How to Store Cannabis Flowers Properly

As you look over your successful cannabis haul in amazement, it’s time to think about the future.

No, we’re not talking about your next indoor or outdoor grow. We’re talking about the future of your recently dried and cured weed harvest.

Unless you plan on smoking out the entire neighborhood — your marijuana harvest will take days, if not months, to consume. Therefore, you must learn how to store cannabis flowers properly.

Whether you burn down an eighth a day or you only smoke on special occasions — storing your buds properly will keep your weed nugs in their prime for the long days ahead.

Ready to stash your marijuana flowers like a pro? Let’s go!

Why You Should Store Your Cannabis Flowers

First and foremost — why should you store your weed in the first place?

The answer is simple: cannabis flowers, like all organic compounds, degrade over time. Here’s a list of what to expect if you don’t store your weed properly:

• Loss of aroma
• Loss of flavor
• Loss of potency
• Buds become brown and stale
• Buds may become moldy

In other words — you must store your weed properly unless you enjoy smoking bottom-shelf cannabis. By leaving cannabis outside of a container, your trichome-dusted weed nugs will transform into shwag in a matter of weeks.

Ultimately, storing cannabis flowers properly:

• Preserves terpenes and cannabinoids
• Enhances terpenes and cannabinoids
• Maintains bag appeal

Now that you understand why storing your weed is essential, let’s discuss the factors that degrade your buds and how you can avoid them.

The Elements That Destroy and Age Your Weed

As we discussed in the previous article, How to Cure Weed, various elements can destroy and age your cannabis flowers in no time.

The factors that you must protect your marijuana from are:

• High or low humidity
• High temperature
• Direct light
• Air

Now, let’s discuss each element in detail and how they affect weed storage.

Humidity and Cannabis Storage

Humidity is the invisible element that makes or breaks your cannabis buds.

Humidity is a measurement of moisture in the air. Therefore, excess moisture is bad news for your marijuana flowers. Overall, you must keep your weed stored in glass jars at a constant relative humidity of 55-62%.

If you fail to maintain 55-62% RH, your cannabis buds will quickly deteriorate into stale or overly wet weed. In either case, locking proper humidity into the storage containers is paramount when stashing cannabis flowers.

Temperature and Cannabis Storage

Temperature is another factor that quickly destroys and ages marijuana flowers.

High temperatures degrade cannabis in multiple ways, such as:

• Transform THC into CBN
• Turn green buds into brown flowers
• Destroy terpenes

On the opposite spectrum, freezing temperatures may produce a moisture risk if improperly stored. Therefore, you must find and maintain the proper temperature when storing marijuana flowers.

Overall, we recommend storing your cannabis containers in an area that experiences 60-65°F year-round for the best results.

Light and Cannabis Storage

Light, such as that from the sun or a grow light system, is filled with UV and other damaging components.

Although necessary when growing and flowering, constant light exposure will degrade and age cannabis flowers. Therefore, you must store your cannabis buds in a dark location, such as a closet or cabinet.

Remember, light degrades terpenes, cannabinoids, and the overall freshness of buds. Don’t worry — your weed won’t spoil in the timespan of an outdoor sesh. However, bringing your cannabis flowers to get a tan with you is a bad idea.

Air and Cannabis Storage

Last but not least is air.

Although air is a vital component of our lives — it presents a severe problem to weed. Once in prolonged contact, air oxidizes volatile compounds in cannabis flowers, such as terpenes, cannabinoids, flavonoids, and so forth.

As air degrades cannabis flowers, you will notice the buds become stale. Therefore, it’s best to store cannabis in glass jars because they are impermeable to air. In other words, air cannot enter or escape a glass jar.

Therefore, you must always store your weed in glass jars for the best results possible!

How to Store Weed in Three Easy Steps

Now that your weed is done curing — it’s time to store your weed for your immediate and long-term enjoyment.

Here’s a list of recommended items for your storage needs:

• Glass jar(s)
• Humidity packs
• Labels

Step One: Clean and Dry Your Jars

First and foremost, ensure the glass jars are clean.

The last thing you want to do is impart unwanted flavor on your weed. Once you sanitize the jars — make sure they are dry.

Step Two: Put a Humidity Pack in the Jar

Next, place a 58-62% humidity pack at the bottom of the glass jar.

The humidity pack will take the guesswork away when it comes to finding the optimized RH level. You don’t need to use a humidity pack; however, it does come in handy when storing cannabis for longer than two weeks.

Step Three: Put Your Cannabis in the Jar

Next, gently place the weed into the jar.

Do not press the buds down to compact them. Instead, allow the flowers to flow freely into the glass storage container. Remember, trichomes are delicate, and you should take care to retain as much resin coverage as possible.

Fill the glass jars up to 75% capacity to account for the humidity pack at the bottom of the container.

You’ve officially stored your weed! Now, it’s up to you if your cannabis stash lasts long or short-term.

Enjoy The Fruits of Your Labor

After months of hard work — you’ve finally accomplished your goal.

Growing weed indoors or outdoors isn’t easy, but you’ve made it through the season with more knowledge and experience than before you started. Now, it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor and spark up!

Once you’re done enjoying the terpenes and cannabinoids of your top-shelf weed — it’s time to start thinking of your next cannabis grow and what strains you’ll cultivate next!