How to harvest and cure your plants is critical for the good weed taste and smell. You cure your harvest after it has been picked and dried. Curing begins only after the marijuana plant has been harvested and sufficiently dried throughout the entire bud. You cure the dried flowers.
Best Readiness Test
The best readiness test determines when it is best to begin curing your harvest. The sequence is that you harvest the mature plant, which can be read here or seen here. To dry your harvest, hang the whole plant or individual branches in a dark, ventilated area. Fans may be necessary. The plant needs to dry slowly at around 55% humidity. This takes about 7 to 10 days. Follow the snap test to determine if your plants are dry enough to cure. If curing too soon the plants may mold from too much moisture. If too dry then no cure. Cure needs some moisture to slowly dry out within the curing process.
Place several representative flowers in a sealed glass jar with a small digital hygrometer for 12 to 24 hours. As the plants are in the jars, you check for their relative humidity. When the flower is at 58% to 62% relative humidity it is at the ideal humidity for curing to begin. At 63% to 65% humidity, the plants would be slightly moist. You open the jar frequently and monitor carefully. If the measure is above 65%, the plant is too wet. Remove the flowers from the jar(s) and continue air-drying. If the relative humidity is below 55%, then your flower is probably over dried, and curing may be limited.
Small stems snapping can be a useful preliminary sign, but jar humidity is more dependable. Large stems may still bend even when the flowers are ready.
How Long to Cure
Pack the flowers loosely in airtight glass jars (usually Mason jars), about three quarters full. Keep jars in a cool, dark place. Open the jars once or twice daily during the first week. Then open the jars every few days during the next two or three weeks. The cure itself should be at least 2 to 4 weeks.
To get air circulation in the jars, you can shake the jars with the lids slightly ajar. This keeps air circulated around the inside of the curing jar. A 4 to 8 week cure often produces a smoother aroma and taste.
When to Smoke – Am I Finished?
Next, when to smoke my cured harvest; am I finished? Essentially, you can begin smoking your harvest once it is properly dried. However, it may not taste and smell the way that it could; the harvest has potential after drying. Curing gets the final full potential from your harvest. It’s hard to hold back, and sample along your way. Enjoy. Visit lastchanceasylum.com for current cannabis research and mediweedseed.com for current legalization news and commentary.