How To Store Cannabis 

Storing cannabis impacts the quality and potency of the flower; it allows you to maintain and preserve the taste, aroma, and cannabinoids. Knowing how to store cannabis is equally important as knowing which strain you wish to use. 

There are many containers available that you can use to store your cannabis, but you do not need anything fancy to store your flowers properly. Glass is widely accepted as the best material to store weed compared to plastic or metal containers. Airtight glass jars, in particular, perform better than plastic or metal containers in retaining the terpenes and cannabinoids of the flower.

Why Store Cannabis? 

The importance of storing cannabis is equally important to the storage of everything else you consume, it should be preserved, or it will have a negative effect on the quality of the product. 

Although weed does not expire, it does deteriorate and can impact the potency, taste, and cannabinoids of the cannabis flower. 

Cannabis degrades easily, and exposure to heat or light will see the flower dry out. When stored correctly, the flower is best consumed within six to eight months from its harvest date. It is important to note that cannabis concentrates or edibles will have their own storage guidelines that are outlined on the packaging. 

What To Look Out For When Cannabis Has Not Been Stored Correctly

As mentioned above, cannabis degrades over time and if it is not stored correctly, that process can fasten. As preserving weed retains the rich nutrients of the flower, it can also lose it if it is not preserved correctly. Sometimes, the cannabinoids can convert from THC to CBN. 

Here is everything you should know, what happens to your cannabis if it has been lying around: 

Lost THC 

When cannabis is exposed to direct heat or sunlight, the cannabinoids begin to break down, including THC. This means that the potency of the flower begins to wane and will not get you as high when consumed. Fear not, as this process does not happen too quickly, but it will be noticeable after a few weeks. 

Conversion to CBN

When exposed to oxygen and heat, cannabinoids not only break down, but it converts into another cannabinoid called CBN (Cannabinol). Although it does have psychoactive properties, it is rather mild and won’t get you high. 

Lost Flavour

As cannabis gets weaker from direct sunlight and left open to absorb oxygen, the terpenes begin to dry. This means that the flavour profiles of the flower loses its effectiveness and when consumed it will be a harsh smoke. 

Factors To Consider When Storing Cannabis

Here’s what you should keep in mind when storing cannabis:

Temperature

The ideal temperature to store cannabis is between 15 – 20 Degree Celsius. Freezing or humid and hot temperatures can dry out the cannabis, which directly affects the terpenes and cannabinoids. 

Humidity

The environment in which cannabis is stored can impact the colour, aroma and flavour profile of the plant. When stored in humid conditions, cannabis can grow mouldy or when stored in dry conditions, it can become brittle. Controlling the environment will help you preserve the quality of the cannabis. 

Exposure To Light And Contaminants

Exposure to direct sunlight will degrade your cannabis fast and make it less potent. For example, storing cannabis on your rolling tray exposes it to direct fluctuations in humidity and temperature, as well as degradation from exposure to light. This also opens up for environmental contamination from dust and particles in the air.

Cannabis Storage: The Basics

When harvesting cannabis, the flower should go through the proper curing and storage processes to ensure optimal usage. The post-harvest curing procedure and storing methods are similar in ensuring an optimised environment.

When curing cannabis, you want to find a cool, dark and mostly dry spot. The flower heads could still be attached to the branch and hanged upside down or trimmed and placed in jars with moisture absorber materials, maintaining a 58% – 62% humidity of the controlled environment. 

Within a few weeks of curing, you will have fully cured cannabis ready to be consumed. To ensure freshness during this process, avoid trapping excess moisture in the curing jars.  

When you store cannabis, you will retain the quality of the cured flower. Cannabis that is stored correctly will keep its structure, its potency and smell. Cannabis that is not correctly stored will harden, turn into a brownish colour and become brittle and crumble upon touch. Overtime, the potency of cannabis will wane.

Keeping It Fresh

Now that we know what to consider, keeping your cannabis fresh is a fairly easy task and when done correctly, you can keep it for a long period of time. Storing cannabis starts at the post-harvest curing process and follows the same recommendations when purchasing cannabis, by storing them in airtight mason jars and keeping it in a controlled environment. 

An effective controlled environment would be using the same principles when curing cannabis. A cool, moderately dry and dark spot will retain the freshness of the flower in the storage jars.

Storing cannabis inside a plastic, like a sandwich bag or a flip-top medication container, will protect it from direct air, but there are still a few issues like the stem of the cannabis that can pierce through, ripping a hole in the bag. There’s also static found in plastic, which the precious trichomes can stick to. 

Flip-top medical containers, although provided by dispensaries, are not airtight. Baggies and plastic containers might be better than not storing cannabis at all, but it is not the best storage method. 

Airtight, sealed glass or non-porous, non-static surface containers such as canning jars or mason jars are a good and very inexpensive option. These will keep the majority of air out and the contaminants at bay. As long as you store the container in a location out of the light with a good temperature of 15 – 20 Degree Celsius, you will preserve the quality of your cannabis for a long time.