Keep It Fresh: How to Store Cannabis Correctly
Dispensary prices are enough reason to store your cannabis correctly. Then, of course, there are issues of quality and safety.
You want to keep it fresh. After all, herbal cannabis does have a shelf-life, a use-by date, so to speak, that varies from strain to strain. So, you want to store correctly and well to protect and prolong its value.
Tips to store your cannabis correctly:
1. Seeds: Everything starts with seeds that people can now raise on their own in an increasing number of states and throughout Canada. Growing your own is a special break for medical cannabis patients. But, those seeds need proper storage.
- Temperature: Cannabis seeds will store in airtight containers for several years at room temperature. That means you cannot open the containers more than necessary. It’s true that seeds will lose their germination potential over long periods, but kept sealed in their containers, they will be viable for some time.
- Refrigerator: The refrigerator works if it does not promote moisture buildup. You must use vacuum-sealed bags or airtight containers. But, they may last more effectively in a small refrigerator at temperatures lower than your household icebox.
- Freezer: Freezing tends to rupture the seed cells. Freezer-stored seeds will last a long time, but there will be some product loss.
Commercial producers do freeze their seeds as an efficiency process. Working on large-scale production, they find cost-savings in freezing, but you won’t have access to their specialized equipment.
2. Container: Flimsy plastics bags only create static electricity which causes weed to deteriorate, so you want to invest in proven containers.
- Budvac® offers has an innovative vacuum jar. A pump, positioned on top of the jar lid, pulls oxygen and moisture from the storage container.
- Cannador® sells Vapor Beads and Boveda® to wick moisture from stored product and a line of top-shelf humidors. Elegantly-finished wood boxes hold canisters at the recommended 55% to 62% relative humidity.
- Cannaline has an extensive catalog of stash jars and concentrate containers.
- CoolJarz™ products feature child-proof containers. The CJ Evolution™ Child-Resistant Extract Containers are silicone-lined to protect the quality in packaging flower, concentrate, and edibles.
- CVault® Humidity-Controlled Containers use food grade stainless steel and seal their air-tight containers with a 0.24-inch silicone seal.
- Enjoy Jars created an odor-proof, airtight and water-resistant container with four compartments to store a variety of buds or leaf.
- Herb Guard has introduced a line of smell proof ultra-violet proof jars in various sizes.
- Miron Violet Glass bottles and jars come in apothecary or wide-mouth styles. Stunning, stylish, and decorative, Miron Violet protects the contents from harmful light.
Ceramic containers will eliminate some of the biggest threats, but you must make sure the container is right-sized for the supply. Otherwise, you are storing more air than grass.
Easily available if pricey food vacuum sealers let you package your cannabis by removing the oxygen and heat-sealing them closed. And, whatever you do, you want to avoid crushing the buds with too much handling.
3. Location: Where you store your cannabis has as much influence as to how you do it. The right environment regarding light, temperature, and humidity has a lot to do with survival.
- Light: Most users store their cannabis in glass containers, but clear glass does not protect against damaging light and UV-sunrays. You’ll want to select amber, blue, or green glass to keep the cannabis happy.
- Cool: You should store your weed at 12.78° C (55° F) to 21.11° C (70° F). Going lower will prolong the curling that dries cannabis and going high encourages oxidation and mold. Some recommend a storage temperature between 10° C (50° F) and 23.8° C (74.84° F).
- Dry: Dry cannabis will soon powder, and moist buds will lead to mold and mildew. Some add a little peel from a lemon, orange, or potato, or a lettuce leaf to absorb the moisture, but you must remember anything organic can grow mold, so keep the addition fresh.
4. Concentrates and other derivatives: Concentrates, oils, tinctures, waxes, and more appeal to a new cannabis demographic. Many people make their own to save money or improve the quality. They are usually THC potent, so using concentrates needs some coaching on storing and handling.
- Rubber gloves: Sticky concentrates will adhere to your hands and tools. are required because concentrates are very sticky. You don’t want to transfer your germs and body fluids to the product, and you don’t want to waste product that sticks to your hands.
- Parchment: You can use parchment paper on your work surface to reduce the sticking. And, before you store a sticky concentrate, you can slip it into a parchment paper pouch. You can buy 500 bags at Green Dakon or find cheaper alternatives at a local gourmet cooking supply store.
5. Edibles: Cannabis-infused edibles should be stored in cool, dark, and dry places, too if you want to retain their potency and taste. But, you must remember edibles include other ingredients with their own life-span. For example, cannabis brownies will last as long as regular brownies.
- Packaging: As dispensaries improve under legalization, many edibles now come in secure and reusable packaging. It the package is resealable, keeping edibles in their original container with its labeling should avoid confusion with other stored items.
- Perishability: Candies, infused brownies and breads, and more should have a sell-by date. And, that date should schedule how and when you use the material.
- Oils and Tinctures: If you divide infused oils into ice cube tray compartments, freezing will protect them a long time. Treating tinctures and butters the same should preserve their freshness when needed.
Cannabis breaks easily. It’s acutely sensitive to light, temperature, and humidity. If you raise cannabis for your own medical use, you must protect the quality of the product and organize its preparation and use.
If you raise it for recreational use, you should separate the stash you plan to use soon from the stash you want to save for a long time. As you exhaust the first stash, you can move the other out of its storage mode.
Packaging and storing your cannabis correctly will protect your medical treatment, your casual fun, and your financial investment Doing it right puts you in charge of quality control.