warcraft74
Member
is it possible to skip the drying step and go straight to water curing after harvest, or is drying still necessary? thanks.
-
Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
-
Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!
skip drying - str8 to water cure?
- Thread starter warcraft74
- Start date
You could do it, but you will lose taste/smell in the process. If you just want to check some buds quickly, I could see it. It works well after drying. never tried it with no drying. Or you could do a "quick dry". There is a thread about it somewhere here. Then go to the water cure. Water cured bud is clean for sure, but it does not have the flavor/taste most people enjoy. Serves it's purpose though.
JointOperation
Active member
any water cure u lose smell and taste. it aint worth it. why take the time to grow.. to make garbage lol.. better off buying off the streets. lol.
watercuring is a last resort IMHO or maybe if your making butter... how do you feel about tea? water cure ruins smoking weed as far as I am concerned...
I'm pretty sure you don't have to dry it first, there used to be long threads where people tried doing it different ways, and I'm pretty sure they water-cure raw weed the same way.
If it isn't very potent and needs to be stiffened up some, or if it's important that nobody be able to smell it, that's what people do. I haven't ever water-cured any myself.
If it isn't very potent and needs to be stiffened up some, or if it's important that nobody be able to smell it, that's what people do. I haven't ever water-cured any myself.
Water curing works. No doubt about it. You will lose taste & smell, but not potency. You will also get a very clean smoke, as all impurities are forced out of the bud. Try it on a small amount, and see how you like it.
If you are not selling it, and don't care about loss of taste/smell, it does what it's supposed to do.
If you are not selling it, and don't care about loss of taste/smell, it does what it's supposed to do.
T
tropicannayeah
I've only done it a few times but I've noticed that branches of fresh bud that have been soaked in room temperature water, gently swung in arcs, then hung to dry will dry faster than bud from the same plant that wasn't soaked in water.
The branches can be gently swirled in the water but don't thrash them around or you will knock off or smudge resin heads....use lots of clean water, don't squash lots of branches together or you will also lose resin heads.
Every grower should at least try soaking a small bud or two or an hour or a day or two or a week just to check out what happens. but I reckon that soaking branches in water is best used when you have mites or other insects that have infested plants during flowering..or there's mud or lots of dust on the bud, then soaking the branches in clean water will help remove some of the insects. With mite infested bud, I'd suggest giving the branches a close manicure first as most of the mites will be on the leaves, not the buds, then soak and you will notice mites, egg casing and other associated crap from mites floating in the water..repeat a few times and the bud will have a lot less mites on it.
and there's soaking and there's really long soaking...I've only soaked bud a few times years ago for less than an hour so the resulting dried bud is a lot more like normally dried bud than bud that has been soaked for a week or more, I've also soaked bud for an hour or two for a few days in a row too and that will end up being browner etc....but if you soak the bud each day, all day (changing the water each day) for 7 days (as some "water cure" threads have suggested) then the end (dried) result will be dirt brown in color, lighter in weight, shrunken in size and brittle bud that has little to no taste. If you only soak the bud for an hour or less, then it will dry to be much less brittle, less dirt brown looking, heavier, less shrunken etc.
You can also soak bud that tastes shitty, if the cause of the shitty taste is water soluble, then the re-dried bud will taste better (though if you come across bud that tastes terrible, doesn't burn properly or smells odd, then I'd suggest gently dry sifting it over screens to reap the trichomes (resin heads) rather than trying to make the bud smoke-able with H2O. (but obviously you can't dry sift mite infested bud as the hash will be full of mites and mite crap)
The branches can be gently swirled in the water but don't thrash them around or you will knock off or smudge resin heads....use lots of clean water, don't squash lots of branches together or you will also lose resin heads.
Every grower should at least try soaking a small bud or two or an hour or a day or two or a week just to check out what happens. but I reckon that soaking branches in water is best used when you have mites or other insects that have infested plants during flowering..or there's mud or lots of dust on the bud, then soaking the branches in clean water will help remove some of the insects. With mite infested bud, I'd suggest giving the branches a close manicure first as most of the mites will be on the leaves, not the buds, then soak and you will notice mites, egg casing and other associated crap from mites floating in the water..repeat a few times and the bud will have a lot less mites on it.
and there's soaking and there's really long soaking...I've only soaked bud a few times years ago for less than an hour so the resulting dried bud is a lot more like normally dried bud than bud that has been soaked for a week or more, I've also soaked bud for an hour or two for a few days in a row too and that will end up being browner etc....but if you soak the bud each day, all day (changing the water each day) for 7 days (as some "water cure" threads have suggested) then the end (dried) result will be dirt brown in color, lighter in weight, shrunken in size and brittle bud that has little to no taste. If you only soak the bud for an hour or less, then it will dry to be much less brittle, less dirt brown looking, heavier, less shrunken etc.
You can also soak bud that tastes shitty, if the cause of the shitty taste is water soluble, then the re-dried bud will taste better (though if you come across bud that tastes terrible, doesn't burn properly or smells odd, then I'd suggest gently dry sifting it over screens to reap the trichomes (resin heads) rather than trying to make the bud smoke-able with H2O. (but obviously you can't dry sift mite infested bud as the hash will be full of mites and mite crap)
Last edited:
Hello all,
I have water cured straight from chop and trim right into the water. Changed water every day(and the shit stinks too) for 7 days. Dried them by hanging.
No smell and no real taste.
However, it is a very stealthy as the smoke does not smell like burning bud usually does. Great for public events.
minds_I
I have water cured straight from chop and trim right into the water. Changed water every day(and the shit stinks too) for 7 days. Dried them by hanging.
No smell and no real taste.
However, it is a very stealthy as the smoke does not smell like burning bud usually does. Great for public events.
minds_I
Well that depends. Good evidence that you should pick air or water cure not both. But that implies a full air cure then water cure.
However, back when I did the water cure I would quick dried for 3 days, and then water cured. I didn't do a full 30-90 day cure first. And some say it's better to do the quick dry first instead of putting in wet as it may protect the THC.
Used to water cure back in early nineties cause I actually wanted to make my weed look dark and not like the KB. I wanted to roll big spliffs all day long without being sus, lol.
My take, produces an incredibly smooth and more potent smoke that has a more rich earthy and thick feel but lacks the pungent KB taste/smell.
I am going to do it again in two week to a few zips of the cheese. Very excited to do this again.
Also, I have never really cured my weed for months as so many swear by. I quick dry (3 days) using fans, RH at 45-50, and temps at around 75F. Then I sweat the stem overnight, dry for the day, reseal and burb for a day or two. That's it. A week or less.
It burns clean and the taste/smell is well preserved as it was before harvest. It can be a little harsher than a 3 month cure, but the long cures seem to lose the floral/sweet notes and gives a earthy and a bit more smooth feel.
However, back when I did the water cure I would quick dried for 3 days, and then water cured. I didn't do a full 30-90 day cure first. And some say it's better to do the quick dry first instead of putting in wet as it may protect the THC.
Used to water cure back in early nineties cause I actually wanted to make my weed look dark and not like the KB. I wanted to roll big spliffs all day long without being sus, lol.
My take, produces an incredibly smooth and more potent smoke that has a more rich earthy and thick feel but lacks the pungent KB taste/smell.
I am going to do it again in two week to a few zips of the cheese. Very excited to do this again.
Also, I have never really cured my weed for months as so many swear by. I quick dry (3 days) using fans, RH at 45-50, and temps at around 75F. Then I sweat the stem overnight, dry for the day, reseal and burb for a day or two. That's it. A week or less.
It burns clean and the taste/smell is well preserved as it was before harvest. It can be a little harsher than a 3 month cure, but the long cures seem to lose the floral/sweet notes and gives a earthy and a bit more smooth feel.
I just have to say that the only bud that water curing ever helped, in my experience, was really gross stuff I picked up from another grower.
The ONLY redeeming value to water curing is that it removes the terpenes and makes it smell less, more stealthy. If water curing makes your bud 'better' as in smoother or better flavor, you really need to take a looooong look at your growing process.
Nah, growing process is just fine. Only did it to so as not to look sus,
But, that begs the question, are you saying that curing bud is not at all necessary and if you need to cure your bud than you aren't growing it properly?
Cause I don't cure the bud for my patients, never have and not sure if I ever will. But might water cure for myself this round just too see.
Have tried small batch water cure before. Would do it again if I had a reason to, i.e. harsh herb, pests, early cut where flavor/smell will suck anyways, or if I just didn't have room to dry and needed to process a small harvest on the down low.
Would never, ever do it as a first option though, just personally speaking. Can't deny it makes the bud smoke very smoothly, at the expense of nearly every other positive quality aside from potency and effect.
Would never, ever do it as a first option though, just personally speaking. Can't deny it makes the bud smoke very smoothly, at the expense of nearly every other positive quality aside from potency and effect.
Wait, let me get this straight. So you trim your bud fresh off plant and put it in water?? Why? I just don't understand why you would do that if you are going to hang dry it a week after that. I am not trying to be a tool I just don't understand the reasoning. If someone could explain the benefit I would be grateful.
Best,
Les
Best,
Les
Well you've made your point on the topic so why keep trolling.
First I heard of this was in an old hippie book on turning homegrown, which back then sucked, into hash oil. The first step was to leach the chlorophyll, and presumably other water solubles, out using the water cure. Then you'd dry and proceed with the oil making.
In the mid eighties we followed the water cure and made the hash oil. We never smoked the water cured material, we made hash with it, but I noticed how it turned it really dark and almost a grey color.
As I explained earlier, when was growing in the early nineties I wanted to remain an anonymous grower. That is, no one who knew me at the time knew I was growing. Only two people knew, my wife and my mother. Not a single friend or even those I sold to. And the ones I sold to didn't know my real name or where I lived.
So for me, being able to smoke the best weed without anyone realizing it was Skunk #1 or Purple Kush was a way to avoid suspicion. Sure I'd break out an 1/8th once and a while but I was playing the part of a working stiff so having an ounce of the Chronic at all times would be very suspect. Whereas an ounce of commerial wasn't.
You see, back in the day even if you could afford it, having an ounce of chronic at all times could only mean two things, you were growing or dealing. Not like today.
I even went one step further, I laid out the dark water cured buds sprinkled seeds over them and layered until I had about a QP. Then I'd wrap and compress in a vice. I'd then just peel off a chunk throw it in a bag. I could roll 1+ gram joints all day and no one was the wiser.
So that begs the question, why do it now? I could have an oz of the dankest weed or of even different strains and no one would assume I was a grower or a dealer.
My reason for trying it again are twofold. First, I want to see if spliffs (I prefer big joints over vap bowls or bongs) are ultra smooth. And second, I grow a blue cheese strain that's extremely stinky. And when I say stinky I mean the kind of stink that lingers for days wherever she goes. Not an exaggeration.
As far as the methods go, I have not tried straight to water, I did a quick dry (3 days) then a water cure. I've heard but cannot confirm that a quick dry preserves the potency.
When I did the water cure I recall that it dried out very fast (like a day maybe two), albeit it was near dry when I put in the water. And I am pretty sure I had laid out on a screen with a fan beneath and the dehuey running. So could be why it dried quick.
Hope that answers your questions. I'll let you know about the first of the year as to my experience, including methods.
Your spliffs should be ultra-smooth 'without' the water cure.
LOVE the descrip on making your chronic look like commercial. Never thought about that when I was growing in a non-medical state. Only one lucky person, outside my immediate family, got to smoke a bowl of that stuff back then.
if watercuring was my only option I would just say fuck it and eat it.....yeehaw
TrinZilla
Member
Just so we're clear, you're saying you turned your Skunk#1 and Purple Kush into tasteless, no smell, purposefully spiked with seed, brick weed? So that it would appear to anyone who just so happened to see you rolling a joint that it was mexi? Far out man!
I echo that sentiment, medicalmj.
Did water cures when buds, usually from inexperienced friends, were not cured properly and had mildew. 7-8 days of water cure, changing water daily....it did the job, a smooth smoke.
