Trouble reading today's article? Click here: Issue #172 - Sunday, August 2, 2015 Dear Fellow
Grower, In today's issue... - Every grower wants their cannabis to smell and taste as great as possible. Today,
we're going to show you how to do just that!
- The best way to get buds that are tasty and aromatic is to start with a strain with those qualities. If you want to grow great cannabis, forget about using bagseed!
- The owner of this weeks trophy pics
shouldn't worry about his camera quality; good bud always seems to look great anyway!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com) "Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived."
~Helen
Keller
Better Tasting, Better Smelling Cannabis by Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside |
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How can I get home-grown cannabis to taste and smell as good as professional-quality bud?
Although potency and yields are the biggest concerns for those who grow their own cannabis, many growers want to produce buds that also have a great taste and powerful smell.
If you're one of those people who wants to improve the smell and taste of their home-grown buds, you're on a good path as a grower! Having good taste and odor isn't just an option, it's the hallmark of
properly grown bud!
But before you get started, it’s important to understand that one of the best things you can do to ensure your buds taste and smell better is to grow your cannabis properly, and that means...
- Master the basics of growing
- Harvest cannabis plants at the right time
- Dry/cure your buds like a professional.
I know it's not fun to hear, but knowing how to properly grow, harvest, dry and cure cannabis will produce buds that will satisfy even the most discerning cannabis enthusiasts. But there’s still a lot much that can be done to
improve the final quality of your home-grown cannabis.
When it comes to improving taste and smell, there are three very important facets on which growers should focus. Today, we'll go through exactly what you need to do:
3 Steps To Improving Taste & Smell
- Increase the Terpene (and Terpenoid) content of your buds - terpenes (pronounced TUR-peen) are what give cannabis its distinctive taste and smell, so increasing these
levels are incredibly important. There’s a lot you can do as a grower to increase terpene content and thus bring out the best taste and flavor of your cannabis.
- Avoid common mistakes - some growers
are accidentally ruining the taste or smell of their buds and they might not even know it.
- Get the right strain - learn about easy-to-grow and potent strains that are also flavorful and smell
great.
1.) Increase the Terpene & Terpenoid Content You can dramatically improve the taste and smell of your buds by increasing the levels of terpenes and terpenoids they contain.
Terpenes and terpenoids are a big part of what makes up the the scent of most flowers, including cannabis buds. By promoting terpene and terpenoid production in your buds during the growing process, you are encouraging your plants to produce the strongest scent possible.
Want to know
more?
Each strain will have it’s own unique scent, but you can increase this natural scent using
the tips below.
Here is what you, as a grower, need to do...
Slightly Stress Your Plants
For advanced growers ONLY! Never attempt to
stress your plants intentionally until you’ve already made it through a couple of grows and feel comfortable with your setup. Too much stress can and will slow down your plant’s growth or kill it in severe cases. However, regularly applying a small amount of stress to the plant throughout the flowering stage, especially in the week or two before harvest, can actually increase both trichome (potency) and terpene (smell/taste) production. Common ways of stressing the plant
include:
- Gentle manipulation of the stems - slight bending or re-arranging without touching the buds, for example LST (low stress training)
- More aggressive manipulation of the stems - supercropping is a method that calls for planned breaks in the plants stems without damaging the outside of the stem
- Light defoliation of fan leaves to expose bud sites - some strains do not respond well to defoliation, so start very slowly if you don’t have experience removing leaves. Some advanced growers go for extreme defoliation, but that's not
necessary to slightly stress the plant to produce more terpenes
- Maintain a low humidity in the flowering stage - in addition to increasing terpene content, this technique may also increase trichome production and potency. Some growers will use a dehumidifier to drop the relative humidity below 20% during the last 2 weeks before harvest
- Allow roots to experience drought
conditions - Advanced only! Some growers allow roots to get slightly too dry mid-flower - be careful as you can damage the appearance of buds as well as harm or kill your plant if roots are damaged!
- Give plants 2-3 days of complete darkness right before harvesting
Restrict Nutrients Towards End of Flowering
Many growers choose to lower nutrients as harvest approaches. In particular, growers should be sure to lower nitrogen levels as too much nitrogen slows down bud formation. It’s also important to make sure that you only use specially
formulated “flowering” cannabis nutrients during the flowering stage, as these nutrients are made for the budding stage and will have lower levels of nitrogen and higher levels of potassium and phosphorous.
Nutrient restriction in the flowering phase culminates in “flushing” your plants
(giving them only plain water) for the final 1-2 weeks before harvest. Although this doesn't add terpenes, it helps to make sure the plant isn't getting more nutrients during its last two weeks when nutrients really aren't necessary.
Keep Temps Under 80°F
(26°C) Throughout the Flowering Stage
Not only can higher temperatures cause plant problems, they can cause terpenes to evaporate into the air. If your buds stay too hot during the flowering stage, the higher temperature may accidentally be burning away some of your terpenes (reducing the final taste/smell of your buds after harvest). It is especially important to make sure buds are not
exposed to too-high temps after week 6 or 7 of flowering, as this is when the terpene content in the buds really starts to ramp up. Give Plants Slightly Cooler Temps at Night, Especially Towards End of Flowering
Stage
Cannabis plants are exposed to slightly cooler temps at night in the wild, and there's some evidence that you can increase the terpene content of your buds by giving plants slightly cooler temps indoors when the lights are off.
Note: Slightly chilly is okay, but never let your
plants be exposed to cold or freezing temps!
For example, some growers try to keep their plants 10 degrees (F) cooler at night to help improve bud quality and terpene production. Refer to the optimal temperature diagram above to get an idea what temps cannabis plants like best during the flowering stage.
Did you know? In addition to improving taste and smell, terpenes can affect the color of plants. For example, terpenoids are what give tomatoes their red color. This may be at work for certain cannabis strains, too. By maintaining lower night temperatures in the last few weeks before your cannabis harvest, you will also help bring out colors in your cannabis (purple, pink, etc). Of course this only works if your strain has the genes to produce colored cannabis
buds in these conditions. Most strains will only grow green buds, but if your plant can produce other colors, cooler night temps is one way to help bring them out!
Grow in Composted Soil
If you grow hydro, sorry this tip will not work for you! There are many others though, so don't worry!
Now for soil-growers, there is some evidence that soil-grown cannabis (especially cannabis grown in composted super soil) will tend to have a more varied and complex terpene profile, which could possibly lead to buds that smell and taste better.
Greenhouse Seeds has been leading the way in cannabis terpene and terpenoid research by growing cannabis in a variety of ways and then directly measuring the terpene content in the buds. They have found that
while hydroponic grows tend to get much higher yields (with the exception of a few indica strains), soil-grown buds tend to have a more complex terpene profile. You can see the results of the terpene analyses here. Never Harvest Buds Early!
Greenhouse
Seeds also demonstrated in their testing that terpene content rises steadily throughout the flowering stage while buds are maturing, which indicates that harvesting too early can dramatically reduce your total terpene content.
For
many of the strains tested, there appears to be a significant rise in terpene content that seems to happen after around week 6 or 7 of flowering.
While there are some early-harvest strains, it's possible that many strains could produce a better taste/smell if given at least 8 full weeks in the flowering stage before harvest. There are very few strains that need to be harvested sooner than that, and
by making sure you give your plants at least 8 full weeks of flowering, you could be helping to ensure that your plants produce all the terpenes they are capable of. Keep in mind that some plants need longer to flower and that 8 is a minimum for non-early-harvest strains.
Grow Under the Sun (Outdoors)
Some growers believe that the type of light received by the plant will affect the terpene content of buds, and believe there is a positive effect on terpenes when cannabis plants are exposed to
sunlight throughout the flowering stage.
One such grower - Franco of Greenhouse Seeds - has stated that he believes the sun’s rays increases terpene production. This may be a factor in
why some growers believe you get a better taste/smell from outdoor or greenhouse-grown buds.
Supplement Your Grow Lights with LEDs (Indoors)
Some growers believe that the color spectrum being produced in certain modern LED grow lights can also add to the complexity of terpene content, similar to what happens with plants
grown under the sun.
This may explain why those growers believe that indoor plants that are supplemented with LED grow lights have a better quality than ones grown just under standard HID lighting.
It’s becoming increasingly popular to supplement HPS grow lights with one or two LED panels during the
flowering stage. And while the evidence is only anecdotal, growers who use supplemental LED lighting say the LEDs seem to provide some benefits even though those benefits are hard to measure.
Many growers believe that outdoor-grown or greenhouse-grown bud has a better taste and smell, and perhaps it's possible for indoor growers to capture some of that by using HPS and LED grow lights
together in the budding phase of growth, especially during the last few weeks before harvest when terpene production is ramping up.
Wait, there's still more of this article left!
Potent, Smelly & Tasty Strains |
This article was much too big for one newsletter, but make sure you don't miss the third section that wouldn't fit:
Our Hand-Picked Tasty & Smelly Strains!
We've picked out a bunch of strains that are known for their terpenoid profile; some have unique tastes, and other smell like you made them angry (or happy in some cases)!
So if you're looking for bud that smells like BUD,
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"These newsletters are great! You all have helped me in so many ways! Nothing but great information all over your site. Thanks for all you do, happy growing, and smoke weed everyday!"
-Mike B |
Trophy Pictures of the Week |
"Last years grow .. White widow & big bud .. Very easy to grow.. Top plant early & got a lot of tips from your website . Thanks Not the best picture from a iPhone 3 .. But got a new phone now"
-Marsbar
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We encourage you to forward this email to a friend in need!
Who Runs This
Newsletter? |
Nebula Haze:
Medical cannabis is important to me personally, and I'm dedicated to showing others how easy it is to grow their own supply of
cannabis at home.
It is my mission to educate and build growing resources to help both new and advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. |
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Learn which seed sources are personally recommended by Nebula Haze |
Sirius Fourside:
Sirius Fourside is a hobbyist grower who has gained the bulk of his experience growing in water as a medium(deep water culture,
bubbleponics).
"Growing cannabis is a relaxing hobby in and of itself, but it also saves you money and keeps you from having to deal with shady characters. Cannabis is much
easier to grow than people give it credit for, and growing in water doesn't increase the difficulty much, if any. But whether you want to grow in water, coco, or a different medium, we'll show you how easy it can be!"
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GrowWeedEasy.com has put together a hand-picked list of all the available SEED BANKS including what type of payment they
accept and where they ship in the world!
View complete list of trusted seed sources:
http://www.growweedeasy.com/seeds
Why not start your grow with quality genetics from an award-winning
strain? Or choose a strain that suits your growing style and personal needs. Still not sure? We recommend Nirvana. They've been breeding award-winning strains for decades
and offer some of the most reliable stealth shipping in the industry. In our complete seed sources list you'll discover... - Which Seed Sources are Fast, Safe and Reliable (list is updated regularly)
- Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Check Money Order, Paypal & even more secure payment options!
- Connoisseur, High-CBD & Medical Grade Strains Available
- Find Out Which Seed Sources Deliver to YOU!
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