For every grower from beginner to expert, drying and curing cannabis buds is the end result of months of hard work. From germinating those precious seeds to chopping branches, there is nothing a grower looks forward to more than enjoying the fruits of their labour. By this point, your plants will be the smelliest they can be and are now fully ripe and you are ready for drying cannabis buds. Your flowers will be silver with trichomes and be super sticky to touch. 90% of the pistils have now turned to a dark golden brown and each calyx has swollen to the up most rewarding the grower with hard to squeeze biomass. The trichomes should be cloudy to dark looking and buds coated in resin.
However, many growers can be overwhelmed by the final drying phase and end up with flowers because their methods for drying cannabis buds isn’t right. Sometimes drying and curing cannabis buds can be greatly misunderstood and can spoil all of the hard work the grower and the plant have put in.
Drying Cannabis Buds Factors
When drying cannabis buds there are a number of factors that the grower must bare in mind, in order to not dry their flowers out too quickly and really lower the taste, smell and sometimes general experience. Correctly dried cannabis buds will be hard to touch and sticky on the fingers. When you crack a well dried and cured flower open of Super Skunk, an aroma of dank sharp fruity skunk should fill the air with an audible snap. Within the bud will be totally dry yet still maintain the oily resinous coat that makes them dense droppable nugs. This is a sign of drying cannabis buds the right way.
Using a drying net allows the grower to get really hands on with their soon to be drying cannabis buds. Removing each bud site from the attached stem or branch will speed things up and allow you to ensure only top quality buds enter the drying net. In addition you can now save all of the sugar leaf that would normally be discarded and use to make isolator with. The temperature and environment of the room the drying cannabis buds will dry in is essential. Below is a step by step guide to ensuring your flowers are dried correctly.
A Step by Step Guide To Drying Cannabis Buds
Step 1 – Harvest plants and remove all branches that contain good sized cannabis buds. The idea here is to discard the attached stem as these are what contain the moisture. Remove the fan leaves and carefully pick out other sugary leaves that have good trichome build up. Be careful not to cut the buds in half and be delicate to snip out the sugar leaf. This is the first stage of drying cannabis buds! This is the first stage of trimming cannabis buds!
Step 2 – Once the buds are all uniform looking and the same size, choose which you will keep for the drying net and which will be thrown into a trim box to make extraction with later. The buds should be spaced on the drying net with enough space to allow the air to move around the buds. Avoid having buds touching and try not to touch and handle them as often as you would like to!
Step 3 – Create the ideal environment for your drying cannabis buds. The last thing you want is to get mould on your precious buds so having air circulation is key. you do not want to have a fan blowing directly on the drying cannabis buds as this will only speed dry your flowers and take away from the flavour, sensation and even experience. Drying Cannabis buds should take between 5-7 days to be initially dry enough to be cured. The best way to test if the drying cannabis buds are close enough for the curing stage, is by breaking the stem of the flower. if the stem is dry and can be broken or split like wood with an audible snap, then the moisture that was originally inside the plant has been removed. This is the stage where your drying cannabis buds should stink to the point of concern!
Step 4 – The curing stage is the last part of drying cannabis buds. This is where the flowers will be stored and allowed to age and increase in flavour and potency. The best way and easiest way is to use a glass mason jar. The glass jar should be sterile clean before putting any newly dried nugs in and should be large enough so the dried nugs can be shaken around if needs be. It is a good idea to leave around 30% of the top of the jar free.
Step 5 – The purpose for curing in jars is to dry the cannabis buds from the inside out. Your buds should be hard to press, sticky but not too dry. The curing process involved the jar being ‘ burped ‘ for air once per day. The way to do this is to keep the jars in a dark place away from sunlight and to remove the air inside and replace with new air ten minutes per day. Over time the buds will become more refined and the taste will be much smoother and more enjoyable than a bud first dry. THC will degrade into CBN over longer periods of time meaning a stronger body stone will prevail.
A Conclusion To Drying Cannabis Buds
Remember that curing cannabis buds in a jar does not mean leaving the buds in a jar for 4 weeks to store. Curing cannabis buds is a long process that can take 3-6 months before you can say they are excellent high grade quality flowers. If your buds become too dry then using humidity you can always bring them back to the perfect moisture levels. Get use to curing buds for long periods of time and see how much greater the smoking experience is. Treat your cannabis buds with the time they deserve and like a fine wine, you will not be disappointed and it will not take to long for you to be a master of drying cannabis buds!
Post time: Jul-16-2020