Scott,

How about the water being/staying clear since day 1? Is this because I used organic nutes? Today is day 6 and still no change in the water color & the buds are still floating(which I now know is OK). The smell isn't strong at all. Just what I would expect it to smell like.

Thanks again!!

that and a good flushing at the end of flower could explain that outcome, with my last organic bud the water was totally clear after day 4-5.

a light oder from trimming fresh bud (chlorophyll) to light rot - like not too fresh letters in a plasic bag.

__________________
Keep the gun oiled and the thumb green!

I agree with green

I was checking out the dehydrator and it only has an off/on switch, no thermostat.

I read that we're suppose to set the dehydrator on the lowest setting for about 5 hours.

Question: will it be OK to use this dehydrator?

Bluey - Have to checked the water with a ppm meter? Use it when you first put in freah water and again when you dump it. That way you can see how the water cure is working. Same thing you would do if you were leaching the tank with a clearing solution.

HGH ~ no I never checked the ppm. I just stuck the meter in the jug and no reading. So I guess there are no nutes in the water.

Thanks for the thought!!

Hi Blue

I don't know how hot your dehydrator will get...temps under 300 for a short time are not a problem....but if the temp is too high you will evaporate most of the cannabinoids that get you high....plenty of the smell carried in turpenes which are the chemicals that give mj most of its characteriestic odors. They may be gone already from the water cure. So if the manufacture says it will dry things in 5 hours the temp is most likely low enough to "save" the cannabinoids if not the turpenes....perhaps try it with 5 buds of average size buds and see how it works....maybe checking every hour and pulling one out. Then you will have 5 buds to compare and see how well it works and what amount of time is just to your likeing. Alternately you if you have a thermometer that works at higher temp you can put it in the dehydrator and see what the temp is. I wouldn't do it if reaches much above 250 F.

I really think the salad spinner is your best option. Spin it, and then let the buds gently air dry

Let us know what you decide and how it works.

Sorry I can't give you one best answer....but everyone has their own preferences...and I resist attempts to make MJ cultivation dogmatic except for the basic fundementals.

another thought blue
post the dehydrator model and maybe someone has some experience with it or can find the manufactures specs.

This bad boys a 425W dehydrator and they compare it to a 300W & a 125W.

ie: Jerky takes 7 hrs w/mine, 17 hrs w/300W & 36 hrs w/125W.

I'll probably just return it and get a salad spinner and air dry.

So the salad spinner doesn't spin off the trics?

I have a digital oven thermometer and I'm running it now to see what the max heat is.

Thanks for your time!!

Manuf: Nesco American Harvest Model # FD-35

Scott ~ I called the manuf and they said that it 1st cycles up to 160 degrees and then it'll drop to 130 - 145 and then cycle back to 160, and then dropping back down continuing the cycle.
I just confirmed the temps via my thermometer and it was spot-on. It hit 160 and then started to drop.
So I guess I'm good to go!!
Thanks!!!

Congrats - lut us know how it works and if you like it do a product review perhaps

I was worried about that also - I think if you seave the water through a 20 micron silk screen (or a paper coffee filter) you will see very few trics....but just to be safe do it slow and for a short time to minimize and possible tric loss, they break off much easier when they are very cold. It is just so the wet buds loose enough water so they aren't sopping wet and dripping.
if there was enough trics you could make hash this way...I think WB suggested the spinner and I am sure he would have not if decreased potency was a concern
I did some research and a few people have tried to make salad spinners into hash makers...not with much luck though from what I found on the web so far.

Good idea! I post how long it took and how they came out. Plus how they smoked!!!!

I agree, WB wouldn't use the spinner if it took away any trics.

I'm so pumped! I can't wait to try these buds tomorrow afternoon!!

Thanks again Scott!

I removed the buds from the water curing jug directly onto cotton towels. After allowing them to drain for a couple of minutes, I put them into the dehydrator. Small buds/pieces on the bottom rack and largest on the top rack(heat rises). After one hour I checked all of the buds and the smallest ones were almost read. After another 20 minutes, I took all of the buds from the lower rack. They were perfectly dried!!

I then got out Bluey and fired up a piece. There was a slight taste, but nothing notable. The bud burned clean with a white ash. The did exhale a decent amount of smoke. And the smell was much, much less!!!

I only felt a little buzz(nothing to write home about) right after smoking and thought, "Oh shit! Did I screw up my buds?" Then as time goes on, so does the buzz. As I'm writing this, I'm really stoned! It's a great head high with energy behind it. So taking the tops when the trics are mostly cloudy does indeed give you a nice head high. The other plant tops are now mostly cloudy(an UP high) and ready to harvest. The lower buds on the plants will be 50% cloudy/amber(nightly sleep) and 70% amber 30%cloudy(when pain is too high).

So needless to say I'll be water curing from now on. It's clean, fast & simple.

Damn I'm stoned!!!!!

Oh yea, the buds are smaller & lighter and the bag appeal isn't the greatest. I took a close look(I'm stoned) and the buds look like they've been dehydrated. Not too bad though.
But the punch that's behind these buds is perfect! I'm totally OK how everything turned out. It meets my needs!!

Congradulations On You First Water Cure...welcome To The Club

It's been 2 hours and a 2 mile walk since I burned and I still have a nice head high

Once I came down from the 1st buzzzzzzz, I looked a little closer at the yield and wanted to share these thoughts:

It took 1 1/2 hrs for the small buds to dry, 2 1/4 hrs for medium size and 3 hrs for the larger buds using this dehydrator.

I found 3 seeds(these tops are from the plant that had the hermie branch)

Here are some numbers:

Wet bud to air dried buds loose 75% of their weight
Wet bud to water cure buds loose 85% of their weight or 10% less.

Then I looked at the bud weight % difference between the two methods.

100 grams wet = 25 grams air dried
100 grams wet = 15 grams water cured & dehydrated

The air dried weighs 10 grams more or 40% more. This is too big of a percentage difference for me. This is what I love about being a newbie grower, I'm floating through the learning curve. My game plan now is to water cure enough buds to last me while I'm air drying & curing the majority of the pot because it's sure nice to have smokable buds once the trics are ready

I had 74 grams wet and got 11 grams dried. I would of got 18 grams air dried and that's 7 grams more or 39%.

Yes, the water cure method works & it works great! Fast, clean & simple with a great buzz but it's too large of a weight percentage difference between the two method.

Peace!!!

Very careful and impressive analysis....very methodical

I see your problem if you are bagging it by weight for some reason

but - the weight you loose is water soluable chemicals that are not part of the high - the 10 gram difference are these chemicals

so - your smaller buds are more potent as a percentage of their weight - more cannabinoids per gram - less other stuff per gram

so - you can smoke less (good for the lungs) to get the same high

The weight differences you measured are exactly what is expected

To review for others reading this and considering water cure

water cure advantages
fast
easy
can make bad swag and over fertalized bud smokeable
less smelly in storage and when smoked
smoother smoke - easier on the lungs
more high per gram

traditional cure advantages
better bag appeal
more weight
preserves the aeromatic turpenes (important for strains like blueberry)
stronger flavor smoke

LOL!!! I'm stoned and completely forgot about the increase in grams per high. Yes, two tokes and I'm still buzzing. I also forgot that it has hardly any smell, which I wanted for security while traveling. Plus it smells much less while burning, which is another security plus while traveling.

Thanks Scott for reminding me of the advantages between the two methods.

I'll be water curing the balance of the grow.

I like the cleanness while burning and how easy this method is. The analytical part of my brain was firing off those numbers and that got me side track on why I wanted to water cure in the first place. I love being stoned!!!

Peace!!!