How to Cure Weed

From the germination process to the harvest stage — your journey as a cannabis cultivator is nearly complete.

As you gaze upon your trichome-covered buds that ooze delicious terpenes — you have one step left before your weed enters top-shelf status — the curing process.

From enhancing the terpene profile to ensuring a lung-expanding and smooth hit — the curing process is a crucial technique that’ll elevate your buds to the next level.

Read along to learn how to cure cannabis buds in a few easy steps. You’ll discover why curing weed is necessary and how it turns average weed into pure fire.

Are you ready to push your buds to the limit? Let’s go!

What is The Curing Process and Why it Matters

If you’ve ever smoked weed that burned unevenly, tasted like hay, or left you coughing up your lungs — you probably consumed uncured weed.

So, what is curing, you ask?

Curing is how cannabis flowers release carbon dioxide and remove undesirable byproducts, such as sugar and chlorophyll. Furthermore, the curing process allows the marijuana buds to continue the drying process while maintaining optimal inner moisture slowly.

Ultimately, it’s essential to let your weed cure because it enhances:

• Flavor
• Aroma
• Potency
• Bag appeal

If you fail to cure your cannabis buds, your flowers will not reach their potential. In other words, uncured cannabis:

• Tastes like hay or wet grass
• Produces lackluster aroma
• Exhibits reduced potency
• Does not burn evenly
• Produces harsh effects when inhaled
• May become moldy

As you can see — it’s worth it to cure your weed!

What to Avoid During The Curing Process

Before you learn how to cure cannabis flowers, we’re going to tell you what to avoid during the curing process.

If you fail to avoid these factors — your efforts will be in vain, and your bountiful harvest will fall victim to lackluster weed. Without further ado — here are the three primary culprits to watch out for when curing marijuana buds.

• Direct light exposure
• High humidity
• Excess heat

Now, let’s briefly discuss each factor in detail to give you a clear picture of avoiding these disastrous factors.

Direct Light Exposure

Direct light, such as that from the sun, will slowly but surely degrade the quality of your weed.

To avoid direct light exposure and save your buds from a loss of flavor, aroma, and potency — stash the curing jars in a dark location.

High Humidity

Excessive humidity is the bane of all cannabis cultivators.

High humidity increases the risk of mold contamination, which renders your cannabis buds unusable. In other words, excessive relative humidity is a factor that you must avoid during the curing process at all costs.

The optimal relative humidity for curing weed is 55-62%. However, anything higher than 62% RH may result in overly moist cannabis that fails to dry slowly.

Excessive Heat

Last but not least is excessive heat.

Essential compounds in cannabis, such as cannabinoids and terpenes, degrade when exposed to excessive heat. Specifically, THC, the primary psychoactive constituent in cannabis, degrades into CBN once exposed to prolonged heat levels.

In other words, exposing cannabis buds to excessive heat during the curing process will decrease potency, flavor, and aroma.

Ultimately, the ideal temperature to cure marijuana buds is 75-82°F.

How to Cure Cannabis Flowers in Five Easy Steps

Now that you know what the curing stage is and what to avoid — it’s time to learn how to cure weed in five easy-to-follow steps.

Before you begin, here’s a list of tools that you’ll need to cure cannabis buds properly:

• Glass jar(s)
• Hygrometer(s)

Now that you’ve assembled these tools, it’s time to start curing your weed!

Step One: Have The Right Bud Moisture

First, make sure the cannabis flowers are not too moist.

Remember, the drying process discussed in How to Dry Marijuana Flowers (Comming Soon…) should have your buds at optimal dryness.

Next, make sure each glass jar is sanitized and free of residue from previous harvests.

Step Two: Fill Jars With Bud

Next, fill the jar(s) up to 75% capacity with cannabis buds.

Step Three: Gently Shake

Next, gently shake the jar and check if your cannabis buds are ready to begin the curing process.

If the buds immediately stick together — your buds need an additional 12-24-hours of drying. If the cannabis flowers bounce around independently and don’t clump together — they are ready for step four.

Step Four: Place a Hygrometer in the Jar

Next, place a hygrometer inside the jar and secure the airtight lid. Place the jar(s) inside a dark and cool location, such as a closet or cabinet.

Check the relative humidity within the jar twice per day. If the humidity is too low, do not open the jar for prolonged periods. If the humidity is too high, remove the lid and let the buds “air out” for 2-4-hours.

If the humidity remains in the optimal range (55-62%) during the first day — you may move on to the last step.

Step Five: Burp The Buds

As long as the humidity level remains between 55-62% — you can open the lid twice a day to burp the cannabis flowers.

Burping weed is a process of allowing air exchange to remove CO2 from the buds. As cannabis flowers cure — CO2 is released. Therefore, you must open the jar for a few minutes twice a day to allow the excess CO2 to dissipate.

You must cure and burp cannabis flowers for three weeks to achieve properly cured weed.

During these three weeks, you must check the RH daily while burping the buds to remove unwanted gas. Once you reach the three-week mark — it’s time for a celebratory toke!

All Good Things Take Time

When it comes to curing cannabis, most beginners ask — how can I cure buds fast while maintaining the best taste?

The honest answer is that it isn’t possible to cure weed fast. Remember, all good things take time, and you owe it to yourself to enjoy the best possible weed. It’s a tragedy to care for cannabis plants for months on end — only to skimp on the final process that’ll transform regular weed to top-shelf buds.

Therefore, we recommend that you exhibit patience during the 2-3-week curing process. Once it’s over — you’ll smell, taste, and feel the difference!

As a parting note, we don’t recommend curing your buds over 1-month. Remember, cannabinoids and terpenes are subject to aging, which means they will degrade over time. For best results — stop the curing process after three weeks and enjoy the fruits of your labor one puff at a time.

Now that you’ve learned how to cure your cannabis flowers like a pro — it’s time to learn how to store them properly! Whether you want to stash your buds for the long term or keep them primed for your next sesh, read our guide — How to Store Cannabis Flowers Properly.