Is the Curing Process needed?

[kelco9]

I am a first time grower. I have grown three different strains in the hope of helping my parents, my wife, and myself with some medical challenges.

I have dried and trimmed the first two strains (Jack Herer and 9 Pound Hammer), and it is in jars, which I have “burped” daily for the last two weeks. I have read that I should continue with this practice for up to a couple of months, except only opening the jars ever few days now. I just harvested the third strain, ACDC, a couple of days ago and it is now hanging to dry.

I am wondering now, though, if any of this process is even needed. It seems to me that this curing process is readying the bud to be smoked. But my parents and wife will not smoke or vape anything. So, it is my intention to infuse coconut or MCT oil in a slow cooker, so that the oil can be taken sublingually or in food. Since the weed won’t be smoked, is the drying and curing even necessary?

On a different note, the ACDC produced very small, sparse buds (actually, all my buds were pretty small, but the ACDC buds were particularly small/sparse). I harvested the plants when the “hairs” became about 70% brown (I don’t have a magnifier to look at the trichromes), even though I thought that maybe I should have left them longer to see if the buds would “fill out.” I have read that the leaves have a good amount of CBD (and other elements) in them, too, so should I be taking everything except the stalks and putting them in my oil? If I’m restricted to the buds alone, there ain’t going to be much!

Thanks in advance.

[blackthumbbetty]

No real need to cure your harvest for extractions. And absolutely save that trim! Just remember that trim will only yield 20%-25% the amount of CBD as the bud.

I have a batch of CBD oil drying, now. I used 2 oz of decarbed Casino Cookies Trim. Hoping to get 2240mg of CBD from it.

[kelco9]

Thanks very much for the response! Now I have to decide if I even have anything.

The four plants I grew at my place (we’re only able grow four legally in Canada and, really, there were only three in the end because one died), the JH and the 9 lb Hammer, really looked good for awhile. The JH in particular, while squat (I didn’t train it at all), was really full of bud, VERY sticky, and so pungent that you could smell it all throughout my yard.

Unfortunately, in my ignorance, I think I left it too long before harvesting. I wasn’t really concerned about it, though, because I understand that a late harvest results in a loss in potency of the THC, but increases the CBN content. That, coincidentally, suits my purposes really well. My main intention with this strain was to try helping my dad with his insomnia (it’s really terrible – he hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in years (decades, actually). At the same time, I was worried that the THC might heighten his anxiety, so if there’s less THC, that’s no problem.

But as a result of the late harvest, much of the stickiness was gone and, more worrisome, now that I have looked at pictures on the net, my plants may actually have had brown rot. I’m not sure how to confirm this. The smell of the dried bud in the jars isn’t what I would expect from marijuana (I haven’t grown much, but I have consumed quite a bit over the years, so I know “the smell”). At the same time, it certainly doesn’t smell like ammonia, as I understand rotted cannabis will. I did, however, have to junk about half one of my 9 lb Hammer plants due to grey/brown mold. Unfortunately, it was the main cola at the top of the plant. It was amazing how quickly this stuff appeared. It wasn’t there the one day, then it rained, sat for another day, and when I cut the plant down, the entire top was obviously full of rot.

As I say, as a result, I don’t really know what I have, and I’m even a bit nervous about trying to extract from it. The intention is to help my parents feel better, not kill them!

[blackthumbbetty]

Do you have any pictures?

[kelco9]

I don’t have any available right now, but I can take a couple of my buds tomorrow and post them if you don’t mind taking a look. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a decent shot.

[kelco9]

It’s kind of funny that I don’t have any idea what marijuana is supposed to look like. I thought it grew in small baggies.

Here are a few photos I took. I’m not very good with my camera, but hopefully these will give you some idea of what my bud looks like.

The first photo is just to show you how I’m storing it. I have about twice this many jars. While I haven’t stuck my hand and “played” with the buds, they seem very dry. The last two photos, in particular, are the ones that show why I’m concerned about rot. When I look in these jars, they don’t look quite right to me.

Again, thanks for any feedback you can give me.

[Myfriendis410]

To answer your question though: curing does bring out flavinoids and terpenes as well as an increase in potency over time. Not necessary for edibles as BT pointed out. She would be your go to for any edibles questions, BTW.

Also; Welcome to the forum!

Look up decarboxylating your cannabis. I like coconut oil for it’s higher yield (it presses out of the plant material better than butter) and a dose of sunflower lecithin is a good idea to increase THC uptake (remember that it’s metabolized through the liver when eaten and is converted into IIRC 11, hydroxy THC which is 5 times as potent).

I use edibles as a sleep aid and it’s amazingly effective but requires a ‘loading dose’ (got to have it in your system all the time). Different strains have different effects. Jack Herer is a good one and any ‘heavy hitter’ Indica will do well for insomnia.

[kelco9]

Thanks so much for the reply and the welcome! The sleep aid aspect is of great interest to me. My father, as I said, is an incredibly poor sleeper. I don’t even know how he functions. If I could find something to help him, it would be great. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I could talk him into having a “loading dose” in his system all the time. He’s 83 years old and came out of the “Reefer Madness” era and he is terribly afraid of “getting hooked” as he calls it. Maybe my mom can slip a daily dose into his coffee.