It takes a lot of patience to wait for your buds to mature until they're ready for harvest. Many cannabis growers (especially first-time growers) have a tendency to harvest their cannabis too early out of excitement.
What will happen when you harvest too early?
Drying and curing your buds improperly (or not drying and curing at all) will result in buds that are harsh, taste/smell bad, and actually seem less potent. Improperly dried and cured buds can also give you a headache or increase your chances of feeling anxious or paranoid during use.
What is the process of harvest、dry and cure?
Harvest: Harvest cannabis when the white hairs have darkened and curled in. Too early can sometimes trigger anxiousness or headaches for some people. When do I harvest? The most common way to harvest cannabis is: cut down branches, trim off unwanted leaves, then hang branches upside down in a ventilated area.
Drying: Dry buds slowly for 3-7 days. The amount of drying time will vary depending on your local temperature and humidity. Don't let buds touch each other during drying, especially in high humidity. Watch buds closely to make sure they're not drying to a crisp overnight (drying too fast), or parts of buds feel wet and don't seem to be drying (drying too slow). Drying is finished when small stems start to snap instead of bend.
1st Level Curing: Put buds in quart-sized glass mason jars for at least 2 weeks. Curing for 2-4 weeks will reduce “harshness,” the fresh-cut-grass smell of newly dried buds, as well as help prevent headaches and anxious effects. Open jars at least once a day for a minute or two. The outside of cannabis buds should never feel wet; if they feel wet then leave lid off jar for an hour or two until they feel dry again, and go back to curing.
2nd Level Curing: Continue curing buds for 2-6 months to further increase smoothness and potency (while buds "feel stronger," it's unknown whether 2nd level curing has any effect on the medical benfits of cannabis)
Long-Term Storage: After 6 months, you should prepare your buds for long-term storage
Curing the buds is a process that dies the buds slowly in a weather-controlled environment, then transferring to a glass jar to allow the various plant processes to occur. When buds are cured, they’re easier to smoke, causing less harshness. They also smell better (that lovely smell is one that every marijuana smoker enjoys nearly as much as actually ingesting) and are far more potent.
To cure the buds, place them in a dry environment that has a room temperature of about 70 F. The room should contain about 50% humidity. When the buds are moved to mason jars, raise the humidity level in the room to about 58% – 65%. Curing buds takes only 5 to 7 days total; it’s worth the few added days.
After learn more about how to better harvest、dry and cure, next you should consider a dryer.
Best Dryer Recommend for You
The HerbsNOW dryer gives you the perfect environment to dry your weed every time. Using advanced technology, HerbsNOW provides you with a pre-set, ideal temperature that has been tested exclusively for drying cannabis.
Multi-directional airflow, along with open-weave trays ensures each bud is dried consistently. This also means you do not need to rotate or touch the buds during the drying process.
HerbsNOW provides all of this in a captured environment, meaning you get high-quality, consistent drying in a small, enclosed space. Take back all of the space you’ve needed for hang drying because HerbsNOW only needs one square foot to give you consistent drying every time.
The ECO Farm dryer gives you the perfect environment to dry your weed every time. Using advanced technology, ECO Farm provides you with a ideal temperature that has been tested exclusively for drying cannabis.
Multi-directional airflow, along with open-weave trays ensures each bud is dried consistently. This also means you do not need to rotate or touch the buds during the drying process.
ECO Farm provides all of this in a captured environment, meaning you get high-quality, consistent drying in a small, enclosed space. Take back all of the space you’ve needed for hang drying because ECO Farm only needs one square foot to give you consistent drying every time.
The ECO Farm dryer gives you the perfect environment to dry your weed every time. Using advanced technology, ECO Farm provides you with a ideal temperature that has been tested exclusively for drying cannabis.
Multi-directional airflow, along with open-weave trays ensures each bud is dried consistently. This also means you do not need to rotate or touch the buds during the drying process.
ECO Farm provides all of this in a captured environment, meaning you get high-quality, consistent drying in a small, enclosed space. Take back all of the space you’ve needed for hang drying because ECO Farm only needs one square foot to give you consistent drying every time.
The ECO Farm dryer provides a controlled drying environment, meaning your weed is perfectly dried in less time than it takes to hang dry. All while retaining potency, terpenes, and flavor.
In Conclusion
Today, the sheer level of competition in the industry means that marijuana producers have little option but to spend the extra time and money on drying and curing their products. Fortunately, no specialized equipment is needed, which means you can do it at home with the cannabis you grow.
Make sure you begin the process as soon as possible after harvesting. Otherwise, you risk reducing the quality of the plant.