Ultimate Guide to the Anatomy of the Marijuana Plant

Although you may be familiar with the marijuana buds that we covet, many people have never seen a marijuana plant, let alone know about its anatomy. The cannabis plant is made up of many different structures and this post is meant to provide a brief introduction to the main parts of this amazing plant.

Flower

Cannabis flowers (a.k.a. buds) are the most well-known part of the cannabis plant. The cannabis plants will either have female or male flowers, and the flowering process is how a grower discerns whether the plant is female or male. A flowering female cannabis plant will develop a cola and grow buds. It will also produce cannabis seeds if it is fertilized by a male marijuana plant. The flowering male plant does not have buds, but develops small pollen sacks at the base of its leaves. Pollinated plants are far less rich in cannabinoids (like THC) so the buds you purchase and enjoy are always unpollinated seedless females.

Fan Leaves

Fan leaves are the large, protruding leaves that appear up and down the plant. Each leaf usually contains five individual leaves, but sometimes have more. Photosynthesis is the main function of these striking leaves, and they don’t produce high levels of cannabinoids like buds do. But even though they aren’t smoked, they are famous for being an iconic symbol of the cannabis plant in marijuana culture.

Cola

The cola refers to the part of the female cannabis plant where the buds come together at the tip of the stem. The quality and size of the cola can be increased during the growing process with plant training, which means physically manipulating the plant so it grows more bud sites, which increases yields. The cola produces the largest, densest buds with the highest potency. When you buy top-shelf flower, you usually get buds from the cola that have been hand-trimmed.

Bract and Calyx

Often hidden under the small leaves on the cola, are tear-shaped nodules that form the bract. The bract encapsules the cannabis female plant reproductive parts and is covered in resin glands that contain the highest concentration of cannabinoids. The calyx is a translucent layer that covers the female plant's ovule enclosed by the bract and is not visible to the naked eye.

Sugar Leaves

Sugar leaves are the small leaves that grow out of the buds. They are often hidden, with only their tips peeking through. They are usually covered in trichomes, which give them the appearance of being dusted with sugar. Because they carry cannabinoid-rich trichomes, they can be used to make concentrates and extracts.

Trichomes

Trichomes are a tiny but essential part of the cannabis flower. These resin glands coat the flower and look like translucent crystal-like globes. Trichomes are rich in cannabinoids and terpenes, which are responsible for the euphoric and therapeutic effects of the plant.

Pistil

Pistils look like tiny hairs that grow out of the sides of the flower. They start out white but turn to red, orange, and brown. Only female cannabis plants have pistils, and they function to capture pollen sacs from male marijuana plants.

Please consume responsibly. This product may cause impairment and may be habit forming. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. State laws impact what dispensaries can and can’t sell to recreational customers and medical marijuana patients. Not every type of product, consumption method, dosage form, or potency mentioned on this blog will be permitted in all locations.

What is Live Resin & How Do You Use It?

A concentrate is a concentrates, right? Not quite. There are different grades of concentrates, with some looked at as higher quality than others. Live resin is one of those concentrates that cannabis consumers everywhere regard as a premium product that every dabbing enthusiast should try. In this guide, we’re going to teach you everything you need to know about live resin and how you use it.

What is Live Resin?

Live resin is a concentrate created using fresh, flash-frozen cannabis that is put through an extraction process to preserve the cannabinoids, terpenes, and other compounds in the plant. The result is a sticky, golden concentrate full of flavor, rich in aroma, and unique in its potency. Because of this, canna-connoisseurs regard live resin as a top-shelf, high-quality concentrate.

How is Live Resin Made?

Live resin should only be made by professionals using a closed-loop system that protects them from dangerous solvents. With this equipment, the process is fairly straightforward. First, the marijuana is harvested and flash-frozen to preserve all the compounds in marijuana that we enjoy. Then, the plant is ground into smaller pieces and packed into a column within the closed-loop equipment. Once contained, solvents are pushed through those pieces of plant material, pulling cannabinoids like CBD and THC, terpenes, flavonoids, and more from the cannabis. Once extracted, the solvents are purged from the compounds. From there, the live resin is stored and preserved as it’s shipped to dispensaries around the country.

How Do You Use Live Resin?

The most popular concentrates on the market are the ones that can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. Live resin is one of the most flexible concentrates in that regard. You can:

Dab Live Resin: Dabbing live resin is easy. As with any other concentrate, you would heat the nail in your dab rig and let it cool just a bit. Then, place a little bit of live resin on the nail. It will vaporize, and you can inhale that vapor.
Vape Live Resin: If you prefer to keep your concentrates contained, you should try vaping your live resin. You can find live resin cartridges at your dispensary that get attached to a battery the same way a cannabis oil cartridge would. Then, all you have to do is turn on your vape pen and enjoy.
Add Live Resin to Flower: Does your flower need a little oomph? Consider adding a little live resin into your joint or bowl. This addition of a bit of concentrate will boost the flavor, aroma, and potency of your next smoke session. Just know that combustion is a little harder on terpenes, so your live resin won’t be quite as much of a sensory explosion compared to vaping and dabbing.

How Do You Store Live Resin?

Proper storage is important for any cannabis product, especially live resin. If you’re trying to preserve your live resin, make sure you keep it in an airtight container that you store in a cool, dark location in your house. These conditions are key to ensuring your live resin doesn’t dry out or get activated by heat or light between sessions.

If you’re trying to keep your live resin long-term, consider keeping it in the refrigerator. Just remember to let it warm up to room temperature before you open the container and expose it to the moisture in the air.

What Other Live Resin Products Can I Buy?

Live resin is particularly interesting to cannabis enthusiasts who want to preserve as much of the compounds found in marijuana as possible, so it makes sense those same consumers are driving manufacturers to consider how else they can market live resin. Their solution? Live resin edibles and carts.

Edibles: In many cases, consumers want edibles to taste like whatever recipe they’re trying to mimic, like cookies and candies. There are some canna-connoisseurs, however, who want to have the full-spectrum experience with their edibles. Live resin edibles are the perfect solution for them. The extract is infused into the food in much the same way as a distillate would be. Because they contain all the terpenes and cannabinoids, the entourage effect will definitely affect the endocannabinoid system, and you’ll have a more marijuana-flavored edible.
Carts: You don’t have to give up vaping to enjoy live resin. There are manufacturers who are now putting live resin into vape cartridges. This creates an enhanced experience compared to cannabis oil because of the presence of cannabinoids and terpenes. A live resin cart will be more flavorful, have a stronger scent, and may even have a unique sort of potency compared to a regular cartridge.

Resin vs Live Resin vs Rosin: What’s the Difference?

While they sound incredibly similar, resin, live resin, and rosin are very different products. The differences between the three products are:

Resin: The cannabis community defines resin in two ways—it’s the sticky tar-like mess left in your pipe after you smoke, or it’s the sticky sap that coats your fingers after you handle some premium bud. You may also hear the term “cured resin.” Cured resin is a concentrate made by pushing solvents through dried cannabis bud. A combination of this extraction process, heat, and pressure helps to create a cured resin sauce.
Live Resin: To make live resin, marijuana plants are harvested and immediately flash-frozen to preserve all the compounds we love, like cannabinoids and terpenes. Then, that flash-frozen product is put through a careful extraction process to pull those compounds from the plant material. The result is a treat to the senses—an aromatic, full-flavor concentrate called live resin.
Rosin: Forget solvents. Rosin is a concentrate extracted from dried, cured marijuana plants with only heat and pressure (or some machine-based methods). This solventless extraction process separates the trichomes from the plant and then compresses them. What is left is a gooey, creamy concentrate. You may also hear the term “live rosin” when you’re at the dispensary. Live rosin is made the exact same way as rosin, but it uses flash-frozen plant material, rather than dried and cured plant material.

Live Resin vs Other Concentrates: What’s the Difference?

There are several differences between live resin and other concentrates. First, live resin is made from cannabis that has been harvested and immediately flash-frozen. Many concentrates you find on the market are made from dried cannabis flower. Second, the process of preserving the cannabis plant through flash-freezing ensures that terpenes are preserved. This makes live resin more flavorful and aromatic compared to other concentrates. Third, when the extraction process takes place, it’s with the still-flash frozen cannabis. This makes it easier to preserve cannabinoids and terpenes compared to other concentrate-creation methods.

Answering FAQs About Live Resin

Our budtenders are constantly fielding questions about live resin. Here are a few frequently asked questions they’ve answered recently:

Is live resin considered full-spectrum?
Yes. Full spectrum means that a product has preserved all the compounds in the marijuana plant, not just THC. Because the live resin extraction process tries to preserve the cannabinoids and terpenes we love, live resin is considered to be a full-spectrum concentrate.

How much does live resin cost?
Typically, live resin is one of the more expensive concentrates available, ranging from $35 to $100 a gram, depending on the state and the quality of the product.

Can I make live resin at home?
No. To make live resin, flammable solvents are used to extract the cannabinoids and terpenes. This process requires professional equipment to ensure the solvents are removed from the final product and that the gasses from the solvents are properly contained.

Learn More About Live Resin

The best way to learn about live resin is to experience it for yourself, and the best way to do that is to visit your dispensary. You will likely find a number of options of live resin available to you, along with other concentrates. If you also need the tools to enjoy your live resin, your budtender will be more than happy to help.

Use of Marijuana Concentrate may lead to: Psychotic symptoms and/or Psychotic disorder (delusions, hallucinations, or difficulty distinguishing reality); Mental Health Symptoms/Problems; Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) (uncontrolled and repetitive vomiting); Cannabis use disorder/dependence, including physical and psychological dependence. Please consume responsibly. This product may cause impairment and may be habit forming. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. State laws impact what dispensaries can and can’t sell to recreational customers and medical marijuana patients. Not every type of product, consumption method, dosage form, or potency mentioned on this blog will be permitted in all locations.

Piles of colorful vape pens in all shapes and sizes

What is a Marijuana Vape Pen & How Does It Work?

Ready to try vaping? You’re not alone. Marijuana vaping is a billion-dollar industry, and it is only growing. If you’re ready to shop for your marijuana vape pen and cannabis cartridges, this is the perfect guide for you. We’ve got the answers you need to make an informed purchase at your next dispensary stop.

What is a Marijuana Vape Pen?

A marijuana vape pen is a portable, pen-shaped vaporizer that is most commonly used with cartridges containing cannabis oil. Their small size, coupled with the fact that vapor has a significantly more subtle aroma than marijuana smoke, make them a great choice for cannabis enthusiasts who want to respectfully enjoy their product without bothering anyone else.

How Does a Cannabis Vape Pen Work?

A cannabis vape pen works by heating the marijuana product to the point that it turns into a vapor that can be inhaled. But how does that actually happen? Well, there are two ways that a vape pen heats its contents:

Conduction: With a conduction vape pen, the cannabis oil is heated because it’s in direct contact with a heating element. This contact creates the vapor we know and love. There are a couple of downsides to the conduction marijuana pen, however. First, it doesn’t evenly heat the product. This means that some product could be wasted because, and this is the second downside, it gets burned by the heating element. Too much heat isn’t a good thing with vape pens, and so if your pen is too hot or your coil isn’t doing its job right, it can burn your cannabis oil and turn a great session into a real bummer.

Convection: A convection vape pen swaps a hot surface and direct contact with hot air and zero contact between the heating element and the cannabis product. Similar to many ovens found in kitchens across the country, a convection vape heats the air within the atomizer. That air comes in contact with the cannabis oil and turns it into a vapor. While this process can take longer than a conduction vape, it’s much less likely to ruin your product.

What Are the Different Types of Marijuana Vape Pens?

Not all marijuana vape pens are created equal. In fact, you can find three different types of vape pens in most dispensaries. They are:

Vape Pen: A classic vape pen is a disposable or rechargeable handheld vaporizer that heats cannabis oil into a vapor that you consume. Vape pens are easy to use, portable, and discreet.
Dab Pen: A dab pen is designed to vaporize concentrates, otherwise known as dabbing. The dab pen heats the nail inside, and you carefully scoop your concentrate onto that nail. Once it contacts the hot surface, it will start to vaporize, and all you have to do is inhale and enjoy.
Flower Vape Pen: You don’t have to have an oil or a concentrate in order to vape; you can also use a flower vape pen or dry herb vaporizer. With a flower vape pen, you would place a small amount of marijuana bud inside and let the device do the work for you. Instead of burning the flower, it will heat it to the point that it turns all the things we love about cannabis, including the cannabinoids, terpenes, and other compounds, into a vapor you can inhale.

What Are the Different Parts of a Cannabis Vape Pen?

Knowing the parts of your vape pen can help you customize your experience to your preferences. Here are three of the most common parts of a cannabis vape pen:

Cartridge: The cartridge of a vape pen can be built into the pen, in the case of a disposable vape, or it can be attached to a battery separately. The cartridge contains the cannabis oil that is ready to be vaporized.
Atomizer: The atomizer is a little compartment within the vape pen that contains the heating device. This coil can heat up almost instantly once it’s activated, and it turns the cannabis oil into a vapor you can inhale.
Battery: The battery is the reason your vape pen works—it’s the power source you need. The battery, once charged, is attached to the vape cartridge. Then, you either need to press a button to turn it on and activate it, or, in the case of an auto-draw pen, just simply inhale.

Answering FAQs About Vapes

If you’ve got questions, you’re not alone. Here are just a few of the most frequently asked questions we get about vapes every week:

What’s the difference between dabbing and vaping?
While dabbing and vaping both create vapor that you inhale, there is one big difference between them—the product you use. When vaping, you’re typically consuming vaporized cannabis oil from a cartridge. When dabbing, you’re consuming vaporized concentrates. Technically, dabbing is a type of vaping.

Do marijuana vapes smell?
While some marijuana vapes may have a stronger odor than others, compared to smoking cannabis, vaping is a lot less smelly. This is especially true if you’re consuming THC distillate which doesn’t have any terpenes in it to give it a scent.

How much does a vape pen cost?
The cost of a vape pen can vary depending on its quality. A disposable vape pen is likely going to cost less than a rechargeable vape pen and cartridge. That said, you can find vape pens at just about any budget limit.

Find the Right Marijuana Vape for You

As with many things in the cannabis industry, with vaping, sometimes you just have to try it to know if it’s for you. Your experience can depend on a variety of factors, including the pen, the cartridge, the product, etc. The good news is that we have all the vape cartridges, vape pens, and vape batteries you need to choose from, so you’ll never run out of options.

Small amount of shatter concentrate on white wax paper

What is Shatter & How Do You Smoke It?

There are all different cannabis concentrates on the market, but shatter is a real fan favorite. Its unique appearance coupled with its potency make it a must-have for any dabber. Add to that the fact that it's easy to load onto the nail because it’s a solid piece of concentrate? You’ve got a recipe for just why shatter is so popular. In this guide, we’ll make sure you know everything about shatter, including what it is, how it’s made, and how you smoke it.

What is Shatter?

While shatter might be similar to its other concentrate cousins in that it is a highly potent extract with over 80% THC, there is one distinguishing feature that separates shatter from all the rest: it looks like broken (or shattered) glass. Shatter is a solid piece of concentrate that is often see-through, and when you apply pressure to it, you can break it into pieces to enjoy via a dab rig, dab pen, infused joint, and more.

While you can find CBD shatter on the unregulated market, the shatter we’re talking about here and sell in our dispensaries is thick with THC content, so prepare for potency.

How is THC Shatter Made?

To make shatter, a solvent, like butane, needs to be pushed through plant material within a professional, closed-loop system. This process extracts all of the things we love, THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids, along with some terpenes. That extract is then refined to remove the solvent and any remaining unwanted compounds, like lipids. Once that is complete, the butane hash oil is rested. That is, it is completely undisturbed so that it can harden into a thin, glass-like pane. Once the product has fully settled, it’s broken, or shattered, into pieces and packaged to head to your home via your local dispensary.

How Do You Smoke Shatter?

There are many different ways that cannabis enthusiasts enjoy their shatter. The three most popular methods include:

Dab Rig: Of all the methods of enjoying a concentrate, shatter included, the dab rig is the most popular. A dab rig is a type of water pipe designed for consuming concentrates, rather than flower. To dab shatter, the nail is heated and a bit of the shatter is placed on it. This will vaporize the product for you to consume.
Infused Joint or Bowl: Sometimes, flower just isn’t enough. When you start to feel that way, it doesn’t mean you need to give up your favorite strain of bud. Rather, you can simply enhance it with an infusion of concentrate. Whether you’re packing a bowl or rolling an infused joint, you can add some tiny shatter dabs to your flower to create a session far more potent than flower alone.

The thing to remember about this method is that concentrates don’t work well with open flames. So when you pack your bowl or joint, be sure to tuck the shatter in with the flower so you’re not lighting your shatter when you spark up.

Vape: There are a million different types of vaporizers available for purchase, and one type of vape is called a dab pen. This is a vape pen that is specifically designed for concentrates. Similar to how shatter is added to a dab rig, it would be placed on the heating element in your dab pen. You’d close up the pen, let it work its magic, and before long, you’re enjoying your shatter.

How is Shatter Different From Other Concentrates?

If you’re shopping for concentrates at your local dispensary, there’s no question you’ll be able to identify shatter. This is because it is one of the most visually unique marijuana concentrates on the market.

To make shatter, a solvent is used to extract all the things we love from the marijuana plant, including cannabinoids and terpenes. Once the solvent is removed from the extract, the concentrate is left to harden. This is how shatter takes on its glass-like appearance that, in some cases, is even clear enough to see through.

Shatter is typically broken into shards prior to being packaged, and you will probably further break it apart when prepping it to add to your dab rig.

How Strong is Shatter?

In general, concentrates are potent products (after all, they’re concentrated cannabinoids). Shatter is no exception. While different manufacturers process their shatter in different ways, you can find shatter that is 80% THC and sometimes higher. This means you do not need much to get the effects you desire, so you should start slow with this one.

Answering FAQs About THC Shatter

Shatter is one of the most unique concentrates on the market, and we get a lot of questions about it. Here are a few we’ve answered this week:

Can you eat shatter?
You could, but you wouldn’t get anything out of it. Shatter needs to be decarboxylated, or heated, in order to get the effect of the cannabinoids. So if you eat it, you’d basically be consuming a lump of ineffective concentrate. (And it probably wouldn’t taste good either.)

Can I make shatter at home?
No, absolutely not. Cannabis manufacturers use a professional system that can contain dangerous chemicals like butane. Without the proper manufacturing equipment, you could be injured or worse if you try to make shatter at home. Moreover, in some states, it’s actually a felony if you’re caught trying to DIY shatter.

Is shatter the same as dabs?
Yes and no, shatter is a type of dab but not all dabs are shatter. A dab is any concentrate that can be consumed with a dab rig or dab pen.

Buying THC Shatter

Convinced that you want to give shatter a try? Come see us. We’ll help you find shatter and all our dab concentrates available, so you get just the product you need to fit the session you’re looking to have. Of course, if you need any help, just talk to your budtender.