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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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: