Interesting Find on Dry & Cure

[Dothraki]

Maybe this is something already known by some of you but I had just discovered it for myself.

The best smell and flavor, plus smooth smoke, will be right off a proper long slow dry (2 week in my case) before any curing, and may represent what the buds will be like after the cure.

Here’s how I came to that conclusion…

harvested 2 plants, dried 14-16 days, popped a couple buds off and smoked them. 100% smooth, the most flavorful I’ve ever had (one is seed from a 3x cannabis cup winner and ended up identical to the bud in smell and taste)

I sweat them in a paper bag, then threw into Grove bags. Couple days in the Grove bags and they are now harsh and taste green. I am hoping the taste comes back.

I think what happens is this…
During the 2 week dry, the chlorophyll is released from the bud, perfect to smoke, but then…as the moisture redistributes it brings that chlorophyll back into the flower, and this is where the “cure” comes in, basically slow drying the buds again.

I was surprised how flavorful and smooth they were immediately after drying, with no cure. I hope that flavor comes back after the cure.

 

[Rurumo]

What was the RH after you filled up a Grove bag? If the RH was already in range, the flavor shouldn't have changed overnight like that. It sounds like the buds might have still had too much moisture. Low and slow is a great way to dry, 100% agree with you.

 

[xtsho]

I dry my weed and smoke it. I prefer it fresh. I dry it to where I can jar it and call it a day. I don't cure my weed. Terpenes degrade and the longer the weed sits around the more terpene degradation occurs. Plus I have no interest in fiddling around burping jars, bags, looking at hygrometers, etc...

Not everyone cures their weed. You just hear about it often on the cannabis forums so many growers think it's a mandatory step. It's not. You can dry and package your weed skipping the cure. People have been doing it for decades.

 

[Dothraki]

What was the RH after you filled up a Grove bag? If the RH was already in range, the flavor shouldn't have changed overnight like that. It sounds like the buds might have still had too much moisture. Low and slow is a great way to dry, 100% agree with you.

The RH of one was 59 and the other was 65. The 65 I am burping. But I thought it was strange that the bud was smooth, smelly and flavorful before they equalized moisture in the bag. But I guess it make sense. But leads me to believe enzymes breaking down chlorophyll is not why buds get better…or at least it’s widely misinterpreted.

 

[Modern Selections]

I dry my weed and smoke it. I prefer it fresh. I dry it to where I can jar it and call it a day. I don't cure my weed. Terpenes degrade and the longer the weed sits around the more terpene degradation occurs. Plus I have no interest in fiddling around burping jars, bags, looking at hygrometers, etc...

Not everyone cures their weed. You just hear about it often on the cannabis forums so many growers think it's a mandatory step. It's not. You can dry and package your weed skipping the cure. People have been doing it for decades.

^This exactly ..

It seems "curing" has gotten to some mythical status these days. I have seen some who won't even sample the flowers before 3-6 month cure, which it crazy to me. I'm sampling from 7 weeks on to find the harvest window and smoke the bud soon as it's dry. If I need to store any, vac sealed in a mason jar in the freezer. High qual doesn't stick around though.

Long flowering sativas definitely benefit from a bit of cure time in the jars, the flowers change for the better.

As for all other cannabis it should be smooth, flavorful, and potent as soon as the stems snap. Once the stems snap when bent, jar it up and call it a day. Open the jars every once in awhile, that's it.

 

[Dothraki]

^This exactly ..

It seems "curing" has gotten to some mythical status these days. I have seen some who won't even sample the flowers before 3-6 month cure, which it crazy to me. I'm sampling from 7 weeks on to find the harvest window and smoke the bud soon as it's dry. If I need to store any, vac sealed in a mason jar in the freezer. High qual doesn't stick around though.

Long flowering sativas definitely benefit from a bit of cure time in the jars, the flowers change for the better.

As for all other cannabis it should be smooth, flavorful, and potent as soon as the stems snap. Once the stems snap when bent, jar it up and call it a day. Open the jars every once in awhile, that's it.

That’s the odd part… right off the dry was flavorful and smelled amazing. It wasn’t until I bagged them that they started smelling of green and hay, and became sorta harsh. I’m thinking it’s the moisture working out of the stem that causes this, but wondering if the moisture brings the chlorophyll back into the buds, or if chlorophyll even has anything to do with it since they were perfect before bagging.

 

[MidnightSun72]

That’s the odd part… right off the dry was flavorful and smelled amazing. It wasn’t until I bagged them that they started smelling of green and hay, and became sorta harsh. I’m thinking it’s the moisture working out of the stem that causes this, but wondering if the moisture brings the chlorophyll back into the buds, or if chlorophyll even has anything to do with it since they were perfect before bagging.

Has to be the moisture. Chlorophyll won't just come back after drying. Especially in a dark bag. Chlorophyll needs light. That's why we dry in the dark.

 

[Dothraki]

Has to be the moisture. Chlorophyll won't just come back after drying. Especially in a dark bag. Chlorophyll needs light. That's why we dry in the dark.

Not came back, but rather resurfaced from the stem maybe.

 

[waterproof808]

Has to be the moisture. Chlorophyll won't just come back after drying. Especially in a dark bag. Chlorophyll needs light. That's why we dry in the dark.

we dry in the dark because sunlight degrades cannabinoids.

 

[Dothraki]

we dry in the dark because sunlight degrades cannabinoids.

And promotes mold amd bacteria growth.

 

[Spindle818]

I think sometimes people confuse curing with fermenting. I wouldn’t jar anything that had enough moisture to make the bud damp again

 

[Dothraki]

I think sometimes people confuse curing with fermenting. I wouldn’t jar anything that had enough moisture to make the bud damp again

If it’s too dry it won’t cure.

I think most of the problem is what one person describes as “damp” another would call “wet” and someone else would call ”dry”. It’s all relative, and makes it hard to convey. That’s why we all use RH as a sort of buffer for the language. My buds when sealed create an atmosphere of 59% RH at the moment.

 

[DoobieDoobs]

I dry my weed and smoke it. I prefer it fresh. I dry it to where I can jar it and call it a day. I don't cure my weed. Terpenes degrade and the longer the weed sits around the more terpene degradation occurs. Plus I have no interest in fiddling around burping jars, bags, looking at hygrometers, etc...

Not everyone cures their weed. You just hear about it often on the cannabis forums so many growers think it's a mandatory step. It's not. You can dry and package your weed skipping the cure. People have been doing it for decades.

I've always wanted to ask you, because you always say that you smoke it fresh and dont cure it.
I wonder, if you harvest 100g , do you smoke it all fresh in one sitting? lol.

edit: how so you store it, that it doesn't qualify as curing, is my real question.

 

[Modern Selections]

"curing" is storing. Just storing properly.

I never put cannabis is bags or plastic. Glass only.

If I harvest 100 grams it's going to last a couple weeks. My wife smokes a zip a week and I am right behind her. Jars don't stay full around here long. People always want the best, and pay handsomely for it as well.

A grower friend who is just starting to get serious grew out some good strains and pulled 5lbs. It's decent, organic, smoke, def better that dispo crap but he's sitting on it. Buying bud to smoke from me lol.

 

[bk78]

"curing" is storing. Just storing properly.

I never put cannabis is bags or plastic. Glass only.

If I harvest 100 grams it's going to last a couple weeks. My wife smokes a zip a week and I am right behind her. Jars don't stay full around here long. People always want the best, and pay handsomely for it as well.

A grower friend who is just starting to get serious grew out some good strains and pulled 5lbs. It's decent, organic, smoke, def better that dispo crap but he's sitting on it. Buying bud to smoke from me lol.

Wait you run full house grow ops with hundreds of mars hydro lights and use mason jars still?

LoL

 

[Modern Selections]

Yes of course. Whatever I keep is in glass. The rest is sold.

You seem to take my words and twist them.

 

[xtsho]

I've always wanted to ask you, because you always say that you smoke it fresh and dont cure it.
I wonder, if you harvest 100g , do you smoke it all fresh in one sitting? lol.

edit: how so you store it, that it doesn't qualify as curing, is my real question.

That's a legitimate question. 100g in one sitting? A gram lasts me 2 maybe 3 days. I dry until it can be jarred without burping. The key is a slow dry in proper temps which can be difficult for some people to achieve. Once it's dried and jarred up it goes into a closet until I need to pull some out to smoke. I've started vacuum packing and freezing some because it stays fresher that way.

The way I grow with staggered plants of different strains that finish at different times I usually have something fresh or drying. I harvest and add plants constantly when I have the flower tent going in the fall/winter/spring. I don't just fill the tent and do a single harvest. I grow numerous different strains so I have plants at different stages of flowering and harvest each when they're ready.

I shut the flower tent down in the summer due to heat so I end up running out of fresh weed and I'm always waiting anxiously for that first harvest after starting the flower tent back up.

 

[farmerfischer]

I think sometimes people confuse curing with fermenting. I wouldn’t jar anything that had enough moisture to make the bud damp again

Ever had fermented weed?
A friend i know had a jar ferment..
It wasnt that bad.. lol.

 

[DoobieDoobs]

That's a legitimate question. 100g in one sitting? A gram lasts me 2 maybe 3 days. I dry until it can be jarred without burping. The key is a slow dry in proper temps which can be difficult for some people to achieve. Once it's dried and jarred up it goes into a closet until I need to pull some out to smoke. I've started vacuum packing and freezing some because it stays fresher that way.



The way I grow with staggered plants of different strains that finish at different times I usually have something fresh or drying. I harvest and add plants constantly when I have the flower tent going in the fall/winter/spring. I don't just fill the tent and do a single harvest. I grow numerous different strains so I have plants at different stages of flowering and harvest each when they're ready.



I shut the flower tent down in the summer due to heat so I end up running out of fresh weed and I'm always waiting anxiously for that first harvest after starting the flower tent back up.

I see now. Because I was confused on how did you smoked it fresh if one usually harvest a lot of weed per plant. But I get now why it doesn't qualify as curing. I imagine it is nice to harvest that many plants, I only harvest like 4 plants throughout the year.



Merry Christmas!

 

[Dothraki]

Has to be the moisture. Chlorophyll won't just come back after drying. Especially in a dark bag. Chlorophyll needs light. That's why we dry in the dark.

we dry in the dark because sunlight degrades cannabinoids.

Just wanted to touch on this subject after a little more research. @MidnightSun72 is correct. Part of the reason we keep them in the dark is to prevent chlorophyll from being produced after harvest and while drying. Apparently with the aid of light, they can still produce chlorophyll while on the drying rack.