Chopping, drying and curing

[wutang]

Hey all

I'm week 3 into flower on my first soil grows

I plan to dry in the loft in a 80x80x160 tent with 4" rvk and rhino pro filter with a fan controller (if anyone can recommend cheap one other than the dimmer type one I would appreciate it)

My questions are;

Chopping, presumably when the hairs are 50% amber and 50% white?

Does everyone flush their soil here? If so how and what stage?

How long should I am to dry it for?

Can I use my ram clip on fan inside to circulate air on speed 1 or 2? Or should I get a RAM eco fan?

What humidity level should I aim for whilst in flowering and also when drying?

At what point do they need to go in jars? I've got some integra 62% humidity packs as well

Anyone recommend decent hygrometers that fit in 1l jars?

My last two grows got over dried, so hopefully in the loft it will be cooler therefore not dry out as much as it did in the home with room temperature.

I want that dank and dense smelling bud, and after 2 main attempts, haven't really achieved it. So here's to hoping I do. Cheers

Wu

[TTL]

You need a loupe or something that allows you to check the trichome heads. Cloudy trichome heads are ripe and ready. You have to decide on the mix you want at harvest. Clear is not ready. Cloudy/milky ripe. Amber is degrading, but some like the impact amber trichomes have on their smoke. Someone else on here can explain it better I’m sure. Ha.

[Norseman]

A really good description on drying buds @Chad.Westport. Kudos for the easy to understand description
I think a lot of guys will be using this for their first drying/curing session.

[Norseman]

I certainly hope it will help some people

You're most welcome mate. And there's no doubt in my mind that it will be helpful for some people.

[wutang]

Agree with @Norseman

Thanks @Chad.Westport you've taken your time to break it down.

I might have to dry in the shed in my tent so temps are going to be around 10c by the time we hit Jan/Feb (I hope) Will that affect it? I'm going to have my extraction hooked up to a fan controller hooked up at minimum and set the max speed lower as well as I don't want to over dry the buds.

Thanks again

[Norseman]

temps are going to be around 10c by the time we hit Jan/Feb

My personal thought on that is that the colder it is the longer it will take for the buds to dry and possibly also get moldy.
But i will wait for @Chad.Westport or anyone else with knowledge to chime in to see if my thoughts were correct or not.

[Norseman]

You're spot on there. Well said Norseman, couldn't agree more

Thanks mate. To me a warm environment held at a certain temperature (let's say 20°celsius) would be the best and most effective way to dry buds with less risk of them getting moldy.

[Cave Hill Cole]

@Chad.Westport nailed it bro! It took me a couple of years of trial and error on my own...with a lot of failure to work out the steps you outlined in the post.

Mad respect my brother

[wutang]

You're spot on there. Well said Norseman, couldn't agree more

Thanks mate. To me a warm environment held at a certain temperature (let's say 20°celsius) would be the best and most effective way to dry buds with less risk of them getting moldy.

The only way I could get to that temp in an outbuilding is to have a fan heater on, but presumably this will dry it out too quick. My tents 1.2x1.2.x2.

Drying it indoors is becoming less of an option at the moment. Unless I can wack it in the loft to avoid any odours in the home.

[Norseman]

The only way I could get to that temp

As @Chad.Westport wrote in his drying guide above he said optimal temp is around 15° celsius and if you can get to that temp it would be a lot better than the 10 in the shed since it will dry faster minimizing the risk of mold on your buds.
Good Luck Mate.