Everything has a place. The socks go in the sock drawer. The ice cubes go in the freezer. The bed skirt gets tucked between the mattress and the box spring. The weed goes in none of those places, despite what you might have heard on the internet.
Tucking your weed out of sight or putting it into a deep freeze isn’t the best way to keep it fresh (or discreet). In fact, you could be ruining your weed if you aren’t storing it properly.
The packaging you receive your weed in is good enough to keep it fresh until the moment you crack the seal. Once that happens, it’s not going to do a great job at keeping your weed safe if you were to leave it in the wrong place.
The good thing about weed storage solutions is that you only need to devise that solution one time. Once you have the right container and the right spot, you never have to think about it again. Getting it right the first time will save you a lot of time and money, especially if you buy your favorite strains in bulk.
What happens to weed before it gets to you
Before weed gets to you, it’s harvested, dried, and cured. The drying and curing process naturally causes your weed’s aromatic and flavor compounds to significantly dissipate. When you smoke flower, you’re only getting about half of the terpenes that were originally there in the best-case scenario.
The cannabinoids and remaining terpenes are preserved naturally by removing the moisture, controlling the humidity, and circulating the air around the flowers. Even though the flowers are dead, they’re basically locked in time. Your goal is to keep them that way until it’s time to use them.
Why you need to keep it safe
That gorgeous, soft, dry, bud covered in trichomes that you bought from the dispensary is as close to perfect as you’re ever going to get unless you decide to grow your weed yourself. You need to keep up the strategy that the grower and the dispensary used in order to keep that weed fresh.
If you don’t store it properly, you’re going to ruin it. Your weed is a lot more delicate than you believe it is. At the end of the day, it’s a flower. And flowers, just like fruits or vegetables, can degrade quickly if they aren’t kept in an ideal environment. You don’t want to eat a rotting apple or a potato that’s sprouted alien-like knobs. You also don’t want to smoke weed that’s dried up and degraded.
Heat and sunlight are the enemies
If you were to eat the weed you just bought directly out of its container, nothing would happen. It’s not a particularly delicious snack, and the cannabinoids aren’t in a position to do anything for your body.
The THC, CBD, and other valuable cannabinoids in your weed need some kind of heat or light to transform into active forms. Before they receive heat and light, they exist as THCA or CBDA, the acid forms of the cannabinoids. The heat essentially burns off the acid group rapidly, turning the cannabinoids into their bioactive forms that allow you to experience the benefits.
If you allow heat and light to get to your weed before you smoke it, the cannabinoids will transform and begin to degrade before you ever have a chance to smoke it. They’ll continue to progress through different stages. THCA becomes THC, which is what gets you high. Degraded THC turns into CBN, which doesn’t get you high. It might make you sleepy, but that’s about it.
TLDR; the sun will smoke your weed without you, leaving the buds behind.
Moisture can ruin everything
Bud has to be properly dried and cured to keep the moisture away. The moisture within the plant causes it to rot. If you’ve ever bought kale and promised yourself you were going to make a healthy salad, you know what it looks like when you go back to it two weeks later. It got watery and wilty and started to fall apart. Without proper drying, this is what happens.
Your bud has already been expertly dried. And dried stuff is obviously dry. Dry things love moisture. There’s plenty of room in your bud for some water, and it will collect moisture from the air. Reviving your weed will start that wilting and degradation process again. If it gets very wet, it’ll start to mold. When there’s mold on your weed, smoking it is extremely dangerous.
If your weed isn’t kept in an airtight container, it’s going to become a moisture and mold ball very quickly. You should never leave your weed exposed to the open air unless you’re actively in the process of smoking it.
You probably don’t want anyone to smell it
Even though recreational or medical weed is legal in almost every state, that doesn’t mean you want your whole house or apartment to smell like weed. If you’re trying to be discreet, you need to put your weed in a container that will block its aromatic compounds from escaping. Doing so will also keep your weed tastier, as the terpenes have nowhere to go but back inside the weed.
The right container and location for storing your weed
Most of your weed’s storage needs can be accomplished by choosing the right container. Don’t fall victim to a storage container simply because it looks cool. If it’s transparent or if it isn’t airtight, it’s an aesthetic piece that will work in secret to destroy your need.
The best weed storage container is something opaque with an airtight seal. Airtight containers prolong the life of most fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbs. Ceramic spice jars or kitchen canisters work well for this. The ceramic is too opaque to let the light in, and the air-tight seal won’t let moisture in or terpenes out. Look for the kind that has a locking hinge and a rubber gasket around the rim.
Store your weed someplace cool. Not cool as in “wow, that’s neat”, but cool as in “hey, it isn’t hot in here.” A closet or a cabinet that isn’t next to any heat sources (like pipes that carry hot water) is going to be your best bet. You can also put it on a high shelf near an air conditioning vent for extra temperature control.
But don’t get overzealous
Yes, the freezer is dark and cold. It also has some unintended consequences for your weed. Freezing your weed freezes all the little trichomes. When you take your weed out, they’ll all snap off. All the good stuff is in those trichomes, and by freezing your weed, you’re damaging everything that’s great about it.
If your house is almost always warm, the refrigerator is a better compromise. It shouldn’t get cold enough to cause the trichomes to become brittle and snap off. If you feel cold storage is the best solution, count on your fridge.
Live extracts are extremely sensitive
Live extracts are made from weed that hasn’t been dried or cured. They contain all of the terpenes you’re missing when you use dried, cured flower. The terpenes are volatile, and you need to be very careful with your live resin or rosin if you want to keep those compounds intact. You paid extra for them – don’t waste them. Placing your live resin container inside of an airtight opaque container and storing it in the fridge will keep it as preserved as possible. Remember to close the container the moment you’re done taking out a dab and don’t leave it out while you’re smoking. Live products are extremely special. Treat them the way they were meant to be treated.
The takeaway
Proper storage counts for a lot. All you need to do is pick up the perfect container and keep it in the right spot. Your weed won’t degrade before you’ve had a chance to use it, and well-stored weed can stay fresh for longer than six months under perfect conditions. If you want to save money by purchasing your favorite strain an ounce at a time, all you need to do is be mindful about how you’re putting it away.
If you’re ready to stock up on your favorite strain, Emjay probably has it. We have hundreds of cannabis products available for delivery to your door in about half an hour. We kept it safe and fresh before it got to you. When we hand it over, take good care of it. Every smoke sesh will be as great as the first.
