Whole Plant Fresh Frozen, or WPFF, refers to cannabis plant material that’s covered in resin and frozen immediately after harvesting, and in preparation for ice water extraction. Hash makers wash this WPFF to collect loose resin and make it into pressed hash (Temple Balls) or rosin. Whole Plant Fresh Frozen is regarded as the premium starting material for making hash. Freezing the cannabis immediately after harvest minimizes terpene loss and helps preserve the freshness that’s found in the living cannabis plant. 

There are certain ways to process your plants for WPFF after harvesting - it’s not as simple as chopping the plant down and throwing the whole thing in the freezer. From identifying the only parts of the plant worth keeping, to properly removing the rest, to storing and freezing it in a certain way, we have some tips and tricks to help. 

Whole plant preparation and processing involves sorting and trimming the plants immediately after harvest in a well-lit, cool environment. After the plants are processed, they should go in the freezer as soon as possible. 

Wearing a headlamp throughout the process allows you to quickly and easily identify the parts of the plant that are covered in trichomes. These are the only parts we want to save. Bud sites without copious resin coverage are not worth keeping. If you don’t have a headlamp, make sure you are working in an area with plenty of light. 

Let’s take a look at workflow management. 

How To Process Whole Plant Fresh Frozen

2. Weigh the cannabis after it’s trimmed and bucked. This will help with your yield calculations at the end of ice water extraction.

3. Store in rigid plastic containers. Storing in a rigid container can be more effective than storing in plastic bags, and also prevents compacting the material if you’re stacking packs of material on top of each other.

6. Batch size for 5-gallon washing machine is 300-600 grams of fresh frozen material

Summary

When it comes to producing top-notch hash, Whole Plant Fresh Frozen (WPFF) is the way to go. The key is to freeze your cannabis after harvesting to preserve its terpenes and freshness. However it's not as simple as chopping and freezing the plant just as it is. There's a process involved that includes sorting, trimming, and storing the plant material correctly to ensure only the resin coated parts are moved to the next phase of processing. Using a headlamp or working in a lit area can help you identify those rich areas worth keeping.

Preparing your cannabis for WPFF requires attention to detail. Begin by trimming off any frosted leaves, being careful to cut at the stems to protect the plant from damage. Break down the buds into quarter pieces by cutting at the nodes where side branches meet the stem. After trimming and breaking down the buds, weigh your cannabis for yield calculations. 

Store the cannabis in plastic containers to prevent compression and avoid deep freezing to prevent ice crystals from harming the plant material. Freeze for 12-24 hours before washing and ensure batch sizes range between 300-600 grams when using a 5 gallon washing machine to prevent overfilling the machine. 

Too much material in the machine will inhibit the flow of water and prevent a vortex from forming while mixing the ice water and cannabis. Remember, we’re not beating the material, we’re letting the ice water gently separate the resin glands from the plant. 

For more reading about all the equipment you need, check out our article Equipment for Preparing Fresh Frozen Cannabis. 

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