prosperian
Well-Known Member
This was from a thread in another section that I wanted to expand upon....
Just wondering if it's even possible to maintain and improve the quality past the 6-month curing process. I'm going to have about 5-7 oz left over from my grows. If it's going to decrease in quality after a year of being properly stored, then I will make sure to distribute the leftovers or make it into something else. I may not grow as many plants and reduce the amount of grows I have per year as a result of these answers.
I found this in the sticky curing section...but I didn't see anything on long term storage.
Ganjaluvrs Drying & Curing Broken Down into Understandable English
A perfect cure every time
Thanks again for your feedback and interest.
I researched threads back to 2011... found these, but no evidence of a proper procedure.
Yes, I have had weed last over 2 years in an old coffee can. I do my initial curing at 60% to 70% RH and at 50-55% RH is where I like to vape or smoke it. However, when I store long term I like to be at 45% RH or where it can crumble, but still feel sticky when I break it up. It also helps if you can stick it in a cold dark place, like how you would with wine.
As long as you remove the air & moisture, you can store it indefinitely in a freezer. It's just not practical when your harvesting pounds. I should also mention, when I store dry, I freshen it back up when I'm ready to smoke it using distilled water. I learned about this on tobacco growing forum.
When I was younger I used orange peels or sometimes bread, but later I ran into mold so I never trusted those methods again. I eventually learned that the sugar in the peels and bread actually encourage mold to spread faster. Even with something as pure as distilled water you still need to be careful. The trick I learned is to follow the 70/70 rule. Never allow the temperature or humidity to exceed 70% RH or 70*F. Drying and storing in a cool place avoids both of these and that's why it works.
So if a fridge is available, use that. If not, use a cellar, basement, closet. or whatever you can that will let you stay under the 70/70 rule.
Go to a wine store & get Private Preserve. Its a wine preserver thats completely safe, prevents oxidation(OF YOUR BUD) by using inert gases. argon AR, carbon dioxide CO2, and nitrogen N2. Unless you believe your vacuum sealer will suck every last atom of oxygen out of that bag, some oxidation will occur I suspect so this SHOULD keep that bud nice and fresh
Bottle can't be to much and says 120 uses, so sounds like it should do the trick for your situation
I believe you'll be fine without anything either, vacuums sealer will work just crunch the bud down and compress as much of the air out as possible
If you pack it properly (vacuum packed or tightly closed jars/bags if possible) and make sure you have a dark, low temperature and low humidity place to store it, you can store weed for years.
The most important part is to make sure no light gets to your stored goods and that moisture and temperature is kept low.
Curing will have stopped @ 55% humidity so you can store it safely now.
K>>>I've tried this in the past but lost a little power after 10 month's what's your secret?I've even packed it with inert gas and still 9-10 month's...have vaccum pump set up with bell jar!!How long have YOU actually left it and smoked with out degradation...? I've used black container's no light packed tight loose ect....maybe it's just me but have had little luck after 8 months and then seemed to get over dry after opening loss of smell and certainly not what i remembered it being (of course that's not scientific but I feel accurate!!) let me know my friend as this is problamatic for me also!!(useually start new grow 6 month's in and give the rest to friend's)..jack
I have saved some for over a year without any degradation flavour or odour wise, I'd even go as far to say the weed improved. But it is absolutely key to keep humidity and temperature low (not extremely low though) and not allow any light to protrude. But it is hard to keep the potency of the weed for so long, a boost in flavour and odour should be apparent and tiny loss of potency cannot be avoided but if you do it right it should not be that noticeable. It all depends on whether you cure the weed properly before you store it and it depends on you storing it properly are a good cure.
Use a (new) glass jar with a rubber seal. Don't freeze your buds; trichomes become very brittle and break off from the plant material easily when they are cold. You will lose a lot of your trichs like that, reducing the potency of your buds. Cured buds are more potent, smoke more smoothly and smell/taste better than uncured buds
I hear ya brother. But, I'm investing 4 months of my life caring for this crop. I want to protect and enhance my investment as much as possible. ProsperianWhat is this mythical substance of which you speak? Properly cured bud???Mine never lasts longer than 2 months - so I don't think I've ever tried mine properly cured. lol
Just wondering if it's even possible to maintain and improve the quality past the 6-month curing process. I'm going to have about 5-7 oz left over from my grows. If it's going to decrease in quality after a year of being properly stored, then I will make sure to distribute the leftovers or make it into something else. I may not grow as many plants and reduce the amount of grows I have per year as a result of these answers.
I found this in the sticky curing section...but I didn't see anything on long term storage.
Ganjaluvrs Drying & Curing Broken Down into Understandable English
A perfect cure every time
Thanks again for your feedback and interest.
I researched threads back to 2011... found these, but no evidence of a proper procedure.
Yes, I have had weed last over 2 years in an old coffee can. I do my initial curing at 60% to 70% RH and at 50-55% RH is where I like to vape or smoke it. However, when I store long term I like to be at 45% RH or where it can crumble, but still feel sticky when I break it up. It also helps if you can stick it in a cold dark place, like how you would with wine.
As long as you remove the air & moisture, you can store it indefinitely in a freezer. It's just not practical when your harvesting pounds. I should also mention, when I store dry, I freshen it back up when I'm ready to smoke it using distilled water. I learned about this on tobacco growing forum.
When I was younger I used orange peels or sometimes bread, but later I ran into mold so I never trusted those methods again. I eventually learned that the sugar in the peels and bread actually encourage mold to spread faster. Even with something as pure as distilled water you still need to be careful. The trick I learned is to follow the 70/70 rule. Never allow the temperature or humidity to exceed 70% RH or 70*F. Drying and storing in a cool place avoids both of these and that's why it works.
So if a fridge is available, use that. If not, use a cellar, basement, closet. or whatever you can that will let you stay under the 70/70 rule.
Go to a wine store & get Private Preserve. Its a wine preserver thats completely safe, prevents oxidation(OF YOUR BUD) by using inert gases. argon AR, carbon dioxide CO2, and nitrogen N2. Unless you believe your vacuum sealer will suck every last atom of oxygen out of that bag, some oxidation will occur I suspect so this SHOULD keep that bud nice and fresh
Bottle can't be to much and says 120 uses, so sounds like it should do the trick for your situation
I believe you'll be fine without anything either, vacuums sealer will work just crunch the bud down and compress as much of the air out as possible
If you pack it properly (vacuum packed or tightly closed jars/bags if possible) and make sure you have a dark, low temperature and low humidity place to store it, you can store weed for years.
The most important part is to make sure no light gets to your stored goods and that moisture and temperature is kept low.
Curing will have stopped @ 55% humidity so you can store it safely now.
K>>>I've tried this in the past but lost a little power after 10 month's what's your secret?I've even packed it with inert gas and still 9-10 month's...have vaccum pump set up with bell jar!!How long have YOU actually left it and smoked with out degradation...? I've used black container's no light packed tight loose ect....maybe it's just me but have had little luck after 8 months and then seemed to get over dry after opening loss of smell and certainly not what i remembered it being (of course that's not scientific but I feel accurate!!) let me know my friend as this is problamatic for me also!!(useually start new grow 6 month's in and give the rest to friend's)..jack
I have saved some for over a year without any degradation flavour or odour wise, I'd even go as far to say the weed improved. But it is absolutely key to keep humidity and temperature low (not extremely low though) and not allow any light to protrude. But it is hard to keep the potency of the weed for so long, a boost in flavour and odour should be apparent and tiny loss of potency cannot be avoided but if you do it right it should not be that noticeable. It all depends on whether you cure the weed properly before you store it and it depends on you storing it properly are a good cure.
Use a (new) glass jar with a rubber seal. Don't freeze your buds; trichomes become very brittle and break off from the plant material easily when they are cold. You will lose a lot of your trichs like that, reducing the potency of your buds. Cured buds are more potent, smoke more smoothly and smell/taste better than uncured buds