curing question

Hello. Nobody has mentioned: if you trap the gas that the drying bud is giving off it cancels the bitter taste of not cured buds. It is the same gas from a ripe banana that you put in a bag to ripen the green tomato's. It's ethane and if you trap it when the buds are drying then you don't have to burp your jars for 6 months after to get the same taste you can get in 2 week if you dry in a paper bag or cardboard box. I have found what works best for me, that is : Cut branches. wet trim, hang trimmed branches for 3 days to get rid of about 40% moisture, then cut the buds off into paper bags and hang the bags (so you don't get mold on the bottom) for 7 to 10 days and then check. Sometimes you have to rehang for a few days if the buds are large. Make sure there is some air movement in the same room. Put them straight from the bag to the jars. Don't fill the bags more than 3 inches or so because of mold. Very simple, very easy and it works. I sort of smile to myself when I read about all the steps others go through to cure their buds. Oh well, choose the best answer for you. Chuck.

Curing is a bit like after an apple is picked, it continues to "after ripen" for a period of time. The same with cannabis, after it is harvested, certain metabolic processes continue for a while and terpene/cannabinoid synthesis and polymerization continue for a while too. Dried too fast and these processes are halted and once stopped, they can never be restarted. This usually results in harsh smoking buds with low flavour and smell. Dried too slow and the buds will rot, so there is a fine balance between too fast and too slow. Drying in the dark is also very important, buds dried under lights will suffer accelerated cannabinoid break down. Having the right humidity range prevents the flowers from drying too fast or too slow, along with suitable temperatures to match the humidity levels, that is, lower temps and lower humidity to prevent rot or higher temps and higher humidity to prevent the flowers drying too fast. Hope this helps, Organoman.

Curing is a proces of slowly losing moisture over a period of time , wich CAN improve flavor smell and overal quality , but i will say this . Despite the fact that it dous get rid of that floral grassy taste ...my experience is that fresh weed is way better then weed that is cured for over two months or whatever , fresh weed is way more terpy believe me

60s F 55-62% RH at varying stages there may be more sophistication... as far as a few degrees colder or warmer here or there?? but that is probably more a best-guess than anything certain regardless of the confidence soemone has. Cannatrol has a great device you should reference or mimic, if possible... i've heard the weed that comes out of those is amazing. But again... when dealing with anecdotal evidence, should be skeptical. In general you are trying to evaporate the water while preserving as much THC/THCA and terpense as possible. At least 1 or more potential terpenes generally produced by marijuana has a low boiling point. You can look these up with google to see which it is. i don't recall. A boiling point is not a line drawn in the sand when it comes to evaporations... evaporation happens at all times even when the atmosphere is at it's carrying capacity.. it's merely at equilibrium at certain points where as much is evaporating as condensing, it just may not be anywhere nearby. This is why ice cubes get smaller in freezer over time... that is technically called "sublimation" when water evaporates from a solid directly to a gas, but same exact forces at play. So, a lower boiling points means it'll more likely float off as a gas and at a faster rate at a lower temp than other terpenes. Even though we are well-below boiling points, a few degrees cooler CAN help... how much? i'm sure we can research that if it isn't known. diminishing returns likely or some other arising probelm if too extreme, i'd assume... in the end, more reseaerch needed. we have the means to isolate all teh relevant compounts and measure their mass. using multiple samples and averaging them will give a very clear idea of what process prserves the most terpenes and THC/THCA and whaveter else we find to be relevant in future as yet not understood. RH and Temp are both factors to the rate at which something dries or evaporates -- the water and the terpenes in this context. The 55-62% range avoids a more dangerouse range above that will promote microbial growth while still slowing down the evaporation process. A slow process also allows a more thorough breakdown of various molecules that either improve smoothness or contribute to preferred taste. Light is the factor that most quicly breaks down THC/THCA. Keep it dark. If you smoke it within a month or 2, probably won't notice either way... you smoke it 1 or 2 years later, you'll appreciate it if you kept it cold and dark... and avoided anaerobic bacterial growth -- burp it.. o2 needs to be refresshed to keep the anaerobes at bay. you know they have taken ahold when things turn brown and taste more like schwag weed than good weed.

from my understanding if its too dry the microbes that are breaking things down internally in the plants structures. eg the buds, can't operate and it just sits their like a dried herb. if its too moist other microbes take over like molds and make it unsmokeable. Temps play a bigger role in preserving terpenes then anything else. to hot and dry they evaporate out and cant get them back. Good Luck!