How to Cure Cannabis For Better Quality and Maximum Profit

By Allison Cohn

So, you’ve harvested your cannabis. Now what? There are a lot of factors that go into a good curing process for cannabis, but the result is simple — well-cured cannabis means well-earned higher profits. 

Several crucial post-harvest processing steps, starting with curing, will cumulatively affect the quality of your cannabis. Curing involves removing the excess moisture from the product in a meticulously controlled environment. Both the temperature and humidity in the environment greatly impact this process. Most growers will regulate the humidity and temperature in their curing room using a dehumidifier.

MOISTURE MATTERS

You can feel it in the air when you travel someplace with high humidity. If you’ve ever gone on vacation in the tropics, you will notice it takes forever for your towels (and hair!) to dry. If there’s less humidity in the air, things dry more quickly and evenly — including cannabis.

The goal of curing is to lower the moisture content in the plant while keeping the flower moist and structured. The flower should stay moist enough that its terpenes remain fragrant and aromatic, which enhances its flavor — but not so moist as to potentially create mold or microbial problems later during storage. By properly curing cannabis, the intricacies of its flavors become enhanced and noticeable when smoking it.

Curing takes some degree of patience even though most growers want to harvest their product as efficiently as possible. But finding that sweet spot with the perfect moisture content takes practice, skill, and time. There is no exact methodology for curing, given that there are so many external variables. It’s a really personal thing, best solved through trial and — sadly — error.

SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE

Think about it like this: Curing your cannabis is like drying your delicate laundry on the low heat cycle. You don’t want to rush the process with high heat to simply get the job done. Too much heat could cause terpenes to degrade and evaporate. By taking the low and slow route with curing, cannabinoids can continue to go through biosynthesis, making the flower even more potent. Bud is ideally cured at temperatures averaging between 60°F and 70°F with humidity levels between 45-56% depending on the growing environment and geographical area.

Ideal curing conditions also benefit the flower by allowing various undesirable enzymes and aerobic bacteria to break down leftover minerals or sugars that may have been produced as chlorophyll in the plant. Poorly cured cannabis may have an acrid flavor and sting your throat when smoking it. The less leftover minerals and sugars there are in the flower, the smoother your hit will be.

For a good cure, one wants to be sure to moderate the temperature and humidity, but it is also super important to make sure the flower is being kept in a cool, dry place with very little sunlight and oxygen. Oxygen creates oxidation of the plant, which deteriorates the color of flower and can harm both the terpenes and the smell. Properly cured cannabis should then be stored in a vacuum-sealed bag (remember: no oxygen!), where it should remain fresh until it reaches the consumer. 

Well-cured cannabis can be stored for up to a year. Unlike other commodities like wine, with cannabis, there is no real quality advantage to storing it. The value of the flower doesn’t increase with age, and cannabis is sold by weight, and water weight is much of that. The longer you store cannabis, the more it dries out and oxidizes -- very dry cannabis loses value. The density of the flower with the correct amount of moisture is higher quality than the same flower with less moisture in it.

GOOD CURE, GOOD PROFITS

A good cure promotes terpene development and allows the smell and taste of cannabis to better mature and develop completely. Plus, the better the cannabis is cured, the less likely it is to develop mold. Mold growth in cannabis is considered a major disaster, so the incentive to properly cure cannabis if only to avoid mold growth is enormous.

Curing is also one of the key factors being analyzed during the qualitative portion of cannabis grading when in accordance with the International Cannabis and Hemp Standards. If the cannabis has a poor or crumbly structure, barely visible trichomes, dull coloring due to oxidation and/or a sour smell (often due to mold, fungus, or various defects), the grader can tell that the curing process was done improperly. The better and more vibrant the bud’s structure, color, and aroma, the higher grade it will get during its qualitative analysis. 

A higher grade has a direct positive influence on the product's value in marketplaces like Tamerlane Trading, and allows sellers to receive maximum product for their labor. You can be the best grower in the world with the fanciest equipment, but if you mess up the cure at the end, you lose all that value. Well-cured cannabis can be listed and marketed as a high-quality product, which yields a higher price and maximizes profits for the grower.

Related Article: How to Best Store Cannabis to Preserve Quality and Maximize Profits

Allison Cohn

Writer

Allison Cohn loves gold spray paint and nonsense. She also has a very difficult time sitting still and keeping quiet. She can often be found dancing like a fool when she isn’t hiding out in her mountain lair or gallivanting around the globe.