Any cannabis flower you consume should have a certain level of moisture for an optimal experience. Moisture affects potency, flavor, aroma, and the overall health of a bud. If cannabis is too moist, it may develop mold and harm your health. If cannabis is too dry, it will lack flavor and potency, and it will burn too quickly.
The ideal moisture content will prevent these problems and help give your cannabis buds the flavor, smoke, and effects you want. Despite your best efforts to maintain the right moisture level, from time to time, you may find yourself with some dried-out cannabis buds. If you end up with dry weed, there are a variety of tried-and-true methods you can use to rehydrate your weed stash.
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Citrus peel method: the most common DIY technique
Time needed: 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Using citrus peels is one of the most popular DIY techniques for rehydrating weed. All you have to do is cut off a strip of the peel of an orange, lemon, or other citrus fruit and place it in your nug jar — tightly sealed of course.
Citrus peels are naturally moist and generally do the best job of transferring the right amount of moisture to your weed. However, they are also a bit more likely to transfer some of their flavor and aroma to your bud. Depending on the strain, this might not be a bad thing. Since weed shares many of the same terpenes as citrus fruits, the added taste and smell may enhance your experience while rehydrating the marijuana.
Here's how to try this method correctly.
- Assemble your supplies
First gather a resealable jar, a citrus fruit, a knife and cutting board, and your dried weed.
- Place your dry cannabis in a resealable jar
Open a resealable jar and place the cannabis inside.
- Carefully peel a strip of citrus skin
Using a knife, carefully cut off a strip of citrus skin.
- Put the piece of peel in with the cannabis
Put the peel in the resealable jar along with the cannabis.
- Burp the jar
Burp the jar once or twice over the next day by opening the lid then resealing it.
- Enjoy the weed
Enjoy the rehydrated weed within the next 24 hours.
Avoid dry cannabis buds: how to store weed properly
When it comes to keeping flower properly hydrated, prevention is the optimal approach. If you store your stash the right way, you'll never have to deal with the rehydration process at all. Proper storage will keep your flower fresh, ensuring that you get the most out of your weed.
Light, oxygen, and relative humidity are the biggest factors that dry out marijuana flowers. Never store your bud out in the open air or in direct sunlight. And although clear containers and plastic bags are common forms of packaging, these are not ideal ways to store marijuana.
The best way to store weed is to keep it in an opaque, airtight container, in a cool, dry location away from any direct light. Simple containers that check these boxes include any glass jar that's opaque or an airtight container made out of food-grade plastic. Mason jars display your weed nicely but should only be used if you keep them stored away from sunlight.
Cannabis humidors are an excellent option if you want a more specialized, upscale storage solution. A humidor is a container specifically designed to regulate humidity. Traditionally, they were used to store cigars, but marijuana-specific humidors are becoming increasingly common as an effective and stylish way to protect your stash.
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Finally, it's also a good idea to buy disposable humidity control packs to place in your weed stash container. These products are designed to control and regulate relative humidity. Some control packs are designed to preserve the optimal humidity for cannabis specifically. The packs are a simple, cheap, and effective way to make sure you're storing your cannabis the right way.
Finally, weed should be kept just below room temperature. Some light and air will inevitably get into weed containers when they are opened, but be sure to keep them closed when not in use.
Bottom line: Regardless of the method you use, properly storing weed in a cool, dark place is the best way to prevent dehydration and extend the shelf life of your buds.
Why would you want to rehydrate weed?
When weed dries out and degrades, it loses its overall effectiveness, leaving you with a subpar end product and a less-than-satisfying experience. On top of that, weed isn't cheap. No one wants to throw money away, especially if they've invested it in top-shelf cannabis.
In the long run, there's no escaping some level of dehydration, and if the weed is dry to begin with, or dries out before you have a chance to smoke it, learning some effective rehydrating techniques is well worth your time.
There are a few simple tricks and hacks that can help breathe new life into your dry weed. Even better, the most common and effective methods for rehydrating weed aren't very labor-intensive or expensive.
How to rehydrate weed: understanding the basics
Weed's relationship with moisture is complicated. All cultivators dry and cure their cannabis. The ideal moisture content for cannabis flowers is between 6% and 9%.
The goal of drying and curing is not to completely remove moisture from the bud, but to let it slowly dissipate without altering cannabinoid and terpene content. The drying process is intended to decrease moisture content to less than 15%, while curing takes the bud down to 9% or less.
Throughout the lifespan of a marijuana bud, the physical environment in which it is stored directly impacts its moisture content. A humidity level above 65% will likely result in mold growth. However, if flower is stored in an environment that is too dry, it may begin to dehydrate, losing potency and flavor as it dries out. When this happens, you need to have a few ways to rehydrate weed ready at your disposal.
Method 1: Fresh weed mixed with dry weed
If you happen to have some fresh, sufficiently moist bud on hand, you can try putting it in the same jar as your dried-out bud. This method may not be as reliable as others, and you may want to keep your different strains separate, but it's a quick and easy way to make all your bud fresh without having to use any extra materials.
Method 2: Add some lettuce to your devil's lettuce
Lettuce is composed of up to 95% water, which makes it a great candidate for rehydrating your weed. Simply place a medium-sized lettuce leaf inside a plastic bag or a glass jar with your dried-out buds. Leave it there for two to three hours then remove it. In this process, the lettuce transfers moisture to your weed without imparting any tastes or smells. You can use iceberg or any other type of lettuce for this technique.
Method 3: Damp cotton swab, paper towel, cotton ball, or small sponge methods
Another method for rehydrating buds without transferring any scents or flavors from other plants or foods is to place a damp cotton swab or ball, piece of paper towel, or small sponge inside a container with your dry bud.
Arrange the damp object inside the container in such a way that it does not come into direct contact with the weed, as this could make the plant matter too wet. The point is to try and get your weed to absorb minimal moisture without getting soaked. You want to impart just enough to arrive at the optimal moisture level for your weed.
Citrus peel method: the most common DIY technique
Using citrus peels is one of the most popular DIY techniques for rehydrating weed. All you have to do is cut off a strip of the peel of an orange, lemon, or other citrus fruit and place it in your nug jar — tightly sealed of course.
Citrus peels are naturally moist and generally do the best job of transferring the right amount of moisture to your weed. However, they are also a bit more likely to transfer some of their flavor and aroma to your bud. Depending on the strain, this might not be a bad thing. Since weed shares many of the same terpenes as citrus fruits, the added taste and smell may enhance your experience while rehydrating the marijuana.
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Bottom line: don't over-hydrate your weed
Moisture is essential for experiencing the best cannabis flavor, aroma, and potency, and rehydrating weed can be achieved with a few DIY solutions, many of which require only simple ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.
Rehydrating your weed isn't labor-intensive, but it is something of a delicate dance. The goal of rehydrating is to get your bud back to the state of balance that comes from a well-executed drying and curing process. Well-dried and cured bud should feel mostly dry to the touch while still retaining its signature lush stickiness.
As you rehydrate your weed, check on it regularly and carefully to make sure you aren't infusing it with too much moisture. When weed gets over-hydrated, you risk growing mold, in which case the bud is entirely unusable.