From Seed to Sale: How THCA Flower Is Created

In the ever-changing world of the hemp industry, THCA flower is emerging as one of the market’s most popular and sought-after products.

In fact, some are claiming it might be the ‘next CBD.’

Surprisingly, however, few people actually know what THCA flower is or how it’s made.

Let’s dig in.

What is THCA Flower?

THCA flower is far less complex than you think. In simple terms, it’s the flower of the hemp plant.

That’s it.

Stop for a second, close your eyes, and picture a flower.

More likely than not, you’re probably picturing a pretty, brightly colored flower. A tulip, for example, or maybe a brightly colored wildflower or sunflower.

Let’s use a sunflower as an example.

The sunflower you’re familiar with is actually just the flowering portion of a perennial plant called Helianthus.

Flowers are the reproductive parts of plants; female plants produce flowers, and male plants produce pollen. (You may remember this from your fourth-grade plant biology class.)

Even though a hemp flower isn’t as pretty or visually striking as a sunflower, it’s still just that—a flower. Its purpose is the same as any flower: to help the plant reproduce.

The Power of THCA

What’s unique about hemp (cannabis) flowers is that they contain chemical compounds called cannabinoids. As you know, these cannabinoids (THC, CBD, THCA, etc.) produce a variety of effects on the human body and mind.

The most popular of these compounds is, of course, THC, the intoxicating compound responsible for the famous cannabis high.

But not many people realize that the majority of THC in cannabis flower is actually in the form of THCA, a non-intoxicating compound that does not get you high.

When a cannabis (hemp or marijuana) plant is living, most of the cannabinoids it produces have organic acid rings attached to them. This is where the name THCA comes from—tetrahydrocannabinol acid.

When you burn (smoke) cannabis flower, a process called decarboxylation occurs. This ‘removes’ the acid ring from THCA and instantly converts the compound into THC.

Some hemp flower is grown and cultivated specifically to contain a high percentage of pure THCA.

So… How Is THCA Flower Made?

With the explanatory portion of this blog post out of the way, you’ll understand why we say THCA flower isn’t really “made”—it’s  grown.

When hemp is grown, cultivated, and harvested properly, the plants will produce flowers that are abundant with THCA.

Understanding THCA Production and the Life Cycle of the Hemp Plant

Like most plants, hemp thrives in a warm environment. In a natural (uncontrolled) setting, hemp plants typically flower in early summer (usually late June in most parts of North America).

In the first two months of its life cycle, a young hemp plant is in what’s called the vegetative stage. This is a stage of rapid growth and development when the plant absorbs water and nutrients from the soil and utilizes energy from the sun to drive photosynthesis.

As the young plants mature, they will begin to develop small white hairs at the nodes (a node is where a leaf branches off from a stem). The white hairs are called stigmas, and this is the first sign that a plant has entered the all-important flowering stage.

Rapid THCA Production Begins During the Flowering Stage

Hemp flowers (aka floral buds) are the epicenter of cannabinoid production, including THCA. When a plant enters the flowering stage, it is crucial to adjust both the photoperiod (the amount of time in a day that the plant is exposed to light) and the nutrient density in the soil. Optimizing light exposure and nutrient levels is key to cultivating rich, potent THCA flower.

At Premium Jane, our organic THCA flower is grown in a rigidly controlled indoor environment. This allows us to cultivate year-round. From seed to harvest, the cultivation process typically takes about four months. Roughly the first 10 weeks are devoted to growth and development, while the final six weeks are used to optimize flowering and THCA production.

Drying and Curing THCA Flower

Once the harvesting process is complete, the truly important part of THCA flower production begins—drying and curing.

The first step of the drying process involves transporting the harvested hemp stalks to a drying room. This room is humidity-controlled, highly ventilated, and indoors, away from direct sunlight.

The low moisture content and constant flow of oxygen-rich air promote terpene and cannabinoid production while also ensuring the floral buds are free from moisture-dependent mildew.

The drying and curing process for THCA flower takes roughly 72 hours. When it is complete, the flowers are then trimmed, inspected, and sent to a laboratory testing facility before they’re sent off for final packaging.

How Much THCA is in Premium Jane Flower?

Like all of our products, THCA flower from Premium Jane is rigorously tested in independent third-party labs before it is available on our online store.

While the exact percentage of THCA levels varies from harvest to harvest, most of our flower contains 22-24% THCA. (You can check the updated lab sheets on our product pages for the exact THCA percentages for each batch.)

True to the Premium Jane style, we offer THCA flower with genetics and terpenes from some of the most iconic cannabis strains of all time: Purple Haze, OG Kush, and Blue Dream.

Remember, however, that these strains are not marijuana – they are hemp. While THCA levels are well over 20%, delta-9 THC levels stay below the 0.3% threshold.

If you want to experience the magic of THCA flowers for yourself, be sure to visit the exclusive Premium Jane THCA Flower Collection now.

And remember, since our THCA flower comes from hemp, it is available in a significant number of states.