We recently sat down with a cannabis cultivator, manufacturer, and LightLab 3 user who is operating on farmland with extensive water and surface rights. Known for their sophisticated, automated processes, this customer manages a vast operation, producing thousands of cannabis plants annually and processing 300,000 – 400,000 lbs of biomass each year.

One of the common questions asked about psychedelic mushrooms is whether the caps contain significantly more active ingredients than the stems.  Most would guess caps pack more punch than the stems – after all, the top of a cannabis plant certainly packs more punch. We decided to put this Caps vs Stems anecdote to the test, and the results were a bit more complicated than we anticipated.

There have been plenty of anecdotal reports indicating that cannabis stems can contain rare cannabinoids or other interesting components. So rather than guess, we decided to put a few stems to the test.

In Testing for Truth Part 4, we tested some old cannabis samples that were at least 10 years old. The results were a little unexpected and we noted an unknown cannabinoid was present. This vexed us for a while, but finally we believe we have identified the cannabinoid.

At a recent conference, we had someone approach our booth with an interesting question: If I smoke cannabis, how much THC is left in the ash? She just happened to have both the starting material as well as the leftover ash. Rather than make a guess, we decided to let LightLab answer the question.

In the last Testing for Truth article, we blasted some cannabis with a solar simulator, and found that very little D9THC or CBN production took place. That test had us asking the question, what happens to really old cannabis? Does it contain mostly THCA? Is there any CBN present? Fortunately, we had access to a 10-year-old sample and decided to put this to the test to see what cannabinoids were still lurking in this old cannabis.

Most of us take for granted that exposing cured cannabis to sunlight isn’t a great idea. Sunlight contains UV light, which has well known destructive properties.  Anecdotal reports suggest that the acidic form of THC, THC-A would degrade into Δ9THC (the active form) and then further into CBN. That sounds reasonable, considering that’s typically how cannabis degradation is explained. Rather than accept the anecdotal evidence, we decided to put some cannabis products to the test.

In Testing For Truth Part 1, we found that the position of a bud on the plant does matter- buds near the top tend to be higher in potency than those near the bottom.  That means growers need to be aware of this, and possibly adjust their lighting, plant spacing, etc. to reduce variation.  Doing so will improve the quality and experience for customers.  While this is good information to know, what about variation across a single bud?  Anecdotal evidence suggests that the very tip of a flower will have the highest potency.  After all, it looks the best, typically covered with trichomes.  But at Orange Photonics, we want to do better than make an educated guess, so we put some buds to the test.