Before Making Hash

Marijuana Horticulture

by Jorge Cervantes

Make sure your plants are as clean as possible. Any oil-based residues on leaves will show up in the hash. For example, if extracting resin with water, you can see impurity residues as a sheen of oil in the water. During the month before harvest, do not use any harmful chemicals that leave residues. I prefer to use only water-based organic products to avoid potential health risks to the consumer.

Flush plants with water for seven to ten days prior to harvest, to remove built-up fertilizers in the soil and foliage. This will hep ensure clean, sweet-tasting hash.

Freeze first – Once dry, freeze leaf trim immediately to prepare for making hash. Place leaves in freezer for an hour or longer. Remove them from the freezer, and use a dry or wet sieve to separate gland heads from foliage. Collect more resin by making foliage and resin glands brittle. Cold, brittle resin gland heads snap off and separate easily.

The yield from 7 ounces (200 gm) of leaves and small buds is around 0.2-0.7 ounces (6-20 gm) with the average around 0.36 ounce (10 gm). The quantity of hash produced depends in large part upon the quality of your original material.

Clean stems, dead material, large leaves with no visible resin, and other debris leaf and bud before making hash with it.

Male plants contain resin with THC but much less overall than female plants.

Outdoor plants are subject to wind, rain, dust, etc, which may prevent resin growth or cause much of the resin to be knocked off the pant. Because they live in a protective environment, indoor plants are able to exude as much resin as possible. Such plants with heavy resin make the best hash. Great hash comes from the close trim around the buds.

Sativa-dominant strains have smaller trichome heads than indica-dominant strains. Smaller mesh sieves do a good job of separating smaller resin heads.