gettin lifted said:
i cant believe all the people that toss their stems.
my stems (talking about the stems that hold the bud together) are always covered in crystals. all high grade buds should have crystals on the stems.
i have a hash shaker box and it makes easy work of removing the trichs from the stems.
i always get a good bit of keif from the box after im done shaking. id recommend either getting a hash shaker box or just making green dragon.
I'd imagine its a case of diminishing returns. Those who either consume or grow vast quantities of cannabis are likely cognizant of the fact that the "crystals" visible on stems are not in general the capped resin-containing type. There are some of those, especially in certain strains, but in general their population is overwhelmed by the non-psychoactive structures. To be sure, a stem does have some THC (and other cannabinoid) content but it is orders of magnitude less than on the calyx or leaf surfaces. You could generalize that and ounce of leaf will yield 50-100 times more usable bubble hash than an ounce of "bud stems". I suspect that more of the resin found on the bud stems is simply due to physical proximity to (and contact with) the calyxes, whom eagerly share their bounty with any structure willing to rub against them.
So if you find a workable yield from shaking stems, more power to you and this is no attempt to talk you out of it. But imagine being able to grow or otherwise acquire all the bud, leaf, and hash that you want... the stems will quickly fall into their rightful place at the bottom of the pecking order. It just doesn't make sense to spend time processing a material with such little promise.
Your mention of an extraction is a good one, as that is so undemanding in terms of labor. However, in my experience the cost of the solvent is not justified for a pure stem extraction. In lean times, I have tried and tried to get anything worthwhile from stems. In rare cases, there were minor victories, but again I believe this has more to do with calyx contact than it does the inherent properties of stems themselves.
Again, if it works for you, keep it up. But I suspect if you shake enough stem to accumulate say a gram of "crystals", and then compare that gram to kief collected from leaf or bud, you will quickly determing that saving stems is not worth the trouble.
In my own routine, I will say that since I have switched to vaporizing, I do not meticulously separate them anymore. I just take a nuglet, stem and all, and grind it. I don't notice "stemless" hits being any better or smoother than those where I grind the whole bud. I believe much of tha bad taste associated with smoking stems comes from higher temperatures, and in a vapor context the stems add nothing offensive and probably nothing beneficial, they are just filler which is time-consuming to remove so I do not bother much.
When I mentioned using stems in my woodstove, I was referring to larger branch pieces, stuff 1/2" or more in diameter and up to a few feet long. It really is spectacular stuff for firestarting, as I am sure any grower with a wood stove has already discovered. The tiny pieces of stem from the base of a bud, I just put in with my ABV container or compost bin if I am thoughtful enough to do so.
Now all that said... just because I do not believe that there is not much vapable goodness on a stem does not mean hope is lost, far from it. Recently I have been hearing more and more anecdotal evidence about the efficacy of tinctures made from stem or root material having incredible medicinal value. Surely more research needs to be done here. I would just say from personal experience that those looking for an obvious mental effect would better spend their time learning to grow or otherwise acquire herb than they would dealing with stem processing. But for pure pain relief, you might be onto something, especially for an oral preparation.
Just wanted to explain why someone might "waste" what you see as a precious resource. Vape well!
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