Cannabis leaves are not waste material! In fact, you can do just as much with them as you do with your buds. In this article, you will learn the many different things you can do with your cannabis leaves, meaning you get to enjoy every last bit of your cannabis garden.
Did you know that your cannabis leaves contain just as much medicine as the rest of your plant? If you are growing your own buds right now, and the time is arriving to trim, dry and cure, don’t throw away your leaves! To some growers, the leaves and stems are waste material from the grow, but this doesn’t have to be the case.
In fact, you can use your cannabis leaves in a variety of different ways, allowing you to get the absolute most out of your grow. Traditionally, the different parts of the cannabis plant were used for different reasons and this is still so today. The leaves of your cannabis plant are not completely useless, and we are going to teach you how to take complete advantage of your growing endeavor.
Can you smoke cannabis leaves?
The leaves in question here are the bigger fan leaves that come off first during trimming. There are smaller leaves on the cannabis plant, called sugar leaves, which are covered in trichomes, making them generally high in THC content. Some growers will leave the sugar leaves on their buds to avoid losing any potency. They do, however, cause the smoke itself to be stronger and less smooth.
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The fan leaves that are characteristic to the personality of cannabis, however, are not usually smoked. Fan leaves are lower in THC content and usually bare of trichomes. They are not ideal for smoking, and there are much better ways to use them:
1. Use leaves to make edibles
A great way to use a bag full of leaves is to use them in edibles. They work great in edibles, and you can extract most of the potency out through the cooking process. The good news about leaves is that you are usually left with a lot – more than enough to make a decent batch of cookies. Your stems are also great to add to cannabutter.
2. Make cannabis tea with the leaves
The cannabinoids present in cannabis are soluble in fats, rather than water. This means you don’t have to stop at cannabutter. You can also make tea with your cannabis leaves. Put them in a pot of milk and simmer for a few minutes, letting the flavours and smells come out into your tea. It is good medicine for the mind and body.
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3. Juicing your cannabis leaves
If you are yet to trim your leaves and they are still moist on the plant, there’s still time for you to juice your cannabis leaves. When you consume the leaves raw, they become superfoods. In fact, the cannabinoids in cannabis are absorbed much easier by the body when it is consumed raw. So don’t let your leaves dry out after you trim them. Put them in a blender with whatever other ingredients you love to add to smoothies (like coconut milk and a banana), and you have yourself the perfect morning smoothie.
4. Sprinkle the leaves on your pizza
Your dried cannabis leaves work exactly the same way oregano does! Once they have been dried and ground up, you can use the leaf as a herb. They add nutritional value to your food and for someone with a keen taste for cannabis, the taste will be welcomed. You’re free to sprinkle dried cannabis leaves on your pasta, your salads and even your breakfast.
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5. Making hash or hash oil with leaves
There are growers who keep their garbage bags full of cannabis leaves and use them to make hash or oil. It’s a perfect way to suck every last bit of goodness out of the cannabis leaves and into your body. You can make hash/kief with leaves the exact same way you would make hash with your buds – with bubble bags, for example.
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6. Leaves make great tincture
Tincture is a great way to make something unique with your cannabis leaves, that requires little to no effort at all. Soak your leaves in some alcohol for at least four weeks. After the weed has been soaking for some time, open the bottle or jar and allow some of the alcohol to evaporate. This will further concentrate your tincture. Strain and voila! You have cannabis tincture.
Great ideas
Great ideas! Thank you
I have a quart size bag of fresh leaves and I want to juice them daily for health. what is the best way to store these leaves as I expect they will last a month. In the fridge or freezer ? I don’t want them to dry out but stay fresh until I can juice them.
I would juice them all at once and then freeze them in ice trays and then put into freezer bags. Once they dry out you won’t get any juice from them.
The best thing to do in this situation is put your fresh leaves in the freezer, then go get the buds, package them up, and send them to me. I will keep them safe 📦
😂
Tryna learn how to get the most out of my plants without wasting any of it…
Your funny ! LOL 🙂
🤣😂
Smiles O yea
😂😂😂
Do I have to use alcohol for tintcure? Is there an alternative ?
Great alternative to alcohol is using your fave cooking oil. Then use the oil for cooking.
It is a possibly unhealthy and dangerous game of chance doing oil infusion (no heat method) with wet leaf material. Unlike vinegar or alcohol with their inhospitable environments, wet leaves going into oil can provide the perfect breeding ground for botulism to develop. I used to do herbed oils but then learned of the slight but real risks of this killer, botulism, and quit making it. I stick to herb infused vinegars now or make processes canna oil (dried and decarbed weed , cooked slowly into the oil, strained of plant material and stored in the freezer) as a safer alternative. Play it safe.
Vegetable glycerine is a good alternative
Interesting 🧐 great ideas
I like to take my leaves starting with the fan leaves and saute them in grapeseed oil with equal amounts of Swiss chard, cut up yellow squash, clove of garlic sliced, a little sea salt and black pepper and Wallah. Yummy
Thank you for the recipe. You made it sound so delicious that I will try it
So how long do your leaves stay potent after baking them? Like, can I bake them today and use it at a later date?
i use the leaves and small buds and stems to make rubbing alcohol for my painful knees and legs.. but i normally dry the cannabis for a couple weeks…
it hit ne today do i really need to dry them? i wold think putting fresh leaves stems into rubbing alcohol would kill everything and keep them from developing fungus, mold or anything bad for the body?
what do you all think? do i need to spend the 2 weeks drying them?
I would go the tincture way then you can re dilute in alcohol as needed and you can freeze tincture as well
How do I use the tincture? Do you smoke it?
Tinctures are most commonly used sublingually (placed underneath the tongue). You can read more here!
I’ve always thrown the fan leaves away when growing weed but last week I thought I’d try boiling a hand full in milk for an hour. Once it was strained and cooled I drunk the whole half pint and was absolutely wasted for the next 12 hours. Since then we have been doing the same every night.
I just never realized how much THC was in these fan leaves. You don’t even need to decarboxylate them. I now have enough of these leaves to last me 6 months and I’ve got three plants ready to harvest in about 4 weeks time.
I don’t know why this isn’t more well known. I’ve been growing for 10 years and just assumed the leaves wouldn’t have an affect.
I’ve found the same results and have been combing google to find other people who have discovered this. I thought (as did my bf who grows his own, thus providing all the trim) that I accidentally did something to make this happen. The first time was so potent that a half solo cup put me to sleep for about fifteen hours. I want to spread the word to not toss your fan leaves.
Do u know what will happen if I soak leaves in Jim Beam Honey Whiskey for a month?
You need Fat in order for your canabinoid receptors to process the thc, khaluha or baileys should work tho
Can I use something other than. Milk?
There have been multiple reports of significant pesticide contamination, and of lead in vape cartridges that is thought to be leaching from the Chinese-made devices into the product. One lab that tested about a dozen CBD products that were bought in retail shops found that five had no CBD, one tested positive for high levels of ethanol, and one sample of gummy bears tested positive for a deadly strain of E. coli bacteria.
Paranoid? Grow your own!
I’ve been using fan leaves for a while now, making salves. But one day i experimented with the leaves and stems, i decarbed my leaves put them in my MBM covered with mct oil and and let it go for 4 hrs. The results are amazing! I have a spoon full everynight with yoghut,. My joint pain has gone, and my general well being has improved heaps..i just cant understand why their isn’t more info on the benifits of leaves
What is mbm?
Magical butter machine
Hi there, do you have any pointers to making salves with them? I cant find much online. My SO is growing and i told him i want the fan leaves.
Hey Patrisha, we’ve written a post about cannabis topicals (balms, salves, etc.), you can check it out here: How to Make Cannabis Topicals
But hopefully Kate will chime in as well 🙂
I have severe hip psin friend is giving my leaves. how do i get the oil out to make thr cream?
Can you dry out the fan leaves, put them in a grinder and use for tea at your convenience? Like loose tea? Also, what can you do with the stems?
I smoked 2 hits of OLD FAN LEAVES.I test in 10 days.will I be clean?? the leaves are 2 yr’s old.and they are dry
do you need to dry the leafs before baking it and doing the coconut oil muxture?
Can you dry out the fan leaves, put them in a grinder and use for tea at your convenience? Like loose tea?
Absolutely! Enjoy your tea! 🙂
Hello all. I’m confused. I want to use the fan leaves for tea and I have quite a bit. How do I store them? What is the best way to dry them? Once they are dry, can I put them in a jar or paper bag or…?
Great questions! Best way to dry them is to place them in a paper bag (don’t overstuff it, it’s best if they have some ‘space’), and fold/close at the top. Store in a dark, cool place. Open the bag daily, shake. You can even do this multiple times a day. Should take no longer than 2 to 3 days until the leaves are dry.
Once they’re dried to your desired dryness (compare it with other tea that you use), it’s best to store them in a glass jar. This will avoid it drying out even further. Good luck! 🙂
Hi, I have quite a fair amount of flat leaves and probably sugar leaves and stems from last seasons growth in Australia. They are all very dry and have been in a cardboard box (I forgot I hadn’t sorted them)
Can I use or do anything with them? Thank you Ange
Can I wash and dry my leaves in my oven
My husband just juiced a bunch of fan leaves and added ginger lemon and carbonated water. I’ll let you know how it goes- hoping he doesn’t sleep too long….
I have a bunch of dried fan leaves can I use those And decarb them or do I have to decarb fresh fan leaves ???
Just saw this thread, thanks for all the ideas. I have a related question.
I found a garbage bag of bud that I forgot in my shed over the winter. It hadn’t even been close trimmed. It has frozen and thawed over the winter and been out there for about 5 months. Does anyone have any idea if this is salvageable to smoke, or use in either a tea, or for topical creams?