You’re here because you lit up your joint or bong, and your weed sparked up, making your smoke crackle like Rice Krispies cereal. Or maybe you lit up your new cbd cigarettes, only to find that they started sparking like a firecracker. If you’ve never experienced this before, you might find it surprising and a bit off-putting. There are a few reasons why this might happen. Let’s jump right in.
This may seem like the most obvious reason. If you left your weed out for too long, or if wasn’t handled properly before it got to you, then it may have just gotten too dry. When your hemp or marijuana is crackling, it’s similar to what happens when you light tinder to start a fire.
Another common reason that your buds might be snapping and popping at you is that your weed has some seeds in it.
Seeds will occur in cannabis plants when pollination occurs. It usually means one of two things: that the female cannabis plant came into contact with pollen from a male plant, or that the seeds are from a case of hermaphroditism. We don’t want to get too scientific here, so we’re going to leave it for the botanists to explain.
Long story short, seeds will pretty much always snap, crackle, and pop. It’s not a good thing.
Similar to seeds, stems are not meant to be smoked. They’ll be harsh and will crackle as well, especially if they’e on the dry side. In prerolls, often times you’ll see sparks because the manufacturer didn’t properly de-stem and sift their flower or trim. If you’re experiencing this in a hemp or marijuana cigarette, then that’s a telltale sign of a poor quality product.
Often times when you’re smoking on crackly weed, you’ll find one of the previously mentioned points as the culprit. But if you’ve already eliminated those, then improper cultivation is probably the reason.
During the cannabis cultivation process, plants must undergo a phase where they stop receiving nutrients, and only take in water. This phase is called flushing, which allows the plant to absorb nutrients that have already built up within them, and preventing an overload of nutrient contamination in your buds.
Proper flushing technique and timing can dramatically improve the overall quality of the final product. Specifically, flushing will create a better tasting and smoother smoke. Alternatively, if the flushing process is not doing properly or at the correct timing, you may end up with crackly, harsh weed.
We hope that this helps you understand more why some hemp or cannabis will burn smoother than others. Remember, not all hemp/cannabis is made equal. Good product manufacturers will make sure that quality plant material goes into their products, and will also store them properly once they’ve completed their production. If your prerolls or flower is crackling out of the package, then you’ll probably want to switch brands.
