The cultivation of marijuana is very tricky to both inexperienced and experienced growers. As much as possible, they find ways on how they can maximize the plant during harvest. They want to avoid having a gray area in the utilization of every part of marijuana. On an average, depending on the classification of marijuana that you are trying to grow, the average flowering time takes 8 up to 12 weeks before harvest. In order to have a bountiful yield, monitoring and maintenance is a must.
What we want from the plant of marijuana are the buds itself growing from the middle used for smoking or for edibles. But have you ever wondered what they do to its leaves afterwards? It is being cut-off from the plant itself because they believe it has no use. Little did you know that these leaves can still be used in other aspects. These are not just scraps you can throw away.
About marijuana leaves
The leaves of marijuana are also known as sugar leaves. Why do you ask? It is because of its coating of fine or chunky trichomes with a sweet and delicious characteristic. The sugar leaves surround the buds. It is the small ones growing from its surface. It is quite hard to find considering its size and more often mistaken as fan leaves. Fan leaves are the bigger ones with fewer trichomes coating. Sugar leaves sometimes cover the buds itself and sometimes it just surrounds it. It depends on the strain that you are trying to grow. Its size varies too but it can easily be distinguished since fan leaves are the ones more noticed.
It is still a question whether sugar leaves can be used for smoking too. There is no research proven to support this hypothesis. Most of the time, growers just use it as an extender during sales in order to add weight. In addition, it makes the buds more enticing in the eyes of smokers and researchers because of its richness in fine and chunky trichomes. Based on an experiment the Royal Queen Seeds conducted, smoking the sugar leaves via joint or pack, the taste will not please your taste buds considering that it receives more light than the bud itself. It has high tetrahydrocannabinol content, yes, competitive with what the buds contain. Smoking sugar leaves are not as smooth as the feeling smoking the buds is giving you. The taste and smell are very strong.
In contradictory to sugar leaves are fan leaves. These are the large leaves surrounding the buds of the marijuana plant. It is usually in the middle to the bottom part of the plant. For growers, it does not have much use. Comparing it with sugar leaves, fan leaves are tastier covered with sticky resin and powered by nutrients. Fan leaves are established to be the symbol of marijuana. A way to check if the growth of the plant is progressing is through its fan leaves. When something seems off, the leaves tend to give you a signal. It does not contain many cannabinoids as to what the bud itself can offer, but these raw leaves can still be used both for recreational and medicinal purposes.
What can you do with marijuana leaves?
SUGAR LEAVES
Sugar leaves are the dark gray area of cultivating marijuana. It does not have much use, they say. But we have gathered information on how you can maximize every part of marijuana.
1. COMPOST – considering that the leaves are upholding potency and cannabinoid content. Using sugar leaves as compost in order to nourish the soil where you will be cultivating marijuana. This is actually a bright idea because you will be able to incorporate it in cultivation and it does not have any negative side-effects during growth. This is a perfect way in disposing of sugar leaves.
2. EDIBLES – if buds have edibles, so does sugar leaves. It can be used as extenders when extracting the buds itself. Since sugar leaves are rich in cannabinoid content, you do not want to miss the opportunity to boost what marijuana can do. It can be extracted into cannabutter or cannabis oil for pastries, drinks and other edibles.
3. EXTRACTS – if you have proper equipment and experience in extraction, this is a suggestion for you. Instead of just disposing of your sugar leaves, you might want to consider extracting it or turning it into hash. There are several methods that you can consider in the process of extraction such as carbon dioxide extraction, dry-sifting, mechanical drums, ice water extraction and a lot more.
FAN LEAVES
In comparison to sugar leaves, fan leaves are more useful and are more often used for medicinal purposes. What we highly suggest, after maintenance and trimming, do not throw away the fan leaves your marijuana plant produced. These are not wasted.
1. COMPOST – what will make your yield more nourished and abundant than powering up your soil? Using fan leaves mixed with your compost will make your roots more absorbent and more resistant to diseases with the strong smell it upholds. In addition to this, considering how potent fan leaves are, it will help the marijuana plant’s growth.
2. HASH OIL – these are in form of extracts. With proper equipment, you will be able to extract the fan leaves’ nutrients up until the last drop that nothing will be wasted.
3. JUICE – it can be in a form of edibles. The extracted nutrients from leaves can be mixed in your morning tea or coffee starting your day right. The moist of the fan leaves are nourished with cannabinoid just as useful as its buds.
4. EDIBLES – what other way of consuming marijuana than infusing edibles with its extracts. Edibles are one of the best-selling forms of marijuana which come in baked goods and drinks. It is more enticing in the eyes of cannabis connoisseurs especially those who are new in the field and have no experience in smoking weed.
Conclusion
With all these examples that we have provided, we can say that there is no waste with what the marijuana plant can produce. From its roots, buds, and leaves, you will be able to use it. This is a big deal especially to those inclined to the sales of marijuana. As much as possible, they seek ways on how to maximize what the plant can offer. You do not have to worry about the trimmings being placed into waste. Reviewing characteristics of every part of the plant, it is not just the buds that should excite you, it should be the leaves too. As much as the buds are covered in thick layers of resin and trichomes, the leaves are covered with just as much.
On an average, the cultivation of marijuana takes 8 to 12 weeks tops. Long flowering time, isn’t it? Too long that you would not want any part of it wasted. You have to be resourceful in terms of finding ways on how you can use it. It does not require experience for the leaves to be used. All you need to do is to conduct a research on your own on what you need the most. If you are a businessman with your own dispensary shop, it is best if you can extract the oils from the leaves and use it as edibles. This will add up to the profit of your business too. Yes, it may require some labor but if you come to think of it, cultivating it for a long span of time will be worth it.
Meanwhile for home-grown marijuana strains, for personal use, it would be suggested if you will just extract its juices for edibles too and incorporating it with simple drinks and food. If you are trying to experiment other means of cultivation, then you better try incorporating the remains of marijuana trimmings in compost to nourish its growth even more. There are a variety of options to choose from. You just have to be resourceful in your own way. Regardless of your own preference on how to utilize the marijuana leaves, the thing is, it would not be put into waste.
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