The market for hemp is one of the fastest-growing in the entire economy. It was only recently made legal federally with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill.
Now, it is possible to buy and sell hemp that contains under 0.3% THC content. It is popular for the CBD contained within the plant's leaves. CBD has many potential health benefits that users love. However, not all hemp flowers are equal.
There are several factors you must evaluate to determine the quality of the product you have.
Major Factors to Consider When Buying Hemp
Many different factors impact the quality of a plant. There are five main factors that we recommend you consider when evaluating a plant.
The way that each of these factors appears in the plant will determine its overall quality. Good quality plants are easy to distinguish once you know which factors to evaluate.
- Cutting Technique
- Curing Technique
- Type of Hemp
- Growing Conditions
- User Experience
Cutting Techniques
The first factor that you should look at when evaluating hemp flowers would be the cutting technique. The cutting technique used will impact the final cost of the product as well.
There are two primary cutting techniques: machine-cut and hand-cut.
Hand-Cut:
Flowers are going to be the best when they are cut by hand. The advantage to hand cutting flowers is that you can remove all extraneous material. Not all parts of the hemp flower are valuable.
When you cut flowers by hand, you are left with only the best parts of the plant.
Machine-Cut:
The main advantage of machine cutting compared to hand cutting is the cost. Although you will get some of the less valuable parts of the plant when a machine cuts it, it will cost less than hand-cut flowers.
The machine-cut product's major downside is the increased presence of unnecessary plant material in the final product. This decreases the overall potency.
Curing Techniques
Once the flower is cut, the next step in processing would be to cure it. The amount of effort put into this step determines the quality of the final product.
Good curing technique preserves both the terpenes and the CBD in the hemp. This ensures that potency is maintained. Poor curing techniques will result in the majority of the desirable compounds within the plant deteriorating.
It could even make the product impotent. On the other hand, the quality technique ensures the product remains of high quality for a long time.
Flower Strain
There are multiple strains of the hemp plant. They vary in their characteristics, and some are of higher quality than others.
The biggest way that different strains vary from each other is the concentration of different cannabinoids. CBD is not the only one in the hemp plant, but it is the highest concentration.
Some strains have very high levels of CBD, while others have lower levels of it. This all impacts the end user’s experience with the product.
Growing Conditions
Hemp plants can be grown in different environments just like how MrHempFlower does it. Much like people, the environment in which a plant is raised dramatically impacts how it turns out.
There are two primary conditions in which the plant is grown: Indoor and Outdoor.
Indoor Plants:
Plants that are grown indoors are of higher quality. Conditions in which they grow remain more consistent than in outdoor plants. The result is more consistent product quality.
When you grow plants inside you, have much finer control over the climate conditions to which the plant is subject. This allows the grower to ensure that the plant is kept in optimal conditions at all times.
The final products of plants grown with this method are of higher quality.
Outdoor Plants:
Outdoor plants are less expensive than indoor varieties. Although they do not maintain the same level of consistency between batches. Outdoor growing conditions vary over the year.
This produces more variable plants than when you grow them indoors. The plants will not be of as high quality as indoor plants. However, they often are priced substantially lower than competing products.
User Experience
Finally, the best way to evaluate the plant’s quality is through your senses. The way it looks, smells, tastes, etc. all help to evaluate a plant.
The more experience you have with different strains, the easier it will be for you to determine its quality.
Appearance:
The appearance of the plant tells you a lot about its characteristics. The best quality hemp plants will appear as if they are covered in tiny crystals.
These tiny crystals are called trichomes. These are what contain the CBD from the plant. In addition to an abundance of trichomes, the plant should have a healthy green color to its leaves.
This indicates that the plant was a healthy one when it was grown. Healthy green leaves covered in trichomes are the indicators of a top-quality plant.
Aroma:
The best hemp plants will have a strong aroma. This is from the terpenes within the plants' leaves. High-quality plants have high concentrations of terpenes.
These are aromatic chemicals and are responsible for the scent of both hemp and marijuana. When you open up a bank of quality hemp, you should be hit with the aroma immediately.
If you are not, that is an indicator of low-quality material.
Flavor:
Good quality plants will taste good when you smoke them. Low-quality plants will taste harsh when you smoke them. The taste of the plant is primarily affected by the presence of terpenes.
These aromatic chemicals not only lend the plant its aroma but also its flavor.
Effects:
Finally, the last thing you need to look at to determine the plant’s quality is its effects. When you consume high-quality hemp plants, the effects will last a long time.
They will also be noticed immediately. If you do not feel anything after using some hemp, you likely have a low-quality product.
