- Moldy weed often has a grayish-white, fuzzy, or powdery coating with a mildewy “basement” aroma. It can also cause cannabis buds to grow discolored, mushy, or slimy.
- Consuming moldy weed will likely only cause a mildly unpleasant reaction; however, people with mold allergies or lung/immune conditions may experience more serious symptoms such as coughing, congestion, and difficulty breathing.
- Prevent mold growth by storing your weed supply in a glass, air-tight container left in a dark, cool, dry place, like a cabinet or pantry.
Weed fills you with all kinds of warm fuzzies: it relieves pain, settles your stomach, and soothes your mind. Those fuzzy feelings tend to fade when your supply grows its own fuzzies—the white, funky-smelling ones.
Unfortunately, like most perishables and plant products, weed can grow mold.
While smoking or consuming moldy weed won’t seriously harm most people, it can reduce its benefits and produce unwanted effects. You can usually spot mold or sniff it out—it often presents as a grayish-white, powdery, musty-smelling substance. And, unfortunately, you must say goodbye to any moldy weed you find.
Explore the many signs and effects of moldy weed, then learn how to properly store your stash to prevent any unwanted growth on your green.
Why Does Weed Grow Mold?
For many people living with chronic health conditions, cannabis relieves their symptoms like magic. While this plant grants powerful healing benefits, it can’t live forever.
A range of environmental factors contribute to weed degradation and mold growth, including:
- Moisture/humidity
- Oxygen exposure
- UV light
- Extreme temperatures
If you store your weed supply in a suboptimal environment, you could unintentionally invite mold to grow and spoil your medication.
Signs of Moldy Weed
If you suspect something is off with your weed supply, you can run through a few observational tests to discern the issue. You can determine if your weed has mold both by sight and smell.
Here are the most common signs of mold on cannabis flower and bud:
Visual Mold Indicators
Weed mold can take several forms depending on the particular fungi infestation. If your weed has mold, you may observe:
- Grayish or white and fuzzy/powdery coating along the buds
- Mushy or slimy buds
- Discolored leaves (yellow, brown, or black spots)
Many people confuse natural parts of the cannabis plant for mold—and vice versa.
Cannabis buds are covered with small crystalline structures called trichomes. They produce cannabis’s main healing compounds including cannabinoids such as THC and CBD.
Trichomes also closely resemble the appearance of white, fuzzy mold.
Use this side-by-side comparison of the two to determine what you’re dealing with:
- Trichomes – Frosty, hair-like fibers that spread evenly along the surface of cannabis buds. They appear to glitter in certain light.
- Mold – Dull, gray, or white fuzzy spots that may cover irregular spots along the cannabis bud.
If you want to confirm that what you’re seeing is indeed mold, you can use a black light to spot moldy weed’s green glow.
Telltale Smells of Moldy Weed
You can usually identify mold confidently on overripe strawberries and stale bagels, but mold on weed sometimes remains under the radar. Instead of relying on your sense of sight to catch a bud gone bad, follow your nose.
Take a good whiff of your weed. It may be past its prime if it smells:
- Musty
- Mildewy
- Foul
- Like hay
Use your best judgment: if your weed supply doesn’t smell earthy and skunky like it should, you may have a mold problem.
The Effects of Moldy Weed
For most users, moldy weed causes unpleasant—though not life-threatening—side effects. You may experience exacerbated symptoms such as coughing, nausea, or vomiting.
Smoking moldy weed poses the most serious risks for people with mold allergies or compromised immune systems. An allergic reaction to moldy weed may cause:
- Sinus congestion and pain
- Throat irritation
- Postnasal drip
- Coughing
- Difficulty breathing
Some fungi that grow on moldy cannabis can infect the lungs, brain, or central nervous system of immunocompromised people.
Can You Salvage Moldy Weed?
You may feel comfortable chopping off the moldy bits on a piece of bread or cheese and consuming the rest worry-free. Unfortunately, you can’t apply the same logic to moldy weed.
Once your weed grows mold, its aroma and flavor will degrade no matter what you do to remove the mold. While it might hurt to see weed go to waste, you should always throw out moldy buds.
How to Prevent Moldy Weed
Sadly, you can’t save moldy weed—but you can prevent it.
To prevent mold from overrunning your cannabis supply, you need to store it somewhere the mold can’t thrive. Consider both:
- Where you store your supply, and
- What you store it in
Let’s look at each storage factor closely.
Ideal Weed Environments
You may think to put your weed supply in the fridge or freezer as you do with other perishables you want to keep fresh. While that keeps other greens from spoiling, it only causes this green to spoil faster. That’s because fridges and freezers create high-moisture environments that foster mold growth and cannabinoid degradation.
Another reason you shouldn’t store weed in the fridge is because of the chill. Both hot and cold temperatures impact your weed’s freshness and present opportunities for mold growth. Weed stays freshest when stored at about room temperature (70 °F/21 °C).
Another environmental factor that degrades cannabis quality and promotes mold is UV light. Leaving your weed out in the open will cause its compounds to break down faster; and if it sits in the hot sun, you risk raising its internal temperature and sprouting mold.
When selecting an ideal storage place for your supply, remember these three qualities:
Typically, any kitchen cabinet, pantry, or drawer will do. You can also invest in a cannabis humidor, a small, humidity-stabilizing box you can safely store your supply in. Many contain a hygrometer that measures the box’s humidity levels, ensuring you know exactly how well you’ve stored your weed.
Cannabis-Friendly Containers
You might feel tempted to reach for the nearest sandwich bag to hold your weed supply. While convenient, plastic bags invite moisture into the cannabis flower, creating the perfect breeding ground for mold. Yes, even if the baggie zips or snaps closed.
Instead, reach for another common storage solution you likely have: a Mason jar.
Truthfully, any glass container with an air-tight lid will work. This prevents oxygen from interacting with your weed and promoting mold growth. If you can’t store your Mason jar in a dark place, choose one with tinted or colored glass to limit UV light exposure.
Make sure you select a container that accommodates your supply without much extra room. Empty container space allows more air to remain inside with your supply, leading to faster degradation. Luckily, there are a wide variety of Mason jar sizes available on today’s market.
Cannabis Storage: Best Practices
Here’s a summary of how to store weed for fresh, longer-lasting flower:
- Store cannabis in a dark, dry place, like a cabinet or pantry
- Pack your supply in a glass container such as a Mason jar
- Keep cannabis at a temperature of about 70 °F/21 °C
- Maintain humidity levels between 59 and 63 percent
- Avoid moisture-attracting storage solutions like the fridge and plastic bags
- Pick an appropriately sized container to store your supply
As long as you follow the advice above, your weed will stay fresh for several months or more.
TeleLeaf: Medical Cannabis Access Made Easy
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Sources:
RISE Cannabis. How To Store Marijuana.
https://risecannabis.com/cannabis-101/how-to-store-marijuana
Verts dispensaries. What does moldy weed look like?
https://vertsdispensaries.com/moldy-weed/
Weedmaps. What are trichomes?
https://weedmaps.com/
Healthline. PSA: Check Your Cannabis for Mold.
https://www.healthline.com/health/moldy-weed
Weedmaps. The risks of smoking moldy weed.
https://weedmaps.com/
Dr. Chance Miller 
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