Shelf life

Looking for advice on maximizing shelf life of the harvest this fall.

I'm thinking about pint-size mason jars stored in a cool dark place. Any advantage to freezer or frig.? I hear conflicting things on that.

If properly stored is 2 years possible? Or will it deteriorate even under the best of conditions?

I was thinking of taking some and making tinctures with some locally-distilled organic 150-proof spirits. I assume that could last indefinitely, right?

Thanks for any and all advice.

NewEnglandFarmer said:

Looking for advice on maximizing shelf life of the harvest this fall.

I'm thinking about pint-size mason jars stored in a cool dark place. Any advantage to freezer or frig.? I hear conflicting things on that.

If properly stored is 2 years possible? Or will it deteriorate even under the best of conditions?

I was thinking of taking some and making tinctures with some locally-distilled organic 150-proof spirits. I assume that could last indefinitely, right?

Thanks for any and all advice.

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been growing for 10 years now and always kept it in the fridge. After a year it’s still nice and green. Potency will probably go down a little but I never really notice a difference. Sometimes I’ll put oxygen absorbers in the jar if I know they’re gonna be stored long term. I’m still smoking last years outdoor harvest (almost out though) from October and still perfectly fine. After a year though I would be suspect of quality. I would think moisture content of buds would play a major role in long term storage. My ex gf is still smoking bud she grew 2 years ago and it’s junk lol so to be safe I would say a year is the max I would go. Good luck

Hempheadjack (he has a thread in the outdoor section) stores his pot for years with no degradation in quality. I’ve kept pot for almost 2 years in mason jars with no noticeable loss in quality.

It’s about getting the moisture content of the dried bud low enough so it won’t mold in storage but still keep it as high as possible. This is a fine line an some use Bovda packs and hygrometers to help them dial it in. Once you get the bud properly dried you need to seal it up and keep it sealed up till you are ready to use it.

That 2 year old bud I had stored still retained the moisture from when it was jar’d up. In fact what I did then was leave the bud out to dry just a bit before smoking. It was smokable but a bit too sticky. Leaving it out for a day left it crispy an easy burning. I didn’t freeze or refrigerate the jar’d bud but I do keep it in a gun safe in a basement, so it stays cool year round in total darkness.

Well I just opened up a jar from three years ago that smells even better than the last time it was opened months ago. And I just keep the jars in the basement. If its dried right and cured it can last quite some time.

JimmiP said:

Well I just opened up a jar from three years ago that smells even better than the last time it was opened months ago. And I just keep the jars in the basement. If its dried right and cured it can last quite some time.

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Same thing for me. I keep my 1 quart jars of cured bud in the cold cellar in my basement. They seem to get better the longer they're stored.

NewEnglandFarmer said:

Looking for advice on maximizing shelf life of the harvest this fall.

I'm thinking about pint-size mason jars stored in a cool dark place. Any advantage to freezer or frig.? I hear conflicting things on that.

If properly stored is 2 years possible? Or will it deteriorate even under the best of conditions?

I was thinking of taking some and making tinctures with some locally-distilled organic 150-proof spirits. I assume that could last indefinitely, right?

Thanks for any and all advice.

Click to expand...

The BEST long-term storage method is sealed in frost-free freezer. Freezing Dramatically slows particle movement and thus slows chemical reactions; in the relative sense it’s like slowing time.