Best Way Of Curing the Tops Of Your Marijuana Plant

If drying is merely a physical process, then curing is an art—much like cooking and gardening are at times. Curing marijuana is essentially the fine-tuning of temperature and humidity to degrade the chlorophyll—the “green” flavor stoners despise—and transform it into carotene and xanthophylls, which are more pleasant to taste. If this is sounding vaguely familiar, think of fall foliage—it’s the same process, only controlled and regulated by the grower, not nature.

Besides the chlorophyll contained in the flowering tops, there are other chemicals that change as well. In lay language, the fruits (yes, the tops are fruits because they usually contain seeds) are still ripening, and as long as you don’t dry them out too quickly and leave unprocessed chlorophyll in them, the green flavor will vanish over time—the process can last two months or more for “advanced curing.” Note how similar in shape hops flowers are to trimmed marijuana tops. Brewers don’t want chlorophyll in their beer, so they only use the hops flowers.

Here are the steps to cure the nugget-size tops you have dried:

-Select a curing container. It should be opaque because ultraviolet light can degrade the tops and bleach them. I recommend the ceramic canisters used to store coffee beans. They have a hinged lid with a clamp and rubber seal that works perfectly to retain some moisture inside.

-Place the dried tops from your screens loosely in the canisters. Do not pack them in the canisters.

Over a few weeks, the small amount of moisture left in the tops will help cure them by transforming the

chlorophyll.

-Open each canister every day to admit fresh oxygen and check for any signs of mold on the tops.

Once a week, remove a small top and smoke some marijuana to check for flavor and smoothness. When the flavor is not “green” and the smoke is not so harsh that it makes you cough, the curing process is complete. For more information about curing marijuana click here.