Should I Keep My Marijuana Buds in the Freezer?

Harvest time is finally here and you’ve finally harvested a good amount of good quality pot. Now the question is how to store your harvested marijuana buds properly so that you would be able to make use of them for a long time to come. We all know that the freezer keeps our food fresh and extends its shelf life. But should this notion also stand when it comes to your marijuana buds? Would sticking them in a freezer be a good storage option too? This question is very valid especially if you have way more buds than you could consume and would want to enjoy them little by little in the future. So let’s go ahead and find out below.

Should you keep marijuana buds in the freezer?

While it may seem like a logical idea what with the low humidity that will surely prevent molds, the simple and straightforward answer to this question is NO. Aside from avoiding too much heat and too much humidity when it comes to storing your marijuana buds, another thing you want to avoid is extreme cold. There are several reasons why extreme cold is not an advisable storage environment for your pot. Here are some of them below:

1. Decarboxylation

You might find that you have a hard time pronouncing that word written above. That’s perfectly alright. It’s a technical term than needs to be explained in order to be understood. Decarboxylation is a chemical process that naturally happens with your marijuana buds. Freshly harvested marijuana buds contain lots and lots of THC-A which is a non-psychoactive chemical compound. However, during decarboxylation, THC-A turns into THC which is the psychoactive version of that compound and is what brings the high to your pot. A catalyst to this process is heat, which means that when you use marijuana buds in cooking, production of THC will speed up as well. However, when the buds are exposed to intense cold, the decarboxylation process could completely stop and therefore leave you with a whole lot of useless marijuana buds.

2. Trichome glands

Now this could be another technical term bot not to worry, it’s fairly easy to understand. Trichomes or trichome glands are what you call the little white hairy things that are overall your marijuana buds. These glands in your marijuana buds are what contains most of the cannabinoids such as THC and CBD in your pot. Therefore these glands or hairy particles determine how potent your marijuana buds are. But if you stick the buds in the freezer, the trichome glands could freeze up and turn into tiny little icicles which will easily fall off or break off when you’re handling your buds. This therefore also means you would have to say bye-bye to your good quality pot.

What is the proper storage technique, then?

Now that we’ve already determined that you should NOT stick your marijuana buds in the freezer for safekeeping, it is time to find out what exactly to do with your buds to keep them fresh and smokable.

1. A cool, dark place

Most storage instructions really just come in three words, to store your marijuana buds in a “cool, dark place”. This will prevent the THC and CBD in your marijuana buds to degrade quickly as they will be exposed to lesser amount of UV rays.

2. Using jars

A good technique to follow when storing marijuana buds is to store them in airtight jars. Most expert growers use this technique because it is pretty effective. Just make sure that the humidity and temperature in the room where you’re keeping your jars are well regulated. Also make sure that your marijuana buds in jars are not exposed to too much UV rays.

3. Vacuum sealing

If you’re opposed to using jars for storage or just don’t trust the idea completely, you could opt to use Ziploc bags or sturdy plastic bags. Just make sure to vacuum seal them in order to expose your marijuana buds to the least amount of air and humidity possible. Also make sure that you vacuum seal your marijuana buds in several different little plastic bags, where one bag is enough for a one-time usage. You do not want to repeatedly open and seal the same bag for different occasions. This will endanger your buds to early degradation and molds.