NFC How do you know your weed is any good

[daoist]

So basicly my question is.

How can you spot good quality herb from bad quality herb.

I got screwed over last week twice with really expensive really bad weed in holland. And in holland there is no quality control system in place. So i feel like such an idiot sometimes.

If i buy a strain that i never had before, it is a gamble, this can happen. But if it is good white widow that you tried, and next time you see some white widow at a different shop and think i buy it again and then suddenly it is a bad badge.

I really could appreciate some pointers what to look for. if it is a good strain but a bad grower, thats no good.

 

[ginolicious]

Dense hard nugs with a lot of crystal on it would be considered quad A bud these days.

 

[Gunky]

As Gino said. Also get yourself a cheap jeweler's loupe and begin examining any flower you come across with it. You will have more detailed evidence and it will become easier to recognize the good stuff. I also pay a lot of attention to odor. If it is not quite smelly, something has likely gone wrong in the chain of growing, curing, drying, transporting, storing.

 

[daoist]

The smelling i always do that to.. But now i had la confidential which was a bit dense and good smell. But it did not do much at all.
It looked very greenish in color. Normally the haze i buy is with more orange hairs and less green parts. I did some reading up and i read somewhere that the brown hairs that is where the good stuff is.

 

[painisabitch]

hi guys,
i have a good tip for knowing, send me some, i vap it and call you to say if it's a good one or not, certified! ^^
more seriously i'm from a not allowed place, so the only advice i can give you is tasting it, if the seller refuse for me it's a pretty good tip, a seller proud of what he sell dont have problem to let you test the stuff, legal or not
hope i was helpful a bit, have a great day guys and take care
(the best solution stay the self production buddy, nothing can replace that )
ps1: brown hair isn't significative, sometimes pk monster/13-14 make my hair brown in first stage bloom sometimes^^, you need a X60 scope for seeing the trichomes, and if you see yellow/brownish trichome yes it's a good way to know if your buds was correctly harvest in the best period, if you see green and transparent trichoms it was harvested too soon
and sorry if i made mistakes, as i said english isn't my born language ;p

 

[daoist]

I am not going to grow anything myself. That would be illegal. Lot of people get in trouble that way. So i just go to better shops further away.

 

[painisabitch]

so forget the best solution , i fully understand you dont want to be illegal(i dont know were you from so it's a bit hard to know what is allowed to you^^), but the other advice work( not the one who said send me some of course )
you're from a country near holland or in holland? the dutch laws about cannabis lost me a while ago, too many changes^^

 

[Ramahs]

A good indicator that I've always used is to use your thumbs to spread open the bud at the bottom, near the main stem and look at that area where all the tiny stems meet the stalk in the center of the bud. If that central area is similarly dense in trichomes as the outer surface of the bud (assuming that the outer surface has plenty of trichomes, otherwise why would we be looking any further?). If so, then it's usually good bud.

I've never bought from somewhere legal in my life though, so I have no idea if they would even let you do that in a legal store.

 

[seaofgreens]

When you know... it is unforgettable. When years later, you're still thinking back on the experiences that happened, the flavors and smells all bundled into fond memories and tones of regret when that stash jar ran dry... Those are the white whales we all chase.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

Can’t always tell by visual inspection.

I had some, anonymously, that showed no signs of trichomes at all, and when pressed yielded virtually nothing at all (7% return). Yet it was potent to smoke or vape, had a great smell, worked very well for all the usual cannabis things. Given what I paid for it, I’d gladly smoke that regularly.

The only real way to tell beforehand is to know your source, and trust your source - which includes trusting your source not to sting you if they get stung. In a commercial setting, you either get a guarantee that they’ll swap it out if it’s bunk (yeah, right), or you don’t. I’ve never been to a legal shop, so I can’t comment, but it’s them being open that’s legal - there is no legal protection for you as the customer.

 

[iDRINKBLEACH]

I always break into the biggest bud and look around stem for bud rot, check the trichs to see if they're developed or if they are clear still. I prefer dense light green myself, and needs to be well trimmed, I hate shotty trim jobs.
If getting from a legitimate shop shouldn't have to worry about bud rot, sadly it happens though.

 

[Kins]

Look into the tricome institute. They have a book about this, and even some classes. The pro course is $249, but there is an intro course that's only $42.

 

[Aizen-sama]

I am not going to grow anything myself. That would be illegal. Lot of people get in trouble that way. So i just go to better shops further away.

Where in NL do you live, larger city or a village? Here in Amsterdam I tried a few places near me and generally go back to the same shop or two, never had a problem. I like Boerejongens and Best Friends. Both produce nice bud for a reasonable price, and the hash is nice as well (great for edibles). Best Friends gets their stuff tested which is nice IMO, good piece of mind; haven't seen many places here that offer that. If you're not in Amsterdam, maybe check out Greenmeister, Weedmaps, or even Google reviews to see what's good in the area.

 

[daoist]

thanks for your reply. Most of the time it is oke what i buy. But even at shops where they sell "good" flower they always have some lower quality also, but if it is at low prices and they are honest about it, thats oke. But it really pisses me of when they start sell Mr. Nice haze for 15 euro a gram, and it turns out to be low quality degraded silver haze that does not do anything for me. That is just scamming people.

If i buy flower for 6 euro a gram i just know it is going to be shitty weed. And if i pay 12 euro a gram that should be pretty much the quality best you can get (in holland).
Of course there is always more expensive but this can be because of how rare it is to get it and not because of how strong it is.

 

[TommyDee]

Your prices are not to far out of line with Oregon, USA. Shops with tested and branded goods but each shop applies the price. I am learning to trust particular farms as they are noted on the product. Each crop is different but the price reflects that in general. Don't you have Leafly there @daoist ?

 

[Leadpipe58]

Thank you for your great knowledge.

 

[Shadooz]

Amsterdam got a lot of scams in their smart shop, i used to only go in renown but expensive one. If you take s5 haze from mellow yellow, sour diesel from greenhouse, or cookies in barneys. U will pay a loy but will have a top bud.

The only way to check a bud is to touch, it, break it, and smell it. But only street will let u do that.
If she's hairy, dense and sticky, it's gonna be some good times.
I've stop to buy a long time ago, if you grow well u will have 15€/gr like bud.
So much sugar all around. I've still got some 2 years old cookies and critical, still sticky and tasty.
Can't buy anything again without being disapointed.

 

[hinglemccringleberry]

Flavor and effects have to pass the test more than how it looks.

This one time I bought some Forbidden Fruit, indoor grow, looked fire and seemed to be properly cured, had frost for days, but for some reason it didn't get me that high, and the flavor was kind of muted. I was underwhelmed.

OTOH I once bought some Romulan Grapefruit "bottom of the barrel popcorn nugs" that werent much to look at, bad trim job, so I was expecting to be let down (it was lacking all of those big sticky trichomes too) but the effects and flavor were INSANE. That was 4 years ago and to this day it's one of the best, most memorable batches of bud I've ever vaped.

 

[TommyDee]

I've run across a very familiar strain that was missing all its terps. Nothing clingy to the walls of my container, nothing sticky or frosty. Almost like they misted the buds with alcohol. Lacked flavor all together and had very little scent. It didn't come from the farm this way as I was familiar with the source.

 

[Ramahs]

I recently acquired some Purple Glue, that looked to me like mostly micro-buds in the little twice-the-normal-price quarter I picked up. I was skeptical, but I bought a quarter.

It is special. It's one of those strains that I never want to use during a normal work day, as it is total relaxation fog. I will continue to use it before bed.

 

[TommyDee]

That sounds yummy!

 

[cvs8floz]

I have grown over 30 different strains over the last 4 years since growing was legalized in MA., mostly for my own consumption. As many have stated before, appearance, trichome coverage, health of buds, aroma, etc are all good indicators of quality, however it is only after the material lands in your favorite vape that you can truly judge its merit. If your e-nano normally delivers 1 hit and you get new material and the first hit makes you choke because it is so rich and you can easily get 1-2 more hits you know you have a winner.
The most important factor to me is freshness. The plant is at maximum potency when harvested, this is the only time you get the true aroma and after about 5-10 days of drying and curing, I would say the bud is at peak potency for vaping. No matter how you store your bud, how often you burp your jars, what humidity you maintain, that original heavily aroma only lasts 6-8 weeks for most strains, even less for CBD rich strains which I find become tasteless even faster. Occasionally you get lucky, I remember a Sweet Cheese plant that was still tasty after 8 months in a jar, but most strains lose their flavor by then. And I have grown 1 strain that absolutely didn't smell like weed at all, was light and fluffy, but plenty potent.
I don't know if this is of help to anyone who can't grow and has to rely on either street vendors or legal shops, there is no way you could tell if the plant still has its original smell if you weren't there when it was harvested.
The problem for me is that I have become a total weed snob and always require fresh material, so I switched to growing smaller plants more often in 1 and 2-gallon containers, no more massive plants in 7-gallon containers that take 6 months to finish.

 

[Gunky]

-snip-
The most important factor to me is freshness. The plant is at maximum potency when harvested, this is the only time you get the true aroma and after about 5-10 days of drying and curing, I would say the bud is at peak potency for vaping. -snip-

I disagree. The smell may be nicest at that point but the potency increases for several weeks after that. This is a pretty well known chemical phenomenon.

The quality of marijuana improves for several weeks after it has dried because THC acid loses its water molecule and becomes psychoactive.

--Rosenthal, Ed. Marijuana Grower's Handbook: Your Complete Guide for Medical and Personal Marijuana Cultivation .

Some years back when I was living in Oakland, CA I took the growers orientation at Harborside dispensary, which at that time at least was the largest dispensary in the world. They specifically stipulated, don't bring stuff to us right after curing - wait several weeks because the quality improves. They are in a position to verify this. They had a machine there which assayed the percentage of THC - I saw it used on some Vortex I brought in. (They declined to purchase, though it tested out at 17%. Vortex is sativa and not that impressive looking to begin with and my growing skills at the time were not the greatest.)

The terpenes which give buds their fragrance are volatile, and some of them evaporate at room temperature. To preserve them and the bud’s freshness, the packaged buds should be stored in the refrigerator for medium-long term storage. Kept refrigerated in darkness, there is little deterioration of the cannabinoids or the terpenes.
For even longer-term storage, place the containers of dried buds in a freezer. They can remain there for years with virtually no deterioration.

--Rosenthal, Ed. Marijuana Grower's Handbook: Your Complete Guide for Medical and Personal Marijuana Cultivation .

 

[Ramahs]

Living in a legal state where I can grow my own would be amazing.

 

[Shadooz]

@cvs8floz curing is one of the most crucial part.
All weed can't go till two years, Just like wine(just divided by 10). most part will start decline before the first year, but they will still maturate and gain in potency couple months after harvest...

I've always wait at least 2 months of drying followed by 2 months jar curing before starting to enjoy her.
It's the minimum to let the plant lose their "real weed" smell and taste, and develop their particular ones (lemon, floral,...) i'v got once one with violette taste, best one of my life... a critical kush. i've grown several same strain and never get that taste again. Even between sisters it will be different

Outdoor bud can't be cured for too long, only resinous ones can be stored for long time.
Around one year of dry+curing they give me the best, in term of vapor density and taste. The 2 years old i've got (not every bud can go till that time) are still potent and the taste have literaly change to a full flotal taste...