Long term storage

So my debate at the moment is how to store flowers long term. I often end up with a strain for 6 months or more that I really like but want to save.

Storing in the closet will eventually turn the flowers darker in color and alter the smell taste. I know a long cure does that but I like my flowers fresh.

Storing in the freezer makes em brittle, but preserves the freshness. I also worry about moisture.

I worry about moisture with the fridge too, but maybe keeping a 58% RH bovida pack in the jars in the fridge would be a better option?

Or, I kind of really like this idea; a wine cooler set to around 60F with 58% RH bovida packets in the jars. I've even been playing with the idea of converting a wine cooler into a little chilled humidor (@ 58%rh).

Basically I want to preserve my fresh flowers as long as possible, while keeping mold at bay, and not making the flowers too brittle.

Any and all ideas welcome.

I need to decide what would be best before I go buy whatever it is I need. I'd just leave it in the closet but my smoke room is the hottest in the house which degrades my medicine faster...

I put them in mason jars with 62 Boveda packs. I've got some jars that are 2 years old. I've cracked one or two open and they make a nice "pop" when I crack open the lid. The smoke is great. Tastes goid, burns even and long, and packs quite a punch. The jars are kept in a cupboard in the kitchen

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I'm still smoking the BCC I grew in 2015, it's been kept in dark purple jars in a closet that stays cool and it's kept real well

seems my gun safe stays around 70-72f, so I've moved my stash there. It's well insulated so the temp doesn't vary too much, so should be better suited for storage hopefully. I put some fresh in the freezer and the rest in the safe. If I still have issues in six or so months I'll re look at the wine cooler idea or something.

The room I smoke in and have been keeping supplies in is the hottest in the house, above 80f on average, which is what I think is messing with longer term storage.

I know it's an older thread here but I believe I've cracked the long term storage issue fairly simply as I sit here smoking on a beautiful nug of tangerine haze and today is a year ago I put er in storage. Nothing has changed, it still has the same moisture content as when it went in and smells, looks and tastes exactly the same as the day it went in. I now have a collection of jars from all the top strains I've seen over the last year and have them stored in my "nug" cellar the same as fine wines. I do have one funny anomaly that arises from the long term storage tho and that's after I open it again. Let' say I open jar a take a a few nugs for my self and close the jar. I'm not sure if it' a result of the stasis I put the weed in for storage but after I unsealed the jar and then screw the lid back on it builds pressure in the jar and fast. Within ten minutes I'll hear the lid "ping" out and it actually has positive pressure. I push down in the center of the lid and it pops back out "ping" ! Then wait another five minutes and the pressure is so great I can no longer push the lid down. The funniest part is if I spin the lid off of the jar quickly it makes a "pong" noise and sends the lid flying. I assume that after the flowers have been in stasis for so long that they immediately start to off gas which quickly fills and pressurizes the mason jar. Any thoughts on why it would build so quickly. If I don' put the same weed in stasis for long term storage and put it i5n the jar and put the lid on it this doesn't' happen so I'm thinking it has to do with the time spent in stasis.

Mr.Goodtimes said:

Or, I kind of really like this idea; a wine cooler set to around 60F with 58% RH bovida packets in the jars. I've even been playing with the idea of converting a wine cooler into a little chilled humidor (@ 58%rh).

Basically I want to preserve my fresh flowers as long as possible, while keeping mold at bay, and not making the flowers too brittle.

Any and all ideas welcome.

Click to expand...

Dear Mr.Goodtimes,
A wine cooler is usually a fairly expensive item. I can easily build one yourself with minimal effort and investment.
Purchase a thermostatic plug such as this one (or better build one).
https://www.amazon.com/KKmoon-AC110-240V-Intelligent-Temperature-Controller/dp/B01M0M98G0/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1521817502&sr=8-5&keywords=thermostatic+plug
Recycle an old fridge of the size that suits your needs.
Drill a small hole on one of the facades of the refrigerator in order to slide the temperature probe inside. Make sure not to damage any circuitry. The door is usually the safest place to temper with.
Slide the probe inside and seal the hole with calk (or anything else).
Set your desired temperature on the plug.
You got yourself a 20$ wine cooler.

You can repeat same with a humidity controller and a humidifier
https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Pre-wired-Digital-Humidity-Controller/dp/B017IJF2JE/ref=sr_1_6?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1521818978&sr=1-6&keywords=humidity+plug.

DIYingly yours,
M

I don't even get excited about the characteristics for a good cure until around 6 months. Especially with a strain that has any kind of fruitiness to it. I just keep mine inside sealable food grade bags which are then put inside large totes with a rubber seal on the lids. I've honestly never had bud turn dark or get brittle using this method. I love keeping a bit of each strain in a stash for myself. Il just stick em in there and forget about em until the next harvest or I decide I want a certain one. I've got strains that literally smell like fruity candy/cereal when opened up. I think drying and curing is the most important part of what we do. When we first chop we get a hint of the smells a strain has. Then during the first stages of dry and cure. We lose a lot of those awesome smells to that process. Sadly alot of people get rid flowers after only a very short cure. In my personal experience and opinion. The flowers need time for that initial fresh cut cure smell to disappear ....more than a few weeks SMH.... Then the flowers seem to get almost a neutral smell where the fresh cut smell has dissipated, yet the flowers don't really smell much. Then finally those fruity,piny,spicy smells start to come through. That is what a cure is all about IMO. I'm not talking about the coffee skunk smell. I can dry weed and cure it for a few weeks and have that loud skunk smell no problem. I'm talking about the subtle smells that take time to shine through. I guess I get sick of seeing people talk about their two week cure and how it's changed their bud.




OGK before cure





Same OGK after a nice long proper cure.



Cure FTW ....... K, I'm done rambling

Excuse me

Stabilize the desired moisture content and store in sealed container without oxygen present (or minimized) in dark, cool place. Will last a long time.

Bugeye said:

Stabilize the desired moisture content and store in sealed container without oxygen present (or minimized) in dark, cool place. Will last a long time.

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Do you think it's oxygen or light that causes buds to turn that undesirable color?

@Singlemalt What's your opinion on why people have issues with their buds turning brown during long storage?

Indacouch said:

Do you think it's oxygen or light that causes buds to turn that undesirable color?

@Singlemalt What's your opinion on why people have issues with their buds turning brown during long storage?

Click to expand...

Oxidation of chlorophyll. About the only way to prevent it is get the humidity down low, keep in the dark and have it in an inert gas (N2, argon, helium) atmosphere

edit: If properly dried, freezing works but must allow to come to room temp before opening

I forgot, vacuum packed works but thats problematic

I use freezer for long term - 6 months plus storage. Otherwise it goes in the fridge. I keep one jar out for smoking. In the freezer, I'm not so much worried about moisture content (I use canning jars), as much as I'm worried about freezer burn. For that reason, I pack my jars pretty full to minimize air.

Indacouch said:

Do you think it's oxygen or light that causes buds to turn that undesirable color?

@Singlemalt What's your opinion on why people have issues with their buds turning brown during long storage?

Click to expand...

Light bleaches and oxygen makes them go more brown, in my experience.

Singlemalt said:

Oxidation of chlorophyll. About the only way to prevent it is get the humidity down low, keep in the dark and have it in an inert gas (N2, argon, helium) atmosphere

edit: If properly dried, freezing works but must allow to come to room temp before opening

Click to expand...

I've never tried nitrogen but was going to. A friend said that nitrogen can cause other issues, but we were stoned and I forget what he said would happen. Any comments? Which gas do you think does the best job?

Bugeye said:

I've never tried nitrogen but was going to. A friend said that nitrogen can cause other issues, but we were stoned and I forget what he said would happen. Any comments? Which gas do you think does the best job?

Click to expand...

Argon. I'd imagine that it's prohibitively expensive. I don't know how long it's good for, but N2 is used in the dried foods industry, as well as high end coffee packaging