Harvest & Curing Drying in a brown bag

[Hypathetical Gardener]

Hi there,

for my previous (limited) grows I have hung my plants to dry, but I'm going to have a staggered harvest this time around with one plant finishing before the other and was considering the brown paper bag method.

If I place the trimmed bud in a brown paper bag perhaps a third full, seal it with laundry pegs and hang the bag it in my tent, will this work in theory?

My lights will still be on as my second plant will still be finishing up. I have to keep all drying/growing plants in the tent for security purposes! Any feedback appreciated!

I use brown bag every time. Do not fill the bag at all. Just a 1 nug deep layer on the bottom.
You CAN put them in your tent but the less light the better. Ive gone as far as to put the bag or bags around the outside of my tent (sitting on pepsi crates to allow air under as well) some strains are too mich for this, but most seem to do ok since 90% goes into the tent and thru the exhaust fan. But safety first. You know your situation better than i do and its assuredly different for everyone.
Shake the bags every day or so. Check on them 2x a day after 3 days. In the winter i have a 30% humidity, so after 3 days i put it in a jar for 12 hours and back into the bag for 12 hours. After that its good for jarring and popping. In the summer i have around 70% humidity and it takes 8ish days in the bag before jarring.

 

[KCinKC]

Drying in a brown bag...???
This is one big reason that led me to AFN...

You have no idea how much crap I've taken over doing this even though nobody has heard of it...
But they told me I was ruining my crop because I wet trimmed and dried in a brown bag before curing...

I did my first grow this way and have no plans to change for my 2nd...
About the time I was finished I threw in a little "MacGyver"...
This time I'll do a side by side test with and without the grid...

My grid theory is:
It keeps the buds from taking tastes / smells from direct contact with the paper
It minimizes creating flat spots
It allows the bud to dry more evenly
Buds in direct contact with moist paper bottom will not dry as evenly
Line the bottom of your bag and catch whatever falls through the holes

NOTE: I've changed to 1/2" pvc instead of the wood spacers I had laying around

 

[jdsworld]

Used to brown bag dry and was decently happy with it. Now i use wedryer xl and i like it even better as smell and taste come out before a lomg cure

 

[jdm61]

I have only dried two small harvests, both in bags. What I found was that when you first put The buds on the bottom of the bag, it smells like lawn clippings even if it didn’t smell like that when you took the buds off the plant. After a few days, that smell goes away and you’re on your way.

 

[BII]

I have only dried two small harvests, both in bags. What I found was that when you first put The buds on the bottom of the bag, it smells like lawn clippings even if it didn’t smell like that when you took the buds off the plant. After a few days, that smell goes away and you’re on your way.

Regarding buds smelling like hay or lawn clippings while drying, I presume drying is ideally when you want a lot of that smell, with the smell from rapid breakdown of its source (chlorophyll?). Better to vent the nasty smells and get rid of their source(s) as quick as possible. But many apparently feel compelled to at all costs avoid hay-type smells in drying/curing, even though totally natural. I consider myself lucky if a lot of nasty smell is vented during drying, getting rid of this in just the first 5-7 days. Otherwise it can take weeks of curing to get rid of it.

I'd like there to be live microbial and/or enzyme products that specifically rapidly breakdown chlorophyll and other non-terpene sources of off-odors. [And also similar products for curing]. Say maybe a microbes/enzymes-containing dry sponge, porous paper, etc. you put in with your buds that sheds desired microbes/enzymes into the local (e.g., bag) air.

 

[jay-toker]

I wet trim my buds on harvest day then lay the buds in a brown paper bag fold over the top and clip it in place then wait 7 days not mixing the buds or anything. Although you can mix them and I have before just stirred them around once a day. After 7 days the buds are dry to my liking. Might be too dry for sale though I like my bud pretty dry so it grinds up well in the grinder.

 

[KCinKC]

depending on the humidity I will jar them 1/2 way through (4-6 hours) to let the moisture content even ot a bit, then back to the bag until it's < 70%... Usually takes me 4-5 days, never more...

 

[Hypathetical Gardener]

Ive adapted my methods a bit to suit my area.
I wet trim and bag 60 to 120 wet grams per bag. I fold the top and clothespin with a label. Then i set it next to an old carbon filter/exhaust fan thats pointing up. I set the bag/s on a pepsi crate or wire plant stand (anything with bottom airflow). This allows the air to pass the bags and into the carbon filter. The fan blows up away from the bags creating a general air movement in the room, without blowing up my neighborhood.
I stir daily since 120 wet grams is way more than a single layer, but it lengthens the dry to closer to 4 or 5 days in the bag before i jar it.
Once i jar, i set it for 12 hours and check the rh. Above 70 goes in the bag for a half day 12ish hours. 65-70rh goes in the bag for 4 hours. And under 65 stays in the jar for burping.

Obviously these times are for my current 50ish rh ambient in my house. By tossing the nugs daily i can get a feel for how fast theyre drying and when would be ideal to jar. Id rather jar a day early and just let it go back in a bag than over dry it.

 

[jdm61]

Interesting that you mention bottom airflow as I am having an experience with that. My single fast berry plant was big enough to require five standard brown paper shopping bags with the bottom covered with buds and in one case buds and trim. The material went in the bags on Sunday. Today I pulled the bag that had a couple of large tops and the the trim in it and it was dry to the point of being slightly crunchy. The other four bags are still quite moist and spongy. The difference? Dry crunchy bag was placed on a wire shelf about 3 feet off the floor, where as the other four bags were placed on the hardwood floor. Curious. The trim is in my freezer and the buds from that dry bag are currently in my little drum humidor with a couple of the frog gig humidifier pods for the cure process. The rest will follow when dry enough

 

[Hypathetical Gardener]

Interesting that you mention bottom airflow as I am having an experience with that. My single fast berry plant was big enough to require five standard brown paper shopping bags with the bottom covered with buds and in one case buds and trim. The material went in the bags on Sunday. Today I pulled the bag that had a couple of large tops and the the trim in it and it was dry to the point of being slightly crunchy. The other four bags are still quite moist and spongy. The difference? Dry crunchy bag was placed on a wire shelf about 3 feet off the floor, where as the other four bags were placed on the hardwood floor. Curious. The trim is in my freezer and the buds from that dry bag are currently in my little drum humidor with a couple of the frog gig humidifier pods for the cure process. The rest will follow when dry enough

Ive found that when my ambient humidity is under 50, i have to "overload" the bags a bit or they be overcrispy in 3 to 4days. I normally just throw over crispy buds in with my not -dry -enough buds to let it level out.