Curating premium cannabis involves craftsmanship every step of the way. Early in their growth, cultivators tend to a plant’s every need with special nutrients and organic fertilizers. Throughout a plant’s life cycle, cultivators meticulously search for any sign of pests or degradation. When harvest finally rolls around, it’s time for some subtle finishing touches.

Two of the most overlooked steps in the cultivation process? Drying and curing. Drying and curing are old traditions used to improve the shelflife of food. Foods like meat and fish are often smoked or preserved with salt. Plants, however, are dried and cured a little differently, 

In this episode of It’s in the Details, Dylan, the Cultivation Manager at DOJA, shares their method for hang drying cannabis. DOJA is a craft cannabis company located in British Columbia’s scenic Okanagan Valley, the true heart of cannabis country.

“One of the things that makes DOJA and our product so unique and such high-quality is our hang-dry,” says Dylan. 

After harvest, cannabis plants must be dried before they can be packaged and, eventually, consumed. During the drying process, fresh flower loses most of its water content, preserving the plant for many weeks to come.

Many growers use heat or fans to dry their cannabis. But, DOJA prefers a more traditional method—a slow hang-dry. 

“Once we’ve harvested our plants, we cut the plants at the base of the stem, we hang the plant upside down, and we put it in a drying room,” explains Dylan. 

“We typically dry for about 14 days,” he says. “By doing a really slow dry, we kind of get to combine the best of both worlds by doing a dry and a cure at the same time.”

Drying cannabis drastically reduces its water content. But, curing cannabis is a different process. Curing usually happens after the bulk of the drying, when plants are left to sit and lightly ferment while they continue to dry to the desired moisture level.

“It’s similar to the way that cigar makers cure their tobacco,” says Dylan. “Yeasts and bacteria are fermenting the plant fibers into sugars, and off-gas into the environment.” This process alters the flavor of the cannabis flower and gives it character.

Want to see what proper hang-drying looks like? Watch and enjoy the video!