The art of Easily Curing Cannabis perfectly...(A tutorial)

[Vandenberg]

This information is the initial posting by "Simon" of what has become a somewhat unwieldy mess of a thread of over 2,300 pages, rather intimidating to even begin to think about reading it.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=156237:wave:
This the 2020 information reboot of a great way to cure the fruits of your labor.
Vandenberg
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This method is particularly effective for folks who are starting out, those looking to maximize quality in a shorter period of time, and folks who's like to produce a connoisseur-quality product each and every time with no guesswork involved.
The original author was currently inactive member "Simon"

It's a very simple and effective process:

Cut the product, trim it per your preference, but don't dry it until the stems snap.
Take it down while the stems still have some flex, but the product feel dry on the outside.
This is a perfect opportunity to drop the dry-feeling flowers onto a screen and collect prime-quality kief that would otherwise get lost in the jar.

Jar the product, along with a Caliber IV hygrometer.
One can be had for 25 usd.
Having tested a number of hygrometers - digital and analog - this model in particular produced consistent, accurate results.
Then, watch the readings:

+70% RH - too wet, needs to sit outside the jar to dry for 12-24 hours, depending.

65-70% RH - the product is almost in the cure zone, if you will. It can be slowly brought to optimum RH by opening the lid for 2-4 hours.

60-65% RH - the stems snap, the product feels a bit sticky, and it is curing.

55-60% RH - at this point it can be stored for an extended period (3 months or more) without worrying about mold. The product will continue to cure.

Below 55% RH - the RH is too low for the curing process to take place. The product starts to feel brittle.
Once you've hit this point, nothing will make it better.
Adding moisture won't restart the curing process; it will just make the product wet.
If you measure a RH below 55% don't panic. Read below:

Obviously, the product need time to sweat in the jar.
As such, accurate readings won't be seen for ~24 hours, assuming the flowers are in the optimal cure zone.
If you're curing the product for long-term storage, give the flowers 4-5 days for an accurate reading.
If the product is still very wet, a +70% RH reading will show within hours.
If you see the RH rising ~1% per hour, keep a close eye on the product, as it's likely too moist
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A well-worded "How-to" using this technique from later on in the original thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by GrnMtnGrwr

Here's how I did it, doing my first dry/cure after reading this thread.
I cut the plants, and trimmed them.
All of the drying was done in 45-55% RH and 70-75f.
I hung them up in the cabinet I grew them in, lights off, with the ventilation still going.
I had some inner air circulation fans during the grow but I turned them off for the dry.
They were hanging up for 3-4 days and the outsides of the buds were feeling dried out, but the stems weren't quite snapping yet.
This is when I stripped the buds off the main stem and put them into jars.
The humidity eventually rose to 65-72% so I took the tops off and let them sit.
They quickly lowered to the ambient RH, around 55% () I then put the lids back on, and I've been doing this for a couple days now, and they're slowly stabilizing, and I'm extremely confident this will be a great cure....

Hope it helps someone else.

HTH,
Simon
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Different strokes for different folks.
What works for you?

Happy Gardening,
Vandenberg

 

[Canna-bill]

Grow the plant, harvest it, dry it for about 7days before you start taking buds off to 'sample', continue drying it for another week, put whatever is left in a jar or tub and smoke it till it's gone. Keep on wishing your next lot of plants come in before you run out.

That's how I reckon 90% of people do it, including me!

 

[Vandenberg]

Saving the terpenes for future medical use.

Saving the terpenes for future medical use.

Saving trichomes is equivalent to saving the terpenes; and terpenes have many enemies.
Whether it be heat, light, agitation, or time, terpenes are very finicky compounds.
This plays into why cannabis flowers have a short shelf life.
Between losing moisture in the leaves and the degradation of the trichomes, cannabis flowers don’t do an optimal job of preserving terpenes on their own once the flowers have reached full maturity and the plant is harvested.
In fact, it is from this very point forward that terpenes begin their natural degradation process.
Despite this, properly dried and cured cannabis flowers that have been minimally handled throughout their lives are stored in optimal environments can maintain their complex profiles for long periods of time.
Strains cured properly can even develop more complex aromatic profiles as a result of curing.
There are several methods involved in preparing your cannabis for the long haul.
With the right preparation, your terpenes will stay fresh for longer than you may think.
****** "********* *******" * *****
Vandenberg

 

[momosBoy]

I will definitely have to try it out, I haven't done this for a really long time

 

[MindEater]

A completely misunderstood concept. These tutorials are for checklist collectors who want to pat themselves on the back for following a religion,even though it's of no beneficial outcome.

99.9% of growers do not cure their product. They keep it too wet and too cold, proving they don't actually understand what curing is. You don't want to maintain or preserve, you want chemical reactions to take place,and those reactions take months, not weeks. Months.

First, RH is a useless number. I thought growers had learned to use VPD instead of RH, but apparently not. Raising the temp lowers the RH, yet the moisture content of the bud has not changed,therefore it is a useless number.

Second, oxidation is not a bad thing, it is actually required. The desirable metabolites of curing are breakdown components. If your looking for a pineapple strain, do you want one that smells of generic pineapple 6 days before harvest? Or do you want one that smells and tastes of heavenly pineapple weed 6 months after harvest? Allyl caproate may not even exist in the freshly harvested plant.

Third: learn what the "grass" smell is. Once you understand the origin of grass smell, you can get a better grasp on curing.

Fourth, do an experiment. Take a fresh clean unused grinder and grind one fresh bud in it. Empty the grinder. Set this grinder aside for 4-6 months before opening and smelling the grinder. If your bud was curable in the first place, there will be an intoxicating smell left in the empty grinder. No fancy parameters required. The small amount of resin in the grinder will have cured if your bud was curable. The sad thing is most people have already sold all the weed by that time, with this absurd mentality that dried weed is somehow comparable to fresh fruit in shelf life, and is going to go bad in a few days. Go check the expiration date on your kitchen HERBS (or your dried fruit)

5th, if your bud is loaded with synthetic fertilizer, it's not curable,it lacks the required metabolites. You probably keep it wet, to imagine it is resinous, and you probably keep it cold trying to preserve pre-harvest aromas because theirs nothing new being created after harvest.

I've kept at least one jar from every harvest to see how it's changes over time. Lots of herb goes from unsellable dirt weed to cup winning distinct herb in 5 months. I have one right now with the flavor of sour Simple Green candy and grandpa's greasy toolbox funk. 5 months ago it smelled like swampy rubber. Completely different product. Doubled in value. It's the norm, I wouldn't bother growing if I couldn't cure, I'd just import year old hash from Spain.

 

[StickyBandit]

I can't believe the first post only has 2 likes including mine
It may not be perfect but I am having great success with this method
Cheers

 

[El Timbo]

I can't believe the first post only has 2 likes including mine
It may not be perfect but I am having great success with this method
Cheers

I think a lot of likes disappeared when the site changed host

 

[exploziv]

Yes!

 

[St. Phatty]

Curing is a Natural Process.

You just need to keep an eye out for Mr. Mold. & Mrs. Mold.

Not sure if there's a Transgender mold.

 

[chusss]

This is ok but i rather cure in the freezer, and store it too

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Ya know... I had the thought last time I harvested that dry till crack was too much. Must have missed this thread though, first time I've seen anything about it. After researching enzymes and cannabis, this tek makes perfect sense. Drying till crack is easier to prevent mold, but all of the dry which rehydrates has lost the enzymes so the terpenes stay unpolymerized.

Burping a few days is more time consuming, the risk of mold is higher, but the tek does a great job of making maintenance simple with hygrometers and posted info.

Awesome, thanks for reposting.

 

[JackTorrance]

Curing is a Natural Process.

You just need to keep an eye out for Mr. Mold. & Mrs. Mold.

Not sure if there's a Transgender mold.

“Transgender mold”

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

First, RH is a useless number. I thought growers had learned to use VPD instead of RH, but apparently not. Raising the temp lowers the RH, yet the moisture content of the bud has not changed,therefore it is a useless number.

Though polymerization end results change based on temperature (different end terpene at different temperatures, using same starter materials), all of your RH readings for this process should be taken at the same temp. Without temp being consistent, the RH readings definitely make no sense as a comparison tool.

What I mean is, you'll get more complex terpene profiles with varying temperatures than you will with a steady temp. On the other hand, you want to be sure to take your RH readings when the jar/container is at the same temp you originally took an RH reading.