How to Rehydrate Old Cannabis: Easy Tips to Revive Dry Bud
There’s nothing worse than the crushing low of preparing to get high only to realize that your stash is dry. Fortunately, the next time you pull out buds that practically feel mummified, you can become a stoner mad scientist and rehydrate the cannabis!
Once you learn how to rehydrate old cannabis, you’ll immediately cut down on wasting weed. Instead of throwing out your favorite strain, you’ll bring your tasty buds back from the brink. This process will save you money and keep you flush with both types of green!
When you rehydrate cannabis, you become a marijuana MacGyver. There’s no fancy gear to buy—just ingenuity with everyday household items. Your smoking buds will be blown away, and you’ll become an herb hero!
Ready to revive those dusty nugs? Let’s dive into the tips and tricks of the trade so you’ll know how to rehydrate old cannabis and ensure your smoke sessions never derail from dry weed!
Prevent the Need to Rehydrate Cannabis
The first thing to note is that there are ways to avoid the need to rehydrate cannabis in the first place. Prevention is a powerful tool that keeps your flower in quality shape.
Of course, it all starts with the product itself. Be sure to buy fresh, high-quality buds from licensed dispensaries. Scoring a bag from a friend of a friend or someone off the street means you don’t know where your product came from or how old it is. Buy from businesses you trust to start with fresh products to mitigate the need for rehydration.
Storage is key to maintaining moisture. Keep your strains sealed in an air-tight glass jar away from heat and light. Think of oxygen and UV rays as your buds’ biggest enemy: they destroy cannabinoids and terpenes, reducing potency and diminishing taste.
While it’s Weed 101 to know how to rehydrate old cannabis, the goal is to keep dry nugs from ever becoming an issue. With fresh flower and proper storage, you’ll minimize finding a dried-out stash.
Why You Want to Rehydrate Cannabis
Moist bud is essential to your smoking experience. The potency, effects, and potential benefits of marijuana begin to wane when nugs dry out because the cannabinoids diminish. Without healthy psychoactive compounds, ripping a bowl is no better than smoking a dead house plant!
When you rehydrate cannabis, you improve the actual smoke, too. Dried-up marijuana lacks terpenes, causing the delicious smoke from your favorite flower to lose its flavor. These buds will often light unevenly, causing the hits to be hotter and harsher. As a result, you might irritate your throat and lungs.
How to Rehydrate Old Cannabis
Before you attempt to rehydrate cannabis, check for a pulse! If the weed is too far gone, there might not be much you can do. If it feels like it might become dust in the wind just handling it, you might need to move on. Or, if it’s moldy weed, ditch it immediately and live to toke another day.
If there’s still a glimmer of hope left in those buds, then it’s time to roll up your sleeves and play Doctor Dank! Here are some of our favorite methods for reviving your reefer.
Fruit Peel
Using a fruit peel to rehydrate cannabis has an added benefit: you might enhance the aroma of your smoke! This method works best with weed that’s just started to dry out. Do not use it long-term because it could cause mold growth.
The best fruit peel to use in this situation is citrus. Place the dry bud in a ziplock bag with the peel covering it. Let it sit for two to three hours. If your cannabis is still dry and the fruit peel has dried out, you can replace the peel until the marijuana has revitalized.
Bread
No fruit? That’s fine—if you’ve got bread lying around on the counter, you can use it similarly to your citrus peels. You’ll start by spraying the bread with water. There’s no need to drench it, just get it moist. Then, put your dry buds and the bread in a ziplock bag and let them sit for a few hours. Repeat the process until your buds are back.
Lettuce
Lettuce: the other type of green. Lettuce is an excellent option when you need to rehydrate cannabis because it’s mostly water. Be sure the lettuce leaf is big enough to cover the weed but will still fit in the ziplock bag, then allow it to sit for several hours, repeating as necessary.
This process is a preferred alternative to fruit for those who want to avoid introducing new citrusy aromas or flavors to their strains.
Water & Container
Creating a DIY humidor is another effective option to rehydrate cannabis. You’ll start by placing an open bag of weed in a container with a lid. Then, you’ll soak a paper towel in distilled water. The towel should be thoroughly wet but not dripping. Place the towel in the container along with the weed and seal the lid. Wait for three hours before checking the moisture level.
Water Pot
In a rush to get ripping? This final technique is how to best rehydrate old cannabis quickly. Start by boiling water in a large pot. Once it comes to a rolling boil, remove the pot from the stove and place a washcloth over it. Secure the edges around the rim, creating a seal.
Now it’s time to cook! Place your dry buds on top of the cloth, allowing the rising vapors to moisten them. Turn your buds every five minutes to ensure the cannabis rehydrates completely. After 30 to 45 minutes, your cannabis should be back from the dead!
Keep Your Stash Fresh
With great knowledge comes great smoke sessions! When you know how to rehydrate old cannabis, you’re conserving your stash and ensuring your hits will always be smooth! It’s easy to do, and the ingenuity will blow the mind of all your stoner friends!
Avoid stale, dry nugs when you shop the massive selection of fresh flower at our Westwood dispensary. We are constantly cycling in new products to ensure the highest quality for our customers. Visit us today and let our friendly budtenders show you our daily deals and hook you up with some of the best buds in LA!