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When people talk about premium cannabis, most of the conversation focuses on genetics and grow style. And don’t get me wrong—cultivar selection, lighting, feeding schedules… all of that matters. But there’s a step in the process that separates good from unforgettable: the cure.
At Victoria Cannabis Company, curing isn’t something we just “do.” It’s a culture. It’s the quiet part of cultivation where everything you’ve done up until harvest either comes together—or falls apart.
Let’s talk about it.
Most folks still mix up drying and curing. Drying is about removing water. Curing is about letting the plant settle into itself—like aging wine or air-curing prosciutto. Done right, it smooths the smoke, deepens the flavour, and sets the stage for a high that’s not just strong, but satisfying.
At VCC, we dry slow and cure slower. Some batches rest for over six weeks before we even think about packaging.
The goal?
Preserve the good stuff (terpenes, cannabinoids) and let the rough edges melt away—chlorophyll, excess moisture, and anything else that messes with the flavour.
Here’s the journal I wrote earlier this month, straight from the dry room:
📓 Journal Entry #2 – April 2, 2025
The Science and Art of Drying Cannabis
Drying cannabis is more than just a step in the cultivation process—it’s a delicate balance of science and art that directly impacts the quality, potency, and flavour of the final product.
We don’t wing it. We track water activity (aᵥ), not just moisture content. Why? Because a batch at 10% moisture can still be at risk of mold or over-drying if its aᵥ isn’t on point.
Phase 1: Drop Fast
We get the flower out of the danger zone—below 0.80 aᵥ—within the first 2–3 days using max dehumidification.
Phase 2: Low and Slow
We dial everything down and coast to 0.60 aᵥ over 7–10 days. This lets the terpenes settle in, CO₂ release, and the profile take shape.
Phase 3: Hold
Once we hit 0.60 aᵥ, we hold steady—60°F, 60% RH—until we’re ready to trim and jar.
From there, it’s all about the cure.
Once cannabis is trimmed and dried, curing kicks in. It’s a slow dance between time, humidity, and chemistry. Here’s what’s happening under the lid:
1. Chlorophyll Breakdown
Chlorophyll is the reason poorly cured cannabis tastes like wet grass. During curing, natural enzymes break it down, smoothing out the smoke and removing that green, harsh edge.
2. Terpene Preservation
The most fragile terpenes—like myrcene or terpinolene—can evaporate at room temp. Cold curing preserves these volatile oils, letting the cultivar’s true flavour come through. You’ll notice it in the dry pull, before the flame even hits the tip.
3. Cannabinoid Maturation
THCA continues to stabilize into its final form during curing. This is also where you start getting a real entourage effect—those nuanced highs that evolve, not just hit.
The cure doesn’t create quality, it protects it.
Everything I just walked you through, the chlorophyll breaking down, the terpenes settling in, the cannabinoids maturing, none of that adds a thing to the flower that wasn’t already there. Curing refines and preserves what the plant built while it was still alive. If the plant never put down a deep terpene and cannabinoid profile in the first place, no cure on earth is going to put one back in. Can’t be done.
Which is why I always end up back at how we grow.
At VCC we grow in living soil with mineral fertigation layered on top. We call it living soil synganic, and the living soil is the foundation of the whole thing. Healthy soil is alive — fungi, bacteria, a whole microbial web working away down in the root zone. That biology is what feeds the plant. The amino acids, the humic acids, the organic amendments the microbes break down into forms the roots can actually take up. That’s the raw nutrition the plant runs on when it builds its own terpene compounds, and the wider the range you give it to work with, the more a slow cold cure has to lock in later on.
Then you’ve got the mineral side.
Biology gives you complexity, but the plant still needs fuel to do anything with it. Precision minerals, the targeted NPK, the calcium, the micronutrients, make sure it’s got the building blocks and cofactors to actually build those secondary metabolites. Think of it like this: the soil biology writes the recipe, the minerals stock the kitchen. You need both. Miss either one and the flower comes up short before it ever sees the inside of a jar.
I’ve dried and cured plants grown just about every way you can imagine. A cultivar raised on synthetic salts in an inert medium will cure just fine, the process still works, but you’re preserving a narrower profile, because the biology that builds those compounds was never in the picture.
There’s just less there to protect.
That’s the honest reason our cold cure does what it does. It starts long before harvest. The grow hands us flower that’s actually worth curing slow, and a cold, patient cure keeps the trichomes intact so none of what we built gets cooked off or rushed out the door. Slow and cold protects everything the living soil spent all those weeks putting in.
So when somebody asks me what makes a great cure, my answer starts in the dirt. If you want the full story on how we grow it, that’s a whole piece of its own, and living soil synganic growing is where those terpenes really get their start.
If you’re curing your own cannabis at home, follow the fundamentals:
You’ll know it’s working when your flower smells stronger and smokes smoother every week.
You’ve probably smoked poorly cured cannabis before—maybe without realizing it. Here’s how to spot it:
At VCC, we’ve spent years dialing in our process to avoid all of that. You deserve a smooth, aromatic sesh—not a coughing fit and a flavour fail.
If you know traditional BC Craft, you already get it. Craft cannabis isn’t about hitting THC numbers. It’s about honouring the plant, the process, and the people who’ve spent decades perfecting this art. Curing is the final touch that brings all that effort together. We cure cold. We cure long. And we cure because that’s how we smoke it ourselves. Mass producers? They don’t have time. They can’t afford the space. And it shows.
You can’t fake a good cure. You can’t rush it. And you can’t cover it up with branding or THC percentages. We’ve seen it firsthand: same genetics, same grow, different cure—and the difference is night and day.
If you want to experience cannabis the way it was meant to be enjoyed, look for the signs of a proper cure. And if you’re ever in Victoria, swing by the farmgate. We’ll show you what that cure smells like up close.
About the Author
Taylor King is the Head Grower at Victoria Cannabis Company. He’s a craft cannabis lifer with roots in BC’s traditional market and a passion for helping the plant reach its full potential. Taylor’s known for his precise cultivation practices, cold cure obsession, and love of weird terps.
Articles from Taylor:
Under Canopy Lighting
Explore More from VCC:
The Craft Cannabis Difference
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