HELP! Shelf Life - A matter of time

[User420111]

So, as I have not seen much about this topic, I'll pose this question and forgive me if it's already been answered in detail elsewhere.

I have many different varieties I've been stockpiling since I began growing in 2021 as State law allowed it. I broke out some Blue Cookies I've had stored in Ball jars since its harvest of 11-20-2021. As I inhaled it, a faint taste of mildew hit me, and I recoiled. The flower smells nice still, does not smell of mold, and to the eye looks fine. RH is kept around 50-60%, and all my jars are stored inside coolers that then are stored in an area where temperature does not fluctuate beyond 64F on the low side and maybe 70F on the high side. More or less perfect conditions as I can make for long term storage.

But, to satisfy my curiosity I got out the microscope about what was going on and to how much of my stockpile. I started testing samples from a bit over two years ago, to samples I jarred right around six months ago.

What found was interesting. The 2 years+ sample seemed to have something inside the trichomes. Some black substance. It has affected 75% or more of the trichomes, and as evidenced by the pictures (I've circled the trouble spots in green on the photos of the 2-year-old samples) is through and throughout the entire stuff. Mold, mildew, or just old THC/CBD I cannot tell, not having the equipment to delve that far down into the microbiological rabbit hole.

Is there anyone here that can offer advice about this? I've read over and over again, in the course of preparing to store long term, that properly canned bud can "last years", or some people have even made the claim it can last "more or less indefinitely".


But my experience here with 2-year-old samples put next to 1.5-year-old samples and 6-month-old samples show that something has happened to the oldest stuff I have. I don't really want to smoke anymore of it until I get some reassurance that I'm not smoking black mold or something icky.


The newer flower I've preserved seem to show no sign of this at all. I wonder is this something that happens to all trichomes as they age, or did I just have an improper seal on my jar. Or was there enough oxygen in the jar to allow for microbial growth? Or is it a microbe that prefers low O2 levels to thrive?



Edit: The last photo I added is a single trichome at 100x magnification. Zooming in helps.



Thoughts?

[Maudro88]

My friend I hate to say it but that definitely looks like mold or something that shouldnt be there unfortunately idk🤷🏿♂️maybe some of these guys thats been growing alot longer then me can tell you something different to give you a little bit more hope. But I think on the GWE website it says your suppose to freeze it as far as long term storage is being considered...I'm thinking 64F to 70F might be too high for storage and I think that's why you might be looking at some sort of mold substance when you microscope it...but I could be wrong.

[User420111]

I think you're on the right track. I've looked at other buds from that same batch and they all look like this. Kind of bummed out because that was a super batch of flower, but oh well. Definitely don't want to smoke anymore. Also, didn't get me very high so I'm very suspicious now that the entire batch is ruined. But again, oh well. If I didn't smoke it in two years I obviously am not going to miss it, lol

[Bluey]

I've smoked mouldy buds likely more often than I realise out of desperation but I won't do black mould, that stuff is bad bad bad.

I'd be guessing it is black mould but only way to know for sure is to see if it will grow.

I keep my jars in low stable temp environment but if I need to store for more than 2 years I vacuum seal and freeze it.

[Rootsruler]

I'm lucky if I can get stuff stored for more than a couple months.

Unfortunately, I agree with others. It's molding up. Time to toss it. Sorry.

Honestly, something that I'm going to keep that long I would just freeze but, again, around here, weed has a short shelf life.

[Rwise]

Just a comment, get the RH below 55% for long term storage if you cannot freeze it. Mold can grow at 55%+ RH.

[SoOrbudgal]

It's too much weed for one person to care for sounds like. Even now i check my outdoor jarred weed that's sitting on a shelf in a closet. 3months old i still open the jars to smell it an feel it. It's importaint to do in my view when you have 2+lbs of harvest and spent 6-7 months on growing it.

[User420111]

Agreed. Reworking my plan for smaller grows more often. Last summer was actually around 3 pounds. More than I can smoke or gift away. So next time the seed bank has a sale I'm going to try fewer plants with more varieties. The excess I have now I'm going to try some hashish methods. Already ordered some screens and a press. I figured I can store it easier that way with less risk.