Water cure question....

RUI experts -

Last Saturday I harvested a Swiss Cheese plant that was grown outside for the summer (yes, it was mature). Because I need to cure it in a barn (no electricity), I was afraid the cool, damp weather we have in the northeast this time of year would reduce my buds to mold pretty quickly. Consequently, I decided to try a water cure. I have a fairly large water cooler that I put the trimmed buds into and filled it to capacity with room temp water. I have been changing the water religiously every day since. After reading others experiences with water curing, I was expecting the water I was dumping to be murky at first and progressivly get cleaner with each daily water change. So far the water i have dumped (three days worth) has been almost as clean as when I put it in. The only difference was a very slight oily sheen on the top of the water for the first day. the buds are holding up well and look good so I'll continue until the week is up then dry them.

Any thoughts as to what is (not) going on ?.....

Also, bud is still bright green and rather minty smelling.

I like water cured bud as an option and do about 10%-20% of my harvest that way, makes for great stealthy smoke as it has no ordor when smoked.....almost loses it taste Anyway I think it depends on the amount of water to bud ratio, if you have alot of water as compaired to the bud then your water will not be as nasty. I assume you are keep the buds sumerged under water and not floating on top? I notice that days 4-6 are usally the worst, as the water will be cloudy and very stinky. I do mine for 7 days then hang and let dry with a fan moving air around the buds, depending on temps and RH% it should be ready after 1-2days of drying. The bad parts of water curring is it loses some of its bag appeal and you only get a 15% return weight wise VS 25% return on air dryed/curred.
Enjoy the water cured buds.

Stlmatt

i found when i water cured some bud this year was that the water came out darker after a few days, once the buds have had time to get saturated completely.

the water doesnt turn into green swamp water either, just hazy greenish water

The buds are completly submerged. The water I swap out is very faintly green so it must be working... tomorrow is day 7 so time to dry! We are supposed to get upwards of 6" of snow tomorrow so i guess I'll drip dry the buds for awhile then put them in a dehydrator on low for a bit.

Please keep us posted on the taste test

Ok - first test yesterday afternoon....

I soaked the buds for a full week, changing the water every day. As I stated before, the water was lightly tinted green, but not swampy. After about day 4 or 5, the buds seemed to be not the bright green they were when first introduced to the water. Yesterday morning, I pulled them and put them in the dehydrator for several hours. I had some chores to do, but couldn't pass up the change to try a small pinch so I sparked up a bowl. First of all, the dried bud has little smell - maybe a light mint smell, but nothing really stinky. When I sparked the bowl, the smoke was very mellow - no hacking or coughing and seemed to have very little taste or distinct MJ smell. After about 10 minutes of not really feeling any effect, I thought "this was a big waste of time...." so I loaded up the truck and headed to the dump. About 1/2 way to the dump, it hit me - very creeper like and I spent the next couple of hours in a pleasant haze.

good thing I went this route because this morning its cold and we have about 6" of snow on the ground. Buds would never have dried in the barn the traditional way.

Just a note on Nirvana's Swiss Cheese. their website calls it a sativa/indica hybrid. The plant definately had more of a sativa look and produced lighter, fluffier buds. The high was definately cerebral with no couchlock.

Nice review! After a week, the process is over, right?

Yup. Keep the buds submerged, change the water daily, and dry them after seven days. Pretty simple.

I throw my buds in a salad spinner after the week to pull out as much water as possible before drying.