Grow Q&A: Storing Marijuana

Danny Danko

Dear Dan, I just purchased a 24.6′ chest freezer & a 2-in-1 Foodsaver to take air out of regular & wide-mouth mason jars for my bountiful harvest from this past fall. My question to you is what would be the ideal storage temperature? Would it be refrigerator temps 35/38 degrees Fahrenheit, root cellar temps 40F-45F or freezer temps 0F-20F? I know the reason that you don’t freeze lettuce is because of the high water content – the cells expand & the cell walls are thin, although you can freeze corn and peas, which I presume is because of the thicker cell walls.

From my experience, dried and cured medical marijuana is about 5%-9% moisture, which should not degrade if frozen as long as it’s stored in mason jars & not handled. If stored & frozen in Ziploc bags & handled it seems the trichomes would fall off quite easily, since you add ice to make bubble hash. Please tell me what you think the optimal storage temperature is. – Jay A.

Dear Jay,
In my opinion, marijuana should never be stored at refrigerator or freezer temperatures. The optimum long or short term storage area for marijuana is a cool dark place, not unlike the root cellar you mentioned, although the jars or bags should be completely sealed to keep moisture from getting in. The actual level of moisture for dried and cured medical marijuana is a bit higher than the 5%-9% you mentioned – closer to 20%. That’s why you don’t ever want to freeze your pot. Always store you buds in opaque glass jars and never in Ziploc bags.