By Luke Sumpter


Spend any amount of time passing a joint around a coffee table with seasoned smokers, and you’ll quickly become exposed to some quintessential cannabis controversy. Various debates continue to rage in the world of weed, from the efficacy of holding in a hit to the accuracy of the terms “indica” and “sativa” when describing the effects of a strain. Among these contested topics, the idea that ash colour indicates bud quality remains one of the most argued.

Some cannabis users stand by the idea that white ash signifies pure, flushed, and high-grade weed, whereas black ash points to poor-quality bud. In contrast, others completely disregard this distinction and take the view that ash colour represents nothing of importance. So, should you care about ash colour when smoking weed? Let’s dive into both sides of the debate below.

Black and white cannabis hash

The White vs Black Ash Controversy: A Primer

In truth, most cannabis users probably haven’t considered the colour of the ash at the end of their joints. However, some connoisseurs among us not only hold it as an indication of flower quality in general, but use this metric as a way to highlight the quality of their homegrown flowers. To them, white ash testifies to correct cultivation, flushing, drying, and curing—resulting in finer flowers and a superior smoke.

However, this conclusion rests only on anecdotal accounts and loses its weight when we consider the subjective experience of other cultivators and smokers. Rather than deriding white ash and praising black ash, this other camp simply disregards the importance of ash colour altogether, putting it down to pseudoscience and superstition.

The Shaky Science Behind Ash Colour

It will likely come as no surprise that scientific investigation has yet to clear up the hazy air shrouding the white ash vs black ash weed debate. As the cannabis industry continues to expand and researchers focus their efforts on breeding, agronomy, and pharmacology, the colour of cannabis ash is simply not a pressing issue for most. For now, the debate remains firmly in the domain of lay growers and smokers. However, some experts in the field of cannabis science have flung their opinions into the melee.

Proposed Factors That Affect Cannabis Ash Colour

A long list of factors impact the overall quality of cannabis, including genetics, cultivation methods, the growing medium, and post-harvest processing. But do these variables also influence weed ash colour? Find out which factors are proposed as the most impactful when it comes to white vs black ash.

  • Flushing

Conventional wisdom has, for decades, dictated that flushing weed before harvest increases the quality of cannabis flowers. In this vein of thinking, withholding nutrients for a matter of days or weeks causes a weed plant to use up its nutrient stores, essentially metabolising compounds that taste harsh when smoked, resulting in a smoother and more pleasant smoking experience. However, even the act of flushing is a controversial topic, with individuals such as cannabis biologist Dr Robert Flannery contesting the concept. His master’s thesis[1], titled “Irrigation Management Strategies for Medical Cannabis in Controlled Environments”, found that, in contrast to common conceptions, flushing does little to remove any significant amount of nutrients from cannabis flowers.

All that said, many growers and smokers still propose that this technique alters the phytochemistry of flowers to some degree, resulting in buds that create “desirable” white ash. However, growers who don’t flush also report white ash when smoking their homegrown—so the jury is still out.

Cannabis flushing
  • Growing Medium

While research has yet to conclude if and how the growing medium impacts the ash colour of the buds, some growers have found that certain media broadly benefit flower quality. Today, many growers are migrating away from hydroponics and synthetic nutrients, and towards “living soil” systems that utilise organic nutrients and rely on the microbial members of the soil food web to deliver nutrients to their plants. Adherents to this cultivation philosophy often report producing higher-quality weed, which, following general opinion, would likely produce white ash.

Cannabis growing medium
  • Combustion Temperature

Regardless of flushing and other cultivation methods, one thing that very well may underpin ash colour is combustion temperature. Josh Wurzer[2], co-founder of SC Labs in California, has stated that black ash results from incomplete combustion. Too much moisture and not enough oxygen can impact combustion temperature, resulting in cannabis that burns improperly and forms black ash.

  • Moisture Content

Building on the above, drying and curing may hold significant sway over whether weed produces black or white ash. These post-harvest processes remove excess moisture, which not only reduces the probability of mould but enables buds to burn at a higher temperature, increasing the likelihood of white ash colour.

  • Additives and Contaminants

Some growers see black ash as a sign of contamination, and white ash as a sign of purity. According to this outlook, black ash can signal that the buds are contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides, and other chemicals. While a possibility, no research exists to support this claim.

  • Resin

The impact of resin also throws another spanner into the works. Wurzer has stated that increased amounts of resin can cause cannabis to produce black ash by inhibiting proper combustion. However, high resin content itself has traditionally indicated high bud quality, as this viscous substance contains cannabinoids such as THC as well as aromatic terpenes that contribute to taste and aroma.

Cannabis resin

Is Ash Colour a Reliable Way to Assess Cannabis Quality?

Does white ash mean good weed? Not necessarily. Ultimately, there are much better ways to judge the quality of cannabis. Ash colour fails to inform users of the most important properties and overall calibre of their herb. In some circumstances, it could simply indicate improper combustion; in others, it could be down to the efficacy of the drying and curing processes post-harvest.

How to Properly Assess Weed Ash Colour

Either way, if you’re still keen to assess the colour of your weed ash, you can get a good gauge of the colour simply using the naked eye. Just tap the ash from the end of your joint, or scoop it out of a bong or pipe bowl, and place it into an ashtray. Use a dabbing tool to break it apart to get a good look at the interior and exterior of the bundle to make a good judgement on the overall colour.

If you want to take your ash assessment slightly more seriously, you can use simple magnification. A magnifying glass or jeweller's loupe will help you get a close look if you’re struggling to figure out if it’s mostly white or black.

Alternative Means of Assessing the Quality of Your Weed

As mentioned, there are far better ways to assess the quality of your cannabis than ash colour. Discover the best ways to find out if you’re smoking high-grade or poor-quality buds below.

  • Visual Inspection

Simply grab a bud and take a close look. It should have a good layer of trichomes and feel sticky, but not wet. It should also be neatly manicured with no large sugar leaves remaining. Immediately discard any buds that show signs of mould.

Cannabis trichomes
  • Aroma and Flavour

Regardless of ash colour, if your bud smells and tastes good before and during smoking, then it’s likely of high quality. All strains feature a slightly different aroma and flavour; expect anything from wood, pine, and pepper to fruit, candy, and skunk. Poorly grown, dried, and cured weed often smells like grass, hay, or mildew.

  • Moisture Content

Not only does excess moisture produce black ash, but it detracts from the flavour of a bud, making it harsh to smoke. Not only that, but moisture can cause buds to develop mould during storage. Properly processed cannabis flowers should feel sticky but suitably dry. Overly moist or damp buds are a sign of improper post-harvest and/or storage processes.

Factors That Influence the Quality of Weed

If you grow your own weed, you have a good amount of control over the final quality of your harvest. Discover the key factors that will enhance your results.

  • Genetics

Strain choice plays perhaps the largest role in final weed quality. Aside from choosing a variety that matches your preferences, aim to source genetics that are known to consistently produce quality results. Unless you’re a breeder, limit your scope to feminized seeds that produce female buds, as this will give you the best bang for your buck.

  • Abiotic and Biotic Stress

Small amounts of abiotic stress (i.e. stress from non-living sources) can help plants thrive and produce more cannabinoids and terpenes. However, too much stress in the form of drought, overwatering, or excessive training and defoliation can cause stunted growth, low yields, and poor-quality flowers. Meanwhile, biotic stress—from living sources—such as pest insects and pathogens can contaminate buds and make them dangerous to smoke.

  • Microbiology and Terroir

Aim to cultivate in living soil. Not only will this approach increase the fertility of your soil year after year, but research suggests that a healthy population of beneficial microbes plays a key role in weed flower quality when it comes to potency and taste. The concept of terroir—the environmental factors that impact crop taste and characteristics—also means your local climate will produce a unique phytochemical profile in your flowers when grown well.

  • Flushing

While research suggests that flushing flowers doesn’t do much in the way of purging nutrients, some growers swear by its ability to improve taste and smoothness. Flushing may impact the concentration of certain harsh phytochemicals, such as chlorophyll, to produce a more pleasant smoke.

  • Brix

If you’re a serious cannabis connoisseur, you probably own a refractometer that measures Brix levels. This handy device allows for a quantitative assessment of bud quality. You should aim to maintain a Brix level of 12–15% for the healthiest plants and highest-quality weed possible.

  • Drying and Curing

Drying and curing are among the most important factors when it comes to cannabis quality. Done correctly, these processes preserve the shelf-life of buds and give rise to a smooth and flavourful smoke.

Curing and drying cannabis

White vs Black Ash: A Poor Indicator of Cannabis Quality

Alongside the misuse of the terms “indica” and “sativa”, the importance of ash colour to the cannabis smoking experience is likely much less relevant than some smokers think. While black ash might indicate improper combustion due to excess moisture, it can also point to high levels of resin. White ash, on the other hand, likely arises due to higher combustion temperatures, but by no means suggests superior quality. Instead of relying on ash colour, consider the variables of flavour and aroma, moisture content, and the way your weed looks and feels when attempting to assess its quality.

External Resources:
  1. Irrigation Management Strategies for Medical Cannabis in Controlled Environments https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca
  2. JOSH WURZER | The National Cannabis Industry Association https://thecannabisindustry.org
Disclaimer:
This content is for educational purposes only. The information provided is derived from research gathered from external sources.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: