THE WATER CURE GUIDE (THE KING OF CURES)

[Salem]

Hi

I am making this guide for anyone who is interested in water curing. I only water cure, have been doing so for years now and thought

I would share my method which after trying many others is the best .

So first up why water cure........

If you grow outdoors like me Im sure you have run into numerous problems over time. inc. bugs, budrot, airy leafy buds and then after all that going through it all

again in the drying curing stage which sometimes in our lovely australian weather goes way too fast or too slow and hello mould!!.

Well I got sick of all b/shit and wanted potent awsome buds with no bugs or garbage and found out about water curing like many I was worried A) it was going get rid of all the terpinoids and It was going to make my buds look like shit & C) It might just end up a goopey green mess.

But it worked and very well so I went about finding a method to make this every bit as good as a proper air/jar cure and I did and its better!

 

(Plants do not need to be flushed with a water cure fertilize all the way!!!)

 

Take your freshly picked buds and very lightly manicure them or not at all (this will protect the trichomes, slow drying at the end and because the buds will be extremely potent I usually leave them on just try smoking some water cured leaf wow.)

Then wrap each bud in an aluminum foil tube tightly but open on both ends.(this is to make your buds compressed while the cure is taking place )

pack a glass jar with the tubes & fill with water (you may need to add some weight to the top to make sure everything is submerged)

Change the water twice daily for six days.

Then unwrap all the buds from the foil and lay them on some baking paper in the oven at the lowest temp to dry usually 80-90c turning the buds over after each hour. usually takes 2/3 hours removing smaller dryer buds as needed. (do not let them over dry a little bit of moisture is ok)

Once they are dry add them to a sealed glass jar or ziplock bag and add a small green fresh potent bud (this is to distribute moisture and to reclaim the flavour smells)

burp this jar/bag every few hours I leave the bag open during the day and close it at night. (meanwhile you can smoke it)

Say hello to carefree curing and drying!!

 

Please let me know how you go.

Peace/love

[nici]

Hi salem

 

Sounds like you have your process down pat and producing some potent smoke.  I have a few Q's tho so please excuse my ignorance. 

 

1) It sounds to me like it's a flush after harvest instead of flushing before. How does the water cure actually work?

2) Drying it in the oven that way is the same way I decarb mine before making oil/tinctures, wouldn't a fan blowing over the wet buds be a better way slow drying instead of a quick dry?

 

Sorry if it sounds like Im picking apart your processes cos Im not, I just would just like to know how, what and why cos Im a nosey bastard

 

cheers

[Salem]

Hi nici thank you for the questions I thought I would give some tips etc.

 

1) It is a flush after harvest. What happens is the chlorophyll as well as any nutrients, bugs dust etc is leached out into the water over the process of the 6 days.(this means your weed will turn a beautiful dark colour and any white hairs will take on their final colours something I was never able to acheive with a traditional dry/cure as they always dried white.)
however this also includes terpinoids which give weed its taste and smell this is great if you want a stealth smoke but if you want the flavours back its best to follow my advice on re-distributing smell/moisture with a small fresh picked potent bud. 

After the first day the water is absolutly disgusting it is cloudy and stinks you will notice the water being less gross as you get to the end of the cycle (after seing this water you wont flush/cure any other way!)

(In a normal cure the chlorophyll is slowly leached out and bugs leave the drying buds but this is very dependent on the temp and humidity of the drying and curing environment. my problem was either dried to fast and had harsh grassy tasting buds with the occasional bug or dried to slow and would find budrot on some of the thicker buds.)

 

2) The reason for the oven is the buds are absolutly saturated and need to dry fast, they have been protected from bacteria and spores under a water layer decomposing for six days and now they are open to the elements.

If you try to slow dry them you will have mould within 48 hours!

The buds have been so leached of all the crap that the quick oven dry does not make them harsh at all. I like to put them on baking paper on the lowest setting about 80c fan bake and check them every 30mins/hour the smaller buds will obviosly dry faster so I will remove them and continue checking the larger ones turning the buds over each time i check them. after about the 2/3 hour mark If the large ones still feel wet in the middle I will shut the oven off and leave them in there for a few more hours untill there dry.

 

my buds tasted and got me higher than the commercial stuff but didnt look as great and because I was using normal drying/curing and growing organically, It was always mould or bugs and never looked as good as the shitty potency hydro down the road but this was my own carefully nurtured organic cannabis & I wanted it to be superior gold label top shelf amazballs in every possible way especially after I put so much care into breeding and gowing my special strains. There is nothing worse than having 8 months work go to hungry little spore or caterpiller or worm fucks.

So I found a way

 

I would like to give a list of sidenotes for water curing to clear up any other questions from my own experience.

 

Roughly 20% of the Trichomes will change to amber within 48 hours. (this is my own observation after years of experience and I harvest a little earlier accordingly I can find no mention of this anywhere.)

The buds will show their hidden colours and hairs will change colour within 24 hours.

The buds will be roughly 50% more potent than if they were air dried.

The buds will have more bag appeal than any other method if the foil tube method is used.

Mouldy buds can be salvaged with the water cure method.

Even though water is used in making bubble-hash no trichomes are lost in this method due to being gentle with the buds and the water being room temp.

You will never use another method once you try this

 

If anyone is doubtful of the king of cures method just try it with a little I bet once you see/smell that first flush of water you will never turn back.

 

Here is a great place for some more info on water curing http://www.bluelight.org/vb/archive/index.php/t-505110.html

[Naycha]

Thanks for the informative posts Salem.

 

I do have to disagree with this method making the buds more potent. I have tried water curing and I prefer the regular method but each to his own

 

Naycha

[crow]

Very interesting post Salem.  I'd be prepared to give this a go I think. 

 

Couple of questions...

 

Does the water cure reduce the smell of the buds when they're drying?   

 

I like to vape my buds and I really appreciate the distinctive tastes of the various strains.  Do you lose the taste with the water cure?

 

 

I'd love to hear of other people's experiences with this method - 50% more potent is a pretty big call.

[louise]

 

 

If anyone is doubtful of the king of cures method just try it with a little I bet once you see/smell that first flush of water you will never turn back.

 

Tried it, really didn't make a difference apart from reducing the smell and flavour... wouldn't bother again. I'd rather slowly, air dry whole plants, dismember and trim into buds and cure in sealed glass jars.

[Floki]

per volume I found the bud more potent then the comparison i did half oz water cured over 7 days changed the water twice a day.dried to a crisp in 2 days but it was summer. flavour and harshness had disappeared almost compleatly. id recommend for small batches if quick drying (9 days to dry and smi cured buds) as you can do this right after picking. or for medicinal use. definitely worth a try tho

[ConvexConepiece]

I'd like to try a water cured bud so that I could once and for all either accept it as a method and stop wanting to scream at people who do it

Edited April 9, 2014 by ConvexConepiece