Short answer
Cannabis curing holds dried flower in sealed glass jars at 58°F to 65°F and 58% to 62% relative humidity. Burp the jars for 10 to 15 minutes twice a day during week one, then once a day. A full cure runs 2 to 8 weeks. During that time chlorophyll, sugars, and starches break down. Terpenes stay inside the flower instead of leaving. The result is the strain's own smell and taste instead of a hay or grass note.
Step 1: Dry before you cure
Curing starts after drying. Hang whole branches or spread buds on a rack in a dark room at 60°F to 70°F and 45% to 55% relative humidity. Small buds dry in 5 to 7 days. Dense colas take 10 to 14 days. Stem test: bend a stem. It should snap, not bend. Buds should feel dry outside and springy inside. Water activity at this point reads 0.55 to 0.65 aw.
cannabis drying and curing tips for beginners
Step 2: Jar the flower
Fill glass mason jars 75% full. Leave the top quarter for air. Wide-mouth quart jars hold about 1 ounce of flower. Do not pack buds. Metal and plastic containers hold odor and let humidity swing.
Burp schedule
- Week 1: open each jar 2 times a day for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Week 2: open each jar once a day for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Weeks 3 to 4: open each jar every 2 to 3 days.
- Weeks 5 to 8: open each jar once a week for 5 minutes.
Burping releases carbon dioxide and moisture. It drops the humidity inside the jar toward the target range.
How Long to Dry Cannabis Before Curing? 7 to 14 Days
Target numbers
- Jar humidity: 58% to 62% RH
- Jar temperature: 58°F to 65°F
- Water activity: 0.55 to 0.65 aw
- Light: none. Store jars in a dark cabinet.
Two-way humidity packs rated 58% or 62% hold the range when the flower is close to it. They do not fix wet flower.
What happens during the cure
Chlorophyll breaks down over the first 2 to 3 weeks. That step removes the green hay note. Sugars and starches convert. Monoterpenes such as limonene, pinene, and myrcene are volatile. They evaporate above 70°F and under direct light. Cool, dark jars keep those compounds in the flower. A 2-week cure makes a clear change. Flavor and smoothness keep improving through week 6 to week 8 for most strains.
Problems and fixes
- Hay smell at week 1: normal. Keep burping. The note fades by week 3.
- Ammonia smell: flower was jarred too wet. Empty the jar onto a tray for 2 to 4 hours, then re-jar.
- Humidity above 65%: mold risk. Burp longer and check for white fuzz.
- Humidity below 55%: cure stops. Add a 62% humidity pack.
- Crumbly buds: flower overdried. Cure cannot put terpenes back.
Storage after cure
Keep cured flower in glass jars at 58% to 62% RH, in the dark, at 60°F to 68°F. Open the jar for a minute each month. Terpene levels drop over 6 to 12 months even in good conditions.