After all the plants are graded and manicured neatly, you can start curing them. Curing is a process that is meant to bring out the best flavors and tones, but sometimes it can actually decrease the amount of THC substantially if you do it wrong. Sinsemilla buds often don’t require curing because they are potent enough as is.
1. Air curing
The most common way to cure a plant is by air curing. It involves hanging the plants upside in an unventilated room. You want the temperatures to be relatively hot, so, if you can place the plants in the sun, the curing process should go off without a hitch.
The plants will start to lose color and become pale, at which point you should open the ventilator or window to slow down the curing process.
The entire length of curing might take you around six weeks to complete. If you are having relatively overcast or wet days or the room isn’t staying near 90°F, then you could be at risk of your plants developing mold.
This is something you desperately don’t want to have happen. To prevent this, you might want to introduce a heater of some kind to keep the temperature as high as it can go.
2. Flue curing
Flue curing expedites the process of curing by adding an external force that works to heat the plants faster. You can place the plants in a watertight box that you then place into a pool of water (generally, a fish tank). Then, heat that pool of water to about 90°F consistently.
When the plants start to lose their green color, turn the heat up to about 100°F.
When all the green is sapped out of the plants, turn the heat up to 115°F. This process will also dry the plants, but make sure to turn the heat down as they start to dry; otherwise, they might end up being brittle. This process generally only takes about a week to complete
3. Sweat curing
Sweat curing is a method used primarily in Colombia to get the plants to cure within about 5 days. It generally involves stacking branches and colas about 1.5 feet high and 2 square feet minimum. The microbial action works like a fermentation process in the same way that compost starts to heat up. The plants will start to lose color little by little.
You should remove the plants that have lost the most color each day. To avoid any mold or rot, place paper towels, cotton sheets, or rags in between each of the plants. The rags will absorb any excess moisture and facilitate the curing process.
