The guy above me basically said it...
Curing your dried cannabis is EXTREMELY important. The chemical processes that take place during curing bring out the unique scent of the essential oils within the buds, and convert inactive cannabinoids into active ones. The result, after a month or so of curing, is dank, potent cannabis.
My advice for optimum pre- and post harvest::
- If supreme smell and taste is what you are after, consider giving you plant an extra week of flowering time. The sativa fans will probably form an angry mob and hunt me down for saying this, since waiting an extra week would compromise the clarity and the psychedelic aspects of the high. However, this would also allow terpene production to reach its full potential. Terpenes are the chemicals that are responsible for the way cannabis smells. One combination of these chemicals results in one smell, another in a different one. Terpene production peaks during the last weeks of flowering. By giving it an extra to flower, you capitalize on this boost in terpene production.
-Flush the plants a week or two before harvest. Give them plain water until 5 days before harvest. This will leach out chemical salts that are left over from the fertilizer, and make the plant use up its stored nutrients. This makes for better burning, smooth tasting buds. Don't underestimate the importance of flushing when it comes to growing dank buds!
- 5 days before harvest, stop watering the plant. In theory, it should cause a boost in resin production, as the plant produces more of it to protect itself from drought. This would also stress the plant, which is why you shouldn't do it until the very end of its life cycle.
- 3 days before harvest, you may choose to turn off all the lights in your growroom, or move the plant(s) to be harvested to a dark place. This, in theory would also cause a boost in resin production.
- When you finally go cut down your plant, try to expose it to as little light as possible before it's actually cut. During the dark hours, cannabis stores its carbohydrates in the roots. When the plant is exposed to light, the carbohydrates migrate back to the leaves and buds. They taste bad when burnt, and are probably not very healthy to smoke. It only takes a few minutes for the process to take place, so if you are going to bother with this bit, then it's important that you do it quickly, and without too much light.
- Trim your buds as soon as possible. First take off the fan leaves, and get rid of them, then trim the resin covered leaves, and save them for hash, spacecake or tincture. If you leave them untrimmed a day or two, the leaves get floppy and are harder to trim. Still possible, just harder...
- Dry your buds in a cool, dark place with some air movement. It is best for the drying process to take as long as possible (as long as they don't get moldy). The buds shouldn't be bone dry, which is why it is important that its not too warm. Also, no fan blowing at the buds...elsewhere in the room is fine, just not at the buds... When the stems crack when you bend them, the buds are ready for curing. At this point I cut them off the branches, and into a 1 liter glass jar with a rubber seal. Don't use plastic...probably not metal either...just stick to glass. Pack the buds as loosely as possible!
- Place the glass jar in a cool dark place (like 8 -10 degrees C). You should check on them the first few days to prevent mold and allow excess moisture to escape. The moisture inside the stems and buds will come out to the surface, making the buds evenly dry. The day after you start curing, open the jar and feel a couple of buds. If they feel moist, leave the jar open for an hour or so. Otherwise, close it and check the next day.
After 5 to 7 days you will already notice a big difference in the quality of your cannabis. After a month, most people would proclaim it to be finished, but, like a fine wine, cannabis gets better with age. I found a nug of 6 month old Super Lemon Haze the other day...that shit blew my mind! The flavor was so much more intense than it used to be...and the potency was no joke either...
So, I hope you find some of this useful, and good luck with your next grow!
hehe
