Written by Shepherd King

Cannabis trichomes are small, but they’re packed with flavorful, aromatic, and powerfully psychoactive compounds.

Without trichomes, weed plant material wouldn’t have any of its signature effects — which would be a massive bummer.

Let’s take a look at everything a cannabis user needs to know about the trichomes that the cannabis plant produces, including how to enjoy them in their purest form.

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Table of Contents

• What Are Cannabis Trichomes?

  • What Do Cannabis Trichomes Do?

  • What You Need To Know About Cannabinoids

  • How Cannabis Trichomes Develop

• How Are Trichomes Used in Cannabis Products?

  • Kief

  • Hash

  • Dab Badders

  • Cannabis Oils

• Are Products Made With Cannabis Trichomes Legal?

• How Does It Feel To Be High?

• FAQs About Cannabis Trichomes

What Are Trichomes on Weed?

Trichomes are small outgrowths on the cannabis plant.

They primarily grow on cannabis flowers and leaves but can be found all over the plant’s surface. They’re hairlike in appearance to the naked eye, but they look more like ice crystals when viewed under a microscope.

These outgrowths are produced by the glandular cells of the cannabis plant and come in multiple forms. The three most common types of trichomes are:

• Capitate-stalked trichomes are the most abundant outgrowths on the plant. They have bulb-like heads and long stalks.

• Capitate Sessile Trichomes have the same bulbous head but no stalk. They’re far less common than capitate sessile trichomes and are mostly found on the leaves of the plant.

• Non-Glandular Trichomes don’t have the same glandular structure as the others listed above — they look more like little hairs. Non-glandular trichomes don’t produce any of the compounds that make weed psychoactive.

During your cannabis journey, you won’t need to be able to tell the difference between these types of trichomes — unless you decide to grow your own weed.

Still, it’s fascinating to see how complex the cannabis plant is.

Learn more about the cannabis plant from the Mood Blog.

What Do Trichomes Do?

Trichomes serve more than just one purpose in the life of a cannabis plant.

They’re vital for the plant’s survival against hungry animals and pests, and they also protect against environmental threats like heat and temperature changes. These little structures are also responsible for producing cannabinoids and terpenes, which we’ll explore in detail below.

Here’s a bird’s-eye view of what trichomes do:

• Protecting the Plant From Pests: Trichomes produce a sticky residue that makes cannabis plants less attractive to herbivores that would otherwise snack on their leaves. This substance also deters many bugs.

• Protecting the Plant From Its Environment: Weed plants are resilient and can grow in a variety of climates, but they thrive in specific conditions. The trichomes on a cannabis plant act as a defense mechanism, protecting the plant from harsh temperatures, lack of humidity, and intense UV light, all of which can break down the plant’s structure over time.

• Producing Cannabinoids:

  • Cannabinoids are complex chemical compounds that give weed its unique effects.

  • This group includes Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive component in weed, along with non-psychoactive compounds like cannabidiol (CBD) and more.

  • Different cannabis strains have varying levels of cannabinoid content. Some growers carefully crossbreed multiple high-quality strains to get the perfect balance of specific cannabinoids.

  Trichomes are factories for cannabinoids — the stuff that makes weed so enjoyable for us humans.

• Producing Terpenes:

  • Terpenes are found in high concentrations in the sticky resin that trichomes produce.

  • Different cannabis strains have unique terpene profiles, which is part of why exploring different types of cannabis flower can be so fun and rewarding.

  • Terpenes and cannabinoids are thought to work together through what’s known as the

    entourage effect. Through a unique chemical relationship, cannabinoids and terpenes can potentially enhance each other’s effects for a more powerful and enjoyable high.

Like cannabinoids, terpenes are naturally occurring chemical compounds that trichomes produce.

However, terpenes don’t give weed its primary effects. Instead, these aromatic compounds are responsible for the unique taste and smell of cannabis.

What You Need To Know About Cannabinoids

The main reason why we’re interested in trichomes on cannabis plants is because of what they produce. More specifically, it’s all about the cannabinoids.

These compounds make it fun and rewarding to use cannabis, and it’s worthwhile to know what they are and what they do.

Here’s a quick rundown of the most desirable cannabinoids produced by trichomes in the cannabis plant:

• THCa: Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCa) is the chemical precursor to THC. In its raw form, this cannabinoid isn’t psychoactive, which means it won’t get you high. However, once it’s heated or smoked, THCa becomes THC and starts to produce psychoactive effects.

• CBD: CBD can coexist in harmony with THC to balance out your high and make it more relaxing and uplifting. It’s found in the highest concentrations in Cannabis Sativa strains. Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the most popular non-psychoactive cannabinoids that cannabis trichomes produce. It won’t get you high, but it does have a major effect on your overall cannabis experience.

• CBC: Cannabichromene (CBC) is another non-psychoactive cannabinoid known for its relaxing and calming effects.

• CBG: Cannabigerol (CBG) is also non-psychoactive and acts as the chemical precursor to both THC and CBD. Because of this, it’s sometimes called the “mother of all cannabinoids.”

• THCv: Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCv) is psychoactive like THC, but the two have very different effects. THCv is primarily known for acting as an appetite suppressant, which has led some folks to call it “diet weed.”

• THCp: Tetrahydrocannabiphorol (THCp) is a recently discovered cannabinoid that is potentially much more powerful than THC. However, it only occurs naturally in very small amounts.

All of these cannabinoids can work together to produce a unique high with distinct effects. Bear in mind that won’t find them all in every cannabis product — but you can experiment with the wide selection of products in the Mood Shop to see how different combinations of cannabinoids make you feel.

Learn more about cannabinoids from the Mood Blog.

How Cannabis Trichomes Develop

Trichomes go through different stages of maturity, and cannabis growers pay close attention to these stages to harvest at the ideal time.

During cannabis cultivation, trichome development goes through these three stages:

• Clear: Cannabis trichomes are in their earliest stages of growth and are still immature if they are clear. At this point in trichome development, cannabinoid and terpene content is very low.

• Cloudy or Milky: When cannabis trichomes are translucent, it means it’s harvest time. Trichomes with a cloudy, milky-white appearance have peak cannabinoid and terpene levels, giving cannabis buds and flowers maximum potency.

• Amber or Golden: Trichomes degrade over time, which means they lose some of their cannabinoid and terpene content. At this point, the cannabis trichomes can still produce some minor cannabinoids, including cannabinol (CBN), a compound that can give weed relaxing, sedating effects. However, flower harvested at this point won’t be as powerful overall.

Growers look extremely closely at a plant’s trichome production to time their harvest perfectly.

Some cannabis professionals use ultra-precise tools like digital microscopes to get a close-up look at a plant’s trichomes, giving them insight into the balance of trichome types growing on the plant and their stage of development.

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How Are Trichomes Used in Cannabis Products?

When you smoke THCa flower from the Mood Shop, you’re getting high thanks to the high levels of trichomes on our premium strains.

However, trichomes are sometimes extracted from the flower for use in even more concentrated products. Here are a few examples of what this process looks like:

Kief

Kief is the name used in the cannabis industry for harvested trichomes. In its final form, this yield from the resin glands of the cannabis plant has a powdery texture and is loaded with cannabinoids and terpenes.

We use CBD kief as a key component in our THCa Moonrocks, some of the most powerful concentrates sold in the Mood Shop. This unique cannabis product is a combination of THCa flower, THC distillate, and CBD kief that weighs in at 38.04% THCa.

Kief products like moonrocks are a hassle-free way to upgrade your smoking experience. You can add them to your favorite smokable for a fresh and exciting high.

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Hash

Hash (short for hashish) is one of the oldest cannabis concentrates in the world. It’s made by compressing kief into a high-potency, highly flavorful mass.

It’s a sticky, flavorful, and aromatic concentrate that can smoked, vaped, or dabbed. You can also add hash to edibles to boost their overall THC content.

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Dab Badders

These sticky cannabis concentrates are loaded with trichome-derived cannabinoids and terpenes. They’re used with a dab rig, a specialized weed pipe with a hot nail at the end instead of a bowl.

Dab badders are popular with cannabis enthusiasts because of their rich aromas and flavors. They’re also easy to load onto your dab nail using a handy dab tool (which you can pick up in the Mood Shop for just $10).

Badders vary in potency, but they’re all very powerful overall. In general, you can expect less THCa content than moonrocks but more than typical flower.

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Cannabis Oils

Cannabis oils are often made using the sticky secretions that come from trichomes. These highly concentrated extracts are key ingredients in edibles, drinkables, and tinctures, which are some of the most popular cannabis products in the world.

While you wouldn’t normally use cannabis oil on its own to get high, you might use a highly concentrated product that includes the oil as a key ingredient.

For example, cannabis tinctures are powerful and easy to use, and they’re mainly cannabis extracts like oils mixed with a carrier like natural ethyl alcohol.

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Are Products Made With Trichomes Legal?

Trichomes contain psychoactive cannabinoids like THC, which means products made with trichomes can get you high. In the past, the psychoactive effects of weed have been a source of stigma and controversy — but that seems to be changing year over year.

The biggest victory for cannabis enthusiasts in recent years was the passing of the Farm Bill, which changed the way that cannabis products are regulated and labeled.

Under this bill, any product that contains no more than 0.3% Delta-9 THC by dry weight is considered hemp, while anything above this range is classified as marijuana.

Marijuana is still federally illegal in the US. However, under the Farm Bill, you can order hemp products online or pick them up at a local dispensary in many states. That includes concentrates like hash and dab badders, along with THCa flower, edibles, and more.

State regulations for hemp products change, so make sure to stay up-to-date on the laws where you live.

Learn more about the legal status of cannabis from the Mood Blog.

How Does It Feel To Be High?

If you’re learning about trichomes for the first time and have never used cannabis, you’re probably wondering how the cannabinoids we talked about up above will make you feel.

The answer to this question isn’t as simple as you might think. Since there are many different strains of weed and just as many combinations of cannabinoids, you can have a totally unique experience with one cannabis product compared to another.

However, there are a few aspects of getting high that are just about universal. Before you explore hemp products, make sure you know what to expect:

• Using cannabis will most likely make you feel a bit relaxed and soothed. The amount of sedation that you experience from weed depends on the strain of cannabis (Indica strains tend to be more calming) and the potency of the product you choose.

• Cannabis can also make you feel uplifted and invigorated. This is a common effect of Sativa strains.

• Hybrid strains are carefully grown to produce specific effects and moods. We love hybrids because of their unique attributes — you can find a hybrid strain in the Mood Shop that perfectly fits your desired mood.

Learn more about how it feels to be high from the Mood Blog.

FAQs About Cannabis Trichomes

Q: What do terpenes taste like?

A: Terpenes have subtle aromas and flavors that vary from plant to plant. They can be piney, citrusy, funky, and much more.

Different combinations of terpenes can create unique and complex scents and flavor profiles.

Q: Are concentrates beginner-friendly?

A: If you want to experience the most intense cannabinoid and terpene content out there, concentrates are the way to go. However, it’s important to bear in mind that these are very strong products and aren’t necessarily for beginners.

In general, we recommend getting started with flower or edibles, then moving on to concentrates with higher levels of THC content after you’re used to getting high.

Q: Is that mold on my weed or just trichomes?

A: It’s easy to mistake trichomes for mold on cannabis flower, especially in the early stages of your journey with weed. Luckily, it’s easy to tell them apart when you know what to look for.

Mold on weed is typically fuzzy and has a grayish appearance and a funky, musty smell. On the other hand, trichomes look like small, hairy outgrowths that are evenly distributed across your flower.

If your weed does get moldy, make sure you throw it out right away. You can stop mold growth before it starts by keeping your flower and other cannabis products in an airtight container and controlling humidity, temperature, and light exposure in the place where you store your cannabis.

Visit the Mood Shop to find the perfect cannabis product for you based on your mood.

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