For people who need quality cannabis, access to the substance remains one of the main concerns. Despite the many known benefits of medical cannabis, patients cannot tap into such benefits unless they are using the highest quality of marijuana. Aside from desiring dependable and safe cannabis products, it is important to know how to judge the quality of marijuana to make a more informed decision.
If you are looking for the highest quality, most health-supporting marijuana, you must have the right information to evaluate your options and make a confident purchase. The following are factors that can guide you for making safer, more informed judgment when buying marijuana:
Smell
Cannabis has a unique smell you cannot be mistaken of. But, after you have caught whiffs or get used to the notes of premium-level marijuana, you will not want to go back to lesser grades. Cannabis has a potent smell because of the release of terpenoids. This pungent but powerful plant fingerprint unique to a cannabis plant is responsible for the flavor and smell profiles of strain types. But, even smells do vary. Cannabis buds that give off notes of fruit, flowers, and nuts are the highest sensory hints. Cannabis that smells like pine, lawn grass, and smoked woods can indicate more mid-grade or average strains that have not gone stale.
Shapes and Structures
Well-trimmed buds are recognized for their geometric intactness, featuring round and symmetrically shaped buds that indicate balance, even growth. The quality of marijuana impacts both trichome amount and composition. Craft marijuana from top-tier dispensaries usually has visible, pearly white trichome structures that dot the entire bud. Usually, trichomes are called sugar due to how it looks.
Top-shelf cannabis can be compared to the shape of a pinecone when at its peak. Every bud must be even-sized and spaced. Although curing marijuana produces variations in the final look of the bud, it must be thick and full in appearance. As buds clump together, they must look slush and slightly geometric. The highest quality ones don’t turn to powder when crushed. Instead, they retain some chunks.
Hair
A cannabis plant’s anatomy contains an array of hair-like structures that play an important role in governing the quality of individual buds. The reason is that when the plan matures, the wispy, hair-like curls that run throughout the entire cannabis flower grow progressively darker and darker. Such curls are called pistils and colorful pistils indicate the freshness of the bud. Young cannabis plants have white pistils that turn shades of yellow and orange as they age. Older, less fresh buds have dark brown pistils.