Wrt to my yield issues (oh, I'm so ashamed! LOL):
I will try to get better pics of the trichomes on the Pineapple Skunk but I can assure you that this is really very good vaping flower....but my pressing yields are still low...as you can see above, in the 13% range.
I've watched Bubbleman's vids (which I have to tell you, it ain't easy for me to watch too much of him) and his Where's My Bike strain 30% yields. In particular, it was apparently so sticky and gooey (the buds) that he picked up his scale by just sticking it to his finger. So, this brings up the point of what exactly makes bud dank and sticky. THC or....maybe plant waxes/fats/cell organelles/other stuff???.
Because, I don't really know anybody who has sent rosin out for testing so I don't really know what % of yield is THC and what is just other junk.
I doubt that Bubbleman's flower was over 30% THC...and I feel somewhat confident that he didn't squeeze out 30% yield of just THC so some percentage of his rosin is "other stuff". How much....dunno. What makes up the "other stuff", I dunno. But it can't be THC.
Wrt to the flower test results of my Pineapple Skunk....I have had two conversations with lead growers from two our our med cultivators and they both said that there is some difference between results from the three labs we have doing testing (and of course, all growers want to shop for the best test numbers). But what can the general magnitude of this difference between lab results be? I'm saying 10% and no more than 15%...otherwise I think the state would look into it and certainly one lab would get all of the work and the others will be sucking wind. So, let's just say 15% and let's deduct that from my 27% test results. So, I think its safe to say I have a min of 23% THC...but only a 13% yield (sigh).
So, I watched a LOT of vids. In particular, Pure Pressure did an experiment with two strains squished identically under different levels of RH wich is here:
They tested with Death Valley Cheese and Blueberry....both indicas I believe. Here is the THC amounts that they claim are in this flower:
Basically, 26%.
Then they show the yields that they got....and this is the manufacture using full up bags and all of the tech that they have....and the results were:
Pretty low figures, note the 15% at 62% RH for the Cheese. So, again...I wonder exactly what is driving the yields up for Bubbleman and some others....THC or is it other sticky plant material that will also squish out and increase yield but not much else.
I feel certain that a lot of it is my source material....but I will also try increasing pressure some....and if that doesn't resolve it, then increase temp some but I'm afraid of getting too high of a temp and having oily sticky rosin that's hard to collect.
By the by, I did do a second squish on the puck....folded it over and squished the heck out of it again....and got another .032 g. Not much. And yes, I saved the puck and will try to vape it some and maybe even smoke it (oh, the horror...the horror...haha) and see what's left in there but I suspect not much.
This has been more difficult that I thought it would be....but the rosin I am getting is delicious, a beautiful color, and hits hard...I like it, just want more of it. LOL
So what am I (and apparently Pure Pressure) doing wrong?
So I have been pressing flower with a nice hair straightener that temp controls right to 180-230 where I want it. Plus an Irwin squeeze clamp. The first bud was some outdoor blue frost that was only pretty good, I got between 8 and 12%, ended up averaging 11% on that one.
Then I pulled out some stuff with no name, that wasn't good at all to me so I haven't done anything with it... Now I see why. It has little to no bag appeal, it smells a little like sour fruit but not dank. I see some hairs with heads, and some without. I got 5% on my first squish... the second I got 6%. Then I hit my little dab from 2 buds and put it up. It was much better than vaping that bud, but not worth the effort and I like tastier stuff than that.
Then I pulled out some Girls Scout Cookies that I had put up because it was nice and potent. I don't vape flower much at all anymore, maybe once a month. So my flower stays around for a while. This one is boveda packed at 62% and bam... yield was 26% off of this one, second squish, 24%! I squished a few more since this was nice rosin too. I ended up with 1.85g out of 7 grams. Definitely the best rosin yeild I have gotten from bud, not hash or keif.
Last I pressed some of that fire 4-star sour tangie bubble hash. I did 4, 1/2 gram squishes and got around 55% total, and I know this had actives left in it after squishing so I dropped the squished hash screen and all in everclear to get the rest out.
Yeah, @Baron23 If you have tested flower at 23%, I would want a 20-25% yield. luckily you can grind and extract your pucks right? I added my rosin chips to a big batch of RSO I made for edible capsules, but with a potential of 10% or more THC left in your pucks, Have you tried a very cold QWISO or QWET on them? Maybe grind them up, do a quick wash super cold and filter quickly with a 25 micron. Then you get your instant gratification solventless with your rosin presses, and still get all of your yields too. Get that other 10% out with a solvent extraction. That's the beauty of extracts, so much control via different solvents, times, and temps. If you want me to help you get set up with a setup to reclaim your alcohol, like the Source, but for $50 let me know and I will help you out getting a setup.
I found having several extraction methods at your disposal is the way to go. And when you start retrieving some of your solvents that makes things a lot cheaper too.
I just squished 2 grams of bubble hash, wasn't happy with the yields, so I washed 10 grams of it with alcohol like last time, except lowered my temps the first wash and did 2 washes.
I think with a proper press I would use this method of extracting more than I do now. Currently out of the 4 products I have on hand now only 1 gets a decent yield with a hair straightener. I think with a Nug Smasher or equivalent I would use this in conjunction with other methods for sure.
