A Guide On Properly Drying And Curing Your Cannabis Flower

The journey of growing your own cannabis can be very rewarding. There’s nothing better than coming home to a full stash of weed cropped by you. One of the reasons smoking your own bud feels so great is because of the demanding and often time consuming nature of raising your plants to maturity. Taking proper care of a cannabis plant involves much more than just watering a container once in a while.

So, by the time your buds are harvested, you’re more than ready to reap your rewards. But one step that is often skipped, yet is essential to the entire cultivation process, is curing. This can literally be the "make or break" for your flowers. Drying and curing your buds is not an option, it's absolutely crucial. Buds that completely skip this process will not be enjoyable. There are several different curing methods, but you must pick one. Let’s have a look at why drying and curing are so important.

WHY IS CURING SO IMPORTANT?

It's pretty straightforward that drying your cannabis involves giving it time to release the majority of water and humidity inside the buds. This happens for many reasons. On one hand, making sure the flower is completely dry will keep it from developing mould and bacteria. Water is the basis of all life, and that includes unwanted forms of it inside your buds. Also, those that contain a lot of humidity will be super hard to light up and smoke. If cured and dried properly, buds can last up to 2 years in an airtight container.

Drying buds will also break down chlorophyll, and curing will destroy minerals and sugars that you do not want inside. Without these, you'll surely be enjoying a smoother and more pleasurable smoking experience. You'll also get more out of the flower's flavour and aroma.

Last, but definitely not least, the potency of your flowers will also benefit from a proper curing. THC content is maximised as the buds are given time to appropriately dry. This alone should be enough to motivate you. Why settle for mediocre weed if you can get super potent dank stuff out of your plant with just a couple of simple steps? Let's go through what you'll need to do these steps properly.

MATERIALS

There are different ways you can dry and cure your buds.

The most important thing to have is a room where you can control the temperature and humidity. If you don't have a large dedicated space, get creative. It might be a closet. You'll only need as much space as the flower you harvest. Depending on how much control you currently have over this space, it might be smart to also get a hygrometer. This will measure the humidity in the air.

Get some string or soft wire and attach it from one side of the room to the other. Much like drying clothes, you'll need this string so you can hang your branches. If you prefer to dry the buds individually, you might prefer a wire drying rack. It's completely up to you.

This is all you'll need to dry your flower. It's a simple process. For curing, however, you'll need Mason jars. Some growers will also use oven bags or other bags because of their larger size and better air circulation.

DRYING YOUR FLOWER

Now that you have everything you need, it's important you know how to use it. Because the best guitar in the world, when given to someone who doesn't know how to play, is as good as the worst one.

After hanging your branches on your string or placing your buds on the rack, you'll have to control temperature and humidity. For the first three days, temperature and humidity should be around 18°C and 55% RH (relative humidity). Now, as time passes, you'll be increasing temperature and decreasing the humidity in the room.

For the next 3 days, increase the temperature to 21°C and decrease humidity by 5%. Finally, from day 7 to day 10, the ideal temperature will be 23°C and 45% RH. But don't stop at day 10 if your branches don't pass the snap test. This involves assessing how dry the flower is by bending a branch. If it follows the bend, then it's not dry enough. Only when it snaps with ease can you be certain that you've completed the drying process.

If you're the type of grower to only trim after drying, now is the time to do so. Different growers will do this before (wet trim) or after this step, but never can you do this after curing. So, get your trimming done and let's move on to the next step.

CURING YOUR MARIJUANA BUDS

Now that you have the buds separated from the leaves and branches, get them into the Mason jars. The flowers should not be packed too tightly. Give them some space to breathe, leaving about 25% of the jar empty. This will allow the flower to break down chlorophyll and its byproducts successfully. Once you have your jars filled, keep them in a cool and dark place. This will be at around 21°C and 55% RH.

Now, what you want to do is open these jars and take out your buds every day for at least 10 minutes. Do this over a period of two weeks. This is done so that you can inspect the buds for the appearance of mould or bacteria, and also to change their position and allow some healthy airflow. This “burping” of the Mason jars will ensure that buds cure uniformly. But don't keep them out of the container for too long. A half hour is plenty of time.

After these 2 weeks of intense inspection, you can relax a bit more. From here, you'll only need to open the jars once every week or so until they are perfectly dry and smell delicious. You can keep curing and “burping” for several months, but after 6, you won't be doing yourself any favours by continuing to cure. Most growers will only do this for a few weeks. It's up to you to test and experiment so you can find the best routine for your operation. Just remember to learn from your mistakes and not let yourself be demotivated by poor results. Luckily, the curing process is pretty easy, as long as you are consistent and detail-oriented.