We arrive at the harvest of the cannabis plants and we think that all the work is done, but in reality a very important part is missing. In this post we explain how to dry marijuana buds to achieve a first-class texture, flavor, and potency, that is, a cannabis curing perfect.
⭐ Marijuana drying What does it consist of?
Fresh cannabis contains more than 70% moisture, as with most vegetables, but it is normally consumed smoked or vaporized, so drying is essential in order to consume it. In the process of drying marijuana, the buds lose moisture until they have a content that can range from 20% to 30%, but also the chlorophyll they contain is lost or transformed so that when consumed they do not have a bad taste.
It is very important to maintain acceptable environmental conditions so that this is not marijuanatoo dry, and above all so that it does not contain more moisture than it should, since this could cause the appearance of fungus on our buds. Cannabis drying has to be in the dark and rather slow, especially in the last part of the process, in the phase known as the curing of marijuana, but we will see that later
.
⛳ How to cut and dry marijuana
Many new customers ask us how to dry marijuana, and this is something that can be done in different ways, each with its advantages and disadvantages. Some growers, especially in the USA and more and more places, cut the plants at the trunk and hang them upside down without removing the leaves. This is something that they say is better because the buds are protected by the leaves and drying is slower and more homogeneous. The problem is that then you have to remove the leaves dry, and in that state the grass releases a part of the resin with the slightest blow, so you have to be very careful.
Other people prefer to cut branches of the plants, remove all the leaves, and then hang them upside down, so it looks great too. There are even people who cut the buds one by one, trim the leaves, and then put them on a drying mesh, which takes up less space but does not look as good as in the other methods. What you have to take into account before cutting and drying the marijuana, is that its trichomes have matured enough and the substrate has dried as much as possible, then you just have to decide if you prefer to hang the buds or dry them.
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✨ Where to dry marijuana
Currently there are cabinets for drying marijuana that have been manufactured especially for this mission, since they are similar to grow cabinets but much more ventilated. In these cabinets you can hang a drying mesh that is fastened to the metal bars from the ceiling, and they contain shelves or compartments to place the buds there during their drying. The best thing is that they keep the darkness, they have air extraction, and you can put a carbon filter so that it does not smell anything outside, and when they are closed you can put a small dehumidifier to adjust the humidity in the parameters that we want.
You also have the possibility of buying a complete drying kit, which contains a wardrobe, carbon filter, extractor, drying screen, dehumidifier, magnifying glass to look at the trichomes, and scissors to harvest, that is, everything you may need. If you don’t have space at home to install a large dryer, drying cabinets can be a great solution for you.
Kit to dry marijuana in the most optimal way, you know that no good harvest a grass first, if we do not properly curing and drying…..
-1 Cultibox Light 100 X 100 X 200 cm.
-1 Round mesh 90cm for hanging.
-1 MIni VDL Dehumidifier
-1 Precision Scale Leef Kleen Straight Tip.
-1 Microscope Lumagny 30X.
-1 Anti-odor filter Odor-Sock mouth 100 / 300mm (225m3 / h).
-1 Cornwall Extractor Helicoidal Line 100 m3 / h
Drying marijuana in cardboard boxes
It is not the most recommended way, except if you use a large cardboard box to make a dryer with ropes inside. The cardboard allows a small part of the air to pass through, so it can be a good option for the last part of the drying or curing of the weed, but from our point of view not for drying freshly cut plants..
Dry marijuana buds in glass jars
Even less than in cardboard boxes, because the glass does not directly let any air pass through, so moisture is concentrated and can lead to crop losses due to fungi. The airtight glass jars are special for curing cannabis, but not for drying it.
Drying marijuana plants outside
There are people who dry the plants outside, especially guerrilla growers who cannot transport the harvest to other places. This is not recommended either, since we are exposed to weather conditions, and it is very easy for fungi or other pathogens to appear when being outdoors.
🚀 Temperature and humidity when drying marijuan
The higher the temperature, the faster the herb dries, but more terpenes, terpenoids, and flavonoids, the molecules responsible for aroma and flavor, also evaporate, so the marijuana would be of poorer quality. The ideal temperature for drying marijuana is between 15º C and 20º C, and if you have the possibility, the best thing is that the first week of drying is closer to 20º C and from there lower it to 15º C or 16º C for the rest of the time.
Something similar happens with the relative humidity of the air, the lower it is, the faster the process will be, but that can cause a part of the chlorophyll to remain in the grass, and that is not what we want. The ideal humidity for drying marijuana is 60% -70% during the first week, and for the rest of the drying and curing it would be better to lower it to 50% -60%, and keep it stable until consumption. In many cases, the marijuana will have to be dried with a dehumidifier, since in some regions it is impossible to keep the humidity within acceptable parameters otherwise.
✅ How long is marijuana left to dry?
This depends directly on the ambient temperature and humidity during drying, and the amount of water that the buds contain, since they are not all the same. Even the morphology of the bud itself can have an influence, since aerated sativa buds dry earlier than the denser and more compact ones, because the air does not affect only the external part.
So how long does it take for marijuana to dry? As a general rule, if the conditions are more or less correct, it can be said that the normal time for drying marijuana ranges between 10 and 15 days, less than this would be too fast, but in some cases it may take more than 15 days.
🔥 How to know when the grass has dried?
A good way to check the drying of the marijuana is with the rigidity of its stems, since when it is fresh they are very flexible, but as it dries they lose flexibility and begin to be very rigid. The finer they are, the better, so the better are the petioles of the leaves that are attached to the flowers.
🎯 When to cure marijuana?
If you maintain the correct environmental parameters, you can begin to test the stiffness of the petioles from the tenth day of drying, if when folding they creak and split, it is time to move on to the curing phase. During the curing of the marijuana it is a matter of which the last part of the humidity that it has to lose does it in a much slower way.
For this, you have to put the buds in wooden boxes, glass jars, or vacuum jars, and open the containers once a day for another 15 or 20 days. When you open them you can see how the first days they still smell a bit musty, but little by little that smell is lost. Leave the containers open for about 5 minutes each day during this process and your yerba will have the cleanest and most defined flavor.
Curing boxes are the best option if you can afford them because they have a hygrometer to check moistureinside,and so know exactly at what time of curing they are.
00 Box is a wooden box to cure marijuana, is made of cedar wood because it does not alter the taste or odor and improves the properties of cannabis….
Big: 32 X 46.6 X 10.6 cm (60-75 gr)
Medium: 22 X 32.5 X 10.6 cm (40-50 gr)
Small: 17 X 24.5 X 10.6 cm (30-40 gr)
Pocket: 9 X .55 X 4 cm (5 gr)
👾 How to dry marijuana quickly
If you want to speed up the drying process a bit without affecting the final quality of the yerba too much, the best thing you can do is put a fan pointing towards the buds, but without much power so that they do not dry out. You can also lower the relative humidity to 45% or 50%, and advance 3 or 4 days, but it is not advisable to lower it more than that, or some of the chlorophyll will remain and it will affect the flavor.
Drying marijuana in the oven or microwave
This is the worst thing you can do to dry marijuana quickly, but it is the best if you want to spoil it. When you dry it in the oven or microwave, marijuana loses most of its essential oils, and with them cannabinoids, terpenes, and other aromatic compounds.
Drying marijuana in the sun Is it a good idea?
Nor, first because we will not be able to control the temperature well, and surely in many cases it will be higher than it should and the yerba will dry out. But it is also a bad idea to dry marijuana in the sun because THC will degrade and become CBN, so the effect will lose potency, will be less psychoactive, and much more physical and narcotic. If you have ever wondered about the heavy effect of Moroccan hashish, here is the answer, drying plants in the sun.
🧐 Conclusion
Drying and curing marijuana is a key growing process, and many times we do not give it the importance it has. In this article we have seen the best way to dry and cure marijuana so that it has the best aroma, flavor, and effect, the best kept secret of many champions of cannabis competitions.
⚠️ Frequently Asked Questions
How much weight does marijuana lose when it dries?
Between 70% and 80% normally, since it is usually left with approximately 20% -30% of the total weight it had when the plant was alive. As we have seen in this post, the ideal is that you lose most of that weight during the drying phase, but the last part of the moisture will be lost during curing.
What is dry marijuana like?
Well dried marijuana is crunchy, but does not pulverize when pressed as can be the case with buds that have become too dry. Well-dried yerba contains a small part of moisture that is noticeable when it is touched and when it breaks, neither too wet nor too dry.
What is the best bud drying?
As you may have read in this article, the best drying is done slowly, in the dark, with a temperature of around 18ºC and a relative humidity of approximately 60% , that would be a good way to summarize it.
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