Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible

bio-degradation and are dry and drying, marijuana’s biggest enemies. Keep dried marijuana off hot car dashboards and away from heat vents, etc. Friction and rough handling bruise and knock off resin glands. Even with proper drying and curing, brutal handling of harvested marijuana will diminish THC content. Baggies and fondling hands rupture millions of tiny resin glands in the world every minute! To keep dried marijuana in mint condition, store it in a dark, airtight, glass container, and place it in the refrigerator. Ordinary canning jars allow buds to be admired as well as protected. Glass containers do not impart any plastic or metal odors and contain the pungent fragrance of fresh marijuana buds. Placing an orange or lemon peel in the jar will add a citrus aroma to the bouquet.

Spanish grower wrapped newspaper around plants to protect them from light.

This outdoor crop is hanging in the entrance to a barn. A breeze flowing through the opening carries away evaporated moisture and fragrance.

This chest of drawers has screens on the bottom. Place buds on screens to dry.
Curing
    Curing allows buds to continue to dry slowly. The first week of curing affects potency in that it evenly removes moisture within the bud so virtually all the THC is psychoactive. Curing also allows buds to dry enough that mold does not grow when buds are stored. Well-cured buds have an even glow when burned and smoke smooth.
    After plants, branches, and/or buds have dried on screens or hung in a drying room for five to seven days and appear to be dry, they still contain moisture inside. This moisture affects taste and potency. Curing will remove this excess moisture. Curing makes the bud uniformly dry and converts virtually all THC into its psychoactive form.
    Cut stems into manageable lengths–less than 12-18 inches (30-45 cm)–and place them in an airtight container. Airtight glass containers with a rubber or similar seal are the best. Avoid Ziploc and other plastic bags that are not airtight. Plastic bags used for long-term storage are airtight. The “reflection anti-detection barrier foil bags” available from Hy Supply ( www.hysupply.nl ) are airtight and infrared-proof. Some growers avoid plastic containers such as Rubbermaid™ bins and Tupperware™, saying the plastic imparts an undesirable flavor to the buds. But when curing large amounts, such plastic bins are the best option because stuffing 10 pounds (4.5 kg) or more into small canning jars would be laborious and impractical.
    Enclose buds in a container to create a microclimate that allows moisture to even out within the buds. Internal moisture will migrate to the dry portions of the bud. Gently pack as many buds into container as possible without forcing and damaging them. Leave the containers in a cool, dry, dark place. Check in two to four hours to see if buds have “sweated” moisture. Check buds by gently squeezing to feel if they are moister than they were a few hours before. Be careful when squeezing buds; resin glands bruise easily.
     
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    Lay small buds in a box to dry. Turn them daily to promote even drying and prevent mold.
    If stems fold instead of snapping when bent, and buds are still moist to the touch, remove them from the container and gently place in the bottom of a paper bag. They can be stacked in the paper bag as high as six inches (15 cm). Fold the top of the bag once or twice to close. Check the buds two to three times during the day to monitor drying. Carefully turn them in the bag so that different sides are exposed. Remove when they are dry and place back into the sealed container. Check them the next day to see if they are evenly dry. Stems should snap when bent. If too moist, put them back in the paper bag until dry. When dry, return to the curing container.
    If buds appear to have fairly low moisture content, and stems snap when bent, leave them in the container and let excess moisture escape out the top. Open the container for a few minutes every few hours to let the excess moisture escape before closing the lid again. At this point you can add an orange or lemon peel to the container to impart a slight citrus aroma.

    Check the container several times daily. Leave the top off for five to ten minutes so moisture evacuates. Depending upon moisture content, buds should be totally dry in a few days to two weeks. Once they are evenly dry, they are ready to seal in an airtight container for storage.
    To find the approximate