Let’s face it, my dear friends: Colorado Mary Jane is profoundly fresh, tasty, and potent these days. As you return to your house with your new stash, you begin to open the jar to load a grand bowl. The sweet cannabis smells fill your surroundings with the attractive smells of your favorite dispensary.
You want to be able to maintain that beautiful marijuana essence and aroma and these days, many serious canna-connoisseurs have several methods for keeping the freshness of their buds maintained. That said, you ponder in that thinker of yours, how do I keep my weed fresh?
Well, I won’t keep you in suspense.
Let’s look at why you should try to have accurate marijuana storage solutions, exactly what will keep your marijuana freshest, and how long your buds could last you in the best of fresh conditions.
When considering how to keep flower at its freshest, it all begins with the flower you decide to buy and the way those buds are cured after harvest.
The curing process of marijuana cultivation dictates whether the harvested flower is properly dried.
This provides optimization of potency, maximum terpene output, and rids of moisture.
With a complete, controlled curing process, the stability of the different molecules within the plant (THC, cannabinoids, terpenes, etc.) becomes much stronger.
If you maintain well-stored marijuana, your favorite buds potentially can stay fresh for up to 2 years (sometimes longer). Even if you plan to puff it all down in a few days, proper weed storage will make sure you keep getting the most out of your marijuana.
The best way you can extend the life of your marijuana is to limit the amount your buds are exposed to the worldly elements.
Glass jars are a great option for maintaining a level of freshness for your marijuana. Glass jars will create an airlocked containment for your buds which prevents any kind of bacteria or moisture created by environmental conditions.
It also helps to do these steps (relatively) quickly: open your cannabis container, pick out the buds you will smoke, then immediately get your jar closed to minimize contamination.
Glass jars with rubber, casket-like seals protect your buds from being exposed to the air by shutting them tighter inside.
There are various sizes for different weights of cannabis and typically you can find a case of various jars at any local Walmart or grocery store.
Moisture is the biggest enemy of Miss Mary Jane’s. The control of humidity is absolutely fundamental for maintaining the integrity of your marijuana while preventing your marijuana from getting different kinds of contaminants (mildew, mold, etc.).
If there is too little moisture in your buds, trichomes will dry out completely and quickly degrade any terpenes or cannabinoids present.
But, if you allow there to be too much moisture present in the air around your herb, mildew and mold are much more likely to thrive.
Low levels of humidity tend to damage your buds by breaking down the terpenes, trichomes, and/or cannabinoids much more quickly.
This also can affect the potency, flavors, and aromas of your weed. Boveda packs are great for combating low humidity.
They are a product you can buy which will absorb and if needed, re-introduce moisture back into your buds if they become too dehydrated.
High levels of humidity are probably worse, however. With high levels of humidity, things like mold and mildew can develop.
Smoking products with mold or mildew can cause serious health problems. This is why it is recommended to have your buds in an environment with moisture between 59% to 65%.
This allows the maintenance of potency, flavors, and smells. Note that mold typically begins to form at humidity levels over 65%.
Similar to how the paint on someone’s car will fade slowly if the car is not garaged, light and sunlight are arguably the biggest factors in the degradation of your stash.
Ultraviolet light rays are the culprit when degrading your cannabis.
When choosing your glass jar, consider a darker tint container. The more exposure your weed has to light, the slimmer the chances of your flower maintaining its freshness. Marijuana is like other plants in terms of decaying by environmental factors; ie light. Lots of light exposure quickly dry any terpenes present in your marijuana and over time and sucks out aromas.
If you maintain proper temperature levels in your cannabis, your weed can last you for years. The perfect temperature for storing your buds is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
If temperatures are much higher, your marijuana and terpenes will start to evaporate. This outcome brings dry, harsh buds without terpenes and flavor.
For proper storage, make sure you store your cannabis in a dark and cooler environment. But on the low-temperature end, don’t store your buds in a refrigerator.
A refrigerator tends to fluctuate too much in temperature from you or others around you opening/closing the door too often. The inconsistency can lead to another way your weed could potentially grow mold or mildew. Also, refrain from putting your weed in your freezer either. This causes trichomes to break off and lower potency.
So now, I hope you realize the importance of proper weed storage. Your marijuana will most definitely not last forever.
Over time, changes to the buds occur with light, humidity/moisture, and temperature.
When you maintain your buds properly, your buds can retain potency, flavor, smells, and terpenes for up to 2 months.