Harvesting and Processing

The revolution that never quite happened? A few years ago, there wasn't a cannabis forum worth its salt without a thread about freeze-drying marijuana. Dry buds in 24 hours, terpenes intact, goodbye to mold… It seemed like drying racks and curing jars had their days numbered! And yet, today almost nobody talks about freeze-drying flowers, while freeze-drying has remained the undisputed queen of Ice or Lator hash. What happened along the way? Is it true that freeze-dried buds are "missing something"? What is freeze-drying? Freeze-drying (also known as lyophilization) is a dehydration technique that removes water without passing through the liquid state. First the flower is frozen and then, inside a vacuum chamber, the ice transforms directly into vapor, which is known as sublimation. The result is dry bud that retains its shape, color and a good part of its volatile compounds. The process is divided into three phases: freezing, primary drying (ice sublimation) and secondary drying or desorption, in which residual water bound to the tissues is removed. The vapor that is released ends up trapped in a condenser. Cannabis flowers in a freeze-dryer  

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Did you just finish manicuring your harvest and have a mountain of sticky little leaves in front of you that you feel bad about throwing away? You're right to hesitate! Those scraps that many growers send straight to the trash hide a treasure trove of trichomes, terpenes, and cannabinoids waiting for a second life. In this article, we'll tell you what to do with manicure trim, both with the leaves loaded with resin and those that barely have any. We'll talk about solventless extractions like hashish or rosin, solvent-based extractions, cannabis cooking, creams, and even uses for your garden. Will you join us? Keep reading and don't waste a single leaf! Don't throw away the leaves from your cannabis harvest, recycle them!

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After harvest, most cannabis growers focus on traditional drying and curing in jars. However, there is a lesser-known but highly effective method to obtain a purer and smoother smoke: water curing. This refinement process consists of submerging already trimmed buds in clean water for several days, changing the water daily. In this way, most soluble impurities (chlorophyll, sugars, mineral salts, nutrient residues) responsible for harsh combustion are removed. The result: a smoother herb to smoke, less irritating to the throat and lungs, while preserving all cannabinoids.

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As every grower knows, the most time-consuming and labour-intensive part of the cannabis cultivation process is trimming the harvested buds. While a few small plants can be trimmed by hand with scissors in a reasonably short time, larger plants or greater numbers can be a gargantuan task and often call for the use of some kind of trimming machine if the harvest is to be carried out within the optimum time period. Here at Alchimia Grow Shop, we understand this need and, as a result, we take care to offer a wide range of trimming machines to suit all situations and budgets. From the most basic, hand-operated manual trimmer to the most futuristic and high-specification machines, we've got something for everyone. In this article, we'll take a look at the different options available and help to make it easier for you to decide which is the right trimmer for you.

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You have worked hard over the past weeks! Maybe you have spent some money in a growing tent or in cannabis seeds;  after a long time and hard dedication, you have finally arrived at this crucial moment. Today we want to help you determine the ideal time to harvest your plants, taking as a reference the degree of maturation of the glandular trichomes of your plants. In other words, we will tell you when these trichomes are full of cannabinoids and terpenes, that is, what is the perfect time to harvest your plants and begin the drying process.

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All indoor or outdoor cannabis crops have a beginning and an end, in this case, we will deal with the last part of the crop, the harvest of the trichomes. The time of the harvest will be based on the visualization of the state of the trichomes together with the knowledge we may have of the cultivated plant, either through information provided by the same seed bank that created it or by growers who may have grown it before. In the past, marijuana plants were harvested when the grower believed they were ready. To have this knowledge about the best time to harvest trichomes required a great deal of experience in cannabis cultivation, which often meant that one ended up harvesting either immature or overripe cannabis.

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The cannabis harvest is one of the most anticipated and rewarding moments for growers of this plant, the culmination of months of dedication, care, and patience, which culminates in the harvesting of the fruits of hard work. In this process, growers have the opportunity to harvest and enjoy a preview of the aromatic terpene combinations that await them. In this article, we will focus on the cannabis harvesting process, from pre-preparation to the different possible methods to establish the perfect moment to cut your plants and obtain a superior quality harvest. Join us and discover the secrets to obtaining the best results from your own cultivation!

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If you have ever made a cannabis resin concentrate or have learned something about how to do it, you will know that one of the steps to follow to obtain a top-quality product is to freeze the plant matter before starting the extraction process. This simple step allows the trichomes to detach much more easily from leaves and flowers, thus achieving excellent yield and superior quality. However, as we will see in today's article, there may be other reasons why one wants to freeze his weed, especially if we are talking about maintaining the effect and organoleptic qualities of the plant during a prolonged storage period. Today we tell you everything you need to know about this practice, in which cases we advise you to carry it out and how to do it correctly to avoid unpleasant surprises.

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When the buds are ready for harvest, the grower's work is not yet done. The cannabis flowers must still go through the drying and curing process to ensure the highest quality in the final product. Properly drying and curing improves the smell and taste of the buds, and the effects feel more potent. It also reduces the harshness of the smoke. If you started with great genetics and have cared for your cannabis plants properly throughout their life, then curing is what makes the difference between "just okay" and buds worthy of winning any trophy. And while you can't cure a badly grown plant, you can certainly ruin a well-developed one, so it's important to get it right. Why do we cure cannabis? In the broadest sense, curing cannabis is no different from curing meats, other plants, or any other food. It is a preservation technique that aims to make the final product more stable over time. Fresh cannabis flower is prone to the same degradation as any other perishable product, so it must be dried and cured before it goes into the storage jars.

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While the goal of cannabis cultivation is to produce beautiful-looking, resinous and potent buds that result in an enjoyable and effective smoking experience, there are many other parts of the plant that are often left unused and discarded, including stems, leaves and roots. While these components may not be the most desirable parts of the plant, instead of going straight into the trash they can be used in a variety of ways to ensure you get the most out of your grow. Reusing cannabis leaves One of the most (unfairly) undervalued parts when it comes to the pruning and trimming processes are the fan and sugar leaves. However, both types of leaves can be reused once the plant has been harvested.

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Is it possible to taste marijuana? Marijuana is probably the known plant species with more organoleptic variations. Its richness regarding flavors and smells is practically infinite, varying between organic and chemical notes, with sweet, sour, fruity, or woody undertones - and many more. The different combinations of the more than 100 terpenes (mainly monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes) that it contains produce flavors and aromas that vary enormously between different plants, providing completely different notes and undertones from one cannabis strain to another. It?s for this reason that marijuana tasting is such an important and exciting activity, in which we get to know better the strains we grow, trying to intensify our senses when smoking them so we get the best of our favorite varieties.

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Storing our marijuana buds After harvesting and properly drying our cannabis plants, storing them is a crucial stage if we want to enjoy top grade marijuana during the following months. A correct storing process is one of the most important and most oftenly forgotten aspects of cannabis cultivation, so it requires proper attention if we want to be proud of our buds. As happens with the drying process, canabis buds are best stored in a dark, cool place. Light degrades the cannabinoids and terpenes present in the resin glands of our buds, so we should always keep them away from light sources. Storing our marijuana in cool places also helps to preserve their cannabinoid and terpene content, but it should be noted that, while refrigeration slows down the breakdown of cannabinoids, freezing buds is not advised since the water inside the buds crystallizes and pierces the plant tissues (a phenomenon known as ice nucleation), allowing chlorophyll to escape and harm the resin glands.

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After harvesting your cannabis plants, the drying process begins. Drying weed, along with curing, is one of the most crucial steps in obtaining top-quality buds. We could almost say that when we cut the plant, we have not done more than half of the work. The steps we are going to take next are just as important as the fertilizers we have used and the quantity and quality of light our plants have received. The steps that we recommend following for a good drying and curing of cannabis are those that we will see below.

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