Is CBD Flower Sticky?
We’ve all heard of sticky icky. Since hemp comes from the same plant as the legendary “indo” of rap lore, does it also have a tendency to leave wonderfully aromatic sticky resin on your fingers, across your coffee table, and in your carpet?
Learn the answers here, and also find out what you can do to keep the potential of hempy stickiness from becoming gum under your shoe.
Are hemp buds sticky?
Yes, hemp buds are sticky. Or, at least they should be.
Let’s start with the very basics. Female members of the Cannabis sativa species are naturally very resinous. That means they express a lot of oils, and in the case of cannabis, these oils collect in tiny, crystalline sacs called trichomes.
Since they’re filled with viscous oils surrounded by a thin membrane, trichomes burst easily at the touch, releasing sticky fluids all over your hands or other surfaces. That’s what’s really happening when a hemp or cannabis nug feels sticky.
Why are some CBD buds stickier than others?
Various factors can make hemp or cannabis more or less sticky. First, poor genetics can fundamentally prevent proper trichome expression, and cannabis cultivation is a tenderly balanced art at every stage of the process.
Some of the cultivation-related factors that can influence bud stickiness include:
- Grow location (outdoor/indoor)
- Nutrient schedule
- Lighting
- Growth substrate
- & more
The way you handle your buds also makes a big difference. Poor handling can damage trichomes, making buds less potent and feel less sticky.
With outdoor grows, it’s almost impossible to preserve trichomes since quantity outweighs quality. Indoor buds are usually stickier, however, in part because they’re also handled more gently.
Does CBD flower have trichomes?
Yes, and that’s why CBD flower is just as sticky as the dankest weed you’ve ever smoked. CBD flower from Secret Nature, that is.
Our buds express extremely large and plentiful trichomes because they’re grown in almost absurdly ideal connoisseur conditions in our organic, indoor facilities. You’ll find that Secret Nature buds are much stickier than hemp nugs you’ve tried from other brands — Secret Nature is also more potent and tastes better.
What is the most potent CBD flower?
Right now, the most potent CBD flower strains contain around 25% CBD + CBDA. That’s the extent to which breeding has been able to maximize CBD production in flowering Cannabis sativa plants.
Breeding Cannabis sativa is a laborious — and often lamentably unscientific — process. The very convention of strain-naming originated from an overall inability to cohesively organize cannabis breeding due to the skittish nature of the illicit market.
The ship has been tightened up recently, so to speak. It will be a while, though, until CBD potency breaks through 30% since THC potency in cannabis has reached that threshold only recently — and thanks to advanced techniques that are still very rare in the hemp market.
Why is CBD flower so sticky?
If you find yourself asking this question, chances are your order is from Secret Nature. We’re not arrogant enough to think we’re the only competent producers of organic CBD flower on the internet, but we are the biggest, so most of the market's sticky-icky hemp buds are ours.
Will hemp flower get me high?
No matter how sticky it might feel, CBD flower won’t get you high. Like THC, CBD is a cannabinoid, which means it hangs out in those resinous sacs on the surface of cannabis and hemp buds called trichomes.
These trichomes can contain any number of different cannabinoids. Just because it’s sticky doesn’t mean your bud is weed — it might contain a dominant cannabinoid other than THC.
Tips for handling sticky CBD flower
You want your CBD flower to be as sticky as possible. Dry, coarse nugs are less potent, and they have been mistreated — if they were ever properly treated at all.
Messing around with sticky plant material can be a chore, however, so we’ve put together a few quick tips to help you handle your ultra-sticky CBD dank a little easier.
TIP 1 — Use gloves
This might seem like an unnecessary annoyance. You might just be one of those people who would rather get their hands sticky than put on a new pair of nitrile gloves whenever it comes time to hit the grind.
Still, gloving up to grind your buds doesn’t have to be an arduous proposal. You don’t have to use disposable gloves, for instance — you could even splurge on something silk or satin you only use for grinding.
The point is just to keep trichomes from directly touching your hands. Here are some other options you can try:
- Chopsticks
- Cards for moving ground-up buds
- Handling your buds through cling-wrap or a similar barrier
TIP 2 — Set up a dedicated grinding station
It might seem like a pain to set aside part of your home just for grinding hemp. Think about it though — here are the detractors to doing things your way:
- Buds get everywhere
- You can never find your grinder
- It’s hard to keep track of your nugs
- You’re afraid you’re wasting precious plant matter
Put that way, it simply makes sense to do all your grinding in one place. You can choose:
- The corner of a desk
- A windowsill
- A coffee table
- A bathroom counter
- A corner of your kitchen counter
Really, any place is suitable for grinding as long as it's clean, level, and out of reach of younger hands. The important thing is picking a single place where you’ll grind all your plant matter to keep the seeds of future messes from taking root.
TIP 3 — Upgrade your grinder
It could be that your grinder tech simply isn’t up to the task of grinding ultra-sticky, connoisseur hemp buds. There are lots of amazing grinder models on the market these days — pick and choose until you find one that matches your perfectionist tendencies and price bracket.
CBD flower stickiness FAQ
Any questions before we wrap up? Find the answers here.
1. What is CBD flower like?
Well, it’s a lot like weed, but it won’t get you high. CBD flower tastes, smells, and looks like cannabis, which means it’s also just as sticky as the dankest sticky-icky you’ve ever smoked.
2. Do CBD plants get crystals?
Yes, and they’re beautiful. If you’ve never seen a well-grown hemp plant in full bloom, you’re missing out. Cultivated correctly, CBD-rich hemp can be just as crystal-studded and beautiful as the best high-grade THC-dominant cannabis you’ve ever seen.
3. Why does CBD flower taste bad?
You poor thing. You’re finally home — take a lid off.
CBD flower taste bad? What have you been smoking, man? This stuff tastes great! Oh, yeah, right.
That’s because it was grown by Secret Nature. Yep, that scraggly, flat, brownish-looking stuff was grown by the other guys — we thought so.
4. Can you overdose on CBD flower?
No matter how sticky it might feel to the touch, CBD flower isn’t believed to be toxic. As a result, this mild cannabinoid isn’t known to cause overdose or any other hallmarks of chemical toxicity.
5. Is it illegal to order CBD flower online?
Secret Nature ships CBD flower to all 50 states. Always consult with local laws and regulations regarding CBD, but United States federal law stipulates that Cannabis sativa containing less than 0.3% ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol on a dry weight basis is “industrial hemp,” not “marijuana,” a drug that remains federally illegal.
