Cannabis is a finicky flower. The path it takes from plant to consumer is a complex labour of love in the final product — a beautiful fragrant nug. A major part of that process is proper storage and the preservation of the plant once you bring it home.
Storing Your Bud Flowers – The Basics
First and foremost, when storing cannabis, you want to make sure there is as little air-flow as possible. The less air it comes in contact with, the less your bud will oxidize. Oxidation breaks down cannabinoids and can lower the potency of your flower.
This is actually the biggest reason you should place your cannabis in a new airtight container after purchasing it—most of the packaging used to transport your bud simply does not meet these criteria. If you intend to buy an expensive eighth or an ounce and want it to stay in primo conditions, consider moving it to a mason jar or some kind of container that has a silicone barrier or a vacuum to ensure that it stays fresh! This also helps to keep your room from smelling like dank bud.
If the odour is a problem you deal with, consider trying our Cannabolish spray and candles built to destroy cannabis odour! They smell great, work very well, and are inexpensive.
(Read more tips on how to clean and maintain your glass pipes and bongs here!)
Keep Your Bud Dry
Keeping your cannabis dry, out of extreme temperatures, and away from light will also prolong the life of the flower. While maintaining around 62% humidity in the container will keep your bud smelling great and feeling sticky, this is a careful balance to strike.
We stock two products at Bud Bar to help you achieve this: Integra Boost packs, which you simply place in with your flower and come with an indicator card that will tell you when it needs to be replaced, and Canadian-made Dewbie stones. Dewbie stones require soaking in water for 30 seconds to 2 minutes so that they can absorb water. After which, you pat them dry and place them in your container for 10 minutes per gram of cannabis. This will rehydrate your flower and is much safer than the old paper towel and orange rind techniques.
Do be careful not to get your buds wet so that no mould can develop.
Regulating Temperatures For Your Cannabis
Regulating the temperatures of your cannabis serves a variety of purposes, but most notably it helps regulate humidity in your containers—thus preventing mould—and keeps your cannabinoids and terpenes from decaying. Keeping your weed away from windows, heat sources, humid environments, and the fridge or freezer is your best way to ensure a good, smooth, reliable smoke every time.
Keeping your flower away from light will also help prevent UV decay—while Health Canada demands opaque packaging for unrelated reasons (Read our guide to reading Cannabis labels!), this is one of the best traits of in-store packaging. UV radiation is also prone to destroying your terpenes and cannabinoids, changing the flavour profile and type of high you experience with your bud.
Even simply painting the outside of a jar or keeping it in a dark box or drawer will be enough to prevent this type of damage from coming to your bud.
But you’re not limited to the old mason jar trick when it comes to maintaining your bud! We carry two excellent storage products depending on how you prefer your weed.
The BRNT Malua series, made of elegantly poured and marbled concrete, is a great and inexpensive option! At $29.99, the Malua series comes in three cool colours (a speckled black that looks like granite, white marble, and pink marble) and a beautiful wooden lid with a rubber seal. It even has two chambers, so you can store two eighths in one container! While it prevents airflow that degrades your THC, the concrete’s porous nature can absorb humidity. The perfect solution if you find yourself disliking squishier or stickier bud. Think these look cool but want your bud soft? Throw in an Integra Boost to help with humidity!
Our other option is a UV blocking violet glass, with an airtight lid. No more are the days of wondering what you put in that jar, too: these come with a washable area to put in the details of the strain you’ve filled it with! These nifty containers come in a range of affordable prices ($15.99-$23.99) and multiple sizes to match (3.5g, 7g, 14g, and 28g)! These make it easy to customize your stash, reduce packaging waste, stagnate air, and ensure that light won’t break down your bud!
If you have any questions about how to ensure the best smoke you can have, come give us a shout! Our Budtenders are always here to help, offering varying tips and tricks for how we like to store our bud and experience it, and we’d love to share them with you.
Bud Bar is your trusted Calgary dispensary. We pride ourselves on creating an open and welcoming environment where you are comfortable and safe access to recreational cannabis. We set ourselves apart with personalized customer service with our budtenders providing one-on-one sessions so that you can learn about our cannabis products and accessories. We offer a selection of high quality yet affordable products, including flower buds, pre-rolls, oils, capsules, as well as accessories like vaporizers, bongs, and pipes. As your trusted Calgary marijuana dispensary, we can make it easy and safe for you to get recreational cannabis. Visit our marijuana stores in Calgary Northwest today, or place an order online!
