Marijuana Drying and Curing: Comprehensive Guide

Unbeknownst to some, the drying and curing aspect of marijuana growing is potentially one of the most critical of the entire process. How thoroughly the bud is dried and cured makes a massive difference in how smooth it smokes and its overall flavor.

If you’re just about to harvest your weed after several months of watching it grow in your marijuana flower containers, there are a few final hoops you must jump through if you want your weed to be as high a quality as can be, be it for medical or recreational uses. In this article, we are going to share these vital processes with you.

Let’s jump into it.

What Is Drying And Curing, And Why Do We Do It?

Most people tend to ask why we can’t simply smoke our cannabis right after we have harvested. Well, the reason being is that the plant is simply too full of water, and the THC and CBD have not finished being produced.

The first thing you need to do after you have harvested and trimmed the cannabis is to dry it in a cool room, usually for a couple of weeks. After that, we cure our cannabis by putting it into an airtight container so that it’s protected from things like mold and mildew. This also gives it time to rehydrate itself from the inside out which maximizes the amount of THC and CBD it contains.

Think of marijuana like a fine wine, the longer you leave, the better.

Take a look at the three steps you need to follow to take your plant from harvest, through the trimming, drying, and curing phases:

Trimming

When it comes to trimming your plant, there are two ways you can do it, either before the drying process or after it. In general, it’s usually easier to trim the plant right after it’s been harvested as it’s a little easier to handle, and you don’t risk losing as much weed, as dry weed can be very brittle.

During this stage, all you have to do is trim away all of the sugar and fan leaves and just about everything else that isn’t smokable. In the end, you want to be left with the branch and a nice trimmed bud, and that’s all.

Drying

Once you’ve got your trimmed bud, we can move on to the drying process. The easiest method is to string the trimmed cannabis buds upside down in a cool, dry, and dark room. You want to make sure this room does not get used very often as the more you disturb the cannabis and expose it to light, the lower the final product’s quality.

When you are stringing up the cannabis, you need to make sure that they are evenly spaced and they all have plenty of airflow running by them. It’s a good idea to install some fans to keep the air moving around the room so that they will dry out in a shorter time. If the room has access to A/C, then even better.

If you’re really taking this drying and curing process seriously, here’s how the ideal should be set up:

• Humidity levels between 50 and 55%
• Average room temperature of 72°F
• A pitch-black room with no light pollution

Once the weed feels crispy and dry to the touch, it’s ready. On average, this process can take anywhere between one and three weeks.

Curing

Now for the final phase of the process, curing. In a nutshell, all you have to do to properly cure your weed is the place into an airtight container and leave it for a prolonged period of time – the longer, the better.

Here is a quick step-by-step guide you can follow to ensure the best results:

• Place the dried cannabis into an airtight container. You can place it into mylar weed bags, zip tie bags, but most of the time, it’s better to use airtight glass weed jars. These are usually big enough to fit in plenty of cannabis while keeping out most of the oxygen.
• Once the weed is inside the airtight container, you need to store in a cool dark, and dry place once again. Make sure that this place has limited light exposure; otherwise, you will run the risk of degrading the THC.
• For the first 7 to 10 days, open up the airtight container three or four times every day. This replaces the air inside the container and lets the plant continue working its magic in the curing process.
• After the first week, you can revert to opening the container just once or twice a week. Once you get about four or five weeks into the curing process, the weed will be ready to smoke, but don’t take it all out at once. The best thing to do is just take out what you want to smoke each time and leave the rest of the weed curing. Just make sure that the container is airtight, so bacteria and mold refrain from growing on all of your hard work.