The 454 Post Harvest Process: 10-14 Day Dry, Cure, Trim and Out the Door

Step 1 - Drying

  • We are shooting for a 5-7 day dry. However, the size of your plants, whether you de-leafed and the strain will all play a factor in the drying time.
  • Maintaining the ideal drying environment is crucial. 60-65 degree temperature and 60% relative humidity.
  • Ensure you have the proper equipment to maintain temp and humidity based on the size of your dry space and amount of plants you're drying. Heater, AC, dehumidification.
  • You are ready to go to the next step when your stems snap at the base of the buds. 

Step 2 - Curing

  • Buck down buds into lined totes. Make sure to line your totes with a tote liner to prevent cross contamination. You can get our 454 Bags Tote Liners here.
  • Buds will still be retaining some moisture so burping is critical to release CO2 and moisture.
  • Initially burp every 3-4 hours for 3-4 minutes. To burp, remove the lid from the tote, unwrap the tote liner from the edges, place hands under tote liner and gently push buds from the bottom and middle to the top. Leave lid off for 2-3 minutes.
  • You will likely notice some moisture returning to the buds in between burps. This is expected in the beginning. If your buds seem wet and/or there is visible condensation on the tote liner leave the lid off the tote for an extended time, circulating the buds frequently.
  • As you continue to burp you will notice less and less moisture returning to the buds and you can reduce burping to 1 time per day.

Step 3 - Trimming

  • This step is done simultaneously with Step 2 to speed up the process.
  • When trimming from a tote it will account for an extended burp.
  • Trimmed buds go back into a tote to continue curing.
  • Resume Step 2 until you reach your desired dry level.

Step 4 - Package / Dry Cure

  • Congratualtions you've accomplished a dry, cure and trim in 10-14 days. 
  • Now it's time to package your cannabis. At this point you have reached your ideal dry so airtight packaging is recommended.
  • Turkey bags are great way to show your units and deliver them to a buyer. But, for the reason above, we don't recommend storing in turkey bags, unless they are kept inside closed totes or in our 454 Space Saver Bag. You can store up to 25 turkey bagged units in our Space Saver Bags within an airtight environment.
  • An airtight environment will keep your cannabis in a "dry cure" to bring out more flavor and nose.

Step 5 - Long Term Storage

  • Long term storage must be done properly to preserve the quality of your cannabis.
  • Vacuum bags are a great long term storage option. When vacuuming down, do not let the machine vacuum unitl it stops. When the bag begins to shape around the buds press seal on the machine. This will prevent the smashing and compression of your buds.
  • You can also store turkey bagged units long term in our Space Saver Bag.