Storing Herb Long Term

[The_Algebraist]

Modnote: Lots of threads merged.

Now that I've switched over to vaporizing and permanently quit smoking, I'm wondering how one should properly be storing their herb. I'm using SIGNIFICANTLY less herb now so my 1/2 oz is going to last a LONG TIME, I'm going to estimate around the six month mark. So, I am wondering the following:

-How do I avoid the herb going "bad" over time (THC oxidizing and increasing CBN levels etc) (fungus or anything else that might rot the herb)

-What is the best way to store herb that you're planning to have and use over a period of time like 6 months?

When I smoked I would tear through an 1/8th in a week so this is kind of a new situation for me. I have a Space Case 4 piece coming to me soonish and I'm planning to grind up a good a week's worth of herb at a time and keep that bit stored in the airtight Space Case (does anyone else do this?). What should I do with the remaining herb? Anyone storing their herb in airtight containers in the dark?

 

[max]

http://www.fuckcombustion.com/viewtopic.php?id=286

 

[The_Algebraist]

ah nice, so is there a consensus on which method is best? the thread's a bit here and there.. is six months even considered long enough to require vacuum sealing? will a simply airtight jar in a dark cool place suffice?

 

[TeddyJackEddy]

For 6 months, not sure it would be needed. I store mine in mason jars, the 1/2 pint size. Keep them in the closet where it's nice and dark and the temp stays nice and cool year round. It certainly wouldn't hurt to vacuum seal everything, but probably not necessary IMO.

 

[firstavailable]

I like to drop a small piece of dry ice into the bottom of a large jar of nugs. and let it sublimate and escape, and put the cap on just after the last bit turns to gas. the point of this is that it displaces the oxygen.

Also, you will find that when properly stored (cool, dry, dark place) your herb will take on a very nice cure aftr an extended time. Just make sure it is well dry, so there is no risk of mold.

 

[illadelph]

For 6 months, not sure it would be needed. I store mine in mason jars, the 1/2 pint size. Keep them in the closet where it's nice and dark and the temp stays nice and cool year round. It certainly wouldn't hurt to vacuum seal everything, but probably not necessary IMO.

QFT. mason jars ftw. i also leave amount in my grinder to dry out and stay fresh.

 

[lwien]

QFT. mason jars ftw. i also leave amount in my grinder to dry out and stay fresh.

Yup. That's exactly what I do.

 

[Balkhan]

I need to store my herb for a long time (possibly years). What I'm doing now is using a food vacuum sealer and the plastic bags to store it in. I first put the herb inside some brown paper (like brown paper lunch sacks), then vacuum seal it in the plastic. This way the bud doesn't touch the plastic which I hear is bad because of static electricity attracting the active 'hairy' parts of the bud and degrading it. And the brown paper will reduce the amount of light hitting the herb.

I recently opened one I had done this way back in July (so its been sealed for 6 months) and notice the brown paper was sticky like it had maybe absorbed some of the good stuff off the herb. Recently I read a post that said to wrap it in parchment paper to guard against this. I might have to go back and reseal my herb using parchment paper inside the brown bag paper.

Another tidbit I read said not to use brown bag paper that had been acid bleached. I don't know exactly what that is, and the brown bags I buy say nothing about it.

I would also dry the herb before sealing to guard against mold growth. But doesn't the mold require oxygen to grow? (are there anaerobic molds?) - and vacuum sealing would greatly reduce the oxygen in contact with the herb, right? So maybe I shouldn't worry too much about mold growth on vac sealed herb?

One thing is the vac sealing really squashes the herb.

Any ideas on my method of long-term storage? I'd really hate to open one up in a year or so and find it moldy or greatly diminished in potency....

Balkhan

 

[stickstones]

Here's a thread discussing long-term storage. http://www.fuckcombustion.com/viewtopic.php?pid=2654#p2654

I immediately thought, when reading your post, that paper might absorb something. I don't like this idea. I DO like the parchment (wax paper) idea. I started storing long term in mason jars with a rubber seal. This works great and is described in detail by Tom from Purple-Days in the above mentioned thread. Every time I open my mason jars, they smell fantastic!

Some air is in my mason jars, but not much since they are vacuum sealed. In some recent reading I learned that humans are in competition with bacteria for food and the existence of mold is evidence the bacteria won! This is usually due to heat and air. If you get a good seal on something, even if some air is present inside, mold usually won't stand a chance.

I agree that vacuum sealed (in plastic) herb gets undesirable squashed. I once had a half ounce of nydiesel that was vac-packed and when I opened it, it was very stiff and hard. I managed to enjoy it, as it was high quality, but it could have been much better.

 

[vtac]

In a nutshell: properly dried herb in mason jars, vacuum sealed, kept in a cool, dry, dark place.

 

[lwien]

While most of us recognize that the things that destroy THC are light and air and therefore, we keep our bud in airtight dark containers, heat, even room temp heat can play a part here in THC degradation. Here's an interesting quote from my med dispensary. Just thought I'd share.......

------------------------------------------------

THC is found on raw cannabis flowers in the form of THC-A, an acid. That acid is converted to the neutral active form by heat, which is called decarboxylation. Room temperature does this slowly to cannabis. It's likely that proper curing benefits potency because this slow decarboxylation makes the cannabis seem more potent over time. When cured flowers are smoked, its heat quickly decarboxylates any THC-A in its path. When smoking, the coal vaporizes some the THC-A without decarboxylating it. This is a much less active form of THC, though CBN does produce some effects. BUT, well cured flowers have less THC-A, so everything that's vaporized is active THC. So, smoking decarboxylated cannabis results in more THC delivery.

At 75 F degrees, THC in cannabis can lose as much as 7% of its active THC per month, as active THC oxidizes into CBN, another cannabinoid that is less psychoactive.

So, a 20.0 THC med could be an 18.6% med after a month or just under 14% in six months when kept at 75 F degrees.

Lower temperature slows this process down. Cooling the cannabis in a wine cooler or the vegetable bin of a refrigerator to 38-48 F degrees can slow this process down to under 2% per month.

Cool with humidity between 60 & 65 percent seems to protect and cure. But you have to start out with well-cured meds.

-morpheus
Cornerstone Research
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[momofthegoons]

This is really interesting and explains why my "guy" keeps his herb in the fridge. Makes perfect sense that at colder temps, it would keep better.

Thanks for sharing lwien.

 

[lwien]

This is really interesting and explains why my "guy" keeps his herb in the fridge. Makes perfect sense that at colder temps, it would keep better.

Thanks for sharing lwien.

Your welcome. Yeah, I used to just keep my bud in an airtight container in the bottom of my clothes drawer. Since I read this, I now store my meds in SpaceCase containers and put them in the vegetable storage bins in the bottom of my fridge.

 

[Zot]

While most of us recognize that the things that destroy THC are light and air and therefore, we keep our bud in airtight dark containers, heat, even room temp heat can play a part here in THC degradation. Here's an interesting quote from my med dispensary. Just thought I'd share.......

------------------------------------------------

THC is found on raw cannabis flowers in the form of THC-A, an acid. That acid is converted to the neutral active form by heat, which is called decarboxylation. Room temperature does this slowly to cannabis. It's likely that proper curing benefits potency because this slow decarboxylation makes the cannabis seem more potent over time. When cured flowers are smoked, its heat quickly decarboxylates any THC-A in its path. When smoking, the coal vaporizes some the THC-A without decarboxylating it. This is a much less active form of THC, though CBN does produce some effects. BUT, well cured flowers have less THC-A, so everything that's vaporized is active THC. So, smoking decarboxylated cannabis results in more THC delivery.

At 75 F degrees, THC in cannabis can lose as much as 7% of its active THC per month, as active THC oxidizes into CBN, another cannabinoid that is less psychoactive.

So, a 20.0 THC med could be an 18.6% med after a month or just under 14% in six months when kept at 75 F degrees.

Lower temperature slows this process down. Cooling the cannabis in a wine cooler or the vegetable bin of a refrigerator to 38-48 F degrees can slow this process down to under 2% per month.

Cool with humidity between 60 & 65 percent seems to protect and cure. But you have to start out with well-cured meds.

-morpheus
Cornerstone Research
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks much for this! I asked about this a month or so ago, but never got any answers. Into the fridge goes the herb and the ABV!

 

[lwien]

Zot, if you're going to store in the fridge, just make sure that your bud is in very airtight containers because typically, the humidity in a fridge is very, very low. I got one of those electronic thermometer/humidity displays that you get at Rat Shack, and my fridge in the bottom of the vegetable drawer is 12%, and at that low humidity, if my containers were not airtight, I'd have some very dried out bud.

 

[Vicki]

I store my herb in a couple tall mason jars that I have stored away in a dark cabinet. I was afraid to put it in the fridge because I was afraid of mold developing. I also considered using a desicant pack. Do you think I would be better off storing them in the fridge? Would vacuum sealing negate the need for refrigeration?

 

[lwien]

I was afraid to put it in the fridge because I was afraid of mold developing.

I was a bit concerned about that too, but being that the humidity is so low, and being that I use totally air tight containers and that my bud has already been cured, I felt that it wasn't an issue.

Would vacuum sealing negate the need for refrigeration?

I don't think so. Vacuum sealing takes air out of the equation, but not the heat. Up for debate though.

 

[Vicki]

I was afraid to put it in the fridge because I was afraid of mold developing.

I was a bit concerned about that too, but being that the humidity is so low, and being that I use totally air tight containers and that my bud has already been cured, I felt that it wasn't an issue.

Would vacuum sealing negate the need for refrigeration?

I don't think so. Vacuum sealing takes air out of the equation, but not the heat. Up for debate though.

Maybe vacuum sealing, storing inside a mason jar, and then in the fridge is the best way to go.

 

[lwien]

^^ Yup. Sounds good to me.

 

[Budz Bunny]

I was afraid to put it in the fridge because I was afraid of mold developing.

I was a bit concerned about that too, but being that the humidity is so low, and being that I use totally air tight containers and that my bud has already been cured, I felt that it wasn't an issue.

Would vacuum sealing negate the need for refrigeration?

I don't think so. Vacuum sealing takes air out of the equation, but not the heat. Up for debate though.

Maybe vacuum sealing, storing inside a mason jar, and then in the fridge is the best way to go.

Except I would not use the vacuum bags, will have a lot of trichomes sticking to the plastic. I think I may look into the adaptors to use mason jars as a vacuum container,

 

[Vicki]

I was afraid to put it in the fridge because I was afraid of mold developing.

I was a bit concerned about that too, but being that the humidity is so low, and being that I use totally air tight containers and that my bud has already been cured, I felt that it wasn't an issue.


I don't think so. Vacuum sealing takes air out of the equation, but not the heat. Up for debate though.

Maybe vacuum sealing, storing inside a mason jar, and then in the fridge is the best way to go.

Except I would not use the vacuum bags, will have a lot of trichomes sticking to the plastic. I think I may look into the adaptors to use mason jars as a vacuum container,

If you do, let me know. I would also be interested.

 

[Lo]

I have the jar sealing adapters for my foodsaver and they work GREAT!!! I have 2 sizes so I can do regular or wide mouth jars. I love the method and highly recommend it

I got my jar sealers from Amazon. They're just plastic lids that fit over the mason jar lid and you attach the tube to the foodsaver to suck out the air. Works like a charm!

 

[Geeza]

Storage Help Please ASAP!!!!!

Hi there e

I have 6.5oz of top class greens that I need to store without the threat of mould for about 3 weeks.

What is the fool proof method???

I am using air tight jars in the dark at room temp opened twice per day agitated and shook resealed...

Any help please as I can not!!!!! Afford any mould

Thanks in advance

 

[wowthisisrandom]

The way your doing it sounds fine for now as it sounds like your still curing your green. Maybe put a dehumidifier near the jars to reduce the chance of mold. Other than that if you need a long term storage method than check out www.doityourself.com/stry/jarsandlids.

P.S. You should probably put this in ask FC

 

[Nosferatu]

you put those airtight jars in a brown bag then put it in drawers of fridge. Best method for that amount of time although mason jars will keep it good for much longer than 3 weeks even without fridge