Drying and curing cannabis buds

In this article we will highlight the importance of drying and curing. This procedure improves the taste, aroma and smell of dry marijuana buds.

Before speaking about drying and curing of the plants we recommend that you read our two previous posts in relation to the harvest of cannabis and trimming of marijuana.

Among growers it’s often said that to cut the plants only the half of work have been done. The drying and curing is the other half.

The importance of drying and curing of the cannabis buds

The process of drying and curing is essential to achieve a good texture, taste, smell and effect. It's a manner to remove the humidity contained in the buds, but only to a certain extent. It’s important not to dry them too much and maintain ideal humidity percentage and so the buds will preserve longer time.

If the grass dries out too much it will affect to the flavour, and when we smoke it we will notice how our palate dries out and how it scratches on the throat and provokes cough. A too dry bud will turn into dust when we grind it. On the other hand, a well dried and cured bud swells up and has a more spongy texture.

This process makes it possible to preserve all the organoleptic traits of marijuana buds for a longer time.

In short, drying and curing properly has the same importance as growing well.

How to dry cannabis plants?

As we have already commented in the post about trimming, to dry the weed, buds can be dried separately or with the whole plant upside down. In both cases we will have to check the climatic parameters of the drying space..

The ideal humidity to dry marijuana is 60% and a temperature of 20ºC.

With too much moisture there exists the risk that the buds rot; if the humidity is too low, we would run the risk that they dries out too fast.

If the temperature is too high, the terpenes (aromas) will volatilize and the grass would lose smell.

Another very important factor is that this process is done in a dark and vented space because the light would provoke an unwanted oxidation of the trichomes (resin glands). The ventilation must be done so that the air does not touch directly the plant, given that the resin also could oxidize.

To control all these parameters, we recommend using a thermo-hygrometer, a fan, and if needed, a dehumidifier.

How to know when the cannabis is dry

If the weather conditions are ideal, the buds tend to need about 7-10 days of drying. The larger and denser flowers obviously will take something more than the smaller ones. Some strains such as SuperJuani or Guayita usually take about two or three days more than other strains. This is due to the amount of waxes they contain.

If we have left the whole plant to dry upside down, the way to know that it’s ready to cut is when, after the first week, we bend the stem and it breaks. If bending the branch you hear a crack, it means that it’s this dry enough to begin the curing process.

Once the buds are dry, it already could be done a small tasting, but as we have explained in this post, the work is not finished. It’s better to wait until curing is completely finished to savour and enjoy more of the grass. A little patience! It’s just about to finish….

Curing cannabis buds

The term "curing" is used when we talk about refine marijuana. That means to remove the moisture contained in the buds until get the ideal percentage of humidity and so keep it in better conditions and for a longer period of time.

At the beginning, the flowers will be dry only externally and when you put them into a jar, when you open it on the next day, you will see that buds has become soft and humid again. This happens when you store it and at the inside of the bud still retains moisture. For this reason, we must do the curing little by little to remove the moisture of the buds from the center outwards until it is distributed equally throughout the flower.

Philosopher Seeds recommend to do the curing using glass jars with air-tight seal as those that you can see in the following picture.

Every day we have to open the jars for a few minutes and then we close them again. We will realize this operation until we open the jars and a rich smell of marijuana comes out of them. The time of curing depends on every strain and on the moisture contained in the buds, but we must count in general between 7 and 15 days.

Soon, we will publish a post explaining in detail how to perform a professional tasting of marijuana according to Philosopher Seeds.

If you still have some doubts or question, you can leave us a comment right here.

Greetings and now more than never... Have a nice smoke!