Step-by-Step Guide: How to Cure Cannabis

Despite the anticipation, cannabis plants aren’t immediately ready to use after they’ve been harvested. Curing cannabis is a crucial step in preparing the product for long-term storage and preservation. This process involves storing your cannabis in specific conditions that help maintain its natural qualities and extend its shelf life. Join us as we explore the importance of curing cannabis and how you can do it yourself.

The curing process involves storing your cannabis plants in carefully controlled conditions to enhance their shelf life and preserve their natural characteristics. Continue reading to understand why curing cannabis is such a significant process and how you can cure cannabis yourself.

What is Curing Cannabis?

Curing cannabis is the process of drying and aging the plant material after it has been harvested. To cure cannabis, you'll need to store the plants in a highly controlled environment. The curing process requires specific temperatures, humidity levels, and airflow to be effective.

The curing process preserves the cannabinoids and terpenes in the plant, which help the cannabis flower maintain its natural characteristics. Curing also helps preserve the plant’s aroma and extends its shelf life - benefits that are appreciated when it comes time to use the cannabis.

5 Benefits of Curing Cannabis

Learning how to cure cannabis is essential for ensuring a well-preserved and consistent product. If you don’t cure your plants, they may not maintain their desired qualities or shelf life.

Not convinced it’s worth it? Here are five key benefits of curing cannabis that make it a valuable process:

1. Enhances Natural Characteristics

Each cannabis strain has its own distinct qualities that contribute to the overall profile of the product. Curing and drying cannabis helps break down starches, sugars, and chlorophyll in the plant, which helps preserve the plant’s natural properties. This allows the plant’s inherent characteristics to be more prominent for a better product experience.

2. Retains Cannabinoid Properties

Cannabinoids are compounds found in cannabis plants that contribute to the plant’s overall profile. The most well-known cannabinoid is THC, which plays a role in the plant’s characteristics. CBD is another prominent cannabinoid often associated with the plant’s natural properties.

When you cure cannabis plants, it helps them retain their cannabinoid levels for a much longer period of time. This means that your marijuana will retain its potency for future use and extended enjoyment. 

3. Preserves Natural Aroma

The aroma of your cannabis is an important characteristic of the plant. By curing your cannabis, you help preserve its natural aroma. Whether you’re preparing cannabis for personal use or another purpose, the aroma will remain prominent throughout.

The fragrance of your cannabis also contributes to a positive consumption experience. By curing your cannabis, you help to preserve the fresh, intense aroma.

4. Prolongs Shelf Life

Curing cannabis helps maintain its quality for an extended period. The curing process involves drying the plant material to prevent the growth of mold and mildew. If cannabis is not cured, it may degrade more rapidly. A properly executed curing process can help cannabis retain its characteristics for extended periods.

5. Normalizes Moisture Distribution

When cannabis plants are first harvested, moisture content is concentrated in the center of the plant. The curing process helps distribute this moisture evenly throughout the plant, resulting in more consistent characteristics.

What You’ll Need to Cure Cannabis: Materials & The Right Conditions

When learning how to cure cannabis, you'll need to begin with the appropriate materials. However, gathering supplies is just the first step. You’ll also need to ensure the right conditions for cannabis to cure effectively.

Here are the materials you’ll need for curing cannabis: 

• A closed environment: You’ll need an airtight space to keep conditions stable while your plants are curing. Depending on how many plants you’re working with, this could be a small glass jar up to an entire airtight room. 

• Disposable gloves: Wearing disposable gloves while working with your plants will prevent the oils on your hands from damaging the leaves or throwing off the moisture levels in your enclosure. 

• A Hygrometer: This tool will help you check the humidity levels in your marijuana enclosure. 

• Humidity packs: Humidity packs are small packages you can place in your enclosure to maintain moisture levels. These are very handy to have if you live in a dry area. Look for: look for humidity packs that are specifically designed for cannabis. 

Here are the conditions you’ll need to successfully cure your cannabis: 

• Humidity: To cure your cannabis, we recommend maintaining humidity levels between approximately 50 and 60%. If the humidity in your enclosure is too high, open it up to allow air circulation for a few hours, then recheck your levels. If the humidity is too low, add humidity packs until the levels stabilize. 

• Temperature: Room temperature is crucial for curing cannabis. Try to maintain levels between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Be very careful to prevent your plants from getting too hot, as this could cause them to degrade very quickly.  

• Light: Exposure to light will increase the temperature in your cannabis enclosure, which can damage your plants. Keep your cannabis in a relatively dark area while they’re curing to avoid this problem. Ideally, we recommend using a room with no windows, but you can also minimize light with thick curtains. 

How to Cure Cannabis in 4 Easy Steps

Once you’ve gathered your materials and prepped your environment, it’s time to learn the full process for curing cannabis. Keep in mind that this process may involve some trial and error, so feel free to make small adjustments to achieve the desired characteristics of your product.

Here are the four steps required for curing cannabis:

1. Dry Your Buds

The first step in curing is learning how to dry cannabis. When you first harvest your plants, the buds will likely be very moist. Drying the cannabis lowers their moisture level so the plants can cure successfully. It also helps prevent mold growth during curing.

You have two options when deciding how to dry cannabis: dry trimming and wet trimming.

• To dry trim, hang your branches upside down from a clothesline right after they’ve been cut. Make sure that each plant has enough space to dry fully. The buds will be ready to cut when they’re dry to the touch and the stems snap. With this method, it can take as long as 10 days for the buds to dry fully. 

• Wet trimming is another approach that typically takes two to four days to complete. While faster than dry trimming, it can be messier and may result in the loss of some terpenes, which can affect the plant's overall properties. With wet trimming, you’ll remove the buds from the branches right after harvesting, instead of letting them dry first. Then, place the buds on drying racks, rotating them periodically until they are dry.

2. Place Buds in an Enclosed Environment

Once your buds are dry, the next step is to place them in your enclosed environment. This needs to be fully airtight so you can keep the conditions stable for the entire curing process. Avoid overcrowding your buds, as this could prevent them from curing evenly. 

Glass jars work well if you only have a small amount of cannabis to cure. If you have a larger amount, look for larger storage buckets. Avoid plastic containers, as they are not airtight and may be treated with chemicals that could impact the plant’s characteristics.

If you’re curing cannabis on a large scale, you may need more space than a container can provide. If this is the case for you, you may need an entire airtight room to successfully cure your cannabis. 

3. Monitor Buds for Proper Conditions

As your cannabis buds are curing, you’ll need to check on them regularly to make sure the conditions remain stable. Use a thermometer and hygrometer to check the temperature and humidity levels and ensure they’re appropriate for curing. Also, be aware of any strong ammonia odor, which suggests that your buds are too moist and need more airflow.

Check on your cannabis twice a day for the first week and once per day for the remainder of the curing process. During each check-in, open the container and allow some air to flow in for a few minutes. Remove any buds with visible signs of mold or mildew. 

4. Establish a Timeline

When you first start growing cannabis plants, you might wonder how long to cure  cannabis. There’s no definitive answer here, and it can take some trial and error to determine exactly how long to cure your plants. 

In most cases, curing for three to four weeks is sufficient to extend the shelf life of your plants and preserve their natural chara

Curing for a longer period may enhance the plant’s overall properties. Some professional growers cure their plants for up to six months. Ultimately, it depends on the desired outcome you aim to achieve.

Shop Premium Cannabis Products from STIIIZY

Now that you know how to cure cannabis on your own, you’re aware of how time-consuming the process can be. If you prefer not to handle the curing process yourself, explore our cannabis flower that has been properly cured to preserve its natural characteristics.

Check out our full selection of cannabis products online, including extracts, edibles, and weed vape pods. Prefer in-person shopping? Stop by one of our STIIIZY dispensaries!

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