Did I Grow Good Weed? 6 Ways to Judge Cannabis Quality

The process of having to judge cannabis quality happens in two phases.

The initial evaluation is when you touch it, smell it, and look at it with the naked eye and under magnification. You look at how the marijuana was trimmed and cured and allow for some educated guesses on how this weed will smoke and taste.

The second phase is the actual smoking or otherwise consuming of the marijuana, when you taste, again smell, and finally, experience the effects of the plant.

Together, these two phases make up a full exploration of marijuana quality.

Here’s a 6 step checklist for you to use when you want to judge cannabis quality.

The Scent

The marijuana aroma should be the first element of the flowers to greet you. There are around 200 terpenes and terpenoids—little compounds that naturally create aroma and flavour in the plant while impacting THC potency—present across marijuana strains.

As a result, you find a wide range of aromatic notes in marijuana. Citrus, diesel, pine, cinnamon, chilli pepper, grape, and damp moss are just a few of the scents you may come across in a bud’s bouquet. Poorly cured marijuana smells like hay, or it loses most of its scent altogether. These are to be avoided. Marijuana that has a pungent and lingering aroma is worth a closer look.

The Color

Marijuana color ranges from mint green to so purple it’s almost black. Color is mostly about genetics and a little about how the plant was grown. Some purple strains will only turn purple when exposed to low temperatures during flower. The hairs, which are dried pistils of the flower, bring shades of red and orange to the visual experience of marijuana.

Regardless of exact color shades, marijuana color should be even and vibrant. Steer clear of anything with grey splotches or white patches.

The Trichomes

Trichomes are the sparkling ‘crystals’ that coat dank buds and are one of the key indicators of when to harvest a plant. Trichomes also create the sticky tactile quality of marijuana.

These little stalks—they look like tiny mushrooms under 40x or 50x magnification—are where a lot of the biochemical magic of marijuana lives. When you look at the trichomes under magnification, they should all be milky white, with a minimum of 30% of the trichomes an amber color. However, you can also shades of pink, purple and even cherry red.

The more amber trichomes, the longer the marijuana was allowed to mature on the living plant, and the more impactful the effects should be.

Anything past 70% amber was left too long.

The Moisture

High-quality marijuana is not bone-dry. It should be sticky, and a little moist, but not so much so that the container fogs or has obvious moisture. Weed that is too dry is harsher in smoke.

The Flavor

The cleanliness of your method of delivery is important when evaluating flavor. A dirty pipe will mask the specific notes. Curing plays a role in how the flavor turns out, but how the plant was treated in flower and in its final weeks will hugely impact what you taste.

Metallic or chemical flavors suggest the plant was not fully flushed with water before the final harvest.

The Ash

Cannabis that burns with a soft, white-to-grey even ash usually means the weed you’re smoking was correctly flushed and free of impurities or trace chemicals.

Finding this clean ash confirms the plant matter’s even, clean burn.

Becoming a marijuana connoisseur requires practised attention and patience. Paying close attention to the details mentioned here will help you become more comfortable in evaluating marijuana quality.

Use this knowledge to make better purchasing choices or to focus better on what you’re trying to accomplish as a grower.

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