Trichome - The Most Mispronounced Word in Cannabis

First things first. It’s pronounced “TRY-comb.” There’s no second ‘r’ but for some reason people always say “TRY-chrome.” Even experienced growers.

What is a Trichome?

The simplest explanation is that trichomes are the part of the plant that get you high. They are where the cannabinoids like THC, CBD, CBN, and CBG are found along with terpenes.  Under a microscope trichomes look like little mushrooms. There are 2 main parts to it, the stalk and the bulb. The stalk is the most resilient part of the crystal and is has the highest concentration of THC. The bulb is much more fragile and contains a high concentration of terpenes. This fragile bulb on the end of a crystal stalk is where the majority of the smell and flavor reside in the plant. It is why hand trimmed buds will always smell better than machine trimmed buds. When a trim machine is used, it tumbles dry buds in a cylinder that has blades on the outside to trim away leaves that stick out. Unfortunately, while this method is much faster than hand trimming, it comes at the cost of deteriorated product. The cylinders knock off all the bulbs of the stalks on the outside of the bud which is why you must open the bud and expose the middle to get a proper sense of its smell. The reason the bulbs are so pungent is that they contain almost all of the plants terpenes. Terpenes are what makes each strain unique as the combination of terpenes found in a given strain are like a fingerprint. Terpenes from grapefruit, oranges, and other fruits are even added to vape cartridges in order to improve taste.

More on terpenes in a later post. But for now, the next time you hear your friend say “try-chrome” please correct them.