Water curing to remove chlorophyll

KG1 · Aug 16, 2025

"There wasn’t much bud as said I was away & it got overwatered so I put the buds in a container rather than hang it to dry & picking a bud up it cracked but obviously wasn’t ready"

If chlorophyll isn't out in say an environment whereby it dries in about five days to a week it degrades into secondary compounds that aren't enjoyable. This can all be seen under the science of 'Chlorophyll degradation pathways', mess up and yes you get headaches and stuff and there really isn't a way to remove these secondary metabolites and stuff.

Best way just hang dry, messing with dry speed isn't always a good idea, chlorophyll has a small window to dry or it follows the undesirable pathways.

Coincidentally when chlorophyll dries to about 10-15% moisture it starts to take another favourable degradation pathway which happens at a slower rate.

I think your buds irrecoverable but I hope you manage to.

Gmix · Aug 18, 2025

KG1 said:
"There wasn’t much bud as said I was away & it got overwatered so I put the buds in a container rather than hang it to dry & picking a bud up it cracked but obviously wasn’t ready"

If chlorophyll isn't out in say an environment whereby it dries in about five days to a week it degrades into secondary compounds that aren't enjoyable. This can all be seen under the science of 'Chlorophyll degradation pathways', mess up and yes you get headaches and stuff and there really isn't a way to remove these secondary metabolites and stuff.

Best way just hang dry, messing with dry speed isn't always a good idea, chlorophyll has a small window to dry or it follows the undesirable pathways.

Coincidentally when chlorophyll dries to about 10-15% moisture it starts to take another favourable degradation pathway which happens at a slower rate.

I think your buds irrecoverable but I hope you manage to.

There fine they just needed more time to dry

Gmix · Aug 18, 2025

KG1 said:
"There wasn’t much bud as said I was away & it got overwatered so I put the buds in a container rather than hang it to dry & picking a bud up it cracked but obviously wasn’t ready"

If chlorophyll isn't out in say an environment whereby it dries in about five days to a week it degrades into secondary compounds that aren't enjoyable. This can all be seen under the science of 'Chlorophyll degradation pathways', mess up and yes you get headaches and stuff and there really isn't a way to remove these secondary metabolites and stuff.

Best way just hang dry, messing with dry speed isn't always a good idea, chlorophyll has a small window to dry or it follows the undesirable pathways.

Coincidentally when chlorophyll dries to about 10-15% moisture it starts to take another favourable degradation pathway which happens at a slower rate.

I think your buds irrecoverable but I hope you manage to.

You must of missed the part where I said I got impatient due to various reasons.

It was almost dry but dried unevenly
It’s good now & isn’t causing headaches

KG1 · Aug 18, 2025

Gmix said:
You must of missed the part where I said I got impatient due to various reasons.

It was almost dry but dried unevenly
It’s good now & isn’t causing headaches

No I read that, then explained chlorophyll and seems you learnt how to dry better in the meantime time.

All's now good

ATLien415 · Aug 18, 2025

Gmix said:
It is possible bud it’s not new, it’s pretty much a old technique

Likely THE oldest. This is where ditch weed as nomenclature comes from. Trad-harvesting fields of true-boof, maybe 5% THC and 20% by mass seeds, getting thrown into the ditch. When you got that brick, it'd smell like air. Straight air. Dried once, cured prior - from my understanding at least.

Water curing is likely to make a comeback, honestly. Don't know why nobody has treated it proper yet. Something like an instance coffee process, take the volatiles with a gas nitrogen flush or CO2 flush, recover. Water cure for the smoothest smoke in the world, zero salts or chlorophyll, and done in a matter of days. Dry and strategically reintroduce in the appropriate ratios the volatiles. It'd slap.

Not sure the science has spoken on the issue yet. Have folks that swear by the old school enzymatic processes and temperature gates for curing. Most newer scientists are quiet on the enzyme part and more about dew point theory and active and bound versus unbound water.

THCosmic · Aug 18, 2025

ATLien415 said:
Likely THE oldest. This is where ditch weed as nomenclature comes from. Trad-harvesting fields of true-boof, maybe 5% THC and 20% by mass seeds, getting thrown into the ditch. When you got that brick, it'd smell like air. Straight air. Dried once, cured prior - from my understanding at least.

Water curing is likely to make a comeback, honestly. Don't know why nobody has treated it proper yet. Something like an instance coffee process, take the volatiles with a gas nitrogen flush or CO2 flush, recover. Water cure for the smoothest smoke in the world, zero salts or chlorophyll, and done in a matter of days. Dry and strategically reintroduce in the appropriate ratios the volatiles. It'd slap.

Not sure the science has spoken on the issue yet. Have folks that swear by the old school enzymatic processes and temperature gates for curing. Most newer scientists are quiet on the enzyme part and more about dew point theory and active and bound versus unbound water.

I agree. I think water curing just has that bad stigma of being associated with pests and a last resort method to save bad buds. Also people are afraid of losing potency, but I'm sure this can be perfected with research.

LoveGrowingIt · Aug 27, 2025

We managed to water cure about 10 grams of some buds. They were in the water for a week. I changed the water twice a day. We just pulled it out of the drier and ground it. My wife is our test subject. I'll post when she lets me know what she decided. I'm loading a clean vaporizer now...

LoveGrowingIt · Aug 27, 2025

LoveGrowingIt said:
My wife is our test subject. I'll post when she lets me know what she decided.

The results are in! She said it was smooth. When I asked her about the taste, she paused thoughtfully for a moment as if trying to recall the taste. Then she said, "It didn't taste like anything."

I also didn't notice any taste, and it wasn't harsh at all. I also noticed the color of the buds changed to a dark green by the end of the week.

So, it is as we thought it would be. Water curing works.

Gmix · Aug 29, 2025

LoveGrowingIt said:
The results are in! She said it was smooth. When I asked her about the taste, she paused thoughtfully for a moment as if trying to recall the taste. Then she said, "It didn't taste like anything."

I also didn't notice any taste, and it wasn't harsh at all. I also noticed the color of the buds changed to a dark green by the end of the week.

So, it is as we thought it would be. Water curing works.

I was just about to post about this subject

There was one plant I had that was I thought gonna go in the bin as it was giving me headaches

So I figured why not give it a go myself.

Day one after 2 hrs the water was green so I changed it in the morning it was golden

I put some water in again & so far the waters not changed color

I think there’s something in that even if your buds aren’t full of chlorophyll

You needn’t do the full six days I think.
Just a few hrs & you may retain the taste & remove any impurities left.

I’m going to try it with some good buds vs some other buds from the same plant when this lot comes in & give a honest reply

In the meantime I’ll let this go the full six days report in myself. See if “ unsaveable “ can be saved

Thank you very much bud for giving us your feedback.

amneziaHaze · Aug 29, 2025

ATLien415 said:
Likely THE oldest. This is where ditch weed as nomenclature comes from. Trad-harvesting fields of true-boof, maybe 5% THC and 20% by mass seeds, getting thrown into the ditch. When you got that brick, it'd smell like air. Straight air. Dried once, cured prior - from my understanding at least.

Water curing is likely to make a comeback, honestly. Don't know why nobody has treated it proper yet. Something like an instance coffee process, take the volatiles with a gas nitrogen flush or CO2 flush, recover. Water cure for the smoothest smoke in the world, zero salts or chlorophyll, and done in a matter of days. Dry and strategically reintroduce in the appropriate ratios the volatiles. It'd slap.

Not sure the science has spoken on the issue yet. Have folks that swear by the old school enzymatic processes and temperature gates for curing. Most newer scientists are quiet on the enzyme part and more about dew point theory and active and bound versus unbound water.

People dont do it because water takes every other terpine with it as well.and most people love the smell and taste

As for potency as long as your gentil and water is not frezzing soo your not making bubble hash haha

Gmix · Aug 30, 2025

Well I pulled a nug out after 2 water changes.

There’s a very slight loss of flavour
However I was starting with bud that was very harsh so I couldn’t taste much before.

It only took another 24 hrs or less to dry

It’s still a bit harsh but a whole lot less & has some taste/smell

Leaving it longer as I am the rest to make less harsh however no headache so definitely one way to save buds that are “ unsmokeable “

I can see it losing taste leavening it to soak longer.

One thing that I found interesting was how quickly the water went green & how much less green it was when I changed the water

Still I’m impressed the bud was gonna get flushed down the toilet.

N yeah @LoveGrowingIt it definitely goes dark even when left for only 24hrs

Finishing the test joints there’s no loss in thc if there is it’s not enough to notice at all

My honest experience

LoveGrowingIt · Aug 30, 2025

Gmix said:
It only took another 24 hrs or less to dry

That was true for us, too. I expected it to be in the drier much longer.

amneziaHaze · Aug 31, 2025

Gmix said:
Well I pulled a nug out after 2 water changes.

There’s a very slight loss of flavour
However I was starting with bud that was very harsh so I couldn’t taste much before.

It only took another 24 hrs or less to dry

It’s still a bit harsh but a whole lot less & has some taste/smell

Leaving it longer as I am the rest to make less harsh however no headache so definitely one way to save buds that are “ unsmokeable “

I can see it losing taste leavening it to soak longer.

One thing that I found interesting was how quickly the water went green & how much less green it was when I changed the water

Still I’m impressed the bud was gonna get flushed down the toilet.

N yeah @LoveGrowingIt it definitely goes dark even when left for only 24hrs

Finishing the test joints there’s no loss in thc if there is it’s not enough to notice at all

My honest experience

was it bad because it was moldy or somehing else? because water cure doesnt compleatly remove mold.maybe some big parts but some stays. i heard the h202 dip before the water would help but i am not sure.

Gmix · Aug 31, 2025

amneziaHaze said:
was it bad because it was moldy or somehing else? because water cure doesnt compleatly remove mold.maybe some big parts but some stays. i heard the h202 dip before the water would help but i am not sure.

No it wasn’t moldy

Firstly I have an exceptionally low tolerance for bud that’s got impurities left in it.

I went away & a non grower looked after them.
They hadn’t been letting the water stand witch is a must in my area & had overwatered to the point I didn’t water for two weeks so they were sat in stale water
Plus I let them go as long as I could but wasn’t able to let them fade so there was a high amount of npk

I wouldn’t try to save moldy bud it’s not worth it , you can’t clean it up enough for me
I tried once every way possible & in the end binned it

Gmix · Aug 31, 2025

Tbh I think it was just to much chlorophyll reading up about that & weed migraines.

Seems to say it can cause a build up of co2 & you get a migraine with one side of the head being worse in my case if felt like gas & the veins below the eye get it also & it can cause cluster migraines witch are a lot more painful & darn right weird vs a normal migraine

The way the water went green so quickly makes me think it was that more than a excess of npk witch did make it harsh.

I don’t think you need to do the full six days as soon as the water remains clear seems to be enough

Changing the water on the first day after 4 hrs & then every 12 seems to speed it up.

You do lose taste however I couldn’t taste anything but harsh so in a way it’s brought out the flavour allbeit if they were good you’d lose flavour

After 3 days witch was how long I left it there’s still some flavour/taste left obviously not as much

I wouldn’t say it’s the best thing to do if the buds were fine as like you say folks prefer flavour

That said I am going to test some good bud & only let it soak for 4 hrs as a experiment

wilinski · Sep 18, 2025

What I have read says you put them in the water fresh so it can dissolve all the water solubles .

Week4Bytch said:
Not a fan of that approach, you spend 10-15 days drying then dip it in water?

I

katraiter · Sep 24, 2025

LoveGrowingIt said:
I'm wondering how soaking deactivates chlorophyl. Could it be a lack of oxygen?

Yeah I don't see how that works . Hydrogen. Delays chlorophyll break down.... H2O??? But however ... hydrogen peroxide is oxidizing, which breaks it down . So would you use water treated with peroxide . Like a bud wash ?

Or chlorinated water ...city tap backyard pool water ?

amneziaHaze · Sep 24, 2025

katraiter said:
Yeah I don't see how that works . Hydrogen. Delays chlorophyll break down.... H2O??? But however ... hydrogen peroxide is oxidizing, which breaks it down . So would you use water treated with peroxide . Like a bud wash ?

Or chlorinated water ...city tap backyard pool water ?

i dont think its breaking down anything its just stealing everything.the water still stinks

Gmix · Sep 27, 2025

Honest opinion
After smoking the worst of them with no change in growing style at all bar the person looking after them wasn’t a grower & I didn’t emphasise how much I need to let my water stand before using it.
m
It works to remove ferts & will obviously remove dirt albeit there’s better ways to remove dirt.just a normal bud wash removes dirt.
It doesn’t help with excess chlorophyll
The bud at first is smother
You lose taste & flavour but not completely however enough to make it not that great a smoke
Once it been a few months or so the bud tastes harsh.
The web page isn’t really that good at explaining what a water cure does
My water never smells mind it just went green maybe you’ve a stronger sense of smell

katraiter said:
Yeah I don't see how that works . Hydrogen. Delays chlorophyll break down.... H2O??? But however ... hydrogen peroxide is oxidizing, which breaks it down . So would you use water treated with peroxide . Like a bud wash ?

Or chlorinated water ...city tap backyard pool water ?

amneziaHaze said:
i dont think its breaking down anything its just stealing everything.the water still stinks

Water curing to remove chlorophyll

Water curing to remove chlorophyll

KG1

Gmix

Gmix

KG1

ATLien415

THCosmic

LoveGrowingIt

LoveGrowingIt

Gmix

amneziaHaze

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LoveGrowingIt

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Gmix

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wilinski

katraiter

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