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Hey everyone, I wasn't sure where to put this post on water-curing, so I thought I would stick it in the medicinal section because I believe that water-curing is very much a lost technique that scares the crap out of most growers, but could have valuable benefits to the medical community. I just got my hands on a nominal amount of bud that came from the lower branches of a friend's grow. Basically this stuff is pretty stoney, but it has no bag appeal, which means that it will be perfect for water-curing. So, before I begin (as I'm waiting on a digital camera) I suppose I'll just go over some of the basics of water-curing, as I haven't been able to find anything on this site, and much of the information that I've found elsewhere is generally wrong and posted by people who have never actually done this before. That being said, this will be my third round water-curing, with absolutely fantastic results. So... Curing is the process by which chlorophyll is broken down and removed from the plant over time. This is not to be confused with drying; air dried bud is not cured bud, it's just DRY bud. The most common way of curing cannabis that I've seen (I'm in the States) is to air-dry your harvest for about a week or so and then cure the bud in either glass jars or plastic totes. This can take months. The process for water-curing is much faster (if done properly) and the result is the smoothest smoke one can enjoy without a vaporizer. Additionally, for the individual who enjoys confections, but hates the "green" chlorophyll taste that most cannabutter contains, listen up closely: Water-curing your leaf/skuff previous to processing it into butter will SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE that nasty flavor, leaving the THC and active cannabinoids in the finished product. As far as I'm concerned, it's the only way to go for brownies, cookies, or any kind of edible. So, here's the pro's and cons: Smooth. Very smooth. Reduces organic mass=increases potency Can be used to salvage low quality bud But... Loses bag appeal Loses natural flavor Reduced finished weight And also the bud comes out looking almost like a spent black tea... it's very interesting. You need a bunch of DRIED cannabis. Many websites and people will tell you to use wet cannabis, but it doesn't work anywhere near as efficiently. The reason for it is that water travels down it's gradient through a process called osmosis. This means that it will naturally go from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration; the lower the concentration, the faster the water moves there. This means that dry cannabis will exchange water more readily than wet cannabis. Furthermore, the water you are going to be using in the water-cure will be distilled (hopefully, filtered at least) whereas the water inside the wet cannabis is not as pure. Use it wet if you want, but be prepared to take a one day process and drag it out for about three weeks, and be prepared to deal with really soggy cannabis and a result, and even worse bag appeal (I have friends that don't follow directions very well ) Next, take your bud and place it in luke-warm distilled water (65-70 degree Fahrenheit). I estimate by volume like this: when I place my bud in the water and it starts to take on the water, the bottom half or so of the container or so should be water, while the top half or so has cannabis floating in it. Next, I weight the cannabis down with something so that it's just below the water line. DO THIS CAREFULLY! You don't want to break off any trichromes, hence the importance of the water temp: Cold water makes trichromes brittle and snap off (like if you were making bubble hash) and water that is too hot will dissolve the trichromes, resulting in the oil floating at the top (Like you were making tea). Both of these situations are bad. If you maintain room-temp water for the cure, the only thing that will dissolve and be removed from the cannabis are the organic water-soluble materials, as THC and CBD are both hydrophobic, and do not dissolve in water, leaving them intact for the finished product. After you place the bud in the distilled water for the first time, the process of diffusion occurs. This is similar to osmosis, but instead of causing the water to enter the cannabis, it causes the water-soluble materials in the cannabis (none of which are active ingredients) to leave the plant material and seep into the water. This is the active step in water-curing. I usually do my first soak for about four hours, leaving the container in the dark and being careful not to disturb it. I know it's tempting, but don't mess with it, and under no circumstances should you shake it. Leave it alone, let science do its thing After the first soak, slowly and carefully drain out the water. I use a big iced-tea jug with a drain spout so that I don't have to disturb the cannabis any more than necessary, but my first round I used a glass jar and just used the lid as a strainer, and it worked just fine. Next, refill the container with distilled water of the same temp, and repeat the soak at least one more time. When the cannabis is done soaking, any water-leaves should be almost black, and the calyx color should be a dark grey or brown, sometimes finishing to a color close to black as well. Also, look to see if the water is getting any darker. When you think you're done, repeat the process one more time, but only let it sit for 30 mins to an hour. If the water is pretty clean after that period, you're done. Drain it one last time and spread it over a screen so it can drip. I put a small fan on mine for the first few hours until the outside gets dry, and then I let it dry on my own in the dark for a couple days. Drying time will depend on the size of your finished product, but for small batches, a day or two is all I've needed to get the resulting nugs pretty well dried out. The resulting product weighs less than original, so therefor the concentrations of resins and trichromes are greater than before the curing process, as much of the non-psychoactive material has been processed out. This results in the smoothest smoking bud I've ever tried, as well as the best butter when made from water-cured shake. I believe that this lost art can be of value to many people such as myself who use cannabis medicinally and enjoy a good smoke or a treat, but have limitations on what they can inhale or ingest. So, this is my first contribution to this (or any other) forum. Please feel free to leave any criticism or ideas you can! Also, I will be updating this shortly within a day or two (hopefully) with pictures of the whole process. Thanks for letting me share!