drying takes 7-10 days, curing takes 4-6 weeks, once you cure it in proper air tight containers, opening them a few times a day to allow the moisure to escape they will gain more flavor, aroma, and it will make some of the inactive thc active to make it more potent basically unlocking the potency that you know is there.... u posted in aug so its probably too late, hopefully all worked well for you and you figured it out and you should be smoking some killer stuff right now :D

I normally only cure for 3-4 weeks but I know tons of people who cure for months at a time. I also cure in the fridge with lights off and air out my jars twice a day.

Minimum three weeks but the curing process will continue for the entire life of the bud. I've found that super heady AAA strains will oftentimes keep maturing for six to nine months--I've had some nugs that I've pulled out of my save-a-nug jar after that amount of time that I couldn't believe were the same nugs I'd been toking on months before!

this being my first real attempt at growing the ganja im finding that the curing process seems to be the hardest. ive hung the plants, placed the nugs in jars and am yet to have that dank scent im lookin for. when broke up or squeezed the nugs smell amazing yet ive had schwag that had a more appealing smell than my amazing flowers have yet to release. any ideas?

It varies a lot from strain to strain but in general you need at least a good month for the flavor and aroma to develop. At one week a lack of smell and flavor is not uncommon. With most strains, after about a 6-8 month cure they start to decline. Some people seem to like stuff that has had a longer cure, but IMO it never tastes or smells as good once it gets past the 6-8 month mark.

In general I'd say the biggest mistake most people make when the first start growing is storing their buds too wet. When you seal them up before they are fully dried they tend to get that "hay" smell going. Did you check to make sure the stems snap and that the buds are fully dried on the inside?

Another culprit is drying them too fast and at too high a temperature. When this happens the smell and aroma deteriorate. Ideally you want to keep temps at around 70, and certainly no higher than 80 if you can help it. Once you get past 80 you start to vaporize some of the chemicals that give cannabis it's smell and taste, and once you get past 90 you start to deteriorate some of the psychoactive compounds. A slow dry produces better smoke - if your buds are drying out in less than a week then you are drying them too quickly. I've also heard that drying at very low relative humidity can have the same effect but I have not experience this myself since I am not in a low humidity area.

Also did you remove the large fan leaves? Drying the plant with the fan leaves on will also make it come out smelling like hay. Be patient - if you open the jar 5 times a day to check it, it will never cure. Once you think it is dry enough, seal it up, and then check it in a week or so and see how it is doing.

There are a lot of goofy theories out there when it comes to this topic. Curing has very little effect on potency - the smell and the aroma is mostly what it effects. If you buds aren't stoney now, they won't be stoney after curing either. THC is also not inactive when the buds are wet or not fully dried. In fact it is more potent when the plant is wet because it has not started to break down into other compounds yet. These statements are all based on scientific sources and experiments - if anyone has a scientific source that says other wise, by all means please share.