Reusing Cannabis Stalks, Leaves & More!

While the goal of growing cannabis is to produce resinous, aesthetic and potent bud for an enjoyable and effective smoking experience, there are many other parts of the cannabis plant that are often left unused and thrown out – including stalks, leaves and roots. While these components may not be the most desired part of the plant, each part can be used in a variety of ways to ensure that you are getting the most out of every plant and harvest!

Reusing Cannabis Stalks

Once a cannabis plant is harvested, you are left with the stalk which is an extremely fibrous material. It is for this reason that industrial hemp farming has a focus using the fibrous qualities of the plant in order to produce different materials. Most home and industrial growers would benefit from breaking down these stalks with a wood chipper to create mulch, which can be used in compost piles or for the next crop. However, mulch is best applied to grows that use living soil to ensure that it breaks down over time.

Reusing Cannabis Leaves

Another part of the cannabis plant that is typically discarded during the harvesting and trimming process are the fan and sugar leaves. However, both of these components can be reused once the plant has been harvested.

Sugar Leaves: These are small leaves that form around the bud of the plant and are typically coated in resin. Due to the resin concentration on the sugar leaves, they are ideal for producing bubble hash or cannabutter for use or re-sale.

Fan Leaves: The big, protruding leaves are called “fan leaves” and tend to be in higher quantity in Sativa plants. These leaves do not contain high levels of cannabinoids, but are great for juicing, brewing into tea and are of special interest to individuals looking to produce salves.

Reusing Cannabis Roots

While not as commonly reused as stalks and leaves, cannabis roots do serve a purpose after harvesting too. In fact, cannabis roots were used in medication going as far back as 2700 BC. These roots were brewed and used to treat pain, gonorrhea and even hemorrhaging during pregnancy. Other cultures have used cannabis root to treat various conditions such as fevers, wounds, ulcers and abscesses as well as sciatic and joint pain.

In order to prep your cannabis roots for medical use, you can boil them for tea or allow them to dry out and then grind them into a fine powder. This cannabis root powder can be mixed with liquid and oil to make salves. 

Reusing Cannabis Soil

One of the best ways to save money from grow to grow is to save the soil. All you need to do is to amend it slightly to be able to reuse it to host your newest grow. Purchasing a test kit can help you to determine what the soil may be lacking so that you can get it back to its prior standing before planting a new crop. 

Are You Harvest Ready?

CenturionPro Solutions offers a variety of bud trimming machines for all sizes of cannabis grow. Each machine comes complete with a double-bag kief collection system, which separates out the kief and leaves from the bud, allowing the grower to further maximize their profits by selling or processing the leftover plant matter ensuring nothing goes to waste.