If you take a look at any cannabis website, you will most likely find a plethora of information regarding the substance itself and how it can be utilized to get you high or to provide you with specific medical benefits. One topic you may not see pop up as often, however, is weed storage. The truth about most weed enthusiasts is that they will have a fairly large amount of weed on them at the time and they will often need to keep some stored away until they use it. The problem with weed storage is that not everyone knows how to properly store it and storing it the wrong way can result in weed that is not as great as it was when you first purchased it. When it comes down to weed, the level of quality has a significant impact on your overall experience. To make sure that you have a great smoke session every time, follow the guide provided below to ensure that you are storing your weed away properly until it is ready to be smoked.
Why Do You Want to Preserve Your Weed?
Weed preservation is just as important as any other aspect of the weed-smoking process. When it is not properly stored away, the weed could dry out or face other issues that damage its material and, therefore, its active ingredients. It also makes it harder for you to smoke if the weed is not the right consistency and is easily crumbled down into a powder or is too moist and moldy to actually smoke. Put simply, high-quality bud is only as good as you manage to take care of it. If you store it poorly, you are going to quickly lose the quality of your marijuana flowers and possibly lose out on your stash altogether.
How to Best Store Your Weed?
With the importance of proper weed storage in mind, the next step to take is to figure out what the best methods of weed storage are. To get you started, here are some of the highly recommended ways that will keep your weed safe from harm.
Pop Tops
If you’ve ever purchased a full ounce of weed from a proper dispensary, you have most likely received your weed in a couple of dark tubes once or twice. These pop tops are transparent or solid colored tubes that often have a dark surface such as purple, green, or gray, and serve to hold a certain amount of weed at a time. These pop tops are a great way to continually store your weed and you can save them as you accumulate them to store weed that comes delivered or purchased in bags rather than in containers.
Mason Jars
Unlike pop tops, mason jars are absolutely everywhere and are another great way to safely store away your weed. These jars will help prevent moisture from getting into your marijuana stash and can also help you store larger quantities of marijuana at a time if you often purchase larger amounts. However, these types of jars are typically clear and you must make sure to store them in a place such as a pantry to make sure that the cannabis isn’t exposed to sunlight.
Pet Treat Containers
Having a pet comes with a ton of perks and one of them is the fact that having pet treat containers gives you the perfect storage containers for your weed as well. These containers are often airtight and help to protect your herbs. They are often rather large so they are perfect for handling larger quantities of cannabis as well. Just make sure that you clean it out beforehand so that you don’t smoke weed that smells like dog or cat treats!
Air-Tight Storage
It’s important to remember that the suggestions above are not the end-all-be-all of cannabis storage. If you don’t have access to any of these products, don’t fret! One of the most necessary parts of proper weed storage is simply having an air-tight container. Whether that is a Tupperware box or a cookie jar, it doesn’t matter. As long as it does the job, it works well for what you are trying to achieve.
What Degrades Weed?
Half of the battle is knowing what you should be storing your weed in. However, you can still make mistakes that will cause your weed to degrade despite storing it in the proper containers. Here are some of the reasons why weed degrades and some of the conditions you need to take into account in order to prevent your own weed from breaking down and losing its quality.
Light
Light, which is often closely linked with temperature, will break down the organic components of your weed and render many of the natural ingredients much less effective than they would be if the marijuana was well-kept after harvesting the flowers. This applies to UV light so it is important to keep your cannabis away from direct sunlight and if it does come into contact with light, make sure that it is kept to a minimum as long-term exposure is what causes the most damage to marijuana. The darker the area in which your weed is stored, the better.
Air
You can take away all the light and this would only prove beneficial to the preservation of your weed. Air, on the other hand, needs to be much more balanced and you need to have a perfect balance between too much and too little in order to keep your weed perfect. If you have too little air, moist weed can quickly make the environment too humid and expose your weed to moisture-related problems. If you have too much air, overexposure to oxygen will cause the weed to break down. You need just enough air to make sure that it doesn’t break down or grow any foreign contaminants.
Moisture
Too much moisture, either from the air around the marijuana or from the marijuana itself, is likely to lead to the growth of mold and mildew. This completely ruins the marijuana and makes it so that you are unable to smoke it. (If you do smoke it anyways, you run the risk of dealing with the negative side effects that come with inhaling the burnt mold.) Even if only a little bit develops on some of the weed, most of the other weed will still be affected by the spores and once a small bit develops, it is likely to spread quickly as this means that your weed is very moist. Make sure to keep your weed fairly dry but not too dry to the point that it begins to degrade as well.
Temperature
Like air, heat and cold also have a massive impact on your marijuana. If the temperature around your cannabis is too hot, it can heat up and wear down the cannabis and terpenes and begin to dry them out. However, cold temperatures can also increase the chances of mold and mildew growing as well as causing your plants to become more brittle and breaking down the active ingredients. You want to keep your herbs cool but you don’t want to cool them off to the point of being useless. Keep this in mind when you are storing your herbs away.
Storing Weed
If you’re looking to do more than simply keep your weed in a couple of jars, here are some additional tips that will help to make sure that your weed is well-protected.
Use Vacuum Sealed Jars or Bags
As a general rule, you shouldn’t store your weed in bags. These types of containers can encourage sweating and the same applies to glass jars like mason jars. However, these types of conditions can be avoided if you are able to vacuum seal your plastic bags or by using glass jars or other containers that contain air-tight seals on their lids. These types of containers are abundant and you should have no problem finding these products for your marijuana. If you are looking to vacuum seal your bags instead, you can find machines that will handle this process as well.
Make Sure It’s Tinted and Not Transparent
If you receive any weed in a container, you will notice that if you can see into the container, it is most likely tinted rather than clear. Why is this? Well, tinted containers help to protect your weed from light if it is left out in the sun at any point in time and will help to provide some extra protection whereas completely clear containers will simply let the light right in. As we noted above, light exposure can degrade your weed. Make sure that any container, whether it is made of glass or plastic, is tinted to keep your herbs protected.
Cannabis Humidor
A cannabis humidor is a device that keeps your herbs fresh and prevents the moisture and the air around the substance from becoming a major problem. These types of long-term storage are great for those who plan on storing their marijuana for years to come rather than for a couple of months at a time. In addition, these types of wooden box offerings are a bit more stylish than the traditional jar or container and are great for those who are interested in a product that looks good as well.
Boveda Packs
Beyond simple storage methods, there are also more advanced technologies on the market that serve to cater to your bud’s every need. Known as Boveda Packs, these small items contain salts and beads capable of absorbing water. These ingredients help to maintain humidity levels and either absorb moisture if it is too high or provide moisture when it is too low. When combined with certain storage methods, these products make for great additions to help your weed thrive in the long run.
What You Shouldn’t Do
We will always aim to take the right actions that help our weed succeed. Sometimes, however, these actions can have unintentional, damaging consequences that ruin our marijuana. To better prepare yourself, here are some of the unhelpful things that you shouldn’t do to try to keep your weed fresh.
Don’t Freeze It or Put It in the Refrigerator
Because all sources state to keep your weed in a cool place, it is logical to take it to the next step and to assume that the refrigerator would be a suitable storage place or even the freezer. After all, both locations will remain cool all of the time and there is no light shining on your bud unless you open the fridge or freezer for a midnight snack. Unfortunately, storing your weed in the fridge or freezer is actually bad for it. Your fridge is too cool for your bud and can create higher moisture levels that promote mold and mildew growth over time. The freezer itself has temperatures that are too low and will make the plant matter brittle and lessen the efficacy of the THC and other cannabinoids and terpenes. The only time you should put your weed in the freezer is if you plan on making some of your own bubble hash.
Don’t Store in Paper or Foil
In a pinch, you may think that paper or foil would work as a temporary container, right? Actually, no. Both paper and foil are not protective enough to keep your weed from drying out or becoming moister and may instead add to the problem rather than keeping it protected. While you may be able to add some foil or paper to the bottom of a container to keep your weed in one place, you should never store it directly in paper or foil.
Don’t Store in Plastic or Ziploc Bags
The reason we recommended a machine when it came to vacuum-sealed bags is that many people will assume that they can use Ziploc bags or other plastic bags with seals for these purposes. While these bags do help to keep air out, they are not foolproof and can still make it so that your weed is open to contamination. Specifically, these types of bags can make for extremely humid environments that will cause mold to spread. If you do choose a bag, make sure it is one that can be vacuum sealed properly so that you don’t run the risk of ruining your cannabis stash.
Don’t Store Near Heat
As we stated earlier, direct heat is a big problem. However, indirect heat that still creates higher temperatures around your bud is nearly just as dangerous. When in contact with direct heat, you can still slowly wear down all the qualities that make your marijuana great and if there is enough air and moisture present, you could potentially promote mold growth. Things happen but always make sure to double-check that your chosen storage location is cool and away from any heat sources.
Don’t Use a Tobacco Humidor
The cannabis humidor borrows its functions and design from the tobacco humidor. Make no mistake, however, these two devices are not interchangeable and using a tobacco humidor for your weed can do more harm than good. This is due to the fact that the wood used in a tobacco humidor is designed to keep tobacco at a higher humidity level and to allow the wood to intermingle with the leaves to provide a more flavorful taste and provide it with essential oils that enhance the experience. These are all qualities that work well for tobacco but do not work for cannabis. Reserve your buds for the cannabis humidor only.
Conclusion
Weed storage is one of the most important aspects of the marijuana experience as it will decide how future weed sessions are carried out after you have purchased a new batch of cannabis. If you are wanting to better store your weed but don’t know where to start, use the comprehensive guide above as a reference when you begin shopping around for better materials and hunting for the right storage location in your home.
