Looking to learn the best humidity level to cure marijuana? You’ve come to the right place.
After drying your buds, it’s important that you store your buds at the ideal humidity level while you cure marijuana to ensure your plants reach their full potential.
The best humidity level for curing marijuana: 60-65%
The best humidity level for curing marijuana is around 60-65%.
After you harvest your plants, you’ll typically dry them for 5-10 days. Once dry, buds are placed into glass jars or other containers for 2 weeks of curing and long term storage.
Half gallon mason jars using duct-taped hygrometers are an inexpensive way to maintain proper humidity levels during curing.
To maintain the best RH for jars when curing, each day you’ll burp your jars. Keep jars open for 15 minutes or so, which dries the outside of the buds enough to draw the remaining moisture out from the inside. This is the curing process.
Using a curing jar with a hygrometer to monitor humidity in the jar makes it easy to keep your humidity levels in the ideal range. Hygrometers have become very inexpensive, so many growers purchase several so they can monitor multiple jars at once.
Keeping curing marijuana at the optimal humidity level allows the plant compounds to properly break down. Flavor and aroma will continually improve through the curing process if humidity is kept at the right levels.
You should cure weed in a glass or stainless steel curing container to keep an airtight seal. Avoid plastic curing containers if possible, they can impart a “plastic” taste and smell. Learn more about choosing the best jars to cure weed.
How to measure humidity levels in weed curing jars
You’ll need to buy a hygrometer to measure weed in your curing jars. You have a few options.
There are some small super-cheap hygrometers available. But they’re not accurate. You can buy a 10-pack of them for $20 but you’ll probably get 9 different readings. Good if you’re curing in lots of small jars.
You can get a more expensive one that’s more accurate. The Oasis Caliber IV digital Hygrometercosts under $30 and is much more accurate. Good if you’re curing in larger jars.
The Govee Bluetooth Hygrometer costs around $15 and has remote app monitoring so you can be alerted right away to humidity issues in your curing jars. Great combo of price and functionality. We use one of these in our grow tent and a few other is curing jars, they’re great.
As part of the marijuana curing process, for the first two weeks you need to open the jar lids daily to let in fresh air. Keep them open for 15 minutes, or longer if they seem too damp. The best temperature to cure marijuana is at room temperature, around 65-70 F degrees. Your goal is to keep the humidity level at 60-65%.
It’s common to run into issues during curing where your jar is too dry or too wet. Thankfully it’s fairly easy to correct humidity issues with curing marijuana if you catch them quickly.
How to raise humidity: marijuana is too dry
If your marijuana becomes too dry during curing (or if you dried your marijuana too much) it will become dry and crumbly.
Add the pack to your jar so it’s not touching the buds. Monitor your curing jars carefully and remove packs when humidity returns to desired levels.
Boveda 62% humidity packs: a word of warning
A word of warning – never use Boveda humidity packs during the first few weeks of curing unless absolutely necessary. Don’t put them in there “just in case”. The terpene profile of your weed can be affected by the too early introduction of Boveda packs, and flavor can be reduced.
Boveda packs say they provide two-way humidity control, meaning that they can reduce humidity if it is too high in addition to raising humidity was too low. But that was not the case in my experience at all.
The buds using Boveda humidity packs cured too wet, and although the effects were very good the flavor profile and taste was inferior to buds in different jars from the same crop that didn’t use the humidity packs. The buds also didn’t stay lit well. They needed to be dried for a day or two outside of the jar before use to burn better.
Bottom line: Boveda 62% humidity packs can be a lifesaver for buds that dry out, but if not used properly they will prevent your buds from tasting and smoking their best. It’s best to do a careful job with drying and curing so that you stay in the ideal humidity range so you don’t need to worry about re-humidifying your weed. But in a pinch they can help you correct issues to maintain the best RH for jars when curing.
How to lower humidity: marijuana is too wet
Marijuana that is too wet runs the risk of forming mold. Mold will ruin the whole jar, so you should always make the effort to monitor the humidity of your buds closely. A hygrometer is cheap insurance against potentially ruining a whole jar of bud that you worked so hard to grow.
Wide mouthed curing containers like this stainless steel CVault make it easier to address high humidity issues. The 7 liter and 21 liter sizes are perfect for most home cannabis growers.
The best way to ensure your marijuana isn’t too wet is to properly dry it before curing. Learn all you need to know about drying marijuana in our how to dry marjuana tutorial.
New growers may be at risk to under-dry buds, so it’s important to take the time to understand proper drying techniques.
Each day in the curing process when you check your weed (or if your hygrometer shows a problem) you should inspect buds for moisture content. If buds feel damp or wet or the humidity approaches 70% you should leave the top of the jar off and let the buds dry out. Never reseal moist buds in your jar or you risk mold!
Your jar shouldn’t be more than 3/4 full. Allow room for air. Shake your buds gently in the jar each day. If your buds seem to stick together then you know things are too damp. Loosen them up and then leave the top off a bit.
A weed drying rack such as this AZE 8-row mesh rack can be used to dry trimmed buds in a small space.
Shaking the jar prevents any damp spots from forming, which could result in mold in an otherwise not-too-humid jar. Don’t shake too hard though, especially with dry buds, or you’ll start knocking trichomes off of the plants and impacting their appearance and potency.
If your buds are really wet, over 70% humidity, place them on a drying rack or piece of cardboard outside of the jar until they are dry to the touch. This could take up to a full day depending on how wet they are. Once dried, stick them back in the jar. At this point check the jar multiple times a day to make sure the problem is resolved.
Always smell your buds when checking the jar. Newly cut buds smell more like cut grass or hay then actual marijuana. The terpene profile will improve as they cure. But if you ever smell something foul like ammonia it means you have a problem and should dry them out.
Note that if the RH of the air in your space is greater than the humidity in your jar, opening the jar won’t lower moisture levels in your weed. In those cases, you’ll need to get a dehumidifier so that the air outside is drier. To learn more, read our guide to finding the best grow tent dehumidifier. For small tent growers, see advice specific to a 4×4 grow tent dehumidifier or a 3×3 grow tent dehumidifier.
Never intentionally keep buds wet to grow mold
The Govee wifi hygrometer set lets you monitor humidity levels in multiple curing jars.
Never intentionally keep buds wet in order to grow mold.
Why do we even need to mention this? Some people claim that doing this will make them more potent. It won’t. If smoking mold gave desirable effects then lots of people would smoke it all the time.
Breathing in mold spores intentionally is never a good idea. Smoking them is worse.
This rumor has been around for a long time. In his 60’s counterculture survival guide “Steal This Book” Abbie Hoffman recommends burying weed underground to grow mold in order to make it more potent. A few months hibernation in a plastic bag underground, according to Hoffman, will produce a “mouldy grass that is far fuckin’ out.”
Bad advice then. Worse advice now. Man.
Sure Cure lids have a built-in hygrometer and fit all wide-mouth mason jars.
Summary
Humidity levels play an important role in growing marijuana. You’ll need to maintain the proper humidity for growing weed throughout the growth cycle. If you’re looking to get the most out of the buds you grew, then it’s important to know the best humidity level to cure marijuana buds.
Keeping buds at 60-65% relative humidity will ensure a proper cure to bring out the best appearance, flavor, and taste. Wet buds should be dried before resuming curing, and dry buds should be moistened with Boveda 62% humidity packs.
If you want to learn more about humidity and the proper way to cure marijuana, including the best rH for jars when curing, check out our full guide on how to cure marijuana.
We’ve bought a few and they’re often under $30. Other times they’re listed on Amazon for much more (up to $90! Insane!) which makes it less appealing. $50 is about as much as I’d spend on these, beyond that price point you should just get a CVault.
Montana hocking jars are not as air-tight compared to the C-Vault containers or mason jars. But there’s a rubber seal that does the job pretty well.
These jars hold a lot more cannabis than smaller mason jars, which means less effort to burp them during curing. The extra-wide lid makes it easy to reach in and gently break up clumping buds. You’ll need to keep these jars in a dark place for best results.
Note that you’ll want Anchor Hocking’s “Montana” jars, which have the fresh seal lids with a gasket. Some other Anchor Hocking models (such as “Heritage Hill”) have a different type of seal, and those others won’t work well to keep in either smell or humidity levels when curing.
If the 2.5 gallon Montana jar is too expensive when you check, consider the 2.5 gallon Anchor glass barrel jar (under $40). Barrel jars have a screw on metal lid, so they also would work well for curing large amounts of weed. Barrel jars have narrower openings than the Montana jars, which has proven helpful over the years when trying to access buds at the bottom.
Half gallon glass Mason jars
Reliable airtight curing jar at a low price
Wide-mouth glass mason jars are a classic option for curing jars. They’re available all over the place, they’re very cheap, and they have an air-tight seal. You can fit a few ounces of weed in one, depending on bud size and density.
Make sure to get the large 1/2 gallon size jars if you’re using them for curing. The one-quart jars are just too small, it can be done but you’ll need to open a ton of them each day and it will get old pretty quickly.
Note: Online prices for big mason jars cost more than the local store prices in my area – probably because shipping is a pain.
You can get a pretty decent price on Ball half gallon mason jars on Amazon hereif you buy bulk, it’s about $6 apiece if you buy 12. Compare that $6 to the $60 you’ll spend on a similarly sized CVault container and you’ll see the value.
Check these links for the cheapest 1/2 gallon jar options we’ve found on Amazon. Sometimes they’re cheaper when you don’t buy from the Ball store, so it makes sense to look around Amazon to make sure they’re still the cheapest curing jar options.Special lids for mason jars
Burp Lids remove air from wide-mouth mason jars.
Vacuum lids
If you’re curing weed in mason jars you can buy special lids designed to create a vacuum in your curing jars. The Burp Lids Curing Kit contains lids that fit all wide mouth mason jars.
Burp Lids come in 4 packs and 10 packs, and you can buy an automatic pump accessory as well. Since mold can’t grow in a vacuum they’re designed to prevent those issues and bud rot.
Lids with built-in hygrometer
You can also buy mason jar lids with a built in hygrometer so you can easily monitor interior humidity levels. In addition to curing jars, they are also great to use for general weed storage jars so you can keep your buds at optimal moisture levels.
What is the best humidity level to cure marijuana buds?
Description
Keeping marijuana at 60-65% humidity during curing brings out the best appearance, flavor, & taste. Learn how to fix humidity issues to ensure a proper cure.
Looking to learn the best humidity level to cure marijuana? You’ve come to the right place.
We’ve bought a few and they’re often under $30. Other times they’re listed on Amazon for much more (up to $90! Insane!) which makes it less appealing. $50 is about as much as I’d spend on these, beyond that price point you should just get a CVault.
