The last step in growing marijuana for smoking is to dry and cure it so as to get the best taste out of your buds. Also, you don’t want to damage your lungs.

Drying Marijuana

It can take between 2 and 6 weeks to dry the buds and curing can take upwards of 2 months for good results. This all depends on where you live and the place where you dry them. Obviously, places with desert condition would dry faster than tropical places.

Look at those crystals.

Hang the branches upside down so the fan leaves droop, covering the buds. You need to put the branches in a dark place that is cool, not humid, and has plenty of ventilation. check up on the buds every day, watching for signs of mold, correcting the problem if it arises. When the fan leaves turn crisp, breaking off easily, you want to start trimming off the fan leaves only. You could also do this step before drying the marijuana because I find that cutting off the fan leaves after the buds have dried is a bit harder.

Dry it slowly, not too fast. Your buds will smell like pine needles, or even taste bad if you dry the buds too fast. Also, don’t dry your buds too slow because of mold. Make sure there is enough air circulation so you don’t need an electric fan.

With the fan leaves trimmed, hang up the branches to dry again because the buds will still be moist. The little inner leaves should still be intact, drooping and covering the buds. Hang the buds until the little leaves turn crisp to the touch. Afterwards, it is time to remove the buds from the branch along with the rest of the leaf material to the best of your ability (manicuring).

At this stage, the buds should be a little moist. Some can be smoked at this point but waiting till the next 2 steps are completed will produce better smelling and tasting buds.
Bagging the Marijuana Buds
After being trimmed, the marijuana buds are still a little moist so you want to dry them some more in paper bags. The best, and easiest, choice is simply brown shopping bags you get from the store, mostly because they are not bleached. Put the trimmed buds in the bag loosely, not filling more than 3 or 4 inches from the bottom. Also, it is not necessary to close the bag at this time, wanting to prevent mold. Check every day, rotating the buds to ensure even drying. Simply shaking the bag will do nicely. During drying, the buds will naturally compact into the self-preserving state that we all desire. Compact the buds together a bit and fold the bag closed. The marijuana buds should be fully smokable now, although probably still slightly moist in the middle. The best advice is reapeated checking, preventing dameage to the buds from mold.

Curing the Marijuana Buds

Now we want to bring out the full flavor and of course the best smoke from the buds. Simply use an air tight jar (I use mason jars). Put the buds loosely into the jar, being carefull not to compact them and then cover the jar. During the early jar-stage, check the buds at least once a day to replace the air. Also, you could take the buds out and replace them in a differnt order. Do this miticusously for 7 to 10 days and then less often. After 7 days, just open the jar and check on the buds on a daily basis, looking for mold. If mold is found, take out the buds with mold and promptly throw them away. Put the rest back into a brown paper bag for a few more days and then repeat the jar step. The longer you do this process, the better.

When the stem in the middle of the bud snaps easily with the fingers, the bud is completely dried, cured, and ready for consumption. The marijuana buds can now be sealed and stored for a long time period.

I have found that there is many ways to dry marijuana buds, but I feel that this is the best and it has yet to fail me.