This is my second harvest. My fisrt two plants were big and beautiful, but after they dried they hardly weighed out to more than 2 oz. This time, I have many more plants and I am afraid of the same results. I harvested one plant thus far, and the same has happened. Is there a better way to dry the plants. Mine are drying completly in 48hrs. Cola included. Any suggestions.
It would be helpful to know what drying method you're using before anyone can help you. 48 hours is pretty fast to dry....
The first time, I cut the stems, and hung them upside down in the dark. Since they dried out so much last time, I made more of a Thai stick to keep the buds together, and moist. Same situation...all dry, including the inside of the fattest buds. Hence, leaving me with no weight. The largest bud, which was about 8 inches tall and about 3 1/2 inches wide is weighing out at under 7 grams.
I wonder if you may not be putting too much emphasis on weight and not enough on quality of finished product. Remember that "stuff" you buy on the street usually has stems, if not stalks in it not to mention leaves and seeds that all add to its weight. Just a thought though I wonder what light system you are using and if you are getting tight, hard buds. 48 hours is not an optimum dry time.
Are you heating the room? What happened when you bagged/jarred the buds? Did they moisten up at all? You must remember that some "shrinkage" is involved when drying/curing... I used the paper bag method for a long time (see the FAQ section for details) until I developed my own drying curing method- I split open a paper bag & lay the buds on it, covering it with another split open bag and leave in a dark room for 7-9 days. The buds will feel crispy and the stem will snap when bent.... Then just drop them in your jars/zip lock bags & open daily to breathe. You should notice that they seem moist again after a day in the bags/jars. It is important to open the jar/bag (daily) so that mold doesn't work it's way into the buds. Hope this was helpful for ya.... Good luck. ps- What's up Tron.... Long time no see. Hope all is well in Tronville.
^^^^agree with Tronman QUOTE "I wonder if you may not be putting too much emphasis on weight and not enough on quality of finished product. Remember that "stuff" you buy on the street usually has stems, if not stalks in it not to mention leaves and seeds that all add to its weight. " Bags of kind bud go for no less than $50 here in columbus and up to $60 for the stickiest of the icky. As i see it, the 7 gram nugget either saved you or gained you $100.
for a plant of 60cm high 1oz is ok. thats wot i will ecpevt, you should expect to lose 70% of the wet weight. the best thing to do is dark room temp dry for 5-7 days until mostly dry then jar it in the dark and open the jar for 1/2 hr every day!! try using the bag method too its ok... try a few different ways and find what works for you but u will always loose most of the wieght... i just concerntrate on getting the best taste possible!!
Thank you for the replies. To answer some of the questions, the light I use is a 400w HPS. The types are Big bud, N.L. and Bubblegum. The problem I'm having with the weight is because I let the plant Veg so long. They were well over 3 feet before Flowering. 3 1/2 months of veg under 24 lights. Thought if I took all the extra time I would get more than 1 oz per plant (or less). At least 2-3. I understand quality is better than quantity, but after everything I've read, it said I would get larger yeild with longer Veg...and that has not been the case. Next time I'll be under 1000w, so maybe things will be better. Thanks for the help.
Thank you for the replies. To answer some of the questions, the light I use is a 400w HPS. The types are Big bud, N.L. and Bubblegum. The problem I'm having with the weight is because I let the plant Veg so long. They were well over 3 feet before Flowering. 3 1/2 months of veg under 24 lights. Thought if I took all the extra time I would get more than 1 oz per plant (or less). At least 2-3. I understand quality is better than quantity, but after everything I've read, it said I would get larger yeild with longer Veg...and that has not been the case. Next time I'll be under 1000w, so maybe things will be better. Thanks for the help.
the thing is 400w doesnt penetrate your thick foliage enough. smaller plant are better under 400.. 1000 is better for either bigger plants or to operate with a larger are. the light intensity also makes the buds tighter and hence more weight when dry!!
ferfouksake, it is inevitable that you will lose alot of weight after the dry. Unless your nugz are over dry then the technique you use to dry them will not affect the overall weight. Dry is dry. However the process only taking 48 hours is not optimal as stated. Did you hang them in an open room or closet? Was there a fan on? If no fan was on, you could think about a humidifier to raise the humidity. However this needs to be done carefully to avoid mold.
Aye, more power will produce thicker growth farther down through the canopy. If your drying/curing environment is that arid then you should use paper bags and humidifiers to slow down the drying process. Not only will your smoke be too dry too fast, but it will not be nearly as smooth as it should be. My drying environment takes five-six days before the buds are anywhere near close to ready for paper bags. After that time it takes another week or so before they are ready for sealed jar curing, and that provides them with the best quality for smoking and flavor that I have found.
Maybe the answer to a higher yield could be in the technique. With 400w, you will need to LST or possibly topping to encourage the lower growth. I myself have only LST'd, but on my next grow I will try my hand at topping (at least on the lone bagseed I always plant among the hybrids to experiment on). With LST, I was effectively able to double yields on an identical strain (WW) that I had grown using no LST previously. And that was while using a 400w MH. My last grow included my new 1000w HPS. Combined with LST, I was very happy with the results- about 3-4 ozs per WW, and WW is not known for it's high yield, just it's excellent quality. You should be able to get at least that with the higher yielding strains like Big Bud or NL. Good luck.
