How to Properly Cure your Buds - Dry and Jar Method

Ok, I wanted to make this thread simply due to some odd information and mix-ups I have been seeing around here involving the drying and curing process.

Despite what they claim, I don't really beleive there is a better way for the average grower to deal with their final product.

You can claim Dry Ice cures, or water cures, or your mom's food dehydrator, or WHATEVER cures your bud the best, but today, on this thread, no one is disputing that. I am simply spelling out a way for people to enjoy their hard work using the tried and true Dry and Jar method.

There are many personal variations of how to "properly" do this. This is just mine, feel free to add your own!

Ok, It's Harvest Day! After much jubilation, gather your supplies! You are going to need some good scissors (no wuss scissors people, these have to true grit! ) , Something to trim over (ie Newspapers, plastic, a tarp, you get it?), and some twine or fishing line.

Trim your buds of all leaves that aren't worth keeping. Yes you can leave on the leaves covered in crystals! So long as they aren't in abundance (As in half bud, half leaves per nug) they are fine with me! You can throw your waste leaves away or save em' for hashmaking or cannabutter.

Get your twine and hang it like a clothesline. Now you need to hang your buds on the line. You can find a way to clip the buds to the line, hang em', tie em' whatever. Let your buds dry (with the help of a fan if you like) on the line until the stems "SnaP" when you bend them. This may take over a week, but to preserve to flavors and appearance of our precious nugs it is well worth it.

You have waited 8 to 10 weeks for these buds, and you want to start rushing things now?

After your buds are good and dried it's time to seal them in Mason jars; every day you should take off the lid of the jar for ten minutes and rotate the buds. Your buds are ready for smoking (as in can be smoked) but it is in your best interest to wait. The longer you wait the tastier and smoother your buds will become.

Whenever you DO smoke your buds, always, always use a CLEAN pipe, otherwise why did you bother to cure it in the first place?

Hope this helps, if more threads like these are made maybe it will put an end to some misinformation around here

If anyone has any other variations to THIS type of method post em here. Oh yeah, Pics too

I'm sure this will help a lot of us"newer growers". Like you said there is a lot of misinformation that you read that starts you wondering which is best.
At least you helped me,which I thank you for. The main reason I go to this site is for information. Posts like this can help clear a lot of things up for us "newbies"
Thanks again 54

my mods

my mods

I am totally in favor of the above advice, based on experience no less. (<-- surprising how rare that can be sometimes)

I want to throw in a couple of tweaks that have made it into my method, for best flavor and cure...

re: use of a fan during initial hang-drying; I recommend against it unless mold or high humidity are problems for you... if you use a fan keep it low speed and indirect (that is, not pointed right on yer buds)

My other step is to monitor the dryness of the herb carefully, and when the outside hairs and leaves get too crispy at the point whrn the stems are still not 100% dry (meaning that the stems don't snap yet when you bend 'em but the buds feel lightly crispy to the touch) I take them down, and put into paper grocery bags. I fold/roll the top of the grocery bag down on itself to form a loose seal, and let them sit there for the last three or four days, usually, of the drying process.

The reason for both these steps is to gradually slow down the drying process... you don't want it to dry out too quickly, if you can extend the drying process without screwing it up you will get the best cure.

After the last few days in the paper bags, when the stems finally do snap when you bend 'em, I also transfer to glass jars. I recommend the wide-mouth mason jars, they are way easier for me to reach my big hands into or to pour shake and kif out of, cos they have no 'shoulder' at the top of the jar. Just straight sides...

anyway, hope this helps someone to smoke tastier pot; it's really worth the effort.

-Tele

Excelent points Telepod. I think the extra steps you have detailed are probably worth the extra effort!

And yeah, Wide Mouth Mason jars are preferred by any stoner who doesn't like alot of hassle when he grabs for his stash

My buddy has been hitting the cigar shops for
ceder lined wooden cigar boxes, they usually sell
em for 5 bucks, and you can do the middle step
/ rolled paper bag step in these boxes, gives them
a added something. before the jars.

-g

greenhit - Cool idea! I have been wanting to get one of those "Stash-Boxes" from Seeds Direct & Gypsy.

Cigar boxes aren't air tight so it would be good as a sub for the paper bag step.

I wonder if the Stash Boxes are more compable to jars in terms of how fast product degrades in them.

If anyone has one of these boxes I would like to hear about it

I know BOG has one

I made a kif box that is air tight for the purpose of allowing the bud to "cure" while still "picking" at it for an occasional smoke (I have a hard time waiting for the full cure... especially if it is the first time I have grown a particular genetic). I used a cigar box as described above.

It works okay. However, the bud still gets too dried out if left in the box too long. It is difficult to get the box completely air tight.

I still use mine but only put a few popcorn sized nugs in at a time. The rest stay in the jars....

I have ordered a couple of Gypsy's small stash boxes..

kief boxes are a staple of life

kief boxes are a staple of life

Dry herb goes into the jars until used. If the herb is too dry, often a fresh piece of stem or a few leafs from a fresh plant seem to evenly distribute moistue back into the dry herb while sealed in a mason type jar.

... then right into the kief box for transformation into a joint or a bong load.

The box produces nice gold dust instead of getting tossed away with the newspaper.

Gypsy's delux box would be great!

-Joe

Where can you order/view these stash boxes?

http://www.stash-boxes.com/

Anybody know what's up with this site. I've been checking it for the last couple of weeks and can't seem to view the boxes. Anyone else experiencing this? I've tried it with and without my firewall running with the same results.

GreatLakes THC

I have no probs

I agree with the no fan item myself. I also run a dehumidifier or a humidifier if I can keep humidity 40% and temps at 70-75 degrees is perfect for our area.

OK, they are in jars, I burp for a couple of weeks, then to refriderator, or long term to freezer. I usually fill 3-4 cases of jars per harvest. After they come out of freezer, I put in each jar 1 baby peeled carrot over night, then toss carrot,and dryness is gone, and each jar is right back to perfect.

I've used this for a few years now, and the comments that come back about quality of product, apperence, taste, and even price, makes all the work worth while. Most of my folks are used to upper level schwag at best. When they get a look at the jars, the high price goes right out the window, they WANT IT NOW!!

ok

ok

but how long do you let it jar for?

lets say you want " The Best " Connoisseur taste and smell?
Absolute Long Time Connoisseur "WOW em" Smoke?

Thanks
Sin

I leave mine in jars indefinately.......When I'm ready for a certain strain, I break open a jar and take a good amount out and save in a smaller bud container.

The longest mine have stayed in a jar has benn 6 months. I must admit the smoke does improve alot curing for a few months

those stash boxes are incredibly over priced....bubbleman sells a sweet box thrut he bubblegbag site....its incredible ..and the price actually fits the product.... no offense to gypsy but his stash boxes are slightly over priced...and i should know i bought one!! lol

as far as drying goes the boxes work good if you have a large one and can do alotta bud at one time kinda like the one on bubblemans site.....but if you have a small keef box then its not really worth it..... but you should go ahead and save up for one of those triple screened stash boxes on the bubblebag site

can someone post a link to bubblemans site?

thanks
bartender187

bubbleman!
http://www.bubblebag.com/main.php

this box is beautiful...danit man if only i had 400$ for the hash bags and 150$ for the box then id be str8!!!!!!!!!!!!

My two cents

My two cents

I do exactly what has been described, but I probably take them down from hang drying A bit quicker than crunchy, and then when they are in the paper bags I open the bags each day and then turn them on their side, flipping them over to the opposite side each day.

I continue this until the stems snap. The last thing I'd like to add is that if you don't have Mason Jars, any rubber sealed air tight container will work. Back in asia, I can't get Masons, but use jelly and pickling jars and they seem to work fine.

Also, if you use fans, in my experience, DO NOT blow them directly on the weed. You can really fuck things up by drying too quickly. I love the carrot tip! I gotta try that! I too use a few green leaves to rehydrate the pot in the jars if it seems to be getting too brittle.

I have cured for up to four months. Seems like you can make anything supersmoke doing this. I mean, how stoned can you get?

Also when not cloning, I harvest my males just before they can do real damage to my ladies. Right when they are all reared up standing tall, and the flowers just beginning to open. Boom! Highest THC/potency point in the male plant's growth cycle.
I take em down, dry and cure them as above and smoke those leaves all day long after a few month cure.

Don't forget, the bud is the best part, but not the only part you can get off on! I guess I just don't like wasting anything.

Resource management.

Thomas

drying

drying

I dry my stuff this way for 10 days then in to big zip-lock bags. I open the bags for two hours a day for two-three weeks then right in the freezer...
Click for Larger Image
Click for Larger Image
Click for Larger Image