By Max Sargent

Welcome to the future of cannabis cultivation, where automated cannabis curing systems take away all of your troubles. Well, not quite, but it can make life easier for those willing to put in the effort. In an era where efficiency and consistency are key in all walks of life, automation fulfills these needs and, also, just makes our lives a little easier (once we have the system set up).

These systems don’t just save precious time but also ensure each bud reaches its highest potential, achieving uniform dryness and optimal flavour. This means that after the painstaking months of careful growing, we can get everything just right at this final, important step. Indeed, curing is the last step in a long process, and it’s the one that really perfects our efforts. Whether you're managing large harvests or simply passionate about precision, understanding automated curing can make your life easier and your bud even better!

This article will guide you through everything from the basics of automated curing systems to building your very own DIY system.

What Is an Automated Cannabis Curing System?

An automated cannabis curing system is a solution that aims to make curing weed easier and more efficient. By automating the control of environmental factors such as relative humidity (RH) and air exchange (exactly the reason we “burp” curing jars), these systems ensure that cannabis buds cure evenly and efficiently. Ultimately, this process reduces the harsh flavours of chlorophyll and brings out the more delicate flavours of the many terpenes in your chosen bud.

Among growers for whom flavour is of the utmost importance, an automated curing system can take some of the randomness and chance out of the process, making high-quality, uniform results more likely. And for those who have a huge crop to cure, it can make the process much easier and more relaxed than it would otherwise be. Imagine having to open 100 small jars for five minutes every day to let your buds breathe—the work would quickly become overwhelming!

Key benefits of automated curing include:

  • Consistency and quality: Automation reduces human error, ensuring every bud cures under optimal conditions.
  • Efficiency: For cultivators dealing with large harvests, these systems significantly cut down the manual labour involved in curing.
  • Optimal humidity control: Humidity packs and automated air exchange (burping) adjust the environment to maintain the perfect curing conditions, reducing the risk of both mould and over-drying.
  • Scalability: Whether you're a hobbyist or a commercial grower, automated systems can be scaled to fit your needs.
  • Increased freedom: You can leave the house for a day or two without worrying about your entire harvest coming to ruin in the time you’re away.

With systems ranging from auto-curing jars to sophisticated curing buckets and automatic burping jars, there's an automated solution to fit every grower's needs. In this article, we’ll focus on curing buckets, as they are easy to make and can range from small to very large, suiting practically all growers regardless of the size of their harvest.

What Is the Average Cure Time for Cannabis?

Typically, the cure time for cannabis can range from two weeks to over a month, depending on the strain, desired outcomes, and curing conditions. A shorter period tends to result in less-refined bud. This is suitable for hobbyist growers who don’t want to spend months waiting for their harvest to be ready to consume. However, if you can hold off a few more weeks, you can really get the most out of your bud.

Automated curing systems optimise the process by maintaining ideal RH and facilitating regular air exchange. This not only ensures a consistent and efficient cure but can also shorten the overall cure time by creating the perfect conditions from the start—a win-win situation! Properly cured cannabis results in a smoother, more enjoyable experience, with enhanced flavour profiles and potency.

How to Build an Automated Cannabis Curing System

If this sounds appealing to you, we’re here to show you how to build one of these systems for yourself at home. Doing so requires a bit of time, care, and equipment, and as such is best suited to those who actually enjoy such projects. If you get no satisfaction from DIY projects, then you’ll probably find your energy is better spent burping your jars by hand.

However, if you’re up for the challenge and love the feeling of building something that streamlines your life and gives your brain a workout, then keep reading.

Note: The bucket sizes provided below should cover most growers, but if you feel you would benefit from using a bigger or smaller bucket, then feel free to modify the size. The rest of the method will work for a range of sizes.

Equipment

  • 10–20-litre bucket: BPA-free is best, and ensure it has a lid with an airtight seal
  • Motorised air pump and digital timer: For air circulation and control
  • Check valves: To prevent backflow
  • Silicone tubing (3mm): For connecting components
  • Manifold: To distribute air from the pump
  • PVC tubing (16mm): For the main air conduit
  • Stainless-steel hose clamp (13mm to 32mm): To secure connections
  • Humidity control packs: For maintaining optimal humidity
  • Safety pin: For creating air holes in the tubing
  • Drill with 2.8mm drill bit

Directions

The following directions outline how to make your DIY curing system.

Step 1: Prepare the Bucket

  • Drill two holes in each bucket; one near the top and one near the base. The holes are 2.8mm so that they create a seal around the 3mm tubing when it is inserted.

Step 2: Set Up Hoses

  • Insert the intake hose (to be connected to the manifold) into the lower drilled hole.
  • Cut a 15cm length of the 3mm tubing as the exhaust hose and insert it into the upper hole.

Step 3: Instal Check Valves

  • Attach check valves to the ends of the hoses inside the bucket, ensuring proper airflow direction. For the bottom hose, attach the bigger side of the valve to the hose. For the top hose, attach the smaller side.

Step 4: Air Distribution Tubing

  • Cut a 1m length of the 3mm tubing and evenly puncture it every 2.5 to 4cm with a safety pin or something similar.
  • Connect this perforated tubing to the check valve at the bottom of the bucket, securing it with a tight knot.
  • Arrange the tubing around the bucket's base, in a circle, for even air distribution.

Step 5: Connect the System

  • Link the intake hose to the manifold and open the valve.
  • Connect the manifold to the air pump, securing all connections with the hose clamp.
  • Conduct a test run to check for airtightness and proper valve function. Listen for a hissing sound from the exhaust hose, indicating correct pressurisation.

Step 6: Filling and Operation

  • Fill the bucket halfway with cannabis, then place in a humidity control pack (58–62% RH).
  • Add more cannabis until the bucket is full, and top it with another humidity control pack.
  • Secure the lid, start the pump, and set the timer to activate the system for 5 minutes every 24 hours. This cycle maintains optimal humidity and gas exchange.

Hints and Tips for Curing Cannabis With an Automated System

To ensure everything goes according to plan, consider the following tips before and during the creation of your DIY auto-curing system:

  • Monitor strain differences: Be aware that different strains may require slightly varied conditions. For example, some buds are incredibly dense, while others are much airier. This can affect how, and for how long, you cure. That said, adjust your system based on the specific needs of each strain. You will be able to find a wealth of information on how best to cure various strains online.
  • Solicit community wisdom: Tap into online forums and community resources for additional tips and troubleshooting. The collective knowledge of experienced growers can be invaluable. There are likely people who have modified the above method, and it may be that you can find something that suits you even more. However, our method is simple and accessible for most people.
  • Perform regular checks: Even with automation, it's important to regularly inspect your cannabis for signs of mould or over-drying. Automation enhances, but does not replace, diligent care.
  • Dry first: Before using your DIY curing buckets, make sure to dry and trim your flowers properly. You’ll know they’re ready to cure when the stems on each bud snap instead of bend when you apply pressure.
  • Label: It’s crucial to label each bucket with strain type, plant number, harvest date, and weight. This is especially relevant for those who have grown multiple strains or have large harvests.
  • Cleanliness and care: Use cable ties to organise hoses, keeping the area tidy and safe.
  • Final tips: For best results, run the system for 3–5 weeks. Once cured, the buckets can also serve as airtight storage containers, so you don’t need to relocate your buds anywhere!

What Is the Best Process for Curing Cannabis?

While automated cannabis curing systems offer remarkable advantages, particularly for large-scale operations or those seeking to make their cultivation process more hands-off, the best curing method ultimately depends on your specific needs and preferences.

Automation offers a level of precision and consistency that is hard to replicate if you cure manually, and this makes it a very helpful tool for cultivators aiming for high-quality harvests with minimal manual effort. But for smaller grows and those who struggle with DIY projects, making an automated curing system could be overkill. It’s really only worth it if you either love the project or you have a lot of weed to cure.

Whether you choose to automate or stick with more traditional methods, the key to successful curing lies in careful monitoring—and this is true even if you use an automated system. You should regularly check it to ensure that it’s actually working as it should. You don’t want to return after five weeks to discover that your weed is mouldy and that the pumps haven’t been working!

By embracing these technologies where relevant, growers can achieve superior quality, potency, and flavour in their harvests, making every effort in the cultivation process truly worthwhile.

Cookies settings

We are requesting your permission to use your data for the reasons stated below:

Functional cookies

Functional cookies help our website to function optimally and allow us to personalise certain features.

Preference cookies

Preference cookies allow us to remember information that influences the way our website looks, including your preferred language based on your region.

Analytical cookies

Analytical cookies give us insights into website traffic and customer behaviour, including how many people visit our site, how long they browse for, and which parts of our site they visit.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small pieces of data from a particular website that get stored on a user’s computer while they’re surfing the internet. Cookies have several different functions. Some of them track browser activity that enables businesses to deliver targeted advertisements. Other cookies serve to remember user login details to different websites to make jumping on social media, or other sites, a more fluid process. Because each cookie has its own unique ID, these pieces of data allow website owners to measure the unique traffic coming into their site.

Why do we use cookies?

Cookies come in handy when you visit our website. They ensure you stay logged in, that you can shop safely, and that the items you add to your cart stay there before you make a purchase. But cookies also help us. The data they provide allow us to improve our website and enable us to present you with targeted advertisements that are compatible with your interests.

What kind of cookies do we use?

Functional cookies

Functional cookies help our website to function optimally and allow us to personalise certain features.

Preference cookies

Preference cookies allow us to remember information that influences the way our website looks, including your preferred language based on your region.

Analytical cookies

Analytical cookies give us insights into website traffic and customer behaviour, including how many people visit our site, how long they browse for, and which parts of our site they visit.

How can I disable or delete cookies?

Not a fan of cookies? No worries. You can disable them (with the exception of necessary cookies) in your browser settings. However, blocking cookies may impact your browsing experience and prevent you from enjoying all of the technical features of our site.

Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: