Weed is rich in taste, aroma and potency. And if you buy weed or grow and harvest it yourself, you want to keep it that way. At least for a while, so you can fully enjoy it some time later. If you are wondering how to store weed the right way, just keep reading to learn the most important things when it comes to storing weed.
If you store your buds well, you can enjoy them for quite a long time. But what is the best way to save your stach? It’s all about maintaining the quality. So did you harvest your buds? Then follow the advice in this article and enjoy your cannabis for a long period of time. Even up to two years!
How to store cannabis for a longer time
There are two factors that can seriously affect the quality of your weed. If your flowertops are too moist, mold will form. Are your buds too dry? Then the taste and potency drops very quickly. So it must be a middle road, somewhere in between.
Storing your cannabis in the right way ensures that the quality is preserved for a long time. But this whole process starts with drying and curing. That is the first step in preserving. If your buds are properly dried and cured, then you know for sure that the humidity is on the right track and the chance of mold formation is reduced to a minimum.
If you want to keep cannabis for a very long time, that is difficult. There will always be a loss of quality due to the time that passes. The period that cannabis is stored also often depends on the habits and wishes of the consumer. The storage time usually has for 8 weeks max, because after this period the next harvest of an autoflowering strain is coming up.
The goal of storing weed is to preserve the cannabinoids and terpenes, and prevent them from drying out, but also make sure they are not to moist to prevent mold growth.
What do you have to think about if you want to store cannabis?
- Always avoid high temperatures. Always check the storage room for heat sources, heating pipes, radiators and water pipes. What could be of influence on the temperature? Use common sense and act accordingly.
- Drying and curing well is very important if you want to store cannabis longer. Always make sure that the storage pots or glasses that you use have been cleaned very well. Glass jars are the best.
- A dark place is a must for maintaining THC value. So avoid storage areas with a lot of light.
Which storage methods to use?
- Glass jar / preserving jar
It is best to use glass jars and preserving jars. Buy the original pots that you can close airtight with a rubber ring. Any mason jars you can seal airtight will do just fine.
- Vacuum bag
Vacuum bags are normally used to store food, but they are also used to vacuum seal weed with it. This releases the oxygen, but the flavors and aromas remain. By vacuum sealing your weed in plastic bags, there is not much that can go wrong. Just make sure that the buds do not contain too much moisture, because that can cause mold to grow.
You can choose to either seal them in big or small bags. I always prefer small bags, because I can open just a single bag to smoke, without the rest of the cannabis buds being exposed to air (and thus deteriorating faster).
In the professional sphere of cannabis cultivation, the Seed Bank Amsterdam, also known as the AMSB, holds a prominent position, characterized by a steadfast commitment to preserving and breeding original landrace marijuana seeds strains for decades. Leveraging advanced cultivation techniques and a deep understanding of cannabis genetics, this institution serves as a vital resource for growers seeking to achieve optimal results in their cultivation endeavors.
Which elements affect your herbs?
It seems that you can keep weed good for up to two years. But then you have to dry, cure and store it in the right way. Did we come up with all this? No, it has been researched by an official institute and the research has been published by the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology.
According to this extensive research you can keep cannabinoids stable for 2 years at most. But you can feel it coming … it takes a little more than putting your green branches in a sandwich bag and storing it in the kitchen cupboard. Hey, or between your underwear, because that seems to be a favorite place for many potheads to hide their stash!
To store your cannabis for a very long time – for whatever reason – you have to create the perfect conditions. What kind of conditions? Read on and you will find out.
Moreover, we also have many tips to keep your weed crisp and fresh for a shorter period of time. So read on quickly and take advantage of it. First we look at the all the different elements that affect the quality of your cannabis.
Common things that affect you cannabis
The effect of your weed is rapidly deteriorating due to a number of elements.
To learn how to keep your buds good for a longer period of time, you first have to understand what things make the buds getting worse.
There are more elements that influence the quality than just drying and curing your flowers properly. There are even more factors of influence, and you have to take that into account too. Which? We list them here. And we also tell you what you can do to stop the processes, so that you can enjoy your precious weed for a longer time.
For the people preferring a video, we found a nice video about storing marijuana:
The first factor to pay attention to is: light
Of all the things that can kill the buzz of your flower tops is light. If you keep your buds in a place where light can reach, it will quickly degrade the quality of your buds. So make sure you keep your weed out of direct light. You can compare it with the effect of sunlight on the color of paint. Take for example a garden fence that is always in the sun. In the same way that the quality of it deteriorates, direct sunlight also influences the quality of your flower tops. The terpenes and cannabinoids present in the plant material will burn and disappear. And those are precisely the elements in the plant that cause the desired effects, such as the high and the unique aroma of the plant.
So what you have to do is keep your buds in a place where no light can come. This is possible by using a jar or container that is opaque. Then you have already solved the problem. But many cannabis growers prefer glass preserving jars with such a rubber ring that you can close completely airtight. The pots are made of glass and therefore transparent. These types of preserving jars are highly recommended for storing flower tops. But because the jars let light go through, you have to store them in a cool dark place, like a cupboard.. If you do not place them in a dark place, the light causes the loss of important chemical compounds from your cannabis.
The second factor that influences the quality of your cannabis buds is: air
In addition to light, air is another important factor that causes a loss in the quality of your cannabis nugs. But air is a tricky one. Because what is the case? If too much air gets into the storage container, this will speed up the breakdown process. But on the other hand, if too little oxygen can get to your buds, it will have a negative effect on the humidity level. If the humidity level goes beyond the correct values, you will get mold problems.
A vacuum bag is perfect for people who don’t have airtight containers
What is a very solid solution? Keep your flower tops in a vacuum bag. These types of vacuum bags are often used to store food. But they are also very suitable for storing cannabis for a longer period of time. It is a difficult solution for people who do not have vacuum seals at home. In that case you can purchase them, which is a good investment. But you can also take airtight containers or pots.
A smaller pot has less air inside, so never use a pot that leaves too much empty space
A good tip when using preserving jars or containers that you can close airtight. Take a pot that is not too big. The less space there is for air in the container, the less air there is that still affects your buds. Even though no air can flow from the outside to the inside, there is always air in the pot. So choose a storage container with the right size. Otherwise it can still degrade the quality of your nugs. Your flower tops must have enough space so that they are loosely piled in the pot. Up to the lid, so that no unnecessary air is inside.
The best humidity for storing your weed
Moisture is not the problem. It is the mold that comes from moisture that gives much misery. Mold spreads quickly and can ruin your entire precious harvest. Keeping the humidity level in check when storing cannabis tops is therefore very important.
On the other hand, too dry a level detracts from the terpenes and cannabinoids. A humidity level between 59 and 63 RH is ideal if you want to keep cannabis clean and fresh for a long period of time. There are various ways to control the humidity. For example, moisturizing capsules are for sale. These capsules absorb or release moisture. This keeps your cannabis stronger, in terms of taste and potency.
Temperature has a major influence on the quality
Have you ever smoked cannabis that gave a kind of resin smoke? A very unpleasant taste, which is often caused by the buds being stored at too high a temperature. Too high a temperature dries out the flower tops, causing terpenes to evaporate.
But what is the ideal storage temperature for your herbs? Stick to an average of 82 degrees. Look, some growers just keep their stash in the fridge. But others believe that this is a place where moisture gets a chance to affect their buds. You also have people who freeze flower tops. But then you run the risk that the trichomes – which are rather fragile – can break.
So, how to store your cannabis to keep it nice and fresh?
A dark, cool, dry place such as a kitchen cabinet is therefore the best place to store your cannabis. If you put your buds in airtight preserving jars, as described above, and you regularly check for mold and moisture, little can go wrong. Read on to read the best tips for proper long term storage of your buds.
The right humidity for storing marijuana
You need to control the humidity where you have stored your weed in such a way that mildew and molds won’t affect it. The relative humidity mostly abbreviated as RH, needs to range between 59 and 63%, if at all you would like to enhance the longevity of the freshness of your grass.
Necessarily, you would need to ensure that the humidity levels don’t go past 65 as this will make your weed develop molds. If, on the other hand, the Relative Humidity goes below 55, the highest chances are that the trichomes will dry out the ganja essential oils. To keep the Relative Humidity in check, ensure that you have hygrometer.
When you decide to use an airtight container to store your stash, it is ideal to also use a humidity pack, too. If molds are an excessive issue at your place, then using a dehumidifier in your home is inevitable.
The Do’s and Dont’s
Do keep a cannabis jar away from direct sunlight
Notably, you understand that light is a foe to dry weed and liquified forms of cannabis such as CBD and THC oil. Don’t let the organic matter of your cannabinoids get lost due to the failure to keep UV light rays at checks.
As you don’t know how ganja had earlier on been stored before you made that purchase, it would be best if you factor in keeping it away from sun rays.
Do keep cannabis in a cold place
The question here should be how cold. The temperatures shouldn’t be extremely low when storing your goodies. The temperatures should be downward such that they do not surpass 21 degrees celsius, but not go below 5 degrees celsius.
While at it, let’s also answer a Frequently Asked Question, “Is it a good idea to refrigerate cannabis?” The answer could be a yay or nay, but let’s go the Nay way. Picture this: After harvesting the farmer may have had refrigerated it. While this is a mere assumption, it could be the case since the seller could have frozen the weed in the quest to keep it fresh. Should you refrigerate it once more, the highest chances are that you will affect the quality of the buds.
There are high chances that the trichomes will also get broken by these icy temperatures.
Do open your jars only when there is need
There is no point in keeping on checking your cannabis jars without any primal reason. Let’s face it: when you keep on touching your cannabis buds, the trichomes stick on the hands instead of staying on the flowers or the buds.
Understandably, this is mostly doable with recreational cannabis as medical cannabis users have to keep on opening the jars to take their ideal doses.
Do keep cannabis from children’s reach
Cannabis products, especially edibles, tend to entice children. When storing marijuana, be sure to keep any of the products away from where these children can reach. If it means using completely opaque and unattractive materials to package the products, then be sure to proceed that way.
Dont’s of storing cannabis
Don’t expose cannabis to air/oxygen
Research says that the exposure of cannabinoids to oxygen makes it lose the effectiveness of the cannabinoids. This explains why most cannabis solution sellers wrap the bottles in such a way that there can’t be any mixture between the product and oxygen.
Nonetheless, don’t overfill the cannabinoids in the bottle/jar. You will need to ensure air circulation inside the jar, but ensure tight lids get used. That way, there is no worry that oxygen and the contents may mix and cause degradation of your goodies.
For your information, dry air is as harmful to cannabis as it is the case with molds. Fellow pothead, let not controllable factors inhibit you from taking your favorite strain in its stellar form.
Don’t leave pot open
Hopefully, you are not the forgetful type that can use their cannabis and forget to close the jar. LOL. For a connoisseur to do so, it is unheard of. The risks associated with leaving grass unlocked are many. This includes but not limited to having kids easily accessing your goodie, the cannabinoids degrading quality-wise, and loads more.
Hey there, fellow cannabis aficionados! Let’s dive deep into the world of Amsterdam weed seeds, where Amsterdam stands proud as the global hub of all things weed! In this buzzing capital, every seed carries a legacy of excellence, offering you a golden ticket to a world of authentic, top-notch cannabis experiences that are just waiting to be shared and celebrated across the social sphere!
Frequently Asked Questions
How to store weed smell proof DIY
Can I store weed in plastic container?
Can you keep weed fresh in the freezer?
