Awesome guide!!! I'm new to growing and am eating all this info up! I was a little confused, however, about THC, CBD, and CBN in your explanation. I am a cancer patient and am interested in strains with decent levels of CBD. I have a couple of comments/question delineated by asterisks below within your quote.
You said:
Cannabinoid production starts with formation of CBG (cannabigerol). From here it is independently processed into either:
1. CBC (cannabichromene), non psycho active "energy-storage" compound which is readily converted back to CBG if needed.
2. CBD (cannabidiol), the body stone effect, which is the precursor of THC. It also affects how the THC hits us, effectively improving on the high. (So high THC low CBD isn't necessarily a good thing). CBD also have some medicinal properties, making a high CDB value good for medicinal strains. CBD is then enzymatically cyclized to THC.
****** In #2, you say that CBD is the precursor of THC. OK, so far, I'm with you.
THC --> CBN, in late flowering and with trichome age, THC starts degrading into CBN (cannabinol). This also means that the THC on buds sitting in a jar will also eventually degrade into CBN and other lesser cannabinoids. It might taste great and be smooth smoke but probably less potent than when it was harvested. This is why we store the buds in air-tight jars and in darkness, we hope to reduce the the rate of THC degradation.
******* Still with you.
Cannabis sativa strains usually have a higher THC content than their indica counterparts. Pure sativas can carry a stratospheric, and sometimes creative, cerebral high so strong that you'll be blown into next dimension. Indicas on the other hand can pack a strong narcotic stone so numbing that you lose the ability to speak, let alone think. That's why they are good pain killers. Indicas also contain higher values of the therapeutic CBD cannabinol ...
****** OK, here's where I start to get confused ... you just said that indicas contain higher values of CBD cannabinol. So then, which is it? Are indicas higher in CBD or CBN? And then, in the drying/curing section, you said, "Over time the THC will degrade to CBD no matter what so you might get a smooth smoke but the bud will not be as potent as the day you harvested the plant."
****** Here you say the THC will degrade to CBD, but above (in #2) you said CBD is a precursor to THC. If CBD is a precursor, then how can THC degrade into it after it's cured?
I'm not trying to be snippy ... I'm trying to understand as I have a really big need for CBD!
xxoo
Melissa