000 miles away stopped by and begged some weed for the long drive back.
So I figure here's a way to 'get rid' of some of this crummy pot yet do a good deed at the same time. So I gave 'em a big ol handfull.
They called me a few days later when they arrived home and said "wow dude thanks so much for the pot we were high all the way home".
Immediently I raced to the humidor and twisted up a fatty.
It wasn't great, but it was very nice.
Way better than when I put it in.
Hmmmm. I thought.
A few months after that I mentioned it to a girl I had met that grew, and she related a similiar story.
Double hmmmm.
The next harvest, I let some quick dry like usual, and put some almost dry in the humidor.
The buds that had been in the humidor were tastier, smoother, and more potent than the ones I quick dried.
So for years I would hang the buds to almost complete dryness, then seal it up for a few weeks.
Then in like '97, a growing friend told me he slow-dried his in a paper bag, in a drawer. Then when almost dry he would seal them up for the cure.
I did some reading and experimentating, and discovered that it you bag the buds right after harvest, You "Kick-start" the curing process.
Curing involves breaking down the chorlophyll, and converting non psycho-active alkoloids into psycho-active ones. And it has something to do with breaking down plant sugars too. Basically, it's composting.
When the buds are touching each other, like it a bag, this starts them composting right off the bat.
During bag drying, you need to lightly "comb" the buds with your fingers daily, and if you live in a very humid environment, this method is not recommended.
When they're almost dry, seal them for additional curing.