Water Curing?

[Winginit]

My Dwarf Low Flyer bud is dry again and sitting in a jam jar. I don't think it looks worse after its soak (but it wasn't exactly a High Times cover girl to begin with).

The conventionally cured buds from this grow have a slightly floral smell. This water-cured bud has a slight dried plant smell--sort of "herbacious"--but you wouldn't recognize the smell as pot in a blind sniff test.

Further testing tonight...

Did you compare the water cured to an air cured bud? My opinion the water cured buds look darker than air dried. Not sure why that is but as far as bag appeal I'm not too fond of it, not because I care but because people tend to stay away from dark bud unless it's purple.

Let us know how it ends up tasting later compared to a conventionally cured bud. .

 

[Scientific]

Did you compare the water cured to an air cured bud? My opinion the water cured buds look darker than air dried.

Here are two from the same grow side by side. Neither is going to win Bud of the Month, but I don't think they look that different (other than size--the one on the right is just a bigger bud).

I do miss the slight piney, floral scent in the water-cured bud. Pinene is supposed to be "practically insoluble in water," but the fact that I can't smell it anymore and that the rinse water did pick up some scent tells me that the bud did lose some of it's aroma components. (I'm guessing the smaller molecules are the first to go, and that they may well have been floating around in the remaining water in the bud and thus more easily washed out.)

As for their other vital characteristics, that's what "further testing tonight" is for.

(If you're enjoying these posts, how about clicking "Add to this user's reputation"? Thanx.)

Note that size difference is not significant. The bud on the right was larger to begin with.

 

[Donald McGonagle]

My Dwarf Low Flyer bud is dry again and sitting in a jam jar. I don't think it looks worse after its soak (but it wasn't exactly a High Times cover girl to begin with).

The conventionally cured buds from this grow have a slightly floral smell. This water-cured bud has a slight dried plant smell--sort of "herbacious"--but you wouldn't recognize the smell as pot in a blind sniff test.

Further testing tonight...

The water-curing progression

I hope your smoke test goes well! After not liking the smoke from my water cured girl, I gave her to have a fella who presses them for rosin and he said it was the highest quality and highest yield he ever got. I'm just hoping we can figure out a great method for the traditional smokers. Good luck!

 

[Scientific]

I hope your smoke test goes well! After not liking the smoke from my water cured girl, I gave her to have a fella who presses them for rosin and he said it was the highest quality and highest yield he ever got.

That's interesting. I wonder why?

I'm just hoping we can figure out a great method for the traditional smokers.

<stepping up on soap box>The best method for traditional smokers is to stop smoking! This mystical bullsh*t I have been hearing about how smoking pot isn't bad for you is dangerous misinformation and/or wishful thinking. Burning anything produces a witches brew of tars and combustion byproducts that are highly carcinogenic. Just because smoking pot doesn't seem to be as harmful as smoking tobacco doesn't mean it is harmless. Vaping or ingesting is MUCH safer (though even vaping irritates the lungs). Trust me, you really don't want to get your next cannabis medical card from your cancer doctor (like I did ). <stepping off of soap box>

That said, I've gotta try a puff of this crazy water-cured stuff just out of curiosity, but after that it's back to vapes and edibles.

 

[Scientific]

The results

I'm afraid my results are going to be both an anticlimax and of doubtful value.

Last night I ground up equal amounts of buds that had been water cured for five days and that had been jar-cured for about 9 days.

Both tasted about the same: kinda nasty, with a definite acrid and unpleasant grassy flavor.

However, I suspect that my results say more about my limited abilities growing and curing weed than about the merits of water curing.

• It's possible that the jarred stuff will mellow in another week or month (though I kind of doubt it--the grassy flavor was that pronounced).
• It's possible that the water-cured bud just needed more time, or to be cured at room temperature and not in the fridge, or for the bud to be completely dried first to encourage it to soak up and exchange fresh water and not just bloat.
• I assume that the Dwarf Low Flyer strain was bred primarily for small size and not for the flavor of its flowers.
• This was a hydroponic grow that was flushed with tap water for several days before harvest, but it's conceivable that more flushing might have helped.
• Finally, as I've said, I don't usually smoke anything anymore, so I may not be a good choice to evaluate smoke quality. (I usually vape small puffs of commercially prepared, high potency oil at low temperature, which produces a mild vapor with a pleasant terpene taste and smell--very different from burning home-grown, home-cured bud in a little glass pipe.)

That's my report. The water-cured bud has joined the other buds in the jars, more to show visitors the fruits (or I should say the flowers) of my labors than anything else. I suspect that one day they'll be lightly toasted for an hour and then used to infuse coconut oil. I had thought to give some of the buds away to friends, but given their less than wonderful flavor, I think people are going to get oil or tincture from the grow and not flowers.

I hope that helped!

 

[Latte89]

It is better to change the water & even rinse bud 2-3 times a day prior to refilling with distilled water. I check TDS of old water to see how levels are lowering.