The beauty of weed is to be able to have the privilege of receiving and producing experiences celebrated only by those who have undergone a psychedelic session with marijuana.
That said, it is unfortunate that many people are not only uninitiated into the world of marijuana smoking, some only know marijuana for that only purpose—never entering into the vast unknown space that lay beyond.
But initiation is best served when you know your marijuana from the inside and outside of its features as a plant, as well as knowing how to cultivate a number of products that can come from its compounds flowers, oils and concentrates (among a few).
In order for that to happen, one has to remember that the important key to ring home is that it all boils down to a matter of knowing and exploiting a cannabis seeds’ design and structure. Now, exploitation and manipulation can come off as aggressive to some people, but when it comes to plants, this is actually a good thing given how plants’ original relationship with every day predators.
Overall production and conservation are important because marijuana is a long-term investment that is part planning, part selection of material and part effective – efficient management of the resources that you have.
From the type of strain that you will use, to differing weather and temperature conditions as well as the inevitable battle with all kinds of pests and critters, knowing your marijuana product to be will give you a greater chance to experience its many other offerings.
If you are interested in going beyond “smoking up a joint”, then please do read the information below as we give you a breakdown on marijuana’s plant seed structure, its genetic strain development, the products you can make from them including their purposes and benefits, and how to store these cannabis products for longer and better use.
The Life And Times Of Marijuana From Seed To Flower
Beginning at the beginning, before a marijuana product is placed out in the market, they start out but small seed buds going by their scientific name cannabis.
Cannabis seeds are reputed to be seeds that have a considerably fast growth factor rating, which is perfect for creating a large number of plant products that can occupy in house gardens, mini botanical houses and up to large scale farming operations.
The seeds usually go under different “growth” processes during planting:
- Germination
- Development
- Growth
Germinating is an important process because it essentially helps the cannabis seed prep for harsh conditions of growth, similar to the scientific process of hormesis in humans and animals but is more bio-present in plant structures.
Developing is a process that has more to do when the cannabis seed is planted appropriately in a soil box, customized container or the ground and this process can make or break the seed’s locked compounds if not pre-germinated.
Growth is a relative process only because this is where cannabis seeds have developed enough structure to absorb nutrients at a considerably faster rate than before they develop, leading to eventual “bloom”—they are not the flower themselves.
The final product is often referred by many people and experts as a “flower”, which has now fully released their stored plant compounds from when it was still a seed, unlocking properties that is visible (with much research) and noticeable even from its outer structure—all varied in the result.
The Development Of Strains In Cannabis
Strains, biologically, are part of a plant’s genetic development in adapting to the environment around them.
Fundamentally, strains are almost exclusive to plant and bacterial species and are present in the fluids of animals and humans examples would be blood and milk
Like most genetic adaptive mechanisms, a strain’s development in biology is taken differently when we look at it from a tangible viewpoint.
In the case with cannabis seeds, their strains eventually determine the sense-based features that come from the marijuana flower from its overall look and design, taste, texture and even the effects of its essential oila hormetic response.
But, as referenced above, unless domesticated and controlled, a plant’s strains almost always have a defense mechanism that exists to hurt a predator, and this mechanism is a great reason why they come in strong, strange tastes (to newcomers, anyway).
These “cues” eventually become what we know to be highlights of the marijuana flower, a product that usually comes from one of two gender forms:
- Male cannabis (produces more seeds for faster growth)
- Female cannabis (produces cannabinoids, which are the ones responsible for the psychedelic effects)
Specifically, the female is able to produce two different strains that are known to scientists and long-time marijuana enthusiasts:
Strain Indica
- This is a developed strain that grows best indoors
- This strain mostly has a compound known as CBD or cannabidiol, which is a variation of cannabinoid that is effective for inducing a very calm response upon consumption ideal at nighttime for insomnia or getting to sleep
- Though there are exceptions, the color scheme of this flower runs generally in darker shades of purple and blue to name a few
Strain Sativa
- This is a developed strain that grows best outdoors
- This strain mostly has a compound known as THC or tetrahydrocannabinol, which is a variation of cannabinoid that is effective for inducing a very alert response upon consumption ideal at daytime for anxiety or getting to woken
- Though there are exceptions, the color scheme of this flower runs generally in brighter shades of yellow and red all things said
Read further down below to know some of the products that these cannabis flowers can produce for customers and producers in the market.
Popular Product Variations Made From Cannabis
To review its most popular application, cannabis is refined into a flower known as “marijuana” usually for customers to administer a “psychedelic experience”.
Usually, you just need to items for this kind of experience:
- A good quality Bong (filter for handling smoke)
- Weed (known also as a cannabis flower or marijuana)
If participants are lucky, they will have a long-term shamanic counselor to guide them into the session but usually, these two items are enough for most people.
Aside from that though, here are some other products beyond the “weed and bong” combo that cannabis can offer:
#1: Cannabis Edibles
- Since cannabis is a domesticated plant, it is actually very much edible albeit coming from a taste unfamiliar to many people (there is a reason they call it “weed”, after all)
- Be that as it may, depending on who is doing the cooking, avant-garderestauranteurs usually want to stake a claim in their communities or in the competitive food scene by highlighting gourmet dishes that feature all kinds of flowers including this one, of course (doses are usually mild for catering purposes)
#2: Cannabis Oils
- Cannabis can be consumed or smoked, but they can also be extracted in the form of oils
- These oils of cannabis are usually extracted for therapeutic and medical purposes
- The cannabis oils that are sold mostly for this purpose usually falls under the CBD category of cannabis strains
#3: Cannabis Concentrates
- Cannabis can be extracted through many means, including not turning them into pure oil and making adjustments for them to be dry and semi-wet concentrated forms
- These cannabis extracts retain most of the taste and textures that a full cannabis flower has but with varying degrees of consistency (similar to purees and jams)
- With that said, many of the reasons for creating cannabis concentrates is to have varying dosages of the cannabis without reducing them to a pure liquid, which is perfect for inserting into foodstuffs, applying as a semi-therapeutic lotion or for those that cannot take a full dose of the cannabis flower.
As you can see, most of the cannabis flower can be turned into these products for different reasons, purposes and with varying benefits (mostly due to dosage).
If you have these products or produce cannabis to make these products on your own, do not let them go to waste and learn how to store them correctly and preserve their often condition based qualities please read down below.
Storing The Cannabis Products: Edibles, Oil, and Concentrates
Before storing, be sure to account for these when it comes to going gauging quality in your cannabis products:
- Overall Duration
- As a general guideline, the longer that you need to keep your cannabis products, the more you need to take into account the ideal place for storing (which can be troublesome for many people).
- The ideal storage place is quite far off many people’s budgets and allotments, but keeping your cannabis products in a relatively cool, dark place can help it avoid many of the conditions that often plague many plants.
- Please make sure that it is a place that is well guarded and can be accessible to you when you need to monitor your cannabis products’ quality from time to time (and you will indeed)
- Heat, Air, Light And Moisture Control
- First of all, these will be factors that you have very little control over and may be wise for you to settle in your expectations and let the tides be when they need to be.
- Second, these factors, while largely uncontrolled by you, have aspects or degrees by which you can control just enough to matter in the longer scheme of storage
- Air management is important but only important if you are in an area where there is a lot of wind, and therefore, lots of particles that will keep the plant from keeping nutrient content high despite its advanced stage.
- Light management is a little bit easier and accessible to most people, which is important considering that cannabis has an extra sensitive sensor system when it comes to great amounts of light, causing degrading of your products
- Heat management is another problem that accounts much for overall humidity the hotter the environment, the more detrimental it is for your cannabis products given most compounds (if not all) cannot tolerate a great amount of heat.
- Moisture management is not the equalizer in this and more like a constant if you want to make cannabis and their products happy, keep them in the cold and keep them cool.
- Pest, Pests and More Pests
- From different species of insects, you have a potential swarm of opponents that want to the consumer the stuff to the same degree that you do
- If you are not careful, your cannabis products will not only be consumed to non-existence but there could be possibilities that these pests can leave their own substrates in the products causing possible infections upon the next time you consume them (yikes!)
One of the key takeaways here is choosing the right location. Depending on the type of strain your cannabis product came from, it is wise to keep them in a cool area like a freezer if they are an indica strain even if they are in extract form.
Sativa strains can last a bit longer out in the fields but sadly, not everyone has a freezer:
- Use a jar of silicone (storage is short-term)
- Use a paper parchment (storage is short-term)
- Use a plastic jar (storage is short-term)
- Use a glass jar (storage is long-term)
Here are some methods of storing that can help you out:
- For the short-term, you can keep your products in any of the containers in a drawer for about a week or two (if it is dark and cool)
- For the long-term, place your products in a good wrapping of parchment and with a sealed Ziploc bag or small bag, then stuffed inside a jar.
Note: In planning longer and longer storage, you may want to invest in a high-quality, vacuum sealed container and one that is air-tight. Do not forget to use a freezer if it is viable.
