Make the trichomes go amber after harvest?

Guerilla Kush

Guerilla Kush

Active Member
I had to harvest earlier than planned and most of the trichomes were clear with maybe just a few cloudy white here and there.
I'm going for a relaxing, couch-lock effect which is said that clear trichomes do not produce. For that type of effect people normally leave their plants into flowering for longer, until there's no more clear trichomes and until there's only cloudy white and plenty of amber trichs left.

Now, to my understanding, amber trichomes have their THC content converted to CBN. This is why many people are careful not to expose their buds to light and air drafts when they are drying and storing them. They want to preserve as much THC as possible and to prevent it from converting to CBN.
However, I want to convert some of the THC in the trichomes to CBN (assuming that CBN is what produces the couch-lock high, and that's an assumption based on what I have read online).

Can I make the clear trichomes of my already harvested and dried buds go amber?
I was thinking to place them under direct sunlight for awhile. Will intentional exposure to sunlight (or maybe other factors that are supposed to degrade the THC to its CBN byproduct) do the trick?
 
Guerilla Kush

Guerilla Kush

Active Member
Okay, let's try to change the question: has anyone noticed any difference in the effects after keeping their dried and cured weed under direct sunlight?
I know that not too many people keep their weed in the sun, but someone must have done it (probably accidentally), so let's have a discussion on how true it is that sunlight converts THC to CBN and "spoils" the smoke.
 
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echlectica

Well-Known Member
Don't dry it fast and some of the trichs will turn amber not not many. there is no way to magically turn the trychomes amber if you harvested too early. Whats done is done you can't un-cut your plants. You fucked up. you shoulda left it longer if you wanted amber...
 
Marijuana for Athletes

Marijuana for Athletes

Active Member
every time i see a post from "echlectica" theirs always something negative or he just never gives a polite answer ( learn some maners)
from what "I" have experienced is that the trichomes will eventually degrade and turn amber if left alone for a long time.i also had a jar of weed sitting under a light for almost 3 months and you could tell that it had degraded/turned more amber than the jars that were in complete darkness(same bud just 2 different jars in 2 different places). when i compared the high between the two i actually thought that the one that had been under the light was definitely more sedative but i couldn't tell you exactly. i have weed that was in darkness for 6 months and has gone from 20% amber to 90% amber. but when it comes to the sun i am not to sure. also i have quick dried weed in the sun and i wouldn't know if it had lost potency or not but it was strong weed. my honest opinion keep your weed stored for at least a couple of months and i recon you will see a lot more amber. also its not always the colour of the trichoms that determines the high you get. your brain and body will determine how weed affects you everyone is different. you could give the same weed to 10 different people and i guarantee some will have an energetic high and some a stone or in between. no mater what weed i smoke i cant stop dancing talking laughing and so on. sorry if this was a long read.
 
bamacheese

bamacheese

Well-Known Member
Guerilla Kush said:
I had to harvest earlier than planned and most of the trichomes were clear with maybe just a few cloudy white here and there.
I'm going for a relaxing, couch-lock effect which is said that clear trichomes do not produce. For that type of effect people normally leave their plants into flowering for longer, until there's no more clear trichomes and until there's only cloudy white and plenty of amber trichs left.

Now, to my understanding, amber trichomes have their THC content converted to CBN. This is why many people are careful not to expose their buds to light and air drafts when they are drying and storing them. They want to preserve as much THC as possible and to prevent it from converting to CBN.
However, I want to convert some of the THC in the trichomes to CBN (assuming that CBN is what produces the couch-lock high, and that's an assumption based on what I have read online).

Can I make the clear trichomes of my already harvested and dried buds go amber?
I was thinking to place them under direct sunlight for awhile. Will intentional exposure to sunlight (or maybe other factors that are supposed to degrade the THC to its CBN byproduct) do the trick?
Click to expand...
CBN, or cannabinol, isn't always responsible for the "couch-lock effect" in cannabis. This is a very common misconception!!!

Another cannabinoid, CBD, or Cannabidiol, is often the culprit of these effects. CBD happens to be my favorite cannabinoid.

The amount of CBD present in your cannabis is strain-dependent. CBD synthesis does occur at the later stages of flowering, as does THC. (Or technically, THC-a and CBD-a until the carboxyl acid groups detach). Therefore, more ripe cannabis usually renders higher THC and CBD contents, that is until degradation occurs which you fore mentioned.

You are correct that THC degrades into CBN, a process which can be sped up by exposure to light, heat, or simply time. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure of the breakdown of CBD, or how it degrades.

CBN actually produces a psychoactive effect when working in correlation with both THC and CBD. This is why often times herb that is cured for 3 months will have a heavier psychoactive effect than herb right off the drying rack.

CBD is the chemical you are after, though, and it isn't a product of degradation, but rather a product of direct resin synthesis. CBN is simply a catalyst for these other cannabinoid's effects, if I'm not mistaken.
 
Guerilla Kush

Guerilla Kush

Active Member
Marijuana for Athletes said:
every time i see a post from "echlectica" theirs always something negative or he just never gives a polite answer ( learn some maners)
from what "I" have experienced is that the trichomes will eventually degrade and turn amber if left alone for a long time.i also had a jar of weed sitting under a light for almost 3 months and you could tell that it had degraded/turned more amber than the jars that were in complete darkness(same bud just 2 different jars in 2 different places). when i compared the high between the two i actually thought that the one that had been under the light was definitely more sedative but i couldn't tell you exactly. i have weed that was in darkness for 6 months and has gone from 20% amber to 90% amber. but when it comes to the sun i am not to sure. also i have quick dried weed in the sun and i wouldn't know if it had lost potency or not but it was strong weed. my honest opinion keep your weed stored for at least a couple of months and i recon you will see a lot more amber. also its not always the colour of the trichoms that determines the high you get. your brain and body will determine how weed affects you everyone is different. you could give the same weed to 10 different people and i guarantee some will have an energetic high and some a stone or in between. no mater what weed i smoke i cant stop dancing talking laughing and so on. sorry if this was a long read.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much, this is a great answer and it matches my own theories about what should be done in order to get more amber trichomes (i.e. - we should let the material sit for longer).
Let's see what happens with my harvested buds - they have been crumbled to smaller bits and have been sitting in a card box for a month now and there are still no any amber trichomes. I will put them in a jar in order to get some light to them.

I also agree with your statement that the same weed can affect different people differently and that the effects largely depend on what is in the consumer's head/body.
I remember smoking a joint with a few friends of mine and everyone was affected completely differently from that same joint we smoked.
With that said, I will try to go for amber trichs, just in case, because I'm not a huge fan of racey, anxiety-ridden highs. So even if it's not the color of the trichomes that affects the high, it won't hurt to experiment with it just to make sure.
 
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echlectica

Well-Known Member
Guerilla Kush said:
Let's see what happens with my harvested buds - they have been crumbled to smaller bits and have been sitting in a card box for a month now and there are still no any amber trichomes. I will put them in a jar in order to get some light to them.
.
Click to expand...
Yoiu've ruining your crop already.
 
OldGrowth420

OldGrowth420

Well-Known Member
turn the other cheek marijuana for atheletes, don't degrade your integrity by being rude back. Stay classy san diego
 
P

powercow

New Member
probably too late for you, but you can get a UV light and amber up some trichs.. post harvest.. or during growing.
 
Trousers

Trousers

Well-Known Member
Guerilla Kush said:
I had to harvest earlier than planned and most of the trichomes were clear with maybe just a few cloudy white here and there.
I'm going for a relaxing, couch-lock effect which is said that clear trichomes do not produce.
Click to expand...
Amber trichomes mean the thc has degraded into CBN (turned to shit basically). Too much CBN will make you feel ill, not couch locked. Cloudy trichomes mean the plant is ripe, like a yellow banana.

The idea that you can radically change the effect of the plant by letting it go a little longer seems silly to me.

Guerilla Kush said:
For that type of effect people normally leave their plants into flowering for longer, until there's no more clear trichomes and until there's only cloudy white and plenty of amber trichs left.

Now, to my understanding, amber trichomes have their THC content converted to CBN. This is why many people are careful not to expose their buds to light and air drafts when they are drying and storing them. They want to preserve as much THC as possible and to prevent it from converting to CBN.
Click to expand...
So why would you want amber trichomes?


Guerilla Kush said:
However, I want to convert some of the THC in the trichomes to CBN (assuming that CBN is what produces the couch-lock high, and that's an assumption based on what I have read online).
Click to expand...
You don't want to do that. As soon as I see amber on the leaves, for me the plant is ready to be picked. If I see amber on the buds, I chop ASAFP, preferably yesterday.

Guerilla Kush said:
Can I make the clear trichomes of my already harvested and dried buds go amber?
I was thinking to place them under direct sunlight for awhile. Will intentional exposure to sunlight (or maybe other factors that are supposed to degrade the THC to its CBN byproduct) do the trick?
Click to expand...
Don't put drying/curing buds in a lot of light, that is a bad idea. Just deal with what you have.

If you want couch lock, start with a variety that will produce such effects.
 
briteleaf

briteleaf

Well-Known Member
Don't know if anyone checking this thread cares but my experience has shown me that flowers harvested with clear and white trichomes slowly turned to a majority amber after storage for 3 years in clamped, ceramic coffee storage jar. The jars are usually cheap in thrift stores.
 
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