How to know when a cure is working?

[Toke2Choke]

I never cured before and am currently roughly a week into my first one. I have 2 airtight glass jars with 2 different strains that I burp 2-3 times a day depending on if im home or working late. I leave the jars open for roughly 15-20 minutes each time. Anyway here is where im a little confused. At first there was an overbearing grass smell in 1 and a "minty" smell in the other. This morning I burped the jars and both smells seem to be "leveling off". I don't know how to really explain it other than that. They don't smell as grassy/minty, the smell is not as strong, and they have a slightly different smell to them. Its not a moldy or musty smell so I don't think they are molding. Is this what they do before they start to get that lovely weed smell back?

 

[kryptoniteglo]

Yes! There's a sticky in Harvesting and Curing that talks about the perfect cure. If you can, spend $20 on a hygrometer that will fit in your jar and follow the instructions in the sticky for what to do at the various levels of humidity. Mold and drying too fast now are both your enemies. If done correctly, the cure will take 4-6 weeks and the pot smell will return along the way. That said, I have my January harvest in long-term storage and I just opened a jar yesterday -- we're talking now a 6-month cure and the smell is AMAZING.

 

[Toke2Choke]

Thanks for the quick reply. I looked for info on curing but must have had a stoner moment a completely overlooked the sticky

 

[cocakola]

In my experience once the smell is gone its gone , if you want your bud to be super pungent smell from across the room pungent ,
you can not let the smell completely dissapate. The more it retains its smell once dry the more pungent it will be with a good cure..
Like I said " In My Experience "

I did a side by side test with the same bud (Slh), grew on the same plant. One set i dried my 1st way - a cool dark place
The 2nd set I dried my new way , and the difference is uncompareable. The 1st set dired in 8 days n cured for 2 wks.
The 2nd dried in 5 days n cured for 2 wks , by the time the 2nd was dry it had a much stronger smell than the 1st set & super Fire.
The 1st set was good but not Fire and had a hint of what the 2nd smelled like but mostly when you broke it up..
Good Luck..

 

[althor]

I let mine dry until the smell is mostly gone.
When I put it into the jars it takes 2-4 weeks for the smell to come back and fully blossom.
Usually closer to 4 weeks, but dependant on the strain.

Just a side note: I am constantly asked why mine always smells so much more than other's. So apparently what I am doing works well.

 

[spex420]

just keep burping unless you get a hydrometer moldy weed is the biggest downer hash is great but good fresh weed is better

 

[BluJayz]

I never cured before and am currently roughly a week into my first one. I have 2 airtight glass jars with 2 different strains that I burp 2-3 times a day depending on if im home or working late. I leave the jars open for roughly 15-20 minutes each time. Anyway here is where im a little confused. At first there was an overbearing grass smell in 1 and a "minty" smell in the other. This morning I burped the jars and both smells seem to be "leveling off". I don't know how to really explain it other than that. They don't smell as grassy/minty, the smell is not as strong, and they have a slightly different smell to them. Its not a moldy or musty smell so I don't think they are molding. Is this what they do before they start to get that lovely weed smell back?

I always liked this explanation with the grape.

think of keeping a grape in a jar...you want a raisin but you dont want the grape to mold... keeping the lid on too long will cause it to mold. too much moisture. the longer that lid stays on the more risk you are taking. but again, many believe (including myself) that a slow cure is best...give time for thc's chemical reaction to take place. when i cured i cracked the jars more intervals less time. instead of cracking once every 12 hours for 10-15 minutes i would crack morning afternoon and night once for 2-3 minutes. the wetter the weed the more time i would give for moisture to escape. everyones weed dries different. someone with large nugs would burp more often than someone with popcorn nugs. size of the jar also matters. dont be afraid to open them jars. undercured weed is always better than moldy weed. you can always add a couple drops off water to bring moisture back....

if you smell a slight moldy smell you have too much moisture....need more open time.