When it comes to the topic of preserving your cannabis, freezing it can be one of the best ways to do so. If you have some good weed and don’t go through the work of properly preserving it, this can lead to its degradation both chemically and physically. Inside the buds, your THC will begin to break down over time, which will lead to substantially lower potency in even a month or two. Additionally, your buds will begin to dry out and crumble if they’re not stored properly, which can make them much harder to work with. The worst-case scenario is that your buds begin molding, which will make them completely unusable. One of the best ways to make your buds hardier in the first place is by properly curing them when your harvest is complete. If you’re only trying to store your marijuana short term, you likely won’t have to make any special preparations. You can just store them in sealed glass or ceramic containers, which will keep them good for up to six months. If you’re truly storing them long term, for six months or more, freezing is absolutely one of the best ways to do this. As with many techniques and methods in the cannabis world, it comes with both advantages and disadvantages, so use this method at your own discretion. There are a few other ways you can keep your ganja buds good for a while, so try and measure every method and figure out which one will work best for your situation.
Different Cannabis Storing Methods
There are quite a few different ways to store cannabis buds after they’ve been harvested. When you’re harvesting your marijuana plants, you should always go through the process of curing. Not only will this help further develop the flavors and potency of your buds, but you’ll also be properly storing them as a natural part of the process. Curing is done by placing buds loosely inside of ceramic or glass jars after they’ve been cut and dried for a while, anywhere between five to ten days. Using specific materials is important, because storing marijuana or any other organic matter inside plastic for long periods of time has shown to reduce its quality. As trace chemicals from the plastic seep into your buds, they will likely lose a bit of their nice aroma and potency. On top of this, plastic can actually carry a mild static charge, which can cause the crystalline trichome structures of THC to fall off and stick to the container, so avoiding plastic is a top priority. So, there’s essentially one primary method of storing your chronic buds, but there’s also one more tried and true method, which is freezing. Using very low temperatures to preserve your buds will allow them to last a much longer time, though it may come with some drawbacks. The simple way of doing this is either by keeping them in their curing containers or vacuum sealing them. You can then store them inside a freezer, which should be kept as dark and dry as possible for the best results.
Advantages Of Freezing Cannabis
Storing your cannabis for the long term can be considered as a kind of transaction. You’ll be able to keep your weed potent and consumable for much longer than naturally intended, but of course there’s a bit to lose by gaining this. Fortunately, the advantages are great, because with freezing your weed it can last for years on end. However, your frozen cannabis buds will abide by the law of diminishing returns, so the earlier you use it the better. Using the freezing method has allowed some smokers to consume their weed up to two years after beginning storage, though of course it can likely last even longer. Another simple advantage of freezing your weed is that it’s kept out of sight and out of mind. You won’t have to take up a storage space inside your home, as you can just store them properly and stick them in your deep freeze in the garage. Any time you need some, you can just grab a bit and thaw it slowly, then when it’s ready, use it like any other weed. While curing your buds will usually call for packing them loosely inside their containers, freezing your weed can help save some space too. If you choose to vacuum seal them, it will keep your entire stash highly compact, which can help save some space. If you’re growing high yield seeds, this method of long-term storage can be especially useful for making sure that none of the investment on your seeds goes to waste.
Disadvantages Of Freezing Cannabis
Unfortunately, if you’re asking for more than is offered by mother nature, it’s going to come with some disadvantages. Preserving your cannabis buds for longer than they’re meant to last is going to give you some natural drawbacks, though these can be reduced or prevented with some good preparation. One of the drawbacks of using freezing to store marijuana buds is natural degradation. The march of time is constant, and this will cause your buds to begin losing some potency no matter what as the THC breaks down into CBN. Luckily this can be largely reduced, because this chemical process requires both oxygen and heat. If you make a good effort to ensure that your buds are exposed to very little heat and oxygen, the potency should still remain largely the same as when you first stored them. Another one of the drawbacks is the flavor and aroma of your buds. You’ll notice that when you take the buds out to thaw, they won’t really smell like anything. This will improve as they begin to thaw, but for the most part the terpenes will not be properly preserved. As you consume the buds, the flavor will still be there, but slightly less so depending on how well you’ve prepared them. Many smokers have said that storing pot buds by freezing will naturally cause the smoke to be a bit rougher. This is likely a result of broken down biochemicals or minerals, but the roughness can be reduced by consuming your weed through means such as a bong or water pipe.
Legitimate Alternatives To Freezing Marijuana Buds
Storing your weed is a fairly simple concept, and you only really need to meet a few requirements. However you choose to store your chronic buds, just make sure that a few environmental conditions are being controlled properly. These conditions include oxygen, light, temperature and humidity. You should aim to keep oxygen as low as possible, because oxygen will naturally begin to oxidize cannabinoids inside the buds. Light is equally as important to keep away, as it’s severely problematic for cannabinoids and THC specifically. In a basic study done by a cannabis research lab, researchers found that cannabis buds had lost 0.5% THC concentration in just one hour of exposure to direct light. Heat and humidity are less important to remove, though together they can cause problems. Storing cannabis buds at room temperature with a bit of humidity will be just fine, but too much of both of these things will encourage growth of mold. Molding can spread quickly and will completely destroy your buds. If you’re not freezing, temperatures should be kept at about forty to sixty degrees Fahrenheit, and humidity at about sixty percent. With all this being said, there are truly only a few ways to store your cannabis buds, but luckily, they’re all fairly good at what they do. You can choose to store them either in mild temperatures and humidity or you can freeze them, but as long as you’re keeping conditions favorable, your buds should last for quite a long time.
Recommended Method For Storing Cannabis
The recommended method for storing your cannabis buds comes down to one simple condition, and that’s how long you expect to be storing them. For short term storage of marijuana buds, you may keep them in their original places where they were cured. As a reminder, this should be done by storing them in glass or ceramic jars. During the beginning of curing, jars should be opened a few times a day for about a week after starting curing. After this, they should be fully sealed and stored in a dark and temperate place with moderate humidity. You can use this method for up to about six months of storage, but past this time, you should consider preparing them for long term storage for the best results. Any time past six months of storage will call for freezing, which you can do one of two ways. You may keep them in their original jars, which will do just fine as there should still be very little oxygen inside of them. If you’re worried about jars breaking or just want to save some space, you can move your buds to vacuum seal bags. Plastic may not be the best for storage, but because cold slows all chemical processes down, freezing your buds in plastic will hurt them much less than storing them in plastic at moderate temperatures. Your buds can be stored for really as long as you like through freezing, but as with most organic products, the sooner you use them the better.
