Cash cropper? Personal user that wants to show off their harvest? Want your bud to have bag appeal? Then PROPER curing is a must. Along with curing it is also necessary to manicure and dry your buds properly too. Proper manicuring, drying and curing will get you the most out of your weed. Not only does it make the nugs look, taste, and smell better; it makes them more potent.

Think of this: As a grower you spent months of your time, a good sum of money to grow sinsemilla with great genetics, a high THC content, and a fantastic high and in the end it looks, tastes, and smokes like shit; yeah it's gets you high but don't you want it to LOOK like it will get you high. Remember too that properly dried and cured buds are more potent too. Proper drying and curing is a must if you are looking to cash in. I don't know about you but I won't pay top dollar for something that just looks like uncompressed or unbricked mids, tastes and smells like hay or leaves, and is harsh as hell to smoke.

Now think about yourself as a buyer. Is there nothing worse than a grower who's bud is still wet? You have to pay $50-60 for a 1/8th and you have to leave it out overnight to dry because it won't burn right. You get up in the morning and it weighs 2.5 grams now instead of the 3.5 that you paid for. Do you like paying for moisture? I don't. Do you like smoking weed that tastes like hay or leaves? I don't. Do you want the weed you buy to look and smell DANK? I do. Nothing worse than greedy growers who can't wait 2 more weeks to cash in! You don't want that reputation do you?

Here's the steps I was taught by an experienced grower, I have been doing this everytime for quite a few years.

Step 1: Rough Manicuring. You'll want to remove fan leaves and larger leaves in the bud before you start drying. You can throw them out or save them to make hash. Be sure to leave the small inner leaves though.
EX: My rule of thumb is if I can see the leaves' stem, it gets cut. Leaves with green arrows get cut, leaves with red arrows stay.
chemdog.gif
Green Go, Red Stay
jackherer11.gif
Green Go, Red Stay

Step 2: Slow drying. Drying your buds properly means drying them slowly but not so slowly that mold develops. Drying should be done is a COOL, DARK place with plently of ventilation and low humidity. Ideal drying conditions are temperatures between 60-70 degrees F and humidity below 60%. A fan is a great way to have good air circulation but you don't want the fan/s to blow directly on the buds, this will cause them to dry too fast or cause the outside to become extremely dry and brittle while the inside is still too moist. Buds dried too fast tend to taste like leaves or grass, and smoke harsh.

The best way to dry is to hang the colas and large buds upside down on a line by their stems. Your smaller buds or buds without longer stems can be laid out on a drying screen. Be sure to check them daily for any signs of mold or other problems. When the tips of the buds feel crisp to the touch you will want to remove the from the stems. This is the point at which you'll want to finish trimming or manicuring you buds. Take off all big and medium leaves if you haven't already, trim the larger inner leaves as close to the bud as you can. Really small leaves can stay.
jackherer6.gif
Red stays, Green gets trimmed.

Step 3: The next step after your buds trimmed up nicely is the second step of the slow drying process. Brown paper bags. Grocery bags are fine. Put the buds that are crisp on the tips into the bags, I make sure the buds I put in aren't stacked more than 2-3 inches high off the bottom. If you put too many buds in you won't get enough air circulation, which could cause mold. Another reason not to layer too many is that your buds weigh more since they are still somewhat moist, this will cause the buds at or near the bottom to compress. You can leave the bags open at this point so they are getting fresh air; some people prefer to close the bags and punch holes in them. Whichever you choose, be sure to rotate them every day. After the first 2-3 days you can close the bags, you should still check daily. The bags absorb excess moisture and allow the buds to dry very evenly. The amount of time depends on the conditions in your area and the density of youe buds. Extremely dense buds will take much longer than light wispy, airy buds. Just check them everyday.

Step 4: Once your buds are dry, they are ready to be cured. Curing is what gives your buds the DANK smell and taste. It also evens out the coloring, "brings out the crystals", and makes your smoke smoother. Loosely fill Mason jars with the buds and put the lids on tightly. You should open the jars once daily and rearrange the buds for the first 7 days. After that it is only necessary to open the jars daily. Curing should be at least 2 weeks. Some strains can take up to 2 months to completely cure. But as a rule of thumb, 2 weeks should give you primo looking, smelling, tasting, and potent DANK buds.


Here are some pictures of some Jack Herer nugs, all pictures are the same strain, same mother plant, grown by the same grower, in the same room.

uncuredjackherer1.jpg
Uncured Jack Herer
uncuredjackherer.jpg
Uncured Jack Herer
curedjackherer1.jpg
Cured Jack Herer (2.5 weeks)
curedjackherer2.jpg
Cured JAck Herer (2.5 weeks)

good post, thanks.. +rep

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Organic Scroghttp://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...flowering.html SHROOM GROWhttp://www.rollitup.org/hallucinator...ml#post1287714

well said. +rep4u

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I grow marijuana, and I encourage others to as well.
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Good stuff. +Rep

Thanks all!! Seems like this question is asked ALOT. So I figured WTH, I'll type up a post with the steps I follow.

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How to dry and cure your bud properly:
http://www.rollitup.org/harvesting-c...g-matters.html

You say that bud dried too fast tends to taste like.... well this is the case with ALL bud for the most part. it's the curing process that changes this.

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I really thought i was going to find something in there i didnt agree with but it was right on, great post

ive never done step 3. probably never bother either.

i agree thou. i do the rest of the steps. drying and curing. i like people to say to my main friend who sells it on "can u get any more of that stuff, it was brilliant"

someone told me my last harvest "that stuff was good, i was still baked in the morning"

that gave me a smile and i then wouldnt do anything different. no way could i go from smoking and selling un dried, un cured bud.

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1st Grow: http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...ta-tundra.html
2nd Grow: http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...ml#post1403482

roxistar what if i didn't put them in the paper bag after hanging them up didn't know about it, just went strate to the jar can i back up and put them in the bag? they been in the jar for 4 days

great post just how i do it
REP+

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