Long Term Storage of Bud 2+yr, and Leaves for ID

I was hoping to find a sticky at one of the many websites I visit, but alas nothing. I tried the advanced search and it came up with didly squat.

1. How do I store my buds for LONG LONG term? (4 years+, I assume everyone reading can store their cannabis short term) I was hoping to figure out the RH the jar needs to be at for the longer storage.

2. How do I Store my leaves so I may use them for identification later on (Looking for 10 years+)? The Idea here is to store leaves to compare different strains visually.

I found a thread a few days ago that went over the curing process in detail, and I can not find it tonight (I will link it in the coming days) but from what I understand if you get your Relative humidity of the jar right, your bud can stay in a vacuum sealed jar for up to 5 years.

Are there any methods which can properly store bud for longer than 5 years?

To the second question, what is the best way to store my leaves from a plant, taken from harvest? I want to be able to detail the growing characteristics, veg life, flowering life, AND the leaf structure of each plant I decide to grow. To do this correctly I need a long term storage method for the leaves, while they are still green.


If anyone could help me out with any of these points I would greatly appreciate it. If I get no posts then I will update this thread when I have the spare time, until it catches some attention (Will update it anyway! These subjects need attention!).

Happy Growing folks, I hope your harvests are bountiful and somewhat overwhelming >_<

I've successfully stored bud for 3+ years with little degradation. But even that long it starts to "look" old & there is visibly more shake as portions of the buds break off and settle. I typically store long term in tightly sealed mason jars away from any light, as for storing the leaves, how about pressing them in magazines between wax paper - sandwich the mag with 1/2" plywood & then drop a substantial weight on top of it. Thats how people preserve flowers, leaves etc & I don't know why it wouldn't work in this instance.

bump. This could be quite handy to know myself. Sometimes i need to hide a bit of stock!

And as an aside question. How long is short term storage actually? (eg: 50-55% RH inside jar)

I vacumn sealed mine in those food saver pouches. That tends to crush the buds though but they're cheap.
You could flatten your leaves in a book and store them for eternity.

I have used a foodsaver vacuum sealed jar and stored bud for almost 2 years. It was somewhat dry but the smoke was great although that doesn't help you. I am definitely interested in seeing what you find out on this. For saving leafs though what I do is get the self sticking laminate pages, they open like a book, place the leaf in and seal it up. You can take a sharpie and write on the laminate and it's sealed so it will last a very long time. I have even gone so far as to hole punch them and place them in a binder. Just make sure to press the leaf flat as mentioned above and seal from the folded edge to ensure no gaps or leaks. Goodluck.

theTinker said:

And as an aside question. How long is short term storage actually? (eg: 50-55% RH inside jar)

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FWIW, I have product that's been curing for +7 years at ~58%.

Simon

SimonD said:

FWIW, I have product that's been curing for +7 years at ~58%.

Simon

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bust that shit out and see if it tastes like the early zero's!

i would think that for long term storage you would want to sterelize the jars, and maybe vaccum seal them as you would if you were canning/preserving jam or tomatoe sauce or something.

also might think of the chemical preservatives found in 99% of grocery store goods, i think its a gas you pump in and seal in. no clue though just some thoughts

Glass jar or other airtight container and freeze it if you want to go over 5 years. Do not thaw and refreeze tho.

I don't think there is a need for sterilizing the jars beyond a wipe with some mild bleach water. I'm a pipe tobacco smoker as well and using jars to hold bulk tobacco is a common practice for us in the hobby. Nobody I know in those circles does more than the wipe. Of course, ANY new jars should be washed before use, so the wipe down is more than sufficient for a final cleaning.

This is a good thread. Good information here. Thanks people.

Any other experienced in this long term storage? 3+ years.

I like the idea of sterilising and vaccumming. I think i might try a few small jars and open the first after 6 months, 1 years, 2 years, etc and see how they get on. It would be fantastic to be able to make alot of this dissappear for long term off my property. Buried in a hole somewhere!

theTinker said:

This is a good thread. Good information here. Thanks people.

Any other experienced in this long term storage? 3+ years.

I like the idea of sterilising and vaccumming. I think i might try a few small jars and open the first after 6 months, 1 years, 2 years, etc and see how they get on. It would be fantastic to be able to make alot of this dissappear for long term off my property. Buried in a hole somewhere!

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As I mentioned earlier, I have product that's been curing for 7+ years and other product in all stages in between. It really isn't very difficult. First, make sure the product is actually curing. A hygrometer helps. Then it's just a matter of putting the flowers into an air-tight container and vacuum-sealing it. I usually break the seal at least once a year for a sample, and reseal again. If you do not want the product to continue curing over long term storage, remove the air from the container. It will slow down the process greatly. HTH

Simon

Long term bud storage:

Vacuum seal them in MYLAR bags. These bags let NO light in. Also, right before you seal the bag, drop a small chip of "Dry-Ice" in the bag. Dry ice is nothing more than CO2 in frozen form, so when it melts, it's just CO2. If you skip this step, the little bit of air that is left behind contains O2, which leads to oxidation, as we all know.

Now store your bags in a place with little to no temperature variation. In a buried ammo can is a good spot. These buds will last 5+ years with almost no degradation, because you are keeping them away from: OXYGEN, LIGHT, and TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS.

CSI Stickyicky said:

Now store your bags in a place with little to no temperature variation. In a buried ammo can is a good spot. These buds will last 5+ years with almost no degradation, because you are keeping them away from: OXYGEN, LIGHT, and TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS.

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Perhaps I misunderstood, having just looked at your past threads, you're a relatively new grower. As such, how can you claim 5+ years or anything of the kind having never done it?

Simon

It's a tried and true method, take it or leave it. I got that method from an older more experienced grower, (a source i trust) and it does work. Do i personally use this method often? No, i don't grow more than i need, and i smoke what i got pretty quickly. I just store my shit in mason jars, personally. You asked for advice and got it, and now you complain? I wonder if the reason it's been harder and harder to get good advice on this website from the older guys is because of newbies who complain when they get it?

CSI Stickyicky said:

It's a tried and true method, take it or leave it. I got that method from an older more experienced grower, (a source i trust) and it does work. Do i personally use this method often? No, i don't grow more than i need, and i smoke what i got pretty quickly. I just store my shit in mason jars, personally. You asked for advice and got it, and now you complain?

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I didn't ask for any advice. Please for give me for stating the obvious, posting personally untried methodology is just hearsay. It's not good advice; it's wishful thinking. I would have never said anything if there was even a hope of you having tied it for yourself.

I wonder if the reason it's been harder and harder to get good advice on this website from the older guys is because of newbies who complain when they get it?

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I am new to this forum; please allow me to introduce myself:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=156237

Fell free to look through my gallery, as well.

Simon

My bad, i thought you were the OP. You are both newbs with no avatar, and i'm high. He asked for the advice, and i gave it to him.

And what do you have against the method i presented? Based on your 18 post online persona, you have absolutely no experience with anything ever, but i realize that there is more to somebody than what is posted on a single website, so i don't hold that against you. I have only been smoking for 15 years, but i have met many people and seen many things that i haven't tried myself. Just because i haven't done this with buds i grew personally doesn't make it a bad method. Have you tried buds that were stored in this method? I have. But i didn't grow those particular buds, so i must not know, right?

If you have tried this method, and it didn't work for you, please tell us about it. If you have never tried this method, never tried buds from this method, and never known anyone who has, than why are you talking about it? Pot calling the kettle black......

CSI Stickyicky said:

And what do you have against the method i presented?

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Cultivation is an applied pursuit; it's not theoretical.

Based on your 18 post online persona, you have absolutely no experience with anything ever, but i realize that there is more to somebody than what is posted on a single website, so i don't hold that against you.

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I showed you who I am. At this point I wish you the best.

Simon

Simon, i am curious, whats it taste like after 7 years of curing? same as yesteryear? notice ANY degredation, surely there must be! i dont plan on doing this, im just curious. maybe i will need to store some grass in case of a nuclear winter or something

insomnia47 said:

Simon, i am curious, whats it taste like after 7 years of curing? same as yesteryear? notice ANY degredation, surely there must be! i dont plan on doing this, im just curious. maybe i will need to store some grass in case of a nuclear winter or something

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Quite a bit of degradation, really. The product loses the bulk of its colors, becoming reddish-brown, and most of its taste/smell. The potency is lower, but different. The only real benfit, IME, is the smokability. The product is ridiculously smooth to smoke. A cigarette is harsh in comparison.

Simon

7 yrs...man now that's patience.