On how to cure marijuana

Um, what do people mean when they talk about “curing” weed?

—Noelle Newhigh

Good question. Folks don’t often talk about how to properly cure marijuana. This is a shame, because badly cured weed tastes terrible, and a good cure can take a plant from good to great.

When you harvest marijuana, it is still full of moisture and sugars and starches and all the stuff that gives plants life. You have to dry it out. You can’t dry it too fast, ’cause then the smoke will be all harsh and unpleasant and taste like (gr)ass. You can’t dry it too slow, because that’s how you end up with fungi and a weird wet taste in your mouth.

A good cure takes time, and everyone has a different method. Some folks like to use a mostly closed paper bag and shake the bag once a day or so. Some like to hang their buds in a closet or dark room with a fan blowing to circulate the air. Some people like to put their buds in a glass jar but not close the lid all the way. Every grower will tell you that their method is best, and they are all right. Most of them have used the trial-and-error method to find a way that works for them. But all techniques aside, curing weed generally depends on the humidity of your environment. If the climate is dry, you have to slow the process down. If the climate is wet, you have to speed it up a little.

But what about the novice grower? Is there a way for noobs to achieve a desirable cure with less guesswork? Yes, there is! The people over at CVault (www.thecvault.com) have come up with a pretty good and dang-near foolproof way to cure weed. The CVault is a big metal container that has a space for one of those Boveda humidifier packs. These packs keep buds at a steady 62 percent humidity. Super nice.

California’s medical pot is well-known throughout the world and considered some of the best. Where does Colorado bud rank?

—Painklls2

Let me first say that it’s not just the medical pot. All the pot grown in California is awesome. OK, I am exaggerating a little, but you get my drift. I haven’t been to Colorado in about a year, but last time I was there, the weed was really good, but not yet great. All of the buds seemed a little fluffy to me, and I felt like they had maybe picked it a little early, because the high didn’t last long. My current rankings of of marijuana in the Western states are: 1. Cali (duh), 2. Oregon, 3. Washington (don’t be mad, bro), 4. Colorado, 5. New Mexico, 6. Arizona, 7. Montana. Utah and Idaho don’t make the list. Oregon is a very close second, and I look for Washington and Colorado to catch up soon.