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White ash: Truths, myths & some science.

white ash

White ash: Truths, myths and some science written by @otfd420 (Instagram), edited & commissioned by Lovedank.

Prenote:

Now, I would like to start this blog with a note of caution, as I frequently do. The following is all my own opinion. Based on years of experience, a reasonable grasp on science and a fair bit of research. You may well disagree, and that is fine. If you do, leave a comment and give your argument as to why you disagree.

Also, the below is not taking into account buds that have been sprayed or contaminated. Or indeed, other such skulduggery.

White ash

What do we mean by white ash?

To put it simply, white ash literally means white ash. Not grey, not light grey, but white. When the bud is burnt, the resulting ash is a white colour.

You may have seen stories on Instagram or posts with people holding their joint at a rather peculiar angle, trying to show off the massive white ash tower they have managed to keep on the end of their joint or blunt. And with the hashtag whiteashgang. This is being done to show how clean the bud burns.

White ash
Picture by Greyman Genetics.

The old myth: White ash means clean flower.

Now, firstly, you may be wondering what we mean by clean. Clean with regards to cannabis, normally refers to the amount of nutrients that are left in the flower once it is cut down, dried and cured. The less nutrients, the cleaner the bud.

So how is this achieved?

Normally, nutrients are fed to plants to assist with their growth process and to help produce bigger buds. These nutrients are used by the plant over time, and generally topped up to continue increasing yield from the plant.

When the plant is nearing the final stages of growth, and looking nearly ready to cut down, the plant is “flushed”.

This basically means the soil is only watered with plain water, and the remaining nutrients in the soil and plant are used up, thus removing them from the final product.

The buds, once dried and cured, should now contain very few nutrients, hence burning clean and producing white ash.

White ash

But, is that the case……. yes, but it’s certainly NOT the full story and over simplifies things in my view. Also, worth noting, there is a large community of people who think flushing is a total waste of time and makes zero difference to the end product, but we will talk about that later on.

The science behind white ash in normal circumstances.

White ash: Truths, myths and some science.

Let’s start by taking cannabis out of the equation and by using this analogy. If you start a fire with bone dry wood, it’s a warm day, there is very little moisture in the air and the fire is set up well, that wood will burn down to white ash and leave very little behind.

White ash

The next day, you go back, use very similar wood, from the same place, but it is a very damp day and the wood has taken on some of that moisture. You also do not set the fire up very well. The wood will not burn as clean and will probably end up leaving behind blackened and very dark ash.

Does that mean the wood gained nutrients over night? Obviously not!

So why does this happen with wood?

It’s very simple really, black ash means the fire did not burn all the carbon within the matter that was on fire. White ash happens when all the carbon is burnt out of the matter. So in the situations mentioned above, on the first day, due to the lack of moisture and the well setup fire, the fire reached a hot enough temperatures to fully burn all the carbon within the wood, and hence leave behind white ash.

On the second day, the wood contained moisture, the air had more moisture in it, and the fire, not being setup very well, did not burn as hot. This means the carbon did not fully burn off and the ash remaining behind is black.

White ash


So does this science have any sway with the white ash from a spliff?

With all honesty, yes, it does. But there is, as always, a bit more to it than that. A good flush, will result in a cleaner smoke, and hence increase the chances of white ash. However, drying that product badly can drastically lower those chances. Even worse, a bad cure will ruin your chances of white ash almost definitely. Why?

Because it will result in uneven moisture throughout the bud. This will cause uneven temperatures as it burns, and hence leave some areas of black ash. No nutrients, but black ash.

White ash
An example of black ash.

You see, when a plant is dried, done well, a large amount of the chlorophyll will leave the plant (worth noting, there are plenty of arguments on online about the way you dry the plant having a large effect on this). Once this happens, the plant will burn better and smoother, creating better quality ash.

However, we must remember, drying is only the first step of getting the product ready after it is cut down. The next step is just as important to the final quality of the ash.

Curing.

You see, when you dry the bud, you don’t let all the moisture leave the plant. instead you leave a small amount behind, and the curing allows this final moisture to even out throughout the bud. This is why good bud does not just crumble under small amounts of pressure, and you don’t just end with dust when you grind up your flower.

It also helps create the perfect environment for the terpenes and resins within those lovely little resin glands.

White ash

So, if we flush, dry and cure properly, we will always get white ash.

Well, no. You could still end up with black ash, or just uneven coloured ash.

If you store the flower badly and moisture seeps back in, then you get an uneven burn, and uneven ash. By the same token, bad storage could cause certain parts to dry out too much. Again, this can cause an even burn, and again, uneven ash.

OK, so it’s unlikely it would cause black ash, but it is possible, and it would stop pure white ash. Of course, bad storage can cause mould. So uneven ash is just another less important reason to consider how you preserve your goods.

White ash
The evergreen pod is a good way to preserve and if necessary, reintroduce moisture to your materials. Click here for more details

Other factors to be considered:

1. Cigarettes.

If you smoke cigarettes or even rolling tobacco, you will know that most of the time, the ash is white. We also know that tobacco companies spray their tobacco with all sorts of chemicals to HELP make them burn evenly and quicker.

The paper used in cigarettes often has a large amount of chalk in it, and guess what, chalk leaves very white ash. So cigarettes, that we know are not clean, also burn white.

White ash

Now, to mention cigarettes is a bit disingenuous. Mainly, as I am very aware that they use the above practices to give the appearance of a clean and even burn, to ensure the cigarettes do not go out (arsenic as an example is used as it helps assist with a smooth clean burn throughout the smoke) and because it makes them cheaper to mass produce, all things we do not worry about in the cannabis industry (at the moment anyway).

I suppose there was a brief era of sandblasted and sprayed weed but by in large, those days seems to be gone, thankfully.

2. Joint Mix

In a joint mix consisting of bud and tobacco, tobacco tends to burn even due to the chemicals sprayed on it, but once broken up and added to a joint, the tobacco can and will burn never within the joint. This can cause an uneven burn, and uneven ash.

However, if you grind the bud with the tobacco, it burns much more even, and creates a cleaner looking ash. Even the paper used to roll the joint with will play a part.

Again, some papers have more chalk in them, and this, as previously mentioned, can create the appearance of white ash.

Also, the weather can make a huge difference. No, honestly, it really can. If its raining, and you can smoke in and outdoors, roll a spliff, smoke the first half indoors, the second half outdoors, you will probably see a difference in ash colour. This is down to the moisture in the air.

Perhaps unlikely to produce perfect white ash due to the inconsistency of the grind…but looks appetising nonetheless 😅!

3. Can it be faked?

Can you fake white ash? Well, yes. You can get bud that burns black, dry it right out, grind it fairly fine, and also grind the tobacco with it, then roll a joint. The mix of tobacco evenly ground into the type of bud that would normally cause black ash, plus the extra drying time (possibly ruining the flavour and potency of the bud, but removing all moisture allowing for a quick easy burn) will result in fairly white ash.

How?

Simple, the dry bud will burn evenly, the tobacco will create enough heat, and the joint will burn evenly and hot enough to create white ash. You can also overly burn the ash to remove the black spots using a lighter. Of course this will not always work, but it can be done. Even more so if you have a torch lighter

Let’s also not forget, some people straight up fake it with filters, clever lighting and all that stuff.

The no flush gang…

White ash: Truths, myths and some science written by @otfd420 (Instagram), edited & commissioned by Lovedank

As mentioned before, I have seen people argue that flushing does not actually make a difference. To add weight to that, I have seen pictures of bud burning white, that had not been flushed at all, and had nutrients fed into it until the day it was cut down. It was suggested that the bud had been dried and cured to perfection, and this is what created the white ash.

To be honest, I am not sure what to make of that. It is possible that organic nutrients had been used and hence had no impact (although I am not sure if that is true as some organic growers do a kind of flush before harvest). It is also possible that they lied, but why would people do that? I know people lie for the sake of it, but I see no gain in that particular lie.

What does it all mean?

In all, I think there are many many factors into what makes a spliff, or a bong for that matter, burn white. Flushing (meaning less nutrients), drying (meaning less chlorophyll) and the cure (leaving even moisture distribution throughout the bud) all play major factors.

But then so does who rolled the joint, where the joint is being smoked, how consistently the bud is ground, and how tight the joint is rolled.

Most importantly of all though, white ash means nothing with regards to strength, flavour and actually how enjoyable a bud can be. I have had very clean burning bud not get me high, taste rubbish or just not be very enjoyable. I have also had black burning bud, that I have cured in a glass jar, that ended up burning white, and tasting fantastic and that got me very high.

So whilst white ash can be a good indicator as to whether a bud is well grown, whether it has been flushed, dried or cured properly, it only really means that.

And even then, you can achieve white ash without a flush, good drying and a good cure if you know what your are doing. As in you can kind of fake all that hard work.

Conclusion.

The white ash myth, is not really a myth, its just not the entire story. Ultimately, this legend is true. But it is not just down to the flush. It is down to the grower, the flush, the drying, curing and then the storage of the flower. White ash does not mean the flower is strong, it does not mean it tastes great, it doesn’t even mean it’s a good example of the strain, it simply shows you that the flower is probably clean.

Having said all of that, if you want to roll a joint with a big tower of white ash, getting the right flower is only the first step.

Next you need to roll it, light it and, some people even say, hold and smoke it right to get that white ash tower.

Luckily, this is not a tutorial on getting a white ash spliff to smoke right, we can save that for another day!

Now go roll a joint and check the ash, but don’t get too hung up on it. Just try and enjoy your smoke!

Like this article? Feel free to leave a comment and engage with us! It’s always nice to know if people enjoy our work. For more blogposts from Lovedank, visit our blog here. For stoner accessories, visit our shop here and for cool content, check out our instagram here.

White ash: Truths, myths and some science written by @otfd420 (Instagram), edited & commissioned by Lovedank