How To Dry Weed (with Pictures): Expert Drying and Curing Guide

This is a COMPLETE guide to drying and curing cannabis.

So, if you’re looking to properly dry your weed and then cure it like a champ, you’ll love this follow-along tutorial.

Drying weed the right way makes it less harsh on the lungs—curing amps up the potency and makes it tastier.

By drying and curing our weed we are essentially doing two things:

1. Reducing moisture inside the buds, breaking down chlorophyll and thus making the buds easier to smoke and store.
2. Increasing their potency, optimizing cannabinoid profile and most importantly, improving the taste (and the smell).

As you already know, producing top quality homegrown cannabis requires some work.

There are lots of variables that go into creating a bountiful plant, not to mention that it takes months just to go from a seed to a fully flowering plant.

That’s why many expert growers use the drying & curing techniques outlined below to fine tune their end product.

3 drying and curing tips that you HAVE to follow

And here is the big secret to drying cannabis the right way:

1. Take your time to ensure the highest possible potency. Do NOT rush this process.
2. Make producing the best possible flower your #1 priority.
3. Do this by following a tried and tested system—I’m going to share that with you right now.

Number one mistake people make when drying weed

I’ve seen many people make the same mistake with their homegrown cannabis—they dry it too quickly.

And we can all understand that.

You’ve spent months nurturing your herb and now that you’ve harvested it you simply can’t wait to sample the fruits of your labor.

But the simple truth is this:

Drying and curing should be a slow and tedious process, because that is the only approach that will give you the best possible potency, smell and taste.

If you acknowledge this right away you’re going to have an amazing product in the end.

Another point to consider is the optimal time frame you’re going to dedicate to this.

In my experience, the entire drying and curing process should last for 2 months, more or less depending on the strain and the potency you’re going after.

Of course, you can cure your buds for 6 months if you want to, but I think it’s better to keep things optimal.

Step #1: Once you harvest the buds with their stems do a light trim

Take off the fan leaves and trim the bigger sugar leaves. You can do this with a pair of spring-loaded trimming scissors that you can pick up for $10 bucks. In the end, your buds should look like this:

Step #2: Hang the buds upside down in a dark room for 3-7 days

5 days is usually enough. Feel free to use either a regular coat hanger or just a simple clothesline. You can fit those in your bathroom, shed or any other room that you want to use for drying.

Image source: Cannabis Pictures

Follow these weed drying tips:

• The ideal drying room conditions are 75° Fahrenheit (23° Celsius) with 50% humidity (use a Digital Humidistat to monitor your humidity levels)
• Make sure to space out the branches so the air can flow between the buds
• Your weed is dry enough to cure when the buds feel crispy to the touch, but they still spring back a little bit when pressed (be gentle when testing)
• It’s better to over-dry the buds then under-dry them, as they can become moldy (which ruins the taste and even makes them toxic)

Step #3: Do a detailed trim

Take the buds off from the stems (which are definitely not used for consumption), trim the remaining sugar leaves and leave only flowers.

Step #4: Place the buds in a mason (air-tight) jar

Avoid zip-lock, plastic bags and other alternative methods of curing that you might have read about online. Wide mouth mason jars work the best. Make sure to leave some room for the buds to breathe.

Important tips for curing weed:

• Ideal conditions for curing are 70° Fahrenheit (20° Celsius) with around 60% humidity (you can put humidity packs inside the jars)
• Cure your buds for at least 4 weeks to get the optimal potency and taste
• For perfect buds, cure for 6-8 weeks
• Open up the jars every day for 30-45 minutes to get the fresh air in (this process is also known as burping)
• Keep the jars out of direct light, as it can breakdown cannabinoids

Once you’re done with drying and curing, your bud will go from 80% moisture to around 10-15% if you did everything right.

And that’s it! Weapons free from here but be sure to remember this:

Both oxygen and light degrade THC so try to store your weed in a dark spot and within an airtight container. Room temperature (18-23°) should do just fine for most short to mid-term time spans.

Of course, like everything else related to producing top quality weed, it all comes down to expertise. You’ll need to harvest, dry and cure your weed a couple of times before you learn all the little ins and outs.

By the time you go over this process a couple of times, you’ll develop a feel for your buds and know exactly when to harvest, dry and cure for maximum potency and taste.

More on weed growing

• How to Grow Weed Indoors: From Seed to Bud in 10 Weeks (Tutorial)
• When to Harvest Cannabis? 4 Telltale Signs
• Hydroponic Weed Growing Guide: Grow Cannabis at Home (Step by Step)
• What Is the Best Way to Store Weed so It Doesn’t Dry Out?