How to Keep Weed Fresh

Nobody likes smoking dry weed. It’s harsh, lacks flavor, and the trichomes have all but deteriorated, which contain all of the cannabinoids and terpenes. Storing your weed is an art in and of itself. Luckily, there are several ways to make sure any cannabis you purchase remains fresh. Conversely, there are also methods of identifying if the weed you’re purchasing is even fresh, to begin with.

It’s just as much our responsibility to be able to identify fresh weed and store it properly as it is on cultivators and retailers to practice organic growing methods and not keep old products on the shelves too long. There’s even such a thing as waiting too long to smoke some potent flower you’ve been saving if it’s not stored properly.

Fresh weed is brimming with flavor and cannabinoids that might more prominently provoke the Entourage Effect. This is the belief that every compound in the cannabis plant works together to create a more holistic effect than any singular compound like THC or CBD. Fresh weed might get you higher for longer.

We’ve put together a comprehensive guide on how to buy fresh weed and store it properly. By the end of this, you’ll fully understand what route you want to go to keep your cannabis at peak freshness.

How to Keep Weed Fresh

Buy Fresh Weed

The first step is to obviously buy fresh weed. What you’ll want to look for is the harvest date on any packaged cannabis you’re thinking about buying. The state requires harvest dates to be printed on each cannabis product in most legal states. Many companies put the harvest date on their packaging without this mandate. It’s important to pay close attention to these dates and seek out product that’s been harvested and packaged within the last couple of months. If by some reason you accidentally miss the harvest date and buy some older, crunchier weed, there may still be hope. There are a few ways that you can even go about making weed fresh again.

Store in an Air-Tight Container

Storing your weed in an air-tight container will help keep your flower fresh. The idea behind this is that the more oxygen your weed is exposed to, the more the freshness will be affected. Even pre-rolls, once packed, should go in an air-tight container to prolong their freshness. We’ll go over a few different types of air-tight containers and the unique benefits they may offer.

Silicon Gasket

Jars with silicon gaskets are a great way to store your weed. Especially if the jar is glass. Silicon is durable, leak-proof, and odor-proof. Unlike plastic, they take a significantly longer time to warp and crack. Any container made out of silicon or has a silicon lid will preserve the freshness of your weed better than a plastic container or lid.

Air-Release Button

There are a few fancy weed containers out on the market that allow you to release excess air from your jar as you close it. This style of jar is typically effective if it’s made out of glass, which is a material with very small pores that allows very little oxygen to pass through at any point. There’s skepticism on whether removing the stale air from a jar of weed will contribute to its prolonged freshness. The material the jar is made out of is typically a bigger defining factor in how much light and oxygen will damage your weed over time.

Pump

Another recent innovation in storing your cannabis flower, stash jars with a pump have a similar effect to those with an air-release button. The idea is to remove all the stale air from your jar to keep your cannabis fresh. Again, these jars are typically made out of glass or silicon which will serve as a proper, odorless storing space for your weed. If they’re made out of plastic or use a plastic lid, you might want to look for something more odorless and durable.

Old Medicine Bottles

A classic method of cannabis storage, old plastic medicine bottles are often used by more veteran smokers to store their goods. The problem with plastic is that it’s significantly more porous than glass or silicon, which means it’s not odor-free. Many of these old medicine bottles are a light orange color as well. This lighter color allows for a lot more UV rays to enter and damage your flower. For many, a jar that can eliminate smell, light, AND keep their weed fresh is the goal. Additionally, plastic storage units can get filled with leftover kief and residue that might be hard to remove without accidentally scraping up some plastic.

Mason Jars

One of the original and possibly most effective methods of storing cannabis are mason jars. Made out of glass, and utilizing metal lids with rubber lining around the rim, mason jars are a great way to keep weed fresh. As mentioned previously, glass is less porous than plastic and allows less oxygen to pass through over time. The seal around the rim of the metal lid adds an extra layer of odor removal to keep things discreet. When using mason jars, the only issue might be portability, as these jars can often be clunky.

Invest in Moisture Packs

Moisture packs are a solid innovation in cannabis storage that allows cultivators and home growers to keep larger quantities of weed fresh for longer. If you’ve also had a bit of weed lying around for a while, putting it in a proper container with a moisture pack may bring it back to life. The biggest companies that create moisture packs that are in use by the cannabis industry are Boveda and Integra Boost.

Boveda

Since 1997, Boveda has been creating two-way humidity control packets that can be used for keeping your terpenes intact, protecting the environment of your guitar, or keeping cigars fresh. Inside every pack is purified water vapor, natural salts, and odorless and tasteless food-grade thickener. Salt plays a part in the water solution when it comes to regulating humidity. Its thickener, Xanthan gum, makes sure the salt doesn’t clump or separate from the water.

Relative Humidity is their gauge for different-sized packets based on how much cannabis you’re trying to store. The ideal humidity varies for different weights. They have sizes for pre-roll packets all the way up to the size you’d need for totes or bins of cannabis. Their ideal humidity typically floats between 58% and 62% depending on the size of the storage unit. Some of the more recent packets from Boveda even have added terpenes inside to boost the flavor of your bud if it gets old.

Integra BOOST

Integra BOOST humidity control packs are the other industry standard for keeping weed fresh. Inside each Integra BOOST pack is a mix of glycerin and water in white kraft paper printed with food-grade inks. Some argue that salt isn’t a sound ingredient because of its corrosive nature. Integra has challenged its design with their FDA-approved packs that are free of salt and great for storing cannabis, dry herbs, cigars, or pantry items.

Integra believes the perfect relative humidity falls somewhere between 55 and 62% and they have different sized packs to accommodate different amounts of herb. Integra BOOST even has round packs that fit nicely inside the lid of your favorite jar of cannabis. It’s worth trying out both Boveda and Integra BOOST packs to see which one you prefer.

Vacuum Sealing Bulk Cannabis

Vacuum sealing bulk cannabis is effective for minimizing the space each bag is taking up and preserving freshness for a smaller window of time. Turkey bags, or freezer bags, are still made of plastic and are therefore more porous than glass. Meaning that oxygen can still get in, slowly, but surely. So, over time, if not kept in colder temperatures, the trichomes on the flowers may degrade and the potency lessen. If you have a large amount of cannabis you’re trying to store for a period of time, a vacuum-sealed bag will keep your weed fresh if it stays colder. Otherwise, it might not retain the same quality if left for an extended period in room temperature environments.

Store in the Freezer

Storing weed in the freezer is typically not a very good idea. Similar to thawing out frozen vegetables or fruits, you’ll notice they become mushy or wet. This same thing will happen to your weed because as water freezes, it first contracts and then expands. Though weed is relatively dry after curing, it still retains 10-15% water content if it’s fresh. As that small amount of water freezes around the tiny trichomes it causes them to break, crumble, or turn into fine powder. You don’t want this to happen. Trichomes are where all of the plant’s potency lies, so preserving them is the utmost goal. Freezing cannabis is only feezible at subcritical temperatures, or by completely removing all water content before freezing. This only really benefits extractors that are making cannabis oil like Live Resin or Live Rosin.

Light vs Dark Conditions

Similar to beer, cannabis is affected by light versus dark conditions. Once done curing, cannabis must be kept in darker areas to prevent light damage. Prolonged exposure to UV light may affect the color of the flower and the trichome integrity. The ideal storage for fresh cannabis is dry, cold, and dark. Independent research has found a . 5% decline in potency per hour of exposure to UV light. Prolonged UV light doesn’t actually convert THCa to THC, but instead degrades the cannabinoid content into useless material.

Avoid Exposure to Heat

Like any dried plant, heat is going to affect it. As previously mentioned, fresh cannabis must be kept in a cold, dry, and dark environment to preserve maximum freshness. When exposed to heat, cannabis will lose significant terpenes and become flavorless, dry, crunchy, and harsh. If you leave your jar of weed out in the hot sun for a long time, you’ll notice that it becomes harsher to smoke.

Last Resort: Orange Peels

This is a tried-and-true trick in the stoner community to try and rehydrate your weed or prolong freshness. If you use a completely air-tight container with an orange peel for a brief time, your weed may in fact return to proper freshness. The only issue that this presents is the fact that orange peels mold over time. So, if you don’t have the mindful eye to remove the orange peel immediately after you notice an increase in your weeds humidity, a Boveda pack might be a safer bet. If you have no other options, try using the orange peel method and keep a watchful eye for when the peel might start to mold.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, there are a ton of different ways to store your weed and a few key points for identifying its freshness. First and foremost, the harvest and packaging date on the product itself is a great indicator of freshness. The more recent the harvest date, the better chance you have at truly fresh weed. When it comes to storing it, glass will always be your best option for eliminating odor and stopping oxygen from getting in.

Silicon is a close second and will keep your weed fresh and odor-free for a solid period of time, and is typically lighter and easier to carry around. Plastic is not a very viable storage space for weed because of its porous and odorous nature and potential to warp or break.

Lastly, if you’re trying to revive some dried-out weed, a Boveda or Integra BOOST pack might bring it back to life.