There’s an incredible variety of cannabis products available, especially in dried flower form. Every strain features a one-of-a-kind combination of colours, aromas, flavours, and potencies.

Recognizing its diversity, many people will buy multiple strains at a time. Others opt to get their flower in larger formats for value or convenience.

But one thing remains the same – as soon as you’ve made the investment in quality cannabis, it’s time to think about the best way to stash your weed. By controlling its exposure to light, temperature, humidity, and oxygen contact, your best buds can be preserved if you do it correctly. Here are a few tips to help you prolong the life of your favourite flower. 

Following a few of these tips will keep your flower fresher for longer, as our growers intended.

The medium makes the difference

Most cannabis in Canada is shipped in either foil-lined pouches or plastic tubs – both of which are well-suited to protect fragile flowers during shipping, but they are not ideally suited for long term storage once opened. 

Consider transferring your flower into an opaque or dark glass jar. Otherwise, a canning jar with a vacuum seal top is also an ideal choice for keeping your weed fresh. They are inexpensive, reusable, and easy to find in most grocery or hardware stores. These jars keep light and oxygen out and odour in.

Pure Sunfarms tip: Each strain of cannabis possesses its own unique aromas, flavours, colours, and potencies, so it’s important to store each cultivar in its own separate container.

Pros know if you match the size of the jar to the amount of cannabis inside, the amount of oxygen trapped inside is reduced, allowing the flower to stay fresher for longer. Overexposure to oxygen causes the flower to lose its natural colour and aroma too quickly. The buds will become dry and brittle, causing those tasty trichomes to shrivel and break off.

Try this: A glass paint marker is a good way to label your jars once you transfer them from their original packages. We recommend writing the brand, strain, and THC or CBD percentage on the glass to keep your collection organized.

A cool, dark place

Along with oxygen, too much light will also turn the buds from attractive greens to unappealing yellows and browns, while also degrading the potency and flavour of your cannabis. Once your flower has been transferred to a glass jar, and especially if the glass is clear, consider storing those jars in a sealed box within a dark room. Some stores also sell silicone sleeves that keep the light out while protecting the glass from drops and spills.

Myth Buster: Despite what your uncle told you, it’s actually not recommended to store cannabis in a fridge or freezer. Temperature and humidity are always changing in these environments, which increases the potential for mold and mildew. Plus, the cold temperatures in a freezer will cause those trichomes to break off the flower.

Keeping your flower in a cool room with stable temperatures is also important. Not only do high temperatures dry out the trichomes, but they tend to increase humidity that allows mold and mildew to grow. The ideal temperature for cannabis storage is below 20 degrees Celsius (about 70 °F).

Humidity should also be kept within a range of 55-62% in order to maintain the structure of the trichomes without causing mold or mildew to thrive. One way to maintain intended humidity is by using a two-way moisture pack or a one-way rehydrating stone, found at most cannabis retailers, Alternatively, humidity can be measured with an inexpensive device, called a hygrometer, which takes a fast, digital read of the ambient humidity within a room or a jar.

Peace of Mind: No matter how or where your cannabis is stored, remember to keep it out of sight from minors, in an odour-proof and child-resistant or fully lockable container.