Drying also plays a big role in the final product. The slower the dry, the better the cure results. By better, I mean something that will taste great and smoke smooth. With a good drying and a good curing, your friends will definitely say "Wow... nice." without coughing their brains out.
So I'll address drying and curing with a short answer, and then a long answer.
Short Answer
Dry your weed slowly. That means leave it on the stick and hang it.
- If you can control it, your drying room (or cardboard box) RH should be between 55% and 65%, with the sweetspot at 60%RH.
- Keep temperatures between 68 and 69F for optimal drying.
- Keep air circulating above or/and below your hanging branches with a fan or two. NEVER have the fans blow directly on your branches. You don't need a hurricane, but that air has to keep moving.
If you have a lot to dry in a garage, skip this and go to the Long Answer.
1. Cut the branches off and hang them for 5 days. Don't remove the fan leaves.
2. At day 5, trim your buds on the branches. Remove the fan and sugar leaves. You shouldn't need to do much more trimming after this.
3. At day 10, your buds should be ready to be trimmed/cut off the branches. You may need to pretty up the buds at this time. Personally, I don't bother. They're not for sale, they're for me.
4. Put them in jars and burp once a day for 3 full weeks. Throw in a hygrometer so you can see the RH inside the jar. You won't get trichome and terpene stability before 3 weeks. You can sample all you want, but play the long game with your stash and go the full 3 weeks.
5. If your RH rises ABOVE 62%, keep your jars open for an extra 15 minutes per burp for a few days. Look for stability between 55% and 62%RH. I like it closer to 57% because at 62%, it gums up my grinder. Perfect RH target for long term storage is 62%, and 57% for short term. But this is a matter of personal preference.
Once you've cured your bud, fill and use a baby food size jar for your daily smoke. Constantly opening a big jar a few times a day, although fun, will eventually dry out your cured bud.
Long Answer
There a lot of setup and equipment in the Long Answer, so I'll just put up the link. The guide is meant for people with a larger harvest than most home growers.
Drying and Curing Guide
Reading the guide, while maybe too long for here, isn't that long a read. It's to the point with no fluff, so you might get some insights by reading it even if you only grow a bit.
I've had days where I was burping 100 jars, forgetting to close the jars before bed, leaving for the weekend without burping (*very risky), and even just forgetting to burp them (also dangerous). So I automate it now. I can leave for the lake and come back in 2 weeks without worrying. Another thing I hated about burping Mason Jars is that my hand doesn't fit in them and the buds always get stuck so I have to use a spoon or something stupid to get the buds out. So I use food safe jars with a 5 inch lid.
Hope this helps.