Drying and curing your cannabis correctly is crucial to preserving its flavor, aroma, and cannabinoid content. If not done correctly, the sugars and chlorophyll in your bud will break down rapidly, reducing its flavor and aroma. Curing cannabis is a process that takes several weeks or months. It’s not a “set it and forgets it” operation; vessels are opened at regular intervals, called “burping,” to allow gases like ethylene and CO2 to escape and oxygen to enter.
Harvesting
Cannabis harvesting is one of the most critical stages of successful growth. It requires patience, knowledge, and resources to produce high-quality crops every time.
The first step is to examine your bud for signs of maturity and readiness. The color of the pistils and trichome density are good indicators. The plant has reached a point of peak maturity and is ready for harvest.
Some growers prefer to leave their plants to dry up to ten days, but you can decide what works best for your growing setup and chosen strain. The goal is to ensure the buds are thoroughly dried and have a complete terpene profile while retaining their potency.
Another essential part of the process is keeping your plants away from direct sunlight. It is to avoid drying the buds too quickly, which can ruin their flavor and potency.
Once your buds have been trimmed, they should be stored in air-tight containers to allow them to cure. It is recommended that you fill your containers to about 75% of their capacity, leaving room for airflow.
Many cannabis growers overlook how to cure cannabis, but producing high-quality, odorless, and flavorful crops is essential. The ideal conditions for drying and curing are a dark room with a temperature of around 60 degrees Fahrenheit and a humidity of about 50 percent.
Drying
Drying cannabis is a critical step in producing high-quality buds, so it’s essential to do it properly. Over-drying or over-curing your crop can cause the cannabis to become harsh and brittle and harm the taste and aroma of your final product.
The drying process should be done in a room with an ideal temperature and humidity. Ideally, the space should be a dark room between 60-68 F and 55-65% humidity with moderate indirect airflow.
It would be best if you also kept the room temperature as consistent as possible to preserve the quality of your cannabis flower and preserve highly volatile terpenes, which can lose their intensity in heat. It is often achieved by placing a fan on the lowest setting and pointing it at the room’s ceiling or running a space heater.
Once you’ve dried your cannabis, please place it in a sealed container. It prevents moisture and terpenes from dissipating while curing.
Curing is time-consuming, but it’s essential to do it properly. It can increase your product’s shelf life, eliminate harmful bacteria that can lead to mold growth, and improve the taste of your finished bud.
Before handling an entire harvest, testing various curing techniques on small amounts is beneficial to ensure the best outcomes. The most well-studied method is “traditional curing,” which typically involves storing the buds in an unopened, sealed container for a week or two. Some people prefer to cure their bud for four weeks or longer, but the time you want to do it depends on your preference and the strain you’re curing.
Curing
Curing your cannabis is crucial in bringing out the best flavor, aroma and potency of your buds. Properly curing cannabis improves smell and taste, reduces harshness, and prolongs the shelf life of your cannabis.
To start with, dry your buds carefully but slowly. The ideal drying temperature for cannabis is 60 to 65degF and 60% to 65% relative humidity (RH).
Once you’ve dried your crop, trim it and hang it from a drying rack or tray. If you’re using trays, ensure they’re not wet when cutting to avoid a loss of terpenes.
Next, place your harvested buds in air-tight containers that are only filled at 75% of their capacity. It allows them to air out, which can help them dry more quickly.
Keep checking on your buds regularly, at least once a day. Open the lids of your jars for a few minutes to let oxygen in and remove any excess moisture, which will help to reduce mold growth and mildew.
Keeping your flower at 55-65% relative humidity will help maintain color, consistency, and aroma in long-term storage. Harmful UV rays can also degrade flowers, so it’s essential to store your weed out of direct light as much as possible.
Storage
After harvesting, drying and curing your cannabis, you should store it properly to prolong its shelf life. The best way to do this is in an air-tight container and an excellent, dark location away from direct light. The most common containers for storing dried flowers are glass, as they are air-tight and prevent exposure to light. You can also use Tupperware and rigid plastic containers for short-term storage. However, these containers don’t offer the same protection from water loss and trichomes as glass.
In addition, using plastic containers to store your cannabis can result in trichomes sticking to the containers’ surface, degrading your bud’s cannabinoids and terpenes. And they aren’t as resistant to light as a glass container.
An excellent way to ensure your cannabis stays fresh is to monitor temperature and humidity levels when storing it. The ideal conditions for cannabis are 60-70degF and 55-65% relative humidity. You can do this with a cheap hygrometer.
It would be best to keep the jars you’re storing cannabis in as dry as possible. If the jars “sweat” during the curing process, it’s a sign that they still contain too much moisture and aren’t ready for storage. Ideally, you should store your cured cannabis in an air-tight, glass container in an excellent, dark location. You can also add a Boveda humidity pack to your container to help maintain the proper humidity levels.
