Drying & Curing your buds

There are many different methods you can try but here I will only talk about a few of them that are more old school and accepted methods then the rest.

First thing itâ??s a myth to think hanging a plant upside down will increase THC percent. That is an old hippy tale told around the trimming can at harvest time while you pass a fat J back and forth.
Hanging them upside down is only easy and thatâ??s about it. You can cut the plant at the bottom, trim off all the fan leaves (thatâ??s if you have not already done so the last week before harvest to increase light and air flow). The fan leaves donâ??t have enough trichomes to even add them to the trim for hash. Just trash them way to much chlorophyll in those leaves.

Once you have cut down your plant at the base and the fan leaves are gone you can clip your trim leaves as well just store those in a paper grocery bag for drying. The trim leaves are the larger leaves around your flowers (buds) just cut those as close as you can to the flower with out cutting the flower. Those have trichomes on them so keep them as your hash trim.

By now you should have just sticks with flowers showing.

Hang the plant as an easy way to store them for the drying. You keep them in a dry, dark and warm place for about 7-14 dayâ??s depending on how big your plant is. If itâ??s too big just cut the branches off and hang them separately. You want air to be able to move around the plant freely to dry evenly but not directly on the flowers.

The next option is to cut the buds off the branches once you have trimmed them. You then use a metal window screen to set the flowers on the dry. You want air movement around in the dry area but you donâ??t want direct air moving across the flowers just passive air. Like a bounce airflow where it bounces off one side and then crosses the flowers works.

Slow drying is preferred but not required (here is where many people will get pissed)

Drying is only part of the process and you can speed up the drying process by about a week or better if you have a cabinet to use. A good dry cabinet is one made with cedar lined walls and door. The cedar will draw out the moisture and keep bugs away. You can use a very small heater and small fan as well just to move the air around. You want to dry the flowers at a temperature around 85f that will dry them slowly but faster then if you just hang them in a closet. You get a evenly dry flower ready to cure in about 3-5 dayâ??s in a cabinet and if you are drying 5 pounds or more that is fast.

Once you have dry buds (the stems snap) you use glass mason jars like the ones your grandmother used to store preserves when you were a kid. Fill the jars with flowers but donâ??t pack them in you want airflow around them so they cure evenly on all sides.
Check them every day and look for moisture forming on the glass if you see moisture open it up and let them breath for a few hours then close it back up and check it again the next day. Most of the time if they are dry going in you will not have moisture build up but you may so keep an eye on them.

If you have no moisture forming you still need to let the jars breath for about a hour every 3-5 dayâ??s so the gas escapes.

The idea at this point is to get rid of the ammonia odor. That is the chlorophyll being used by the flower, one last-ditch stand to keep alive. You need to rid the flower of the chlorophyll to improve the taste.

Curing takes anywhere from 10 dayâ??s to 30 dayâ??s or more depending on several factors and you canâ??t speed up this process at this point. If you stopped feeding them (N) the last 10-dayâ??s before flushed this process should not take as long.

If you over dry them you can just add a fresh picked leaf from one of your other plants and that will bring just a small bit of moisture back into them and thatâ??s all you want a small amount.

Thatâ??s about it for trimming and harvesting the real hard part is the waiting for them to cure, you can smoke some after it is dry but it improves with age.

Hi, this article helped me out seriously. Very comprehensive guide on drying and curing buds. Thought I'd share, because you can't find a lot of good info on drying.

Drying and curing cannabis properly will yield the most THC-potent smoke. When dried and cured improperly, potency can diminish substantially. The level of THC in a plant is determined by its genetics. Proper drying and curing will keep the THC level as high as genetically possible. It does not increase potency.

• A little background on what happens inside and outside the harvested drying plant will help you understand why proper drying and curing are so important to good quality dope. Drying evaporates most of the 70-75 percent water content in fresh marijuana. Drying also converts THC from its non-psychoactive crude acidic form to its psychoactive pH-neutral form. Once dry, THC-potent marijuana can be smoked and you will get high. Every THC molecule must shed their moisture content before they are fully psychoactive.

• In other words fresh green marijuana will not be very potent.
• When you cut a plant or plant part and hang it to dry, the transport of fluids within the plant continues, but at a slower rate. Stomata, small openings on leaf undersides, close soon after harvest and drying is slowed since little water vapor escapes. The natural plant processes slowly come to an end as the plant dries. The outer cells are the first to dry, but fluid still moves from internal cells to supply moisture to the dry outer cells. When this process occurs properly, the plant dries evenly throughout. Removing leaves and large stems upon harvest speeds drying, however, moisture content within the â??driedâ?� buds, leaves and stems is most often uneven.

• Quick drying also traps chlorophylls and other pigments, starch and nitrates within plant tissue, making it taste â??greenâ?� burn unevenly and taste bad.
• Taste and aroma improve when these pigments break down.
• Slow even drying â?? where the humidity is similar inside and outside the foliage â?? allows enough time for the pigments to degrade. Hanging entire plants to dry allows this process to occur over time, about 3-4 weeks at 50-60 percent relative humidity and a temperature range of 60-70 degrees F. (15-21 degrees C.) The large outer leaves also form a protective sheath around buds. This protective foliage shields resin glands on buds from rupture and bruising. Removing large leaves and stems upon harvest saves time. This is what most growers do, because fresh supple leaves are easier to work with than dry leaves. When you are looking a manicuring 5 kilos, you make it as easy as possible! However, this process often causes uneven drying and keeps moisture inside the foliage.

• This is why it is important to â??cureâ?� the â??dryâ?� marijuana.Curing lets the plants continue to dry slowly. The first week of curing affects potency in that it removes moisture within the bud evenly, so that virtually all the THC is psychoactive. Curing also allows buds to dry enough so that mold does not grow when it is stored. A well-cured bud will also burn with an even glow.Note: Rough handling and friction from fondling hands will bruise and knock off resin glands. Even with proper drying and curing, brutal handling of harvested marijuana will diminish THC content.

• Here is one of the best ways to dry plants to retain the maximum amount of psychoactive THC. Cut the entire ripe plant at the base and hang it upside down on a line to dry. Try to keep plants from touching each other to avoid uneven drying and mold. Keep the humidity between 50-60 percent. Keep the temperature at about 60-70 degrees F. (15-21 degrees C.). The room should be relatively dark as light, especially direct sunlight, degrades THC.A circulation and ventilation fan may be necessary to control heat and humidity. You can also use a dehumidifier to control humidity or an air conditioner to lower ambient relative humidity and control room temperature.

• Do not train fans directly on drying plants it causes them to dry unevenly.Depending upon atmospheric conditions and the size and density of plants and buds, plants should be dry enough to smoke in about a week. Plants with outer â??fanâ?� leaves intact take longer to dry than if leaves have been removed.Check for dryness by bending a stem. It should snap. The bud should be dry to Cervantestouch, but not brittle. The bud should burn well enough to smoke now.Once dry, carefully manicure buds by cutting large leaves where they attach to the stem.

• Leaving the petiole (leaf stem) can cause mold to grow. Snip off smaller leaves that show little resin so that buds a beautiful bud remains. Freeze DryingDry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. COâ?� changes from its frozen solid to a gas without turning into a liquid, a dry (ice) process that is called sublimation. The atmosphere contains little CO2. Dry ice sublimes (converts) completely into a gas leaving virtually no liquid. It is dry.When moist marijuana is enclosed with dry ice at virtually zero relative humidity, water molecules migrate from the cannabis to the dry ice. The relative humidity of the CO2 increases and the moisture content of the marijuana decreases. This process occurs below 0 degrees C (32 degrees F), preserving the cannabis.Place equal amounts of dry ice and bud into a container. Dry ice on the bottom and bud on top. Seal with a lid. Make a few small holes in the lid of the container for excess gas to exit. Place in the freezer. Check the dry ice every 24 hours. When the ice is gone, the buds will be completely dry. If not dry, add more dry ice until cannabis is dry. Conserve dry ice by partially drying buds for a few days before enclosing with dry ice.This method retains potency, freshness and causes very little degradation of resin glands by the bad guys â?? heat, light, air and fondling hands. The marijuana tastes â??mintyâ?? because the chlorophyll does not break down.CuringEven though the plants appear to be dry, they still contain moisture inside. This moisture affects taste and potency.

• To remove this excess moisture, curing is necessary. Curing makes the bud uniformly dry and converts virtually all THC into its psychoactive form.
• Cut stems into manageable lengths â?? less than 12 inches (30 centimeters) â?? and place them in an airtight container. Glass containers with a rubber or similar seal on top are the best. Avoid Ziploc plastic bags, which are not airtight. Many growers also avoid plastic containers such as Tupperware, sighting the plastic imparts an undesirable flavor in the buds. Enclose buds in a container. This creates a microclimate that allows moisture to â??even outâ?� within the buds. Internal moisture will migrate to the dry portions of the bud. Gently pack as many buds in the glass container as possible without damaging them. Leave the jar(s) in a cool dry dark place. Check the jar in 2-4 hours to see if buds â??sweatedâ?� moisture. Check buds by gently squeezing to feel if they are moister than they were a few hours before. Be careful when squeezing buds, they bruise easily. Most often they will be completely dry. If not, leave them in the sealed jar overnight and check the next day.The buds will be a bit moist. Remove them from the jar and gently lay in the bottom of a paper bag. They can be stacked in the paper bag as high as 10 centimeters (3 inches). Close the top of the bag by folding once. Check the buds 2-3 times during the day to see if they are dry. Carefully turn them in the bag so that different sides are exposed. Remove when they are dry and place back into the sealed glass jar. Check them the next day to see if they are evenly dry and not moist again. If moist, remove and place back in the paper bag until dry. When dry place back in the glass container. Repeat process until buds are evenly dry.If buds appear to have fairly low moisture content, you may be able to leave them in the jar and let excess moisture escape out the top. Simply open the jar for a few minutes every few hours to let the excess moisture escape before closing the lid again.

• Check the container daily, leaving the top open for 5-10 minutes so moisture evacuates. After a week or two, it should be totally dry and ready to seal airtight. Vacuum seal the jar and place it in the refrigerator for storage. Leave it in the refrigerator or a cool dark dry place for a month or longer. The taste and potency will be tops! Refrigeration slows decomposition but remember, refrigerators have a high humidity level, so the container must be sealed airtight. I just checked the relative humidity in temperature in my refrigerator â?? 65 percent relative humidity and 5 degrees C. (40 degrees F). Do not place it in the freezer. Freezing draws moisture to the surface of buds, which can harm resin glands on the surface.

• I do not recommend fast drying however here is a brief rundown on several methods for those of you who canâ??t wait.

Method One: Manicure fresh buds. Spread them out evenly and wrap in paper or enclose in an envelope. Place the paper or envelope on top of a warm object â?? refrigerator, radiator, television, etc. Depending upon heat level, buds will be dry in a few hours to overnight. Buds should be a bit crispy when dry. Place buds in an airtight container until they sweat. Follow curing instructions above.

Method Two: Cut up fresh buds and foliage. Place on a 6-inch (15 centimeter) square of tinfoil. Hold or place it over a 60-80-watt light bulb. Stir every 30 seconds. The weed takes 1-3 minutes to dry.

Method Three: Place cut up buds and foliage on a cookie sheet in an oven at 65 degrees C. (150 degrees F.) for 10- 15 minutes. Check regularly until dry. Follow curing instructions above.

Method Four: Place cut up buds and foliage in a microwave oven. Power the oven to 40-50 percent and give short 5-10 second bursts. Check regularly until dry.

Method Five: Cut fresh buds and foliage into small pieces and place them in a glass jar with an airtight lid. Place several silica gel desiccant packs (the kind that come with electronic devices and cameras) into the glass jar and seal the jar. Moisture will migrate to the silica gel in a few hours. Remove the packets and dry in the sun. Replace silica packs until marijuana is dry enough to smoke. Find silica gel packs at auto parts or electronic stores.

Method Six: Peel stems so they plants dry faster. First remove large leaves. Peel off the outer layer of the stem with a knife. This exposes the inside of the stem and cuts drying time by about 20 percent.Patient growers smoke no bud before its time!