Marijuana cultivators find ways to shorten curing process

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curing time shorter, Marijuana cultivators find ways to shorten curing process

(This is an abridged version of a story that appears in the May-June issue of Marijuana Business Magazine.)

In an ideal world, cultivators would have the luxury of time when it comes to drying and curing their cannabis.

They’d take 30 to 60 days – waiting, sniffing, eyeing and “burping” – to achieve the ideal cannabinoid and terpene profile for each lovingly grown flower.

But in the real business world, larger cultivators need to get product out the door. They don’t have one or two months to spend on curing.

That doesn’t mean, however, that growers must sacrifice quality for large-scale commercial production.

“We’re moving product so fast that we really don’t have time to do a 30- or a 60-day cure,” said Mojave Morelli, director of agriculture at Grow Op Farms, a producer-processor that grows about 2,000 pounds of marijuana per month in an indoor facility near Spokane, Washington.

And frankly, Morelli noted, cannabis isn’t necessarily that much better – if any better at all – after a 30- or 60-day cure.

“Ultimately, what everybody should be looking for is flower that’s good 10 days after harvest,” he said.

Morelli and other growers believe that with a simple, properly executed strategy, well-grown flower needs only a couple of weeks (give or take) to reach top-shelf quality.

“What we’re trying to do is achieve the kind of terpene and cannabinoid profile that we want,” said Corey Barnette, CEO and chief grower at District Growers, a producer-processor in Washington DC.

“We’re going in and we’re examining that, and we’re letting that happen naturally.”

(Click here to read more.)