TL;DR: Learning how to store hemp at home properly can significantly slow potency loss and preserve freshness. This guide explains how environmental factors affect cannabinoids and outlines simple, effective storage practices for different hemp products.
- Keep hemp away from heat, light, and air by using airtight containers stored in cool, dark spaces
- Understand that cannabinoids naturally degrade over time, but proper storage slows the process
- Avoid excess moisture to prevent mold and maintain product quality
- Store specific products correctly: keep vapes upright, refrigerate oils after opening, and freeze certain edibles if needed
- Never freeze hemp flower, as it can damage trichomes and impact flavor and potency
With the right approach, you can extend the shelf life and enjoy hemp products at their best.
How can you store hemp at home to make it last longer and stop it from losing potency? We cover plenty of helpful advice in this guide, but here’s a simple tip to get you started.
If you do nothing else, keep hemp flower away from heat, light, and air. Put your hemp flower in an airtight container. Then, put that container in a drawer or cupboard, where it’s dark and at a stable temperature.
Of course, there’s more you can do to protect your hemp and get the most enjoyment out of it. Let’s take a closer look!
How to Store Hemp for Better Freshness and Potency
The cannabinoids in hemp flower and most other hemp-based products, like edibles and concentrates, will all slowly lose potency over time, as Healthline points out. This isn’t due to improper storage or any other outside factor. Cannabinoids are not perfectly stable, similar to many other chemicals.
These chemicals slowly degrade over time, even in perfect storage conditions. The time factor is unavoidable, even when you protect your hemp products from the forces that cause them to lose potency.
However, you can slow down the rate at which cannabinoids lose potency. For users storing hemp products at home, exposure to these three environmental factors can cause a faster loss of potency, as Encore Labs explains:
- Heat, which speeds up the process of oxidation and degrades the cannabinoids in the flower or other product.
- Light, which can break down the chemical bonds in cannabinoids.
- Exposure to air can encourage a variety of cannabinoids to slowly but surely convert into the less-potent and less-desirable cannabinoid CBN.
Moisture is another factor worth considering, as it can cause the development of mold and other issues that create a worse user experience.
How to Store Hemp Products at Home for Better Results
In general, you should store all of your hemp products in a sealed container kept in a dry, cool, and dark place that does not experience major changes in temperature. That’s not too difficult for most cannabinoid enthusiasts! It can be as simple as keeping hemp products in their original packaging, or a sealable container, and within a drawer, pantry, or cabinet that normally remains at room temperature.
It may not sound like much, but this approach to proper storage is enough to protect your hemp products from major exposure to the environmental factors that cause them to lose potency.
Here are some product-specific tips to extend the shelf life of your cannabinoids. Along with the advice above, you should:
- Vape carts and disposable vapes: Store your vape carts and disposable vapes upright, with the mouthpiece pointing to the ceiling. This stops the concentrate from clogging the mouthpiece. Keep carts and disposables in their original packaging until you’re ready to use them. Don’t freeze vape carts or disposables, as this can cause problems with the components of the cart or the vape.
- Edibles: Edibles can be frozen to further slow down the oxidation process and preserve potency. However, this can cause changes to the taste and texture of edibles – it works best with gummies, but can also be used with other types of edibles. Thaw edibles in the fridge, and not at room temperature, before using them. These steps can help extend the expiration date of edibles to as long as two years after they’re frozen.
- Flower: Flower should be stored in its original packaging or in an airtight bag with extra air removed or squeezed out. Freezing flower can damage the trichomes, which can affect both flavor and overall experience.
- Hemp seed oil and other oil concentrates: Consumable, oil-based concentrates should be kept away from light, especially if not packaged in a dark or opaque bottle. The most unique tip for how to store hemp seed oil is to place it in the fridge after opening. Storing hemp oil in this way can prevent the carrier oil from going bad or developing a rancid flavor.
- Hemp seeds: Hemp seeds that you plan on turning into hemp plants should be kept in an airtight container with a desiccant (like a small packet of silica gel) that’s placed in the fridge.
FAQs About Storing Hemp Flower & More
Does hemp need to be refrigerated?
No, hemp does not need to be refrigerated, and storing it in a fridge can expose it to temperature and humidity changes that reduce its potency. Instead of keeping hemp flower in the fridge, store it in an opaque, airtight container away from heat and light. Refrigerating or freezing hemp flower can also damage the trichomes on the plant, potentially affecting potency and the overall user experience.
How to store hemp long-term?
Long-term storage of hemp flower comes down to a few key factors: an airtight and opaque container and a dark, dry, and cool place to keep your hemp. Hemp won’t maintain its potency forever, as the cannabinoids within it naturally lose potency over time. However, keeping hemp away from heat, light, and air can go a long way toward helping it last longer.
What is the shelf life of hemp?
Hemp flower stored properly (i.e., in a cool, dark, dry environment) can last for years without becoming dangerous or completely losing potency. However, mold and other issues are a risk during long-term storage, especially when exposure to humidity and temperature changes isn’t controlled. Cannabinoids also lose potency over time, with hemp flower losing roughly 25-30% of its original potency after two years.
Exceptional Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids From Delta 8 Resellers
Delta 8 Resellers brings you hemp flower, edibles, vape carts and disposables, oils and tinctures, and much more from the industry’s top brands and manufacturers. We always share the results of third-party lab testing on individual product pages, so you can check out the potency, purity, and chemical makeup of our offerings before making a purchase.
