Water Curing Cannabis: What It Is And How to Do It

Luke Sumpter

Cannabis Journalist & Health Science Researcher

Luke Sumpter

Last updated: October 11, 2019

A lot has been written about the "ripening” of harvested weed. Careful drying on racks, in special machines, with or without leaves, etc, etc. But have you ever heard about “water curing"? It sounds at first like a weird concept, dunking your buds under water for 3-7 days, freshening the water every day and drying them afterwards in a day or two. Strange? Not at all!

Water Curing

If you have some experience with growing weed, you will already know how water can be beneficial to bring out the best from our crops. Growers know how flushing plants in the weeks before harvest can help getting rid of a harsh taste. Flushing removes impurities and can make your smoke a lot smoother and more pleasant. Knowing that, you might be interested to learn that you can apply the same principle when it comes to curing your bud – with water curing.

Water curing will minimize the time it will take to get rid of undesired substances such as salts, chlorophyll or insecticides. Those substances can make for a harsh, unpleasant smoke of even the best weed.

Thanks to the process of osmosis (which is basically the process by which soluble substances distribute themselves evenly throughout the whole solution, and exchange via a semi-permeable membrane - in this case the leaf surface), the substances you do NOT want to smoke are dissolved. This includes not just substances external to the plant itself, but also from within the leaves – the things that will make you cough when you smoke. The THC etc does NOT dissolve in the water. The result: a much stronger, purer weed.

THE PROS AND CONS OF WATER CURING

Water curing marijuana with clean water has advantages and disadvantages that you should know of beforehand.

It is the fastest method to cure your bud as compared to traditional weed curing. Water curing removes a lot more unwanted solids, which means that the smoke will be very smooth and therefore healthier. Since water curing removes more undesired substances, it will also make for a much more potent final product.

The downside of water curing is that it can also remove substances that are responsible for flavour and aroma, which means you will sacrifice some smell and taste of your weed for more potency. On the other hand, water curing can be ideal for those strains that are known for a not so pleasant or harsh taste, where the loss of flavour wouldn’t be as important.

Hemp Curing Jar

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THE WATER CURING PROCESS - WHAT YOU NEED

• Fresh water (bottled water or distilled water works best)
• Bowl, tub or jar (size depends on the amount of bud you want to cure)

WATER CURING - THE STEPS

1. Start with trimming your bud and remove stems and fan leaves. If you want to make hash later on it can be a good idea to trim your bud even further since this will result in better quality hashish.

2. Place your trimmed buds in a jar or bowl with water. The size of your jar will depend on how much bud you want to cure.

3. Water curing works best at a water temperature from 18-24C. See that you keep the water temperature in this range.

4. You bud will want to float upwards, so you need to gently weigh them down and keep them submerged. If you cure in a bowl or similar container, you can cover it with a cutting board from the kitchen.

5. Change out the water with fresh water every day. The entire water curing process can take anywhere from 3-7 days, you will need to change the water daily during this time.

6. When you are done with water curing your bud, after 3-7 days, hang and dry your bud like normal.