Drying and Curing ?

Greetings All,
First, I am not a kid but I am hiding my grow(s) from my wife and kids. That being said, I have limited or no availability for proper methods of cultivation. I have harvested my 1st Betty Boo 2wks ago (thanks Attitude,Herbies and Single Seeds). I cut off all buds, put them in a paper lunch bag and had them at room temp for one day until I realized there was no way I was going to hide the aroma.

I moved the bag to the storage above the garage for 1 wk where temps fell below freezing or close to it. After 1 wk the small bud stems were still pliable and the buds were not dry either. I moved the bag to a cardboard box with a small desiccant in it and placed it in a closet for 1 wk where temps are 70's. After
1 wk I checked and all is very dry (would probably crumble to dust). I can see the trichs on the buds, temps outside are reaching 0 degrees or subzero at night so the air is very dry.

My Question (s): Do I "NEED" to cure the buds in jars? If not then would it be of any benefit if I did cure in jars at this point? Thanks for any information you can provide.

http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faqs/60954-drying-curing-your-buds.html

http://boards.cannabis.com/basic-gro...ml#post2215627

Thanks. I searched for drying and curing but nothing came up. Anyway, there is good info at the link you provided but I didn't see anything about curing. I've read other info about drying for a week or 2 then, when a stem is dry enough so that you can barely snap it, then it's ready to be cured in jars with a schedule to open and release moisture. I've read this process can take 30days or more for the real patient grower.

My issue is due to circumstances, I had to prune the buds and dry in paper lunch bags to the point that the stem is brittle...like too dry. So...I'm wondering if i should still put in jars to cure. My guess is I've screwed the process up so it probably doesn't matter at this point. I did put the stash in jars but I'm not expecting any increased potency or better smoke. I can't try it for a while anyway...job hunting. I stopped smoking at a young age...now here I am...32 yrs later.

You have nothing to lose going forward curing in jars. If there happens to be any residual moisture in the stems then you will get some curing.

Ok...so the bud is in a sealed jar..."curing" I suppose, but I think it's pretty dry. There are no sugar leaves in there, only Joint Dr's Betty Boo LowRyder bud. I have the leaves in a separate jar. I opened both jars for a smell. The leaves don't have much aroma. The bud....wow...I would say very aromatic.

Would this bud be considered mid grade or what? It was started in an AeroGarden, then transplanted to a 20 gal contaner filled with Miracle Grow, and some Miracle Grow soil expander and some Miracle Grow water absorbing peat type product. I got all of Walmarts winter closeout stuff. So agin...what grade would you think?

"curing" in jars is needed to crystalize the resin inside the tricomes. If you don't cure (and you really don't have to) your smoke will be harsh and hard to keep lit. You also lose a small % of THC that is converted during the prosess.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mainely Growing Weed

"curing" in jars is needed to crystalize the resin inside the tricomes. If you don't cure (and you really don't have to) your smoke will be harsh and hard to keep lit. You also lose a small % of THC that is converted during the prosess.

---

Everything I've read says that curing will increase potency, not decrease it. I had no idea why curing was done. The resin hardens inside the trichromes...interesting. Thanks for the info. I'm still trying to figure out what grade my Joint Dr Betty Boo is. I've read about various grades and descriptions of each. The best criteria I can submit is, my Betty Boo has no seed, no stem, smells sweet, maybe citrusy, the color is green, maybe a mix of light green and dark green with orange hairs throughout and the crystals can be seen. I haven't smoked any as I am interviewing. I haven't smoked since the 1st week of Dec. I know this stuff has to be better than anything I've ever tried before.

Sorry for the confusion I ment that if you do not cure you will lose potency.

Thanks. There's a lot of folks advising "what" to do. The "why" completes my understanding and reinforces the impotance of what to do, and how to do it. I only wish I could do it all by the book, although, I recently read an article about drying and curing and it said this can be done in paper bags (my only alternative) as opposed to hanging, and then put into Glass jars because plastic is semi permeable or prone to gas exchange and ionization with the charge actually pulling the trichromes off, resulting in the trichromes sticking to the plastic. So that answers the question of why glass and not plastic.

I have experienced some paper bagged buds, and let me tell you that you may be able to tell the difference. Unless you take great care and try to be PERFECT, you might hinder the quality. I feel like the dry/cure steps are so underappreciated by most growers nowadays.. Good luck!