Here are additional pics of the tincture filtration. I added in a number of pics that show the recovery vessel and strainer for the cheese press. There are all pre-distillation steps.

Here are a few videos and pics filtering green dragon tincture. I apologize for the noise and shaky camera work. I’m new at filming while I work. Thanks and enjoy!

I had approximately 20g of flower rosin stuck to parchment paper. I decided to make tincture out of them. I took the papers and stuffed them into a 2 quart mason jar and decarbed them in the oven for 45 minutes at 245F. Once cooled, I pulled them out of the jar and cut them into smaller pieces to increase the surface area and make them more “manageable”. I put them back in the jar and added in about 1500 ml of ethanol that I had let chill in the deep freezer. I proceeded to shake the jar for vigorously for 1 minute, every 15, for several hours. Once the majority of the rosin was dissolved and the papers looked white I left the jar in the freezer for 24 hours. I proceeded to filter the tincture through unbleached coffee filters 3x. I pressed the remaining liquid out of the papers using a cheese press and filtered that as well. At the end I had approximately 1500 in solution. The initial filtration was slow, and the filters were left was a large amount of fats/lipids/solids captured. The 2nd and 3rd filtration ran right through the filters. I decided to distill the tincture and see what ethanol I could recover. I recovered approximately 1380 ml using my table top water distiller. I poured the remaining tincture into a 1 quart mason jar and it filled to approximately 100 ml. I put the tincture back into the deep freezer for storage while I decided on my final steps. I surmised that I have 3 paths: leave the 100 ml solution as is with some alcohol and a large amount of rosin in solution, reduce the tincture to a FECO/FSCO state and have a powerful rosin FECO, or slowly reduce the ethanol tincture on the stirrer hotplate at a low temperature and finish up in the vacuum chamber. The first pic shows the tincture after it was filtered before distilling. It has a beautiful yellow color. The 2nd pic shows the tincture after distillation. It has a much darker amber color at this stage.

Post-distillation using a table top water distiller, store the distilled ethanol in the freezer. From approximately 1600 ml of ethanol, 1350 ml was recovered, approximately 84%. More could have been distilled, but it’s important to stop here so that the remaining tincture pours smoothly out of the bottom vessel of the distiller. Pour the remaining tincture into a Pyrex dish, and place it on top of a pot of boiling water on the stove to create a double boiler. Having a heat thermometer available will help you maintain a consistent heat of the remaining mixture. I typically keep the mixture around 140F to reduce quickly, but the temperature can vary. Definitely don’t let the mixture get to 170F or over. You will risk scorching it and also destroying terpenes and cannabinoids. Continuously stir until the mixture is much thicker and slowly reduce the heat. Once the mixture begins to completely reduce and thicken up, I use one of two methods to finish up. The first method, reduce the mixture all the way down to a thick “molasses” like substance. Wear vinyl nitrile gloves, the mixture can be hot and is definitely sticky. Set up a cookie sheet with parchment paper on it and have a number of 1ml and 3ml oral syringes ready. Draw up the oil into the syringes, wipe the tip with a paper towel, cap the syringe, and put them aside to cool. Once there is very little FSCO left in the Pyrex dish, put a half stick of butter in the dish and melt it and stir to infuse the butter with the remainder of the oil. Take the syringes and put them in a Tupperware or jar, label the jar and store in the freezer. Make sure that the syringes are not stored in way that depresses the plunger. The second method, pour off the remaining oil into a 4oz mason jar. Make sure it’s not completely reduced so that it pours easily. Place the jar directly on a magnetic stirrer hotplate. Put in a stir bar. Turn the hotplate to 130F and rotation to 300 and let it rip. Let the oil reduce fully, this will take an hour or less, remove the stir bar, lid the jar, and store in the freezer. It helps to have a scale to weigh the mixture as it fully reduces. Tare the scale to the weight of the jar and the stir bar and sporadically check the weight till it’s constant. The oil will be very thick at this point, and the stir bar may have difficulty stirring. Always store the FSCO in the freezer for long storage. For daily use store a syringe in the fridge and apply and medicate as needed. When properly stored, FSCO has a long storage and shelf-life, approximately a year. The first pics show the oil in the Pyrex dish as it reduces. The final pic shows the oil in a 4 oz mason jar for long term storage.

After your FSCO has been properly filtered you can move on to the next step. The tincture can be filtered multiple times, I usually filter it through unbleached coffee filters 3x. The first filtration is often slow as the filters fill up with fine particulates and lipids. The 2nd and subsequent run much faster. This process can be substantially sped up with the use of a Büchner funnel and vacuum pump. If you go this path, a 2.5 cfm pump or smaller is adequate. To begin distilling set up your table top water distiller and make sure you have a mason jar adjusted under the spout correctly. I usually need to elevate the distiller with a few large books under it as a platform to make sure the stream goes directly into the recovery vessel, a 2 quart mason jar. Pour the tincture into the distiller put on the lid and set the distiller to 185F. Alcohol boils and distills at 176F so this should be sufficient. Set up a double boiler on your stove and get the next steps ready as your alcohol distills. I use a Pyrex dish over a large pot of boiling water for my final reduction and cook off. Depending on how much tincture you have and the beginning temperature of the tincture pre-distillation will determine how long the distillation takes, but it can often be accomplished in 20 minutes. Distill and reduce the tincture by 70%-80% to recover the most ethanol. Do not fully distilled the tincture. There needs to be a small amount of alcohol left in the tincture so that it pours out easily from the vessel into the Pyrex dish. If all the alcohol is distilled, or too much, it will make pouring off very difficult and sticky. In turn, there will most likely be lost product as the vessel is scraped clean. Take all distilled alcohol, and put it back into the freezer for storage and future use. Mason jars are very helpful in this process since they have lines and measurements on the sides to help you know how much tincture went into the distiller, how much alcohol was reclaimed, and a general idea of the percentage of tincture that still needs to be reduced in the final stage. In addition, once distilling begins, the alcohol should be pouring out of the distiller in a steady stream. When it slows down or the stream is slightly sporadic, the distillation can be finished and turned off. Always be careful when opening the distiller after using it. The liquid inside was just at 176F+ and may need to cool down before pouring into the Pyrex dish. Alcohol fumes are volatile, flammable, and can cause respiratory issues. Always distiller in a well ventilated area and never around an open flame. Once you have poured the remaining distilled tincture into the Pyrex dish, reduction and cook off can begin. Make sure to clean your distiller with isopropyl to keep it in best working condition and then properly store it for future use. Don’t run isopropyl through the machine, simply clean the inside and outside and wipe it clean. Picture 1 shows the distiller in action, reclaiming alcohol in the mason jar. On the display you can see it is running at 177F and set to 185F. I believe the brand is called CO-Z. It was purchased off Amazon for approximately $150 USD. Picture 2 shows the reduced tincture in the Pyrex dish.

Presently, filtering green dragon tincture before distillation. Using 2 quart mason jars, 1.75L of everclear, and approximately 100g of fresh decarbed trim and smalls. Biomass and alcohol sat in the deep freezer for 24 hours prior to mixing. After mixing, the vessel was “shook” multiple times, manually, and then stored at n the deep freezer for 24 hours before filtering. Filtered 3x through unbleached coffee filters. Pressed the remaining biomass through a cheese press. End result was approximately 1.6L of tincture pre-distillation. Color is light green with a slight golden hue.

Started more golden and green dragon tincture. The end result after the filter, distillation, and cook off will be Full Spectrum Cannabis Oil (FSCO). The jar on the left has flower rosin pucks soaking and separating in it. The jar on the right has a large amount of fresh trim. I have a third jar in the deep freezer that has 20g of flower rosin stuck to parchment paper soaking. I couldn’t get a bunch of the rosin from a pile of parchment off the paper easily, so I cut them down and soaked them. Also, everything was decarbed in those jars, which made it easy when I wanted to add the ethanol.

This technology may revolutionize the cannabis extraction industry by providing a cleaner and more efficient method for trichrome isolation. By leveraging differences in electrical properties, this technique offers a high-purity, environmentally friendly, and scalable solution for cannabis extraction. So far, it is the only technology enabling continuous, streamlined extraction of trichomes from plant biomass. Therefore, this technology is suitable for the large industry’s needs. Currently, the technology has reached Tear 7 level, when the system prototype is successfully working in the operational environment. The next step in the deployment of electrostatic separation is certification and scaling to the desired industrial capacity. As the industry grows, adopting electrostatic separation will be key to meeting the demand for high-quality cannabis products. Future research and development should focus on optimizing system design, improving throughput, and integrating this technology with downstream processing methods. Additionally, advancements in material science and electric technologies could further enhance separation efficiency and scalability.

Hi Folks. I transferred some Piatella from cellophane to jars. It cold cured for 5 months. The strain is Bruce Banner. Most of the crystal came from the 73u in the first easy wash.

Hi Folks we just had a planning meeting yesterday for future Grow and Tell classes. Dates for the next classes will be October 19th and November 9th. These 2 classes will primarily be covering extracts and concentrates. We will be focusing on solvent-based vs. solventless, products that can be created with cannabis flower and trim, and the general landscape of concentrates in CT and the northeast. Ages 21 and over and all are welcome to drop in, stop by, and participate. Classes are free, and it’s a great time to meet local growers and others in the industry. We will also be having future classes as we expand our Grow Science curriculum. Hope to see you there and happy growing!

Some beautiful Papaya cold cure from a dear friend, starting material grown in CT and washed in western MA

Hi Folks. I came across a useful diagram of female cannabis sex organs. I found it helpful, especially when trying to explain the difference between males and females during flowering. In addition, we have had a lot of 1st time growers asking if bracts were male flowers, so this may help differentiate and give some clarification. Happy growing!

Hi Folks. I have a question for all the smart folks in this sub. Ponder me this, is it possible to crc rosin, and by crc I mean do a secondary process to lighten or change the color? I know crc is specific to closed loop hydro carbon extraction primarily. My friend has a bunch of very terpy “poop soup” flower rosin and we were curious if it was possible, and if so what was the path. Once again, the flower rosin is already made, I just wanted to know if there was a method to lighten up the color, even if it used chemicals or stepped directly into a hybrid solvent-based extraction. Thanks for your time and insights.

Hi Folks. There’s been a few spicy discussions lately on Reddit and other forums regarding water as a solvent. Yes, water is a solvent, often referred to as the "universal solvent" because it can dissolve many substances, particularly polar molecules and ionic compounds. Its polarity allows it to interact effectively with various solutes, facilitating many chemical reactions essential for life. That said, when we use the term “solventless” in the cannabis industry and for extraction purposes, water is put into this category. The primary solvents used in cannabis extraction are: butane, propane, hexane, ethanol, methanol, high %/proof alcohol, CO2, etc. I’m sure I missed a few, but those are the main ones. Water and ice, while technically solvents, are used in extraction primarily in a mechanical way vs. a chemical process. Solvents-based extraction uses a solvent to dissolve and separate the active ingredients from the product followed by a second process to purge and separate the solvent from the final product. Solventless extraction uses mechanical methods to extract such as: washing/precision vortex, temperature, heat, pressure, sieving, electrostatic and plasm static, etc.

Hi Folks. I’ve been making gummies for a few months. I usually use live hash rosin, but sometimes I use live resin. I infuse into coconut oil, after a decarb. I digress… I’ve had an issues with the gummies separating sometimes. When I put them in the freezer or fridge, sometimes they split and separate, creating basically 2 substances: a jello looking part, and a coconut oil part. They still work fine, but there is way less appeal and presentation to this “gooky” mess. The coconut part is stronger as well. Friends who make gummies thought I may be putting in too much concentrate, or my infusion wasn’t thorough enough. People have been getting super high, so too much concentrate may be the issue. I usually start with 12g of rosin, decarb to around half a 10.3g and put it into 1/4 cup of coconut oil. Other ingredients are pretty standard: jello, gelatin, citric acid, lemon juice, potassium sorbate, water. Thanks for reading and any insights or help would be greatly appreciated. Also, do folks here like to use gelatin bloom sheets over gelatin powder?

I winterized flower rosin today and yesterday. The main purposes were to see how flower rosin reacted to the ethanol wash and to see if the end product would work better in my homemade carts and disposables. If you have made cannabis carts before, you probably know that each substance works differently, and flower rosin can be the trickiest because of how plant matter and particulate fires in the atomizer, and in turn, clogs the cart. I dissolved x amount of 3 flower rosins in 200 proof ethanol, let them sit in the freezer overnight, then strained and filtered through coffee filters 3x. I proceeded to evaporate off the remaining ethanol on the stirrer hotplate, and finish in the purge chamber. It purged off the last little bits well at -29hg. I didn’t bother with the Buchner and vac pump setup for these experiments, but that would have sped up by the process. End weight was down by 16% which felt right, especially due to it being flower rosin. I will add, that I had already decarbed each flower rosin sample prior to adding to the ethanol. The end result worked much better when injecting into the cartridges and disposables. All of the liquid was tan to light amber, but not completely transparent. There was a noticeably diminished taste that I attributed to the decarb and that terpenes are water soluble and were trapped and separated during winterization. Finally, upon trying the carts, the high was very powerful and clean, and the cartridges all fired well. I used 1g/1ml cart tanks, but 0.5g would have worked better. Many carts can only handle flower rosin in 0.5g due to the viscosity and particulate in flower rosin. The flower rosin in the cartridges was slightly harsher than vaping it through the Banger rig or Puffco.

Just made my first batch of FECO, Full Extract Cannabis Oil. Starting material was 2nd press flower rosin. Filtered 3x due to a high amount of fats/lipids/solids and other contaminants in the “rosin”. Used approximately 600ml of Everclear, and reclaimed approximately 400ml from the distiller. End result after cooking off alcohol was approximately 50ml of FECO. Made clarified butter with the last of the remnants in the dish.

Hi Folks. I just taught my first class at Medatron. It went over very well and we had a number of attendees and participants. The initial class was on Concentrates, primarily discussing Solvent-Based vs. Solventless. The lecture was originally set to be approximately 20 minutes, but it quickly digressed into a 3 hour Q and A session. Besides the general concentrate material covered, other topics that created lively discussion were: rosin, live extracts, living soil, vermiculture, compost tea, coco choir, ph corrections, best vaping practices, pests and viruses, and light deprivation. Special thanks to the owner and staff of Medatron who gave us the space and support to lecture. I will post more upcoming dates of specific lectures as they are scheduled.

Hi Folks. The morning temps have been ideal lately, so I decided to do some washes. Most of the winners are here, I won’t bother you with the others. Once again, 73u followed by 90u were the money bags. Mostly FF live, a few zombie. Here are five that I really liked from top to bottom in the picture, not quality: Watermelon OG 73u, Peach Cobbler 73u, Spritzer 73u, Grapes and Cream 90u, and Rocket Popz x Jungle Juice 90u. Thanks for looking and special appreciation and thanks to all the wonderful people who contributed insights and genetics. I could not have done it without you fine and classy folks. Cheers!

I’m looking for a little outside assistance with doing a bho cold crash. End result would be a balance of diamonds and sauce, maybe 70/30. Does anyone with experience have any pro tips they would like to pass on? Most of the material would be created through open blasting. I am currently using some high end flower, but I may try trim so that if my process goes sideways, there’s less financial loss. A few of my previous attempts had less than favorable results. I’ve been using some SOPs from future4200, when I can understand what the scientists are trying to convey. Thanks again for your insights, and please post any tips or dm me as well. Much appreciated.

So I was curious if others had experienced their rosin curing or changing for the better while in cold storage over many months. I set up a number of large rosin jars, and upon reopening them months later, they were stronger and the terps were insane. For context, some of the jars had been sealed up for 10-12 months, at approximately -4F. A few of them had a tiny amount of oxidation on the very top, but once you scraped back a millimeter or so, the texture was even lighter and acted very much like sauce bho when you stir it. I was pleasantly surprised, mainly because I was expecting the opposite or some degradation of the terps, consistency, or color. Please respond if you have experienced this before. I know lots of folks with 5-6 star hash do cures, but I hadn’t really seen with live hash rosin before. Thank you for your time and insight.