Have you ever picked up cannabis that smells damp, grassy, and generally not nice, or dry cannabis that doesn’t smell great? Read this article on How to cure cannabis to get the most out of your batch.

Curing is possibly the most overlooked aspect of cannabis production, and until recently was all but ignored within the black market here in the UK.

Back in the day, not many people knew how to cure cannabis correctly.

Fortunately due to competition and more choice, more producers are paying attention to curing and the quality of cannabis is going up. I wish I’d have known this information when I started smoking weed, because for what seems like years I was picking up foul-tasting or smelling weed, and I never knew that I could make it better by curing it before consumption.

When your flowers feel a little crunchy on the outside and the smallest branches snap when you bend them rather than fold, you’re ready for curing. Curing your cannabis is the step that makes it all worthwhile, and if done correctly, you’ll see your buds turn into dank smelly nugs that taste delicious!

How to cure cannabis

Here are the steps you will need to take if you’re curing your cannabis:

Step 1:

Manicure your dry buds. Keep the trim and give it to somebody who makes medicine for sick people, or use it to make butter, oil or extract!

Step 2:

Place the trimmed buds into some type of airtight container. ISMOKE recommends glass/ceramic storage containers like the curing jars for sale on our site, but you can use a variety of materials – people use: ceramic, metal, wood, or plastic vessels as well. It is worth noting that most plastic bags are unsuitable for curing as they are not impervious to oxygen and also they can degrade when they come in contact with certain terpenes found in cannabis. You do not want this.

Pack your buds loosely into the container – don’t crush or compact them. Seal the containers and place them somewhere cool, dark and dry. After a day you’ll notice moisture from the inner parts of the bud should start to rehydrate the outer parts.

Step 3:

Make sure you open the container several times per day for the first week, letting the buds breathe for a few minutes – this allows moisture to escape and replenishes the oxygen inside the container.

Important: If it smells like ammonia when you open the container the buds aren’t dry enough to be curing, so dry them more to avoid mouldy weed.

After the first week, you will only need to open the containers to let them breathe once every few days.

The bud will be cured enough after 2 – 3 weeks, but 4 – 8 weeks is the optimal cure time for top quality cannabis.