You’ve been trying your hand at cannabis cultivation over the past year or so, and now you’ve done it. You’ve finally harvested a batch of homegrown buds you can truly be proud of and can’t wait to start smoking. One thing, though, that was only half the work. Now it’s time for post-production, drying, trimming, and curing, the processes, methods, and techniques that will take your freshly grown flowers to their highest level in terms of quality, taste, and smokability.
The steps growers take after the plant is harvested, whether you’re a cannabis company or a modest ganja grower, are essential for ensuring the quality of the crop. In cannabis, there are many different ways to process your harvest, including things like choosing to trim buds fresh off the plant or waiting for them to dry before manicuring. High Times spoke with three leading cultivators about which methods work best for them and how home growers can get the most out of their harvest.
“After you harvest the living plant from that point, it is, in a sense, a race against time,” said Ali Jamalian, founder and owner of manufacturing company Sunset Connect. “I believe post-production is 50% of producing quality end-products. You can harvest a really amazing looking flower, but still really mess it up in post-production if you dry it too fast, or if you leave too much fan leaf on it.
“Cannabis post-production is just like wine; when you’re looking at a plant that has so many different varieties of genetics, you can’t treat them all the same. You can’t treat them the same during cultivation, and you sure can’t treat them the same during post-production.”
Drying
Once the crop
