How to Dry Marijuana (and Then Cure It Properly)
As simple as it seems, if you mess this step up, you have basically screwed up your freshly grown buds. Assuming you know when to identify your buds are ready and have cut the branches off your plants, is where we will begin this article.
Making sure you Get the drying and curing process done correctly means you will be enjoying some fine herb to smoke. Get it wrong and your harvest will still get you high but it’s not going to taste as good as it could have and it’s going to be harsh to smoke. Cough, cough!
How to dry marijuana? The full length of the branch the bud grew on should be cut from the marijuana plant. Then, hang those cut pieces upside down in the dark with the room temperature approximately 60 Fahrenheit and the humidity level at approximately 50%. Once dried, take these branches down and proceed to cut the buds off and trim any leaves off the buds. The buds should then be placed into sealed containers for curing and storage.
At a high level, that’s how you would proceed with cutting your buds off your plants and drying them. Then, there is the process of curing which is also just as important to get right. For the rest of this article, I will explain when you should follow this process, offering any tips I can think of. If you are ready to learn some more and get those buds dried and cured properly, then let’s get to it!
How to Dry Marijuana After Harvesting
Knowing when to cut down your buds is one thing, drying and curing is another. Once you have your bud cut from the plant, it’s time to dry it properly. Drying in the following manner will ensure the THC potency increases and that all the incredible aroma and flavor is retained in the bud. This means, when you smoke your marijuana, you will be able to smell and taste the product at its full potential.
Speeding up the drying process is not necessarily the best way to go. If you don’t follow the following steps, your pot will have no increase in THC during the drying process and when smoking, you will find the marijuana has a harsh taste, most likely causing you to cough.
Let’s get started.
- Hang the buds upside down on the branch in an area like a grow tent or room where you can keep the area in total darkness. You can use clothes pins, string, or whatever you can find to hang the branches up.
- Keep the room at a temperature of approximately 60 Fahrenheit (15.5 Celsius) and at a humidity level of around 50%. This will allow the bud to dry at a pace that benefits the amount of THC and the lifespan of the marijuana, meaning it is drying properly.
- If the humidity level lowers a bit, that’s fine, just don’t let the level get any lower than about 30%.
- After about one to two weeks, you should be done with the drying process.
Yes, that’s basically it. I know some growers have tricks that they use but you really don’t need any tricks. Let the weed dry at this pace and you will enjoy your marijuana the way it is meant to be enjoyed.
After Drying Marijuana Then What?
After you feel that your marijuana has been dried enough, it’s time to cut the buds off the stems and put them in sealers.
I know some users like to cut any leaves off the buds, however, I don’t bother doing that. The smoke will be a bit smoother by doing this, but you end up losing some of the THC if you cut these away. So, it’s your call on this one, I just don’t recommend it myself.
How to Cure Marijuana After It’s Dry (Easier Than You Think)
Once you have your buds in sealers, it’s time to cure it properly, so it lasts upwards of 2 years or more.
- For the first week of the bud being in sealers, I would recommend you open the sealers 3 or 4 times a day for 15 minutes or so. This allows any excess moisture to evaporate into the air. It also helps to prevent the bud from growing mold, which is the most important reason for doing this.
- After about 2 weeks, go ahead and only open the sealer once or twice a day for about 15 minutes each time.
- After about a week or two of doing this, you can drop down to once a day for 3 or 4 weeks. At this point, you should be good with only having to open the sealer once every 2 or 3 weeks for 10 or so minutes.
You will notice over time that the bud starts to deteriorate by crumbling and drying out more. This is usually noticeable after a year or more of being kept in a sealer. It doesn’t mean the bud is no good because I can tell you from experience it is, and it will still get you high. The aroma starts to fade and the smoke might get a bit harsh, but it’s still just fine.
As you can see, the drying and curing process really isn’t that hard. Just take your time, that’s what it boils down too. Up next, I will address some related questions that can further help you with this topic.
How to Dry Marijuana Without Hanging It Upside Down
Many, many years ago, marijuana growers would cut the stem with the buds off the plants and then hang them upside down, some would even hang the whole plant upside down. This was done because of the belief was that the THC from the stalk and stems would run into the buds and leaves improving the marijuana.
I don’t personally know if this is something that actually happens and I won’t pretend like I know the answer. What I do know is that very large legal grow ops will not waste time hanging the plants upside down to dry.
They use trays with mesh bottoms or that have many small holes in the bottoms of the trays. They can put many pounds of marijuana on these trays and stack them in a rolling rack that can be pushed into a drying room and pulled out when it’s time to cure. These large companies do not seem concerned with losing THC potency.
So, this means if you want to you could mimic what these companies do, just make sure most of the buds get air. You don’t want any mold to appear.
How to Dry Marijuana Fan Leaves
The fan leaves can be dried in a basket or tray, like a cookie sheet. If they are still attached to a stem, then just hang that upside down. Make sure the leaves are getting air on both sides which means you might have to flip them over periodically, if they’re drying on a cookie sheet or something similar.
How to Quickly Dry a Sample Bud
There are many ways people do this, like microwaving, sitting in the sun, place it on a lamp shade, etc.
- What I am recommending, if you just can’t wait to dry your marijuana properly, is to take the bud and cut it up into many small pieces then sit it out on a paper towel.
- Leave it for 15 or 20 minutes, then cut it up even smaller, if possible.
- Feel the marijuana by pressing on it to see if it seems overly moist still. If so, then cut it up even more.
- By doing it like this, you aren’t adding any heat to it, drying it too quick, even though you’re wanting it to dry quickly.
I know some people will use a coffee grinder, which would be great as you probably couldn’t cut the bud that small with scissors. Just make sure there are no leftover coffee grinds in the grinder. Try it if you want, maybe you will like it. Still, let the ground up bud sit on a paper towel for up to an hour so some of the moisture in the plant can evaporate.
Can You Smoke Fresh Picked Bud?
You can do whatever you want but this is one of those things that probably won’t work well for you. If you picked some bud off and threw it in a pipe, you are going to have to keep a flame on it to get any smoke from it. The taste will not be nearly as good as if it would be if you had waited and dried and cured it properly. Chances are the THC won’t be at optimum levels either. So, I wouldn’t recommend smoking freshly picked bud.
Should I Harvest Top Buds First?
If you let your plant grow naturally, the buds on the top will grow larger and be ready for picking before the buds that are growing lower down on the plant. Therefore, it’s a great idea to harvest the top buds while leaving the lower level buds to finish growing. Feel free to trim away any branches getting in the way of light hitting those lower buds to optimize their growth.
Conclusion
Drying and curing marijuana is not really that difficult, if you understand a couple of concepts regarding the process.
- Dry the marijuana in controlled conditions just like you did when growing it.
- Take the time and care to cure properly, allowing fresh air to reach the buds periodically, keeping mold away.
Of course, follow the other tips I’ve listed above and you’ll do just fine. Most importantly, take your time as this part of the process is just as important as having strong enough lights or providing fertilizer at the right time.
Good luck with your drying and curing adventures. I trust you’ll have great success!
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