A Perfect Cure Every Time? 300 Most Correct Answers

By Brad Bogus

Imagine a scene with me: you are standing in front of a large field with big, beautiful cannabis plants. The branches are heavy with thick, sparkling buds loaded with resin. You squeeze one to release the aroma, your hands sticky from the trichomes.

What happens between squeezing the bud and smoking? Is cannabis like fruit where you can just pick it off the plant and consume it?

A lot of things happen between the flowering time of the plant and when you buy the flower in the store, and a lot can also go wrong. Curing is one of the most important steps to great weed that deserves a lot more attention.

What does cannabis heal?

When cannabis flowers are ready to harvest, the buds are full of water and chlorophyll. This is, so to speak, the blood and plasma that flows through the veins. If you tried to smoke a fresh bud you would be bitterly disappointed as this flower does not smoke; it’s way too humid.

Before a plant can be smoked, it must be dried and cured. Much like tobacco or sage, the fresh plant is harvested and then dried in a controlled climate to ensure much of the moisture evaporates from the bud. Curing is done afterwards to ensure enough moisture levels remain to preserve the cannabinoids and terpenes while reducing water and chlorophyll.

How do you dry and cure cannabis?

This can be difficult when the climate is too humid or too dry. We want our cannabis dry, but not too dry. We want it moist, but not too moist. Proper drying and curing ensures that a delicate balance is achieved and that when smoked the end product achieves a great smell, taste and high without burning your throat with harsh smoke.

To dry cannabis, it is usually hung in a room so none of the buds are touching to prevent mold or uneven drying. A good drying room is in just the right “Goldilocks zone” with 50-60% humidity, between 65-75°F, and no sunlight. Drying is usually done for 10-14 days, and then the flower is made to harden.

picture

The buds are cut from their branches and stored in jars or other sealable containers to cure. They are then kept in a dark, dry place for at least 2-3 weeks, sometimes much longer. Good regimens target the Goldilocks zone of 45-55% humidity in a climate between 60-70°F, even without sunlight. During the curing process, the glasses are “burped” to allow oxygen to refill the glass while the gases from the curing are allowed to escape.

did you just say burp?

As a matter of fact. Burping is the term used to describe opening the jars regularly before sealing them again. Imagine giving the buds some fresh air for a while. In the first few weeks of hardening, the glasses are pushed open several times a day. After about a week, burping occurs every few days.

The reason this process is crucial to a good smoke is because even after drying, there is still quite a bit of residual moisture, sugars and minerals that need to be broken down. Aerobic bacteria do this work for us during the cycle. We want to release this moisture and gasses from the bacteria to ensure our cannabis doesn’t go moldy.

To that end, California cannabis regulations dictate the allowable amount of “water activity” in the final product, which refers to the moisture content of the cured bud. All cannabis flowers must be tested at below 0.65 aw, which typically equates to moisture levels below 13%, the point at which mold can now grow and survive. Determining water activity is complex, and if you’re really interested in understanding how it’s calculated, you can read all about it here.

How long should cannabis be cured?

This is a matter of preference. It should be noted that there are no standard operating procedures for healing that the cannabis industry adopts across the board. Each variety is different and may require different curing times. Some buds are dense, others sparse.

Some brands choose to cure their cannabis for over 90 days, some even over a year! Like most fine products (wine, cheese, chocolate), these cannabis brands argue that age increases quality.

It should be noted that the cannabinoids and terpenes of cannabis can be stored for two years without their potency diminishing as long as they are properly cured and stored. There are very few cannabis products that are more than a year old, and no one has proven that aged cannabis is better than fresher options.

How to store cannabis at home?

If you store cannabis properly at home, you can still cure it. It is best to fill the weed in sealable jars, such as a Mason Jar.

Image You can store your buds in an airtight mason jar and continue curing.

As mentioned above, make sure the area you are storing the jars in is dark, dry and out of sunlight. Don’t worry about burping! This will actually overdry your cannabis if it was already well cured.

How do I know if the cannabis I bought was cured well?

There are a few ways to determine a good remedy:

How does the bud feel when you squeeze it? Does it crumble into pieces or even powder? It’s way too dry. If it stays compressed and feels like a fresh plant, it’s too wet. Ideally a well cured bud should spring back like memory foam. When you bend the stems, do they break cleanly? This is a sign of good healing. If they are still pliable and bending, the bud is too wet. What color is the ash when smoking? Is it dark and hard? This is likely due to residual moisture and minerals in the buds resulting from improper curing as we mentioned above. If the ash is light gray/white and fluffy, that’s a sign of great healing. How strong is the smoke? The better the cure, the smoother the smoke will feel.

If your cannabis is still too wet due to improper curing, you can still refine it by curing it in your own jars at home. In this case, you should probably crack the jars open every few days until the cannabis feels dry on the outside, but not so dry that it’s no longer sticky.

When buying cannabis flower, make sure and evaluate the remedy as best you can. Brands that cure really well over time are likely following a great process for the plants they’re growing.

Speaking of buying well-cured cannabis flower, why not pick up a bag of Farmer and the Felon at your local pharmacy?

Why is my weed weak? (And how to fix it)

by Nebula Haze

So you’ve grown some cannabis, and unfortunately it’s not as strong as you would have liked. You may not get much of an effect, or worse, you may get negative side effects like headaches or racing thoughts. There are a few reasons why, and today I’m going to break it down to help you grow marijuana with the potency and effects you’re looking for.

Learn how to “strengthen” weak grass!

The biggest factors when it comes to cannabis potency are…

1.) Burden

The most important contributor to potency is genetics/strain. Great genetics produce great effects even if you make a lot of mistakes, while bad genetics produce weak weed no matter what you do. Unfortunately, growing seeds from strong weed does not guarantee similar weed at harvest. Just like a brunette isn’t guaranteed to make brunette children. The genetics may not be stable and you don’t know who the “father” plant was.

Fix this problem by starting with trusted genetics. Many talented breeders create stable strains where you can choose the exact effect and potency. This means you don’t have to wait until harvest to see if your weed is doing well. Learn how to research and find the right cannabis strain.

There are literally thousands of great strains, each with their own unique effects. For example, Sour Diesel plants tend to grow tall but produce big yields with potent buds.

They can turn your head; I almost had to give a warning

2.) Harvested too early

Cannabis buds are not strong when they first grow and need time to mature before they are ready for harvest. Not only that, buds harvested too early are more likely to cause headaches or racing thoughts. It is common for new growers to harvest their plants too early and end up with buds that are weak or produce unwanted side effects.

Know the exact time of harvest to achieve the desired effect.

This bud was harvested too early and as a result the mental and physical effects were weak

3.) Not enough light in the flowering phase

If a plant does not receive strong light during the flowering phase, it can result in small, airy buds that do not have a strong effect.

Learn more about different cannabis growlights.

Up to a point, more light is better. Some growers even combine more than one type of light, like this grower who combined both HPS and LED grow lights!

Image by NOCO GROWER

4.) Improperly dried buds

Buds should generally be dried slowly for at least 3 days (and up to 7-10 days) after harvest for the best results in terms of potency, smell and smoothness. Do not cook or dry them under a fan as this can make the buds weak and/or harsh. In my experience, properly drying buds can be the single most important factor when it comes to bud quality, so don’t skip this step.

Learn how to properly dry your cannabis

Did you know? If you smoke bud right after harvest, you will find that the potency of a ‘tested alive’ bud is lower than bud that has been properly dried and cured.

Air drying produces the best potency and smoothness of buds when the air is cool with light airflow (but not windy). Do not let the buds dry in hot or stagnant air.

5.) Buds have not been cured for over 2 weeks

After the buds have dried, it’s time for curing. The buds are placed in airtight jars that are burped daily for over 2 weeks. This process of storing freshly dried buds in an airtight container while regularly exposing them to fresh air is called “curing.”

Curing helps reduce the harshness and “green” flavor of some freshly dried buds, especially if the buds have been cured improperly. Curing intensifies the “cannabis smell” that may fade during the drying process and the potency of the buds is further strengthened for several weeks.

The buds are not only smoother after curing, but also feel more potent than before curing. Learn how to cure your cannabis like a pro.

Place freshly dried or “green” buds in glass mason jars to improve their quality over time. Make sure the buds are dry to the touch (they shouldn’t be damp to the touch)

Open the jars daily during the curing process, but otherwise keep the buds airtight

6.) Very shabby bud (was pollinated)

Seeds begin to grow when the buds are exposed to pollen (either from a male plant or a hermia) during the flowering phase. A few seeds don’t have much of an impact on potency, but a very shabby bud that has been heavily pollinated often produces a weak effect. While the exact reason is unknown, it’s likely that the plant simply puts more energy into making seeds than into trichomes/cannabinoids.

Learn what you need to know about male and hermie plants pollinating your female plants.

This is an example of a pollinated marijuana bud with the seed exposed. Buds with lots of seeds tend to be weaker.

7.) THC to CBD ratio

There are dozens if not hundreds of compounds in cannabis (some of the most common are cannabinoids and terpenes) each altering the overall effects of the bud. This means that potency is about more than just strong versus weak. Different strains and buds have different effects.

For example, CBD moderates some of the effects of THC. This means that a strain high in CBD will not induce strong psychedelic effects even when THC is present. Therefore, choose low-CBD, high-THC strains if you’re looking for strong psychedelic mental effects. On the other hand, high concentrations of CBD are better at reducing anxiety, while THC can make anxiety worse in some people.

Learn about different cannabinoids and how to increase the levels of THC and CBD in your buds to get the effects you’re looking for.

Cannabis that feels “weak” is usually either low in THC and/or high in CBD

8.) Load Tolerance

If you’ve been enjoying the same strain for a while (especially if it’s also from the same harvest), the sense of potency can wear off over time. If you don’t want to feel “mixed up” that can be a good thing, but if you want to maximize the overall perceived potency and “strength” of your cannabis, you’ll get the best results by switching strains regularly, if possible.

If you consume the same crop for a while, it may feel less potent over time as your body adjusts to the effects.

How to “Boost” Weed (Increasing Perceived Potency)

If you have weed that is “weak,” there are a few things you can do. These aren’t miracle cures, but they can help make a difference in some cases, especially if your buds are fresh and/or you have a lot of them!

1.) When the buds are green or wet…

If your buds are still light green or damp, they were probably freshly harvested and haven’t cured. In this situation, properly drying and curing the bud can sometimes increase perceived potency. As a bonus, the curing process can also increase the smoothness and smell of the buds.

However, this is only effective when the problem is that your buds are fresh and have not been dried and cured. It has a much smaller effect on buds that are already a few weeks old.

Example of fresh buds (they are very green, moist to the touch and look “bulging”). These need to be dried and cured before they reach their maximum effectiveness.

Here are the same buds after they’ve been dried and cured. They’ve somehow become “tighter” and appear less green. If the buds already look like this, the curing process may have already taken place. However, there is no harm in putting your buds in a jar anyway, as poorly cured buds can still see some improvement.

What to do if the buds are green or wet?

Allow the buds to dry slowly in a cool, dark place until they are no longer wet to the touch (make sure there is airflow, but it’s not too breezy). You) Open the jar daily for 2+ weeks. Enjoy your buds!

Note: If the buds ever feel damp to the touch, leave the lids open for an hour until the buds feel dry to the touch, then continue curing. This prevents the growth of mold or bacteria.

Curing your buds in jars of Boveda 58 packs can help improve smoothness, taste, smell and potency if your buds are weak from being freshly harvested

2.) Turn some bud into hash & mix it with your weed

Turning some of your buds into hash can be a really good solution if you had a really big harvest and the buds ended up being less potent than you hoped.

This technique is most effective when you have a lot of weed, because you want a good amount of weed to convert some of it into hash. One of my favorite ways to get hash is with the dry ice method because it wastes a lot less cannabis than most other methods, resulting in the largest yields in the end.

With dry ice hash, you place your buds in a special bag of dry ice. The dry ice freezes the trichomes off the buds and if you shake the bag any trichomes/hash will squirt out of the bottom leaving all the inert material behind. This is one of the highest yielding methods of making hash!

Once you’ve made hash out of some of your buds, you can mix and/or sprinkle it over your remaining buds. This will dramatically increase the potency of the buds that are boosted in this way. You are basically extracting the “good stuff” from some of your weak buds and then using it to increase the potency of the rest.

Sprinkle hash on your remaining buds to dramatically increase their potency

3.) Turn into edibles, canna caps, or oil

During the process of making magic butter, canna capsules, or oil, you extract all the good stuff from cannabis to create an edible form of cannabis. These products are concentrated and you can always increase the effects by eating more.

Making edibles is often easier when you have plenty of weed to work with, but there are some methods, such as firecrackers, that you can use to get decent results with relatively small amounts of weed.

By turning buds into canna-caps, you can take as many caps as you need to get the desired effect

4.) Use a more efficient delivery system

The least efficient ways of consuming cannabis are joints/blunts and pipes, which also happen to be the most popular. These methods use more cannabis to achieve the same effect compared to a more efficient delivery system.

Common or Blunt <– Not very efficient These can be great for many situations, but if you're trying to get the most out of your cannabis, this may not be the best choice. Joints and blunts waste cannabis smoke when someone isn't actively inhaling, so you end up getting less effect from your bud than you could have gotten. Joint or Blunt - Not very efficient consumption method Image by Psychonaught Pipe <– Rather efficient A regular pipe is more efficient than a joint or blunt when it comes to reducing smoke loss. I personally don't like most of the pipes though because they can be hard on the throat and it's easy to get ash in the mouth. Whistle - Slightly more efficient at consuming cannabis Water Pipe, Bong, or Gravity Bong <– Very efficient You waste less smoke with a hookah or bong than with a pipe because they generally hold the smoke within the device itself until you exhale it. With practice, that means you'll be able to inhale pretty much every last bit of smoke. Additionally, as the smoke passes through the water, it cools the smoke and filters out tar without affecting the potency of the smoke (because THC doesn't bind to water). As a result, bud smoked from a hookah tastes better and is easier on the throat than a joint or pipe. The more water the smoke has to filter through, the greater the effect, which is why you sometimes see hookahs with many elaborate water chambers 🙂 Water pipes, bongs and gravity bongs - much more efficient than pipes, joints or blunts Vaping <– Most efficient Vaporizing your cannabis is probably the most effective way to get "that last bit", but it's less harsh and takes longer to kick in than smoking. A bonus of vaping is that you can take your already vaped buds and use them to make edibles, allowing you to use your buds again. Vaping - The most efficient consumption method and you can use the buds a second time by taking the vaped buds and turning them into edibles. The main downside is that vapor hits a lot less hard. 5.) Buds that are dense I know it doesn't seem to make much of a difference between grinding up your buds and breaking them up with your fingers, but it really does make a difference when you're working with whole, dense buds. Weed at least feels stronger when smoked or vaped, with the consistency of ground bud (which looks like loose blobs or the "shake" falling to the bottom of the bag). If I had to put it in numbers I would say that grinding adds 10% to the perceived potency compared to breaking open the whole bud with your fingers. It makes the biggest difference when you are working with very dense cannabis that is difficult to break up. If the buds are easy to break into small pieces, it doesn't make much of a difference. Flip that like that There are many cheap but effective grinders out there. This one only costs $12. I hope this article has given you some ideas on what to do if your marijuana is weaker than you would like. And read our basic tutorial if you want to learn how to grow your own cannabis so you get the highest quality bud every time. Jump to... How to Store Weed Properly (So It Never Loses Its Smell or Potency!) What is the best cannabis grinder? 10 funny gifts for cannabis growers 7 tips to improve bud quality

How to grow sweet smelling buds

by Nebula Haze

When it comes to growing cannabis, there are many things that affect the overall experience. While “potency” is definitely important, the smell and taste of bud also changes how bud makes you feel. Sometimes you smell a cannabis strain and your brain screams, “Yes!”

There is something about sweet tasting cannabis that is just special and unique, and often these buds have unique effects that you may not get from other buds!

So how do you grow a sweet tasting strain? It’s actually pretty easy, but easy doesn’t always mean easy!

1.) Get a sweet smelling strain

Strain is the number one thing to look out for if you want to grow cannabis that actually smells like sugar! Check out examples of some popular sweet smelling strains!

There are many strains that smell fruity or sweet, but if you’re growing a strain that smells skunky by nature, like diesel, etc., there’s not necessarily much you can do during the growing process (other than using special supplements) to form the buds smell different than their genes intended.

The smell of your buds is highly dependent on the strain!

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Learn more about tribal research!

2.) Dietary supplements to increase sweetness

There are many supplements that can help make buds smell and taste sweeter. Some of them are specialty items to be found at a hydro store or bought online, but there are also ingredients you may have at home that can also increase the sweetness.

When it comes to nutrients and supplements, you have several options that can help improve the overall scent of your buds. In fact, many products have been specifically formulated to enhance and enhance the smell of cannabis buds.

What you need to know about nutrients and dietary supplements…

Sugar-based dietary supplements

Many sugar or carbohydrate based supplements claim to improve the smell/taste/sweetness of the buds. A cheap alternative to expensive sugar-based bloom-promoting supplements is blackstrap molasses. Giving this to your plants in the last few weeks before harvest will allow them to grow bigger and smell/taste better.

It’s not made specifically for plants; it’s the regular stuff you find in your kitchen or at the grocery store). Blackstrap molasses adds sugar, amino acids and trace elements. Unfortunately for hydro growers, something organic like molasses is not suitable for a hydroponic reservoir! But molasses is great for soil and coco growers 🙂

Add 1 tsp Blackstrap Molasses per gallon when watering (for soil or coco coir) for the last 2-3 weeks before harvest.

Enhance or enhance natural flowering processes

This group of supplements contains ingredients designed to help the plant do its job better. Besides carbohydrates or sugars, these types of supplements also contain extracts from plant, marine and mineral sources, as well as things like vitamins, amino acids, polyflavonoids, etc.

The question of which is the most effective supplement is still awaited, but many growers are content with bloom-promoting supplements that are sources of…

amino acids

humic acids

vitamins

trace elements

often contain ingredients not listed (including plant hormones)

Personally, I don’t use this type of supplement, so I can’t recommend any particular one, but some of the most popular cannabis supplements based on this type of formula include…

Note: Whenever possible, try to get all of your nutrients and supplements from the same company. This significantly reduces the likelihood of unexpected reactions between the different products. Some companies “do not play well together”.

Food supplements that “add” a smell to the buds.

I’m really intrigued by Botanicare’s Sweet Carbo line. According to Botanicare:

The natural esters in Sweet are readily taken up by the plant but do not break down further once deposited in the plant tissue. This means that new flowers contain small amounts of these natural esters, which contribute to the overall flavor and aroma of the end product.

They offer flavors like citrus, berries, and “raw” (which is generally just a sweet smell). These should be used during the flowering phase to help build up smell/flavor in the buds as they mature. However, since these contain a small but significant amount of magnesium, they should not be used during the flush during the last 2-3 weeks before harvest. By this time, the smells have already settled into the buds. Another cool thing about these supplements is that they contain amino acids and some other boosters, so it’s like getting a lot of different products at once.

The Botanicare Sweet Carbo line offers cannabis supplements to make buds smell like citrus, berries or “raw” (a generally sweet smell).

Other growers who have tried the “raw” version said they could definitely notice an increase in the “sweet” smell in their buds.

All of these supplements are specifically designed to enhance plants like cannabis. Just be careful not to overdo it! And try to stay with the same company for all nutrients and supplements.

The more types of supplements you use, the more likely you are to end up burning or causing a nutrient lockout problem in your plants. Whenever possible, try to use all supplements and nutrients from the same nutritional company. This reduces the likelihood of unwanted interactions as the entire line is designed to work together. When in doubt, opt for an established nutrient company that has been around for years rather than one that has only recently entered the market.

3.) Always rinse before harvest

Always flush your buds before harvest if you used liquid or powdered nutrients during the flowering phase.

The idea behind pre-harvest flushing is to give the plants some time without additional nutrients in the days or weeks leading up to harvest. This allows the plant to “consume” all the extra nutrients both in the soil and in the plant itself. This can help prevent a “chemical” or “minty” taste in the buds!

Learn how to flush your buds

4.) Don’t let the grow space get hot after buds have formed!

Do not let the temperature rise above 75-80°F during the flowering phase and keep the temperature below 25°C during the drying process to prevent your plants from losing their smell due to the heat!

5 tips for heat control

5.) Proper drying and curing after harvest

After waiting months to harvest your cannabis, it can be easy to skip the final step of preparing your buds post-harvest, known as the “drying” and “curing” process.

Read the drying and curing tutorial!

Don’t skip this step! The drying/curing process has a major impact on the final taste, smell and overall smoothness of your cannabis buds!

The main idea is to slowly dry the buds after harvest and then store them in jars for 2-4 weeks. This triggers natural processes that dramatically increase the overall smell and flavor of your buds and actually make the buds feel more potent!

More drying and curing tips!

6.) Keep plants healthy during flowering!

I know it can be boring to hear that something as simple as keeping your plant healthy will make a positive difference in your results. You probably already knew that!

But it’s important to understand what’s happening week-by-week during the flowering phase so you can spot and fix issues before they impact your harvest!

The main goal is to keep your plant green and healthy for most of the flowering phase. When leaves and buds are burned or otherwise damaged from nutrient deficiencies, heat stress, and other issues, the overall smell and sweetness of your buds can suffer!

Examples of strains with famous smells

Some popular sweet smelling strains are…

Pineapple Chunks (from Barneys Farm)

When someone says a strain smells like fruit, it often means they get little hints of that smell in the undertones. With Pineapple Chunk, the buds actually smell sweet, and some actually smell quite like pineapple!

Although this strain is not the highest yielding, it produces buds that always receive a surprising number of positive comments on taste and smell, and the bud effect is very smooth.

You can already smell the pineapple when the plant is still in the flowering phase, but the smell is most pronounced after the buds have dried and cured.

Super Lemon Haze (by Greenhouse Seeds)

Smells lemony, and certain plants end up smelling exactly like a lemonhead with a mix of citrus, sour and sweet. The potency is surprisingly strong, energetic and creative, perfect for daytime use. Does not usually cause “couch lock”, so many people like this strain for daytime use.

Here’s an example of a room full of Super Lemon Haze plants

…and a Super Lemon Haze Cola

Autoflowering strains

Autoflowering strains can be easier to grow in some ways, and both of these autoflowering strains take under 3 months from seed to actually smoking bud!

Check out a grow journal that features these two autoflowering strains!

Auto Critical Jack (by Dinafem) – This autoflowering strain smells sweet and fruity, perhaps almost tropical. Sometimes the buds smell more like lemon or citrus. She is also very potent for an autoflowering strain.

Blue AutoMazar (by Dutch Passion) – A cross between two autoflowering strains from breeder Dutch Passion, this strain is all about taste and smell as well as potency.

Read a tutorial on how to grow autoflowering plants just like these

Learn more about how to increase and improve the taste/smell of your buds!

When does it start smelling when growing weed?

The cannabis buds we know and love have a distinctive smell. They stink. I love the smell, some people hate it and each strain is different.

But do the plants start smelling when you grow weed? And how much?

The answer is that every single strain and plant is different. But here’s what to consider:

At what age do cannabis plants start smelling?

Short answer: The smell starts at the age of 3-6 weeks (depending on the variety) even in the vegetative stage. But the smell gets much worse after the plants start flowering/budding.

The leaves of a cannabis plant smell a little, but the buds smell strong. When plants are young they don’t smell much, but once the plants get big and start to form buds the smell can be intense.

Cannabis plants are too small to smell, at least for the first few weeks after germination.

Most plants don’t have much smell until they get big or start flowering (budding).

However, I have grown strains where the plants in the vegetative stage do not start smelling until they are 3-4 weeks old

Usually, by the time each plant is 6 weeks old, it is big enough to have a noticeable smell

Remember….

Leaves produce an odor, but buds produce an intense aroma

Bigger plants smell more

More plants smell more

Some varieties smell more than others

Prevention Tips

Choose a strain that produces less odor (although the plant will still have an odor). Check out these low-odor strains.

Take precautions to ensure no one ever smells anything: Learn how to prevent odors when growing

Happy growing!

fog haze

GrowWeedEasy.com

Trichomes are mushroom-like structures containing cannabinoids and terpenes found on the cannabis plant. These trichomes result in the stickiness seen when handling cannabis buds and give cannabis its potent effects.

Trichomes begin to form in the early stages of the flowering cycle. The plant continues to produce the sticky resin throughout the flowering cycle. You will see that the trichomes start out clear and slowly become cloudy as they fill up with cannabinoids and terpenes. If you want to ensure your plant is producing the largest number of trichomes with the highest levels of cannabinoids and terpenes, you need to feed it properly. There are a few things that can help you with this:

Understand your nutrients

Cannabis plants use 13 different nutrients to grow, but nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are the three main ones that contribute the most to plant growth. Each nutrient company offers different recipes, often with no explanation of what makes the water a little muddy when it comes to what to feed your plant—and what it can actually absorb. In many cases, the phosphorus and potassium levels are listed but not given what is available specifically for the roots, so the levels may be approximate instead. This may be due to inflated data or outdated labeling requirements. To ensure you’re buying the best nutrients for your plant, always do some research on the product and brand by looking online and asking other growers if they have experience with it before you buy.

Test your water

Cannabis plants absorb a lot of water, this is why knowing what is in your water is so important as your plant will absorb that too. Both tap and well water contain large amounts of minerals that can affect pH and nutritional balance. Positively charged minerals like calcium, magnesium and potassium can actually limit the absorption of other nutrients when in excess. Testing your own water can help you determine if adjustments are needed to ensure desired growth.

Track plant maturity

Depending on the growth stage of the plant, it needs different nutrients to ensure optimal growth. For example, seedlings love nitrogen as it encourages plant leaf growth, which allows more surface area for light absorption for the plant to produce carbohydrates. Potassium is also important at this stage as it directs water into the growing stems and leaves.

Focus on trichomes

When you reach the later stages of growth, the buds stop expanding and instead produce cannabinoids and terpenes in the trichomes. This stage requires moderate levels of nitrogen with a small amount of phosphorus to sustain photosynthesis. This also helps ensure that the plant is not diverting energy (nutrients) into vegetative growth. In the later stages of growth, phosphorus becomes even more important. However, cannabis plants do not take up this nutrient very efficiently so it is best to add small doses as a large dose will result in the nutrients being flushed out or binding to other nutrients making them unavailable to the plant.

Avoid over-fertilizing

As eager as you may be to get nutrients into your plants, you don’t want to overfeed them. Overfeeding can actually lead to a deterioration in bud quality and trichome production as it can limit your plants ability to absorb water.

The most common mistake is overfeeding in the second half of the flowering period, when growers give their plants a large dose of nutrients. As mentioned earlier, moderate levels of nitrogen and phosphorus work best to keep trichome growth at peak levels. Offloading nutrients onto your plant during the second half of the flowering cycle can result in reduced cannabinoid and terpene levels, reducing your bud quality in both flavor and potency.

harvest time

Poor harvesting, pruning/drying and trimming techniques can also lead to reduced bud quality and reduced trichomes. When it comes to trimming, using experienced gloved hand trimmers or using an automatic bud trimmer with a non-stick Quantanium coating such as B. the CenturionPro Solutions line, help to ensure that the trichomes are preserved in the final product. For more tips on proper harvesting and drying and curing, click here!

While there is no guaranteed “secret formula” for producing the maximum number of trichomes, following these tips can help improve production within the trichomes and increase the quality of your bud.

By Rev. Kathy Bird DeYoung

Spirituality often becomes more important to us in times of tragedy, loss, suffering, and illness because it connects us both to our higher power and to those around us, helps us find meaning and purpose, and brings us hope and healing. Sometimes these very conditions can lead us to question ourselves, our spirituality and everything we know. In our Spirituality and Emotional Health blog series, our clinicians and ministers examine what it means to be spiritual beings, how it affects our interactions with the world, and how we sometimes struggle with and question our own spirituality.

“I will restore your faith and heal your wounds.”

–Jeremiah 30:17

Normally, when we are struggling with an illness or ailment, what we want most is healing. In our society, when we think of being healed, we usually look for a remedy that will restore us to the physical health and wholeness that we had before.

I recently came across a quote that clarifies the difference between healing and healing:

“A healing meant the banishing of a physical disease, but a healing could mean not just a physical healing, but also a restoration and strengthening of the mind and spirit to improve the quality of life even when physical healing was not possible.”

– Susan Howitch, Absolute Truths

If we focus solely on being healed—on the disappearance of sickness—then we may miss the healing that God has brought or will bring to our loved one or to us.

I have a close friend who has degenerative muscle disease in her legs. For this blog I will refer to it as a saga. When I first met Sage a few years ago, she had unusual but mild leg weakness. Only in winter did she need a walking stick to deal with the chronic weakness of her legs.

At that point, she was looking for a cure. Actually, at first she was just looking for a diagnosis in order to be on the way to a cure. She endured trial after painful trial. She saw one specialist after another. Neither of them could tell her why she had worsening leg weakness. They could only rule out muscular dystrophy and muscular sclerosis, among other diseases and syndromes. They could only tell her what she didn’t have. Her leg muscles continued to atrophy. Now she is confined to a wheelchair.

I also know another woman who I will refer to as Kendall. Kendall has also been diagnosed with a debilitating illness for which there is no cure. Kendall is now almost 40 years old and lives with her mother. Kendall has allowed her illness to handicap her. She is listless and wonders about the meaning of her life. I don’t mention Kendall to judge but to highlight how her attitude towards her disability has handicapped her.

In contrast, Sage has not allowed her disability to hinder her. She survived the disability. First she graduated from college, then she earned a master’s degree in counseling. Upon becoming a licensed counselor, she opened her own counseling practice. After several years in her own practice, she now also teaches counseling at a university. She also fell in love and got married. Sage has not experienced healing, but she continues to experience healing both personally and professionally. Her two professions also allow her to help individuals and families experience healing and teach future counselors how to participate in the healing process.

What is the difference between Sage and Kendall? In a word, the difference is faith.

Kendall and her parents are atheists. They don’t believe in any kind of higher power. The lack of trust limited Kendall’s perspective. While healing may not have been possible, by faith healing was and is possible for Kendall.

Sage, on the other hand, found healing in and through her relationship with God. Although she did not experience healing, Sage did experience healing. God’s healing. It is God’s healing that has helped Sage integrate her disability into her life to help others. Rather than being disabled, Sage was empowered by her faith and she is empowered to bring healing.

Rev Dr Martin Luther King said: “As my suffering increased, I soon realized that there were two ways to respond to my situation – either to react with bitterness or to try to transform the suffering into a creative force. I chose the latter.” Sage has done the same with her life.

It is VERY painful when we don’t experience the healing we seek. However, if we are able to perceive the healing amidst our illness or circumstance, we will continue to find hope for the future. We will find healing AND, like Sage, we may even be able to help others to find healing.

What You Should Know Healing usually refers to a complete restoration to health, while treatment refers to a process or procedure that results in improvement in health or recovery from injury. Heal comes from the Latin word meaning “to take care of,” and treat shares Latin roots with words related to written documents such as contract and tract.

The verb treat came into English from French shortly after the Norman Conquest, borrowed from the French verb traiter. While treat is by no means the only verb in English to have multiple meanings, this is one case where each meaning is both distinct and fairly common.

The medical use of “treating” is among the most recent meanings of the term, beginning in the 18th century.

The Origin of “Treat” and Related Words

Treat comes from the Latin word tractare, meaning “to drag around,” “to handle,” or “to get around”; the English word tract, meaning “a pamphlet of political or religious propaganda,” comes directly from this root.

Other cousins ​​of tract in English make the family resemblance with Treat quite clear: Treaty and Treatise. The first uses of treat as a verb were more related to the way we use these terms, meaning “to treat orally or in writing”, a synonym for explaining or addressing, as in “the author treats the subject objectively” or “he treats everything I say as a joke.” The cognate word “please” is also associated with contract, which originally means “negotiate.”

The meaning then shifted from words to actions, taking on the meaning of “thinking and acting towards (someone or something) a certain way”, as in “trying to treat everyone equally”. This was followed by the meaning “to provide free food, drink, or entertainment,” as in “they invited us to lunch.” The medical use of treat, as in “to treat a disease,” is actually among the most recent meanings of the term and was first seen after all these others, beginning in the 18th century.

Treatment, when used as “medical care,” enters the language almost exactly at the moment to treat begins to be used in medical contexts—an unsurprising development that fulfills the need for a noun, that of new usage corresponds to the verb. Up to this point it was used in terms like ‘harsh treatment’ or ‘favorable treatment’, but by the end of the 17th century the Oxford English Dictionary records a usage that seems strikingly modern: ‘the pathology and treatment of disorders of the nerves. ”

Interestingly, this vocabulary development—the medical specificity of a Latin word—corresponds to the moment when many linguistic changes are taking place in relation to the modern categorization of knowledge and science: chemistry separates from alchemy, astronomy separates from astrology, physics becomes the field of study matter and energy (previously including medicine), and the word biology itself was coined.

The origin of “healing”

The word healing also came into English via French after the Norman Conquest and ultimately derives from the Latin word cūra, meaning ‘to care’. This ‘care’ could be divided into physical and spiritual, for healing meant ‘spiritual care’ or ‘congregational ministry’ (associated with vicar and minister) and ‘recovery from illness’. Both senses date from the 14th century. The use of remedies related to the preservation of meat or fish began to be used about 300 years later.

Although usage overlaps in medical contexts, healing is generally used more in absolute terms to refer to a full restoration to health (“the disease is incurable”), while treatment most often refers to a process leading to an improvement in health Health leads (“the most effective treatment”), which may or may not involve the complete elimination of disease or sequelae of injury.

We give you some important tips to preserve the aroma and terpenes of your favorite herb. In fact, there’s a lot you can do at all stages of cultivation—be it pre-harvest, post-harvest, or even beyond—to avoid stale smoke that tastes lousy and strains your lungs.

In order to preserve the aroma of your cannabis, you need to preserve the trichomes. And by save the trichomes, we mean save your terpenes. Terpenes give the cannabis plant its distinctive aroma, and they have many enemies in the world that can destroy them, making your buds smell and taste dull.

After your cannabis plants are harvested, these volatile compounds will begin to break down, but there are several steps and tips you can follow to avoid – or at least delay – this process. If you get this right, your cannabis buds will actually have a long shelf life, smell and taste better, and even have a stronger effect.

Some of these tips even start while you’re still growing your cannabis, but most apply to the post-harvest stages – and some actually relate to how you use your buds once they’re fully cured.

Let’s dive into these helpful tips!

This tip applies to all phases of your cannabis cultivation; from the growing process to trimming to drying and curing. If you keep touching your plant’s sugar leaves and buds during growth, you will already have lost a lot of trichomes in the process. Your fingers will smell great, but that’s because you’re destroying the trichomes that protect the terpenes.

Also, avoid too much movement when trimming. Of course, you’ll need to be holding something to manicure your buds perfectly, but just be gentle with them. The same principle applies to the drying and curing process. Do not shake the buds in the jars or touch them all the time as this will only cause the trichomes to fall off and leave you with a diminished end product.

DO THE WASHING UP

Before you can harvest, you need to flush your cannabis properly to remove excess nutrients that have accumulated during the growing process. This results in a smoother smoke that burns evenly and tastes better as the aroma and flavor can penetrate better. You can tell a good flush by the color of the ash. Light gray or white ash indicates thorough rinsing. Black ash signals otherwise.

The right time to start flushing depends on your growing style. If you are growing in soil, it is recommended to flush your plants with pure water 2 weeks before harvest time. If you grow hydroponically, you should flush your plants 10 days before harvest. Only with an organic, soil-based growing style you don’t have to flush your plants for a long time. But you still need to give them pure water at least a week before the chop.

TRIM

When your cannabis is ready to harvest, you need to choose whether you want to “wet” or “dry” trim it. Wet trimming means that you cut your cannabis plant stem by stem right after harvest and hang it upside down for the drying process. Dry trimming involves hanging the whole plant in the drying room after harvest and then trimming it when dry.

If you want to get as many terpenes as possible, you should opt for the wet trimming method. This way you save the most trichomes. If you dry trim you will likely lose a lot of trichomes because they tend to fall off much more easily. Also, you really need to handle the buds to trim them properly.

DRY

This step is crucial to get superior buds at the end of the process. After trimming your cannabis, it needs to dry to get rid of the moisture in the buds. Not only does this prevent problems with mold and mildew, but it also results in exceptional aroma and flavor. Light and humidity are the two main enemies here, so dry your cannabis in a cool and dark place with a temperature of 15–22°C and a humidity of around 50%. If the temperature is too high (above 26°C), your terpenes will start to vaporize, which is something you want to avoid at all costs. This can happen when drying in hot summer conditions.

How long you need to dry your cannabis depends on your drying environment. Most growers dry their cannabis for 3-7 days, but there are some that dry for as long as 14 days. The quick test will let you know when the buds are ready to be filled into jars. Check your cannabis stems or branches regularly. If they break easily, they’re dry enough to continue to the next step. If they bend, it means they still contain too much moisture. For more information on drying, see our comprehensive article on the subject.

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CURING

Some growers will say that the product is ready at this stage, but for the best possible aroma you should definitely go the long way and cure your cannabis properly. This gives it the final touch and refines it so that you end up smoking deliciously smelling and tasting weed.

Additionally, this process increases the overall potency and cannabinoid effectiveness of your buds. So, don’t skip it! To cure your cannabis, add your buds loosely in wide-mouth mason jars with an airtight seal. If you’re growing different strains, don’t just pack them all together in one jar; Separate them to get the most out of each variety. Avoid using plastic bags for the curing process. You increase the risk of mold and mildew, plus you don’t want your prized buds coming into contact with harmful microplastic particles. Additionally, due to their shape, the buds in these pouches will be squashed, which will ultimately result in the loss of many trichomes and terpenes.

The temperature in your glasses should be around 21°C with a humidity of around 60%. There are several means on the market to ensure that these conditions are met over time, such as: B. Moisture packs. For the first two weeks, open or “burp” the jars once or twice a day to exchange air and inspect your buds. You should notice the smell of your buds improving over time. After two weeks, your buds should be dry enough to leave them in the jars without opening them all the time. But the healing process is still ongoing. Most growers say cannabis is properly cured after 4 weeks. But some heal even for several months. We also have a great article on curing.

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USE A GRINDER

Even after you’ve successfully dried and cured your cannabis, there are still a few things you need to keep in mind when preparing and using your bud in order to get the best aroma and smoking experience. Using a grinder will release the pleasant aroma of your firm and dense nuggets. Don’t break your buds apart with your fingers like a Neanderthal. This will only make your fingers sticky from all that resin you now have on your hands instead of in your head or joint.

LIGHTER ALTERNATIVES

Most stoners use regular lighters because they’re convenient and easy to get. But these lighters use butane for their flame. Not only is butane unhealthy, it also masks the terpene profile of your smoke. Trust us, you don’t want that! There are several alternatives to lighters. You can use a hemp wick or a plasma lighter for a natural flavor and less harmful smoke.

CLEAN SMOKING ACCESSORIES

For maximum aroma and flavor, always ensure you are using clean smoking accessories. By this we mean that you should clean your pipes and bongs regularly. Why? Because nothing ruins the aroma of a perfectly dried and cured bud quite as effectively as a disgusting, foul-smelling smoking device. And always go for glass gadgets, because other materials will spoil your experience with their unpleasant taste.

If you prefer to smoke joints, choose rolling papers made from natural materials and without any chemicals or additives. Don’t spoil your aroma and flavor with papers that are loaded with chlorine and taste like newspaper. Unrefined options won’t alter the flavor of your joint. Companies like RAW, Smoking, and others offer you various options that are skinny, natural, unrefined, and even vegan. Some options actually use hemp instead of regular paper.

Royal Queen Seeds Embossed Metal Grinder looks like a million bucks. But the best part is that it works as well as it looks! Buy RQS Metal Embossed Grinders

The Secrets of Maximum Yield and Harvesting Big Bud (Part 3 of 3)

If you want to learn the proven strategies for harvesting big buds so you can get the maximum yields you desire, then this was written just for you.

In part one of this series, we talked about how to maximize your veg phase so you can get your plants started off right. In part two we covered how to get bigger buds during the flowering phase.

Today we’re going to talk about how to get the most out of the last few weeks of flowering all the way through to harvest. We are discussing…

Why the last few weeks and days before harvest are CRITICAL for harvesting big bud

So you know when to harvest at exactly the right time

Must-know tips for getting more ounces (and even pounds) right before harvest

The late stage bloom boosters that can push your plants to new limits.

And much more. So let’s start…

Why the last few weeks and days before harvest are crucial

It’s very easy to get impatient when you’re growing your high quality plants and want to rush into harvest.

After all, you’ve spent weeks getting to this point, so you might be thinking, “I can’t wait to harvest!”

But it’s important to make sure you’re giving your plants enough time to develop fully. If you harvest too early, you can easily lose a lot of potency and yield.

In fact, the strains that require the longest flowering time generally produce larger yields compared to the strains that have a shorter flowering time. It only makes sense that the more time they have to bloom, the bigger buds they produce.

Above all, don’t make the mistake of harvesting too early!

How to know when to harvest at “exactly” the right time

Because different strains require different growing times, there is no “right” answer to knowing exactly when to harvest your plant.

Therefore, experienced growers agree that you want to visually inspect your plant to determine when is the right time to harvest.

The best way to see if your plants are mature and ready for harvest is to look at their glandular-stalked trichomes (also known as resin glands) with a kind of magnifying glass. These trichomes are the “crystals” that appear “frosty” on well-cultivated buds.

These trichomes change color as they mature. They start out clear, then become translucent (or “milky white”), and eventually turn an amber color.

At the beginning you should aim for the “middle” time of this maturation. In other words, when around 50% of the trichomes on your plant have turned a milky-white, translucent color, then most strains have reached peak maturity.

Additionally, as you grow your plants, you can take small buds from your plants during this critical time to see when they have reached your desired level of maturity. It’s definitely okay to cut off parts of your plant at this point to taste and see what you like, as different strains mature at different times and you may need to experiment a bit to get the finished product that has the results you want delivers.

4 tips to get more yield from your buds before harvest

Prune old, fan and shadow leaves – As your flowering phase moves into harvest and your plant is shifting more energy towards bud maturity, many older leaves will die off. When growing outdoors, these yellowed leaves will be particularly noticeable and they might fall off on their own. Either way, you can prune away those fan and shadow leaves (be careful not to get too close to buds) so you ‘free up’ more energy for bud production and maturation. Less Moisture for More Resin – When the humidity in your garden is low, your resin production increases. In the last 24 hours before harvest, you should keep the humidity in your grow room low. This helps increase resin production. Experiment with Dark Days – Some growers report improved resin production by placing their plants in complete darkness 1-3 days before harvest. This is believed to work because it’s another way to easily stress your plants. Stop Watering 1-3 Days Before Harvest – After flushing, you can continue stressing your plants in the final days of harvest by stopping watering. You should allow the plant to wilt just a small amount because then the plant will “think” it’s dying and as a last resort it will increase resin development.

Why You Should Flush Before Harvest…

Flushing is very important as it is a free and easy way to improve the quality of your final crop.

The same process that plants use to grow—uptake of compounds from nutrients, water, and the atmosphere—causes them to build up excess salts and other harsh compounds. If you don’t flush out this excess before harvesting, you are jeopardizing the final quality.

In short, pre-harvest flushing can be as simple as giving your plants pH-balanced, nutrient-free water to leach out any extra nutrients or salts that have built up in the growing medium or in the plant.

By removing excess nutrients, you improve the “smoothness” of the end product. It can also help improve the smell and taste of your crop.

(A good tip is to wait until you think you’re ready to harvest your plants and then start flushing. Because flushing your plants too early can reduce yield and potency. In short, it is better to wait a little longer than to flush too soon.)

Instead of flushing with plain water, which will starve your plants and reduce bud growth and resin, consider using Flawless Finish.

Flawless Finish uses empty chelates – which are like tiny, powerful vacuum cleaners – to remove excess chemical residue from your growing medium, roots and other plant tissues, including fruit and flowers. The end result is a superb crop of plants that is free of at least 85% of the stored materials it contained before flushing.

In short, when you use this Advanced Nutrients solution, you’ll get the cleanest, sweetest yields possible.

The Best Flowering Enhancement Supplements for Huge Buds…

During the final stages of maturation, you not only want to continue feeding your plants basic nutrients from the Advanced Nutrients flowering phase, you also want to supplement them to get the maximum yield possible…

Bud Factor X is a unique supplement that will benefit your buds if used throughout the flowering phase.

Flowers growing in the heights of the Himalayas secrete an abundance of highly potent essential oils to protect against the incredible amounts of ultraviolet light they are exposed to. These are the same types of essential oils that are responsible for the flavor and aroma of your plants. With Bud Factor X, you’ll harness this “Himalayan Secret” to boost your harvest!

This is because Bud Factor X triggers Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) in plants to produce significantly higher levels of essential oils and terpenoids that directly benefit flavor, aroma and resin production, giving you higher quality plants with larger buds bring market value.

Plus, these powerful ingredients enable your plants to better handle stress and delay fruit senescence and spoilage. It also helps your plants produce thicker stems and branches, signaling them to yield heavier harvests because they feel they can carry the extra weight.

Finally, like all Advanced Nutrients ingredients, the supportive ingredients in Bud Factor X enhance plant growth and flowering.

In short, if you are serious about bigger buds, you should use this supplement throughout your flowering phase.

Maximize your late flowering phase for maximum yields…

Your buds can actually gain the most weight in the last three weeks – that is, when you feed them Overdrive®.

After your flowering phase, your plants will enter their late flowering phase (the exact timing and length of which depends on the plant strain you are growing). At this point, most growers don’t anticipate much more bud development to come. Instead of putting up with this, you can get even more out of your plants in the finishing phase with Overdrive.

When you use this unique supplement, you will give your plants a second wind. Your buds will gain weight and density by packing their structures with additional essential oils – well past the point where late flowering typically shows signs of slowing down. This in turn will give you much larger yields when harvest day arrives.

And with added essential oils comes better flavors, scents, and colors, not to mention protection from oxidative stress from a powerful antioxidant: ascorbic acid.

To see how to create a personalized plant-specific supplement solution tailored to your specific grow using Advanced Nutrients base nutrients and these bloom-boosting supplements, be sure to use the BudLabs app.

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HOW CAN I BEST CURING MY NEW CONCRETE SLAB?

To achieve the strongest finish of your new concrete slab for years to come, we recommend taking the time to properly cure your new slab for at least 7 days after installation (ideally 28 days). Curing is the process of controlling the rate and extent of moisture loss from concrete during cement hydration. Curing plays an important role in the strength development and durability of concrete. This is done by continuously wetting the exposed surface, preventing moisture loss from it. If water evaporates too quickly, the finished product will be weakened by stresses and cracks. Put simply, the goal is to keep the concrete saturated for the first 28 days.

For the first 7 days after installation, you should spray the slab with water 5-10 times a day or as often as possible. As soon as the concrete is poured, the curing process begins immediately. To protect your new slab and ensure an exceptional end product, allow 24 hours for foot traffic (including pets), 10 days to drive light vehicles or add furniture, and 28 days for heavy pickup trucks and RVs. After 28 days the concrete has set and you have a strong and stable slab. After this point you can paint or stain your concrete if you wish.

Proper curing of your concrete will improve its strength, durability, waterproofing and resilience for years to come.

To achieve the strongest finish of your new concrete slab for years to come, we recommend taking the time to properly cure your new slab for at least 7 days after installation (ideally 28 days). Curing is the process of controlling the rate and extent of moisture loss from concrete during cement hydration. Curing plays an important role in the strength development and durability of concrete. This is done by continuously wetting the exposed surface, preventing moisture loss from it. If water evaporates too quickly, the finished product will be weakened by stresses and cracks. Put simply, the goal is to keep the concrete saturated for the first 28 days.

For the first 7 days after installation, you should spray the slab with water 5-10 times a day or as often as possible. As soon as the concrete is poured, the curing process begins immediately. To protect your new slab and ensure an exceptional end product, allow 24 hours for foot traffic (including pets), 10 days to drive light vehicles or add furniture, and 28 days for heavy pickup trucks and RVs. After 28 days the concrete has set and you have a strong and stable slab. After this point you can paint or stain your concrete if you wish.

Proper curing of your concrete will improve its strength, durability, waterproofing and resilience for years to come.

Overview:

Curing is very necessary as the concrete reaches its 58% strength in 7 days and 98% in 28 days. Water should therefore be poured over the slabs for at least 7 days and care should be taken that it never dries, as this weakens the strength. Thorough water hardening should be carried out on walls at least three times a day. For pillars, it should be covered with gunny or stranded wire and always kept in a wet condition.

Particular care should be taken when curing straw when packing the pipe liner with wire mesh and plastering, which is not noticed by many people due to cracking.

Likewise, curing after plastering is very important as it is the blood that strengthens the cement mortar. It should be done at least 3 times a day for a week, making sure that the wall is not wet and not dried at any time; Most precautions should be taken when curing the exterior wall as they dry up easily.

It should be cured with softened water to prevent salt deposits from forming on the walls and concrete.

While some undertake the curing religiously by pouring water even when not required, others treat it as a mere formality and proceed with construction even before the curing process is complete

While some undertake the curing religiously by pouring water even when not required, others treat it as a mere formality and proceed with construction even before the curing process is complete

Despite well thought-out planning, the best materials and practiced processing, there is a risk that the service life of a building will be shortened if care is not taken to ensure proper curing. While some undertake the curing religiously by pouring water even when not required, others treat it as a mere formality and proceed with construction even before the curing process is complete.

People have many doubts about the duration for which the healing should be done. What is healing? How long should it continue? And most importantly, why the healing process itself?

There are two types of chemical reactions, one that releases heat during the process (exothermic) and another that absorbs heat (endothermic). The reaction that occurs during the process of mixing cement with water is exothermic due to the presence of limestone. Because of this heat build-up, the water content in the mortar or concrete mix evaporates before the joint gains strength, and therefore the ambient temperature of the structure must be maintained, explains building materials expert L.H. rao Depending on the type of cement used, the concrete or mortar mix will take some time to set. By the time a structure reaches its maximum strength, the ambient temperature and therefore the availability of water content should be secured. This is because chemical reactions in a cement mass only take place in the presence of water, and curing is the best way to maintain the ambient temperature, he points out.

Best Season

Typically, the cooler temperature seasons are considered the best times to construct a building. This is because the outside temperature will not be high. But if construction must begin during the hotter months, extra care should be taken with curing, says Dr. rao

“There is a simple rule of thumb to follow. If water runoff occurs when water is poured onto a new construction, curing should be stopped. The hotter the outside temperatures, the more curing is required,” he says.

Aside from the seasons, the curing time also changes depending on the type of cement used. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) gains strength quickly and therefore no longer curing time is required.

On the other hand, the alternative cements such as fly ash based Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and slag based Portland Slag Cement (PSC) require more time to set and therefore require a longer curing time. “PPC and PSC require more time, but if that time is allowed, structures using these cements are stronger than those using OPC because of their inherent chemistry,” he points out.

The use of the building material becomes difficult in hot seasons. The temperature of steel bars and gravel also influences the ultimate strength. Sometimes engineers are forced to reduce the temperature of the ingredients by using ice water even before mixing the compound.

“If you have to start building in hotter seasons, it’s better to lower the temperature of the ingredients before forging a structure. This reduction in temperature, along with better curing, can help the structure gain strength and last longer,” he says.

There is also a misconception among people about the importance of healing the entire structure.

While slab poding takes a long time to harden, the hardening of supports is not given much importance. “For a stronger building, columns should be cured by wrapping them in wet burlap bags for at least 16 hours,” adds Dr. added Rao.

If you are planning a specific project, you may be wondering how long you will have to wait before the space is ready for occupancy. Whether you’re pouring a new patio, replacing a crumbling driveway, or adding hardscapes to your yard, it’s important to understand how long it takes for concrete to dry. If you don’t wait long enough before using, you run the risk of ruining the cast and having to redo your entire project. To avoid this problem, it’s best to play it safe.

In general, concrete begins to dry as soon as the dry mix is ​​combined with water. In other words, act quickly to pour and finish your concrete before it sets. But just because the concrete is hard doesn’t mean it’s ready for use. It often takes longer than expected. To plan your project, read on to discover the many factors that can affect concrete drying time.

weather

The time of year and weather conditions during your concrete pour can either speed up or slow down the drying process. Dry, hot weather will make it dry much faster, while cold or humid weather can slow it down. For this reason, unless you live in a temperate climate year-round, most professionals recommend watering from early spring through fall.

If you want a faster drying time, it may seem beneficial to water in hot weather; However, this can add another challenge. Due to the hot temperatures, the concrete dries faster and you have less time to work with it. But there are a few things that will give you a little more time to pour, spread and finish your concrete:

Store concrete bags in a place that is as cool as possible, e.g. B. in the shade or in a garage

Use cold water to mix with the dry cement

Water early in the morning before the heat of the day

Dampen the soil where you are pouring the concrete

Ask for additional helpers to speed up preparation

In cold weather, covering your pour can keep the concrete at the right temperature and aid in the curing process. Insulating blankets prevent the area from getting too cold with the help of the concrete itself as it generates its own heat.

moisture content

The amount of water you mix into the concrete will also affect the pour. The wetter the mixture, the longer the drying time. That is why it is important to find the right ratio of water to concrete mix. Most bags contain this information – so be sure to follow the instructions to avoid over-moisture levels. However, if you add too much water, you can always add more dry mix – just make sure you do this before you start watering.

Too much moisture can also affect the finish of your concrete. If you notice the top layer peeling off, you’ve probably added too much water and may need to rip it out and start over (no fun).

type of concrete

The type of concrete mix you use will also affect drying time. There are some quick-drying options that allow concrete to be walked on in as little as three hours, but these techniques can compromise the durability of otherwise high-strength concrete. One such option is to add accelerators to the mix, but this too can result in a final product that lacks durability and strength. In general, it is best to allow the concrete to fully cure before use.

curing time

While concrete can appear dry and ready to use, it’s important to consider curing time, especially if your pour will have vehicular traffic. Curing allows crystals to grow in the concrete through a chemical reaction with water known as hydration. If you drive on a concrete slab before it has set, you risk cracking or breaking and a shorter lifespan.

What is a typical timeline?

In general, concrete can be walked on within 24 to 48 hours. It is considered partially cured after seven days, which is possible for most vehicles as long as they are not overly large. However, it takes 28 days for the concrete to fully harden, which is when it reaches its full, effective strength – until then, it is important to avoid heavy equipment and large vehicles on the slab.

Waiting for concrete to dry can feel like a chore, especially when it looks dry and ready for use. However, you’ll get better, longer-lasting results if you resist the temptation to skip the gun before the concrete has fully set. You’ll be glad you waited if you can enjoy your specific project for years to come.

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