Guide to Drying and Curing Marijuana Flowers

Growing marijuana is now legal all over USA and many marijuana users might want to try their hand at growing marijuana at home. You can grow marijuana indoors or outdoors. Although you’re limited to four plants at a time and must keep your plants out of public view. In general, you’ll be waiting for a few months before you harvest your buds. However, for the best weed possible, you’ll also need to learn about drying and curing marijuana flowers.

Once the flowers of your marijuana plants develop and start producing cannabinoids, your plants are ready to harvest. Although you may be tempted to simply cut off your buds and start smoking, you’ll need to dry and cure them first. Drying simply involves removing the moisture from your buds until you’re left with dry, smokable weed. Curing is the cherry on top that makes your weed even stronger.

Although you may be tempted to speed through these steps, they’re important if you want high-quality weed. You’ll have a hard time smoking your weed if you don’t dry it first, and without curing it’ll be much weaker and less flavorful than it could be. Fortunately, it’s easy enough to dry and cure your weed. Here’s our guide to drying and curing marijuana buds successfully.

Who Can Grow Marijuana Flowers?

In October 2018, marijuana became legal in USA. As long as users are at least 19 years old, they’re able to buy products from various cannabis stores across the country or even buy marijuana online. Growing also became illegal, although there are a few restrictions.

If you’re old enough to buy marijuana in your province, you’re also old enough to grow marijuana. That means being 19 years old in most cases. 

Growing marijuana was initially legal in Quebec, but the law recently changed to allow users to grow weed at home. Growing marijuana is still forbidden in Manitoba, although users with a medical license can grow marijuana for medical purposes.

You can grow up to four active plants at a time and you’re allowed to grow indoors or outdoors as long as you’re not restricted by your landlord. However, you must keep your plants out of reach of children and out of public sight. This often means using an enclosure if you grow outdoors- New Brunswick residents are required to have fencing of at least 1.52 meters high around their plants.

If you want to grow marijuana, you can get cannabis seeds from cannabis stores or seed banks. Make sure you get feminized seeds- only female plants produce THC, so if you use regular seeds, you’ll be left with cannabis plants that don’t grow weed. You can also use autoflowering feminized seeds if you want your plants to grow faster.

How Do You Grow Marijuana Flowers?

Growing marijuana is a lengthy process with many factors involved. For example, growing indoors requires you to make a grow space with artificial lighting and temperature/humidity control to create the best conditions for your plants to grow. Growing outdoors requires much less effort, although you generally need to rely on favorable weather.

Indoor growers often use a closet, tent, grow box or even a small room to grow their plants. You’ll need to invest more money to get HID lighting, air conditioning, and some form of humidity control. In the early stages of growing, plants need 18 hours of light a day and temperatures of around 70-75°F. As they begin to flower, they only require 12 hours of light and 65-70°F.

Outdoor growers generally rely on good weather to grow their plants. However, whether you grow indoors or outdoors, you’ll still need to provide your plants with water and nutrients. This usually requires using nutrient-enriched super soil containing nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous, and calcium. You can also use nutrient-enriched water.

It can take a few months for your plants to fully mature or flower. You can usually tell when your plants are ready to harvest by taking a close look at the flowers with a magnifying glass. If the hairs of the buds have darkened and they have cloudy trichomes, it’s a good time to harvest. You can also wait for the trichomes to turn amber if you want less THC but more CBN.

There’s a lot more that goes into growing marijuana, and it’s best to read a more in-depth marijuana growing guide if you want to get it right. However, the process doesn’t end once your plants are ready to harvest. If you want the best marijuana possible, you’ll need to dry and cure your buds after harvesting to ensure you get potent, smokable weed.

Why Do You Need To Dry And Cure Marijuana Flowers?

Drying and curing are both essential parts of growing marijuana yourself. Although you’ll have to wait longer to enjoy your weed, going through the drying and curing process will improve the quality of your weed massively. Dried and cured weed tastes better, burns better, and many users even find the effects are stronger.

It’s particularly important to dry your marijuana buds before you try to smoke them. Trying to smoke weed when it’s wet or damp will simply result in your weed being wasted. What’s more, moisture on your weed leaves it prone to growing mold and mildew. Not only will this rapidly degrade the quality of your weed, but trying to smoke it will make you sick.

As well as reducing the risk of mold and bacteria, drying your weed simply improves the smoking quality. Once you reduce the moisture, your weed will burn smoothly and the smoke won’t be as harsh. It also helps to break down chlorophyll and significantly improves the aroma and taste of your buds.

Although you can smoke your weed once it’s dry and you don’t necessarily have to go through the process of curing, it’s an extra step that can bring out the true quality of your weed. Curing can enhance the cannabinoids and terpenes of your weed to bring out its maximum potency and flavor.

Curing your weed simply involves storing it for a longer time and allowing it to reach peak potency. Many users find that curing improves the overall quality of their buds when it comes to the flavor, effects, and even how it feels when you smoke or vaporize it. It can also ensure that your marijuana retains its quality for a longer time.

If you want long-lasting, high-quality weed it’s important to dry and cure your buds first. These processes aren’t too difficult and can result in you having better weed that stays fresh and potent for a long time.

Guide To Drying Marijuana Flowers

It’s best to start drying your marijuana buds as soon as you harvest them. When you finish growing, your buds often have a lot of excess moisture which leaves them prone to damage from mold and bacteria. Drying is important to make your weed fresh, potent, and easy to smoke. Here’s how to dry your buds.

Step 1: Once you’re ready to harvest your buds, apply some gloves and start trimming your plants until you’re left with just the buds. Try to remove as many leaves, stems and excess plant material as possible. You might want to leave some of the stems if you plan to hang your buds up on a washing line, but it’s usually better to use a dry rack. Store your buds with a protective sheet or container.

Step 2: Hang your buds up to dry in a dry room. It’s best to use an empty room or a room with as much space as possible where you can control the temperature and humidity. Place your buds on dry racks (or hang them on a washing line if you prefer). Try to keep the room at a temperature of around 70°F with a relative humidity of 45-55%.

Step 3: Now you simply have to wait for your buds to dry and check on them every couple of days or so. You’ll know they’re dry enough when they feel dry, look pale, and any excess stems are brittle enough to snap instead of bending. This usually takes around 3-7 days, but if your buds aren’t dry enough by then, be sure to give them a few extra days. Once your buds are dry, it’s time to move onto storing and curing the

Guide To Curing Marijuana Flowers

Once your buds are dry, you may want to simply start smoking them. However, curing your buds for a few weeks or even months can significantly enhance their quality. Curing involves storing your buds for a longer period to bring out their potency and flavor. You might want to put a few buds aside for smoking purposes and cure the rest- you’re going to have to store most of them anyway. Here’s how to cure your buds.

Step 1: Using gloves, place your dried buds in clean, dry, airtight containers. Glass containers such as Mason jars work particularly well for this. It’s best to fill your containers as much as possible while still leaving some room at the top. This will reduce excess oxygen getting in and damaging your buds.

Step 2: Once you’ve filled and sealed your containers, find a cool, dry place to store them. This will ensure that your buds are kept away from heat, light, and moisture, all of which can reduce the quality of your weed. You can use a cupboard, drawer, closet or anywhere else suitable.

Step 3: For the first couple of weeks, you’ll need to “burp” your containers frequently. This helps release excess air and also allows you to check on the quality of your weed. Unseal your containers each day for around 30 minutes before resealing them. Smell them to check there’s no dampness or ammonia smell. If your buds are damp, remove them for further drying.

Step 4: You won’t need to burp your containers as often after around 2 weeks, although you should still check them occasionally. Generally, 2-4 weeks of curing is enough. However, you might want to cure some of your buds for even longer. Curing weed for a few months can result in even more flavor and potency.

What To Do After Drying And Curing Marijuana Flowers

Once you’ve dried and cured your buds, you can enjoy your fresh and potent marijuana whenever you please. Simply take your weed out as you need it, grind it, and use it however you want.

You’ll notice that dried and cured weed both tastes and feels better. When you roll it into a joint, the smoke will be much smoother, you’ll get stronger effects, and you’ll catch more of the flavor of your weed with every puff. You can also smoke it in the bowl of your Bong or Pipe for smooth and satisfying hits.

Alternatively, you can also use your weed in a Dry Herb Vaporizer. Many users prefer vaping weed as it’s seen as safer, healthier, and can even produce stronger effects. What’s more, you can adjust the temperature of your Vape to bring out even more of the flavor of your homegrown weed.

It’s best to still keep your buds in sealed containers for as long as possible. You can simply take out buds as you need them and leave the rest to continue curing. For an extra level of maintenance, you can also add humidity packs to your containers. 

Humidity packs keep your containers at the optimal level of humidity for retaining the freshness and quality of your buds. It’s best to use 62% RH Humidity Packs. You should also continue to burp your jars at least once a month

Conclusion

If you want your homegrown weed to be as fresh, potent and flavorful as possible, then drying and curing is essential. Drying will remove any excess moisture, making your weed smokable as well as ensuring that it retains its quality for a long time. Curing brings your weed to its maximum quality, much like letting a fine Wine or Whiskey mature before use.

These steps are important for any marijuana growers. However, if you don’t want to go through the hassle of growing weed for months, you can simply buy weed online. You can find all kinds of high-quality marijuana flowers that have been dried and cured for your enjoyment at Cannabisgesis420.com.