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here: Issue
#230 - Sunday, September 11, 2016
Dear Fellow Grower,
In today's
issue... - Learn how to improve the smell of your buds!
- What are some strains that are famous for their unique smell?
- This week's trophy pic features two beautiful DWC/hydro plants from a first-time grower!
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
How Do You Improve Cannabis Smell? by Nebula Haze |
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Introduction to Growing Cannabis with a Strong, Complex Smell Do you want to improve the smell of your cannabis? When it comes to homegrown cannabis, the smell of your buds contributes greatly to the overall perceived quality. Just like how food tastes better when it
smells great, producing buds with a great smell can greatly improve the overall experience and perceived potency.
These days you can produce buds with very intense smells like diesel and skunk, but there are also strains that produce strong fruity and sweet smells like pineapple, blueberry or chocolate.
Unfortunately many marijuana growers, new and experienced, are unintentionally making mistakes that prevent buds from smelling their best by either preventing them from living up to their potential, or accidentally giving buds an unpleasant or unwanted
taste/smell.
This tutorial will teach you how to increase the smell of your buds as well as show you what needs to be done to achieve a more complex and appealing smell overall. You'll learn not only what to do, but just as importantly you'll learn what not to do!
Each cannabis strain has its own unique smell, but you can increase this natural scent using the tips below!
How to Improve & Strengthen the Smell of Buds As a grower, you have the power to dramatically improve the taste and smell of your buds by increasing the levels of terpenes and
terpenoids they contain.
The "glitter" or trichomes on your buds contain a lot of these substances that give buds their scent, and your plant also produces terpenes in essential oils. By promoting terpene production in your buds during the growing process, you are encouraging your plants to produce the strongest scent possible!
Before You Get Started: Before you read this tutorial and start going crazy with new supplements or techniques, you should already be able to produce healthy plants without any bugs, mold or other major problems in the flowering stage, especially the crucial second half of the flowering stage. Extreme plant
stress can make buds more harsh, and pesticides have the potential to get on buds and alter their taste/smell. Plus no one wants to smoke pesticides!
So as annoying as it probably is to hear, "Step 0" is to master the basics of growing!
1.) Specialized Nutrients & Supplements When it comes to nutrients and supplements, you have several choices that can help improve the overall scent of your buds. In fact, many products have been formulated specifically to increase and enhance
the smell of cannabis buds.
Here's what you need to keep in mind when it comes to nutrients and supplements...
2.) Light Quality (Use Strong Light with UV-B)
It's common knowledge that you need strong light to get cannabis buds to live up to their potential as far as density, potency and smell. The most common type of grow light for flowering cannabis plants is the HPS grow light, in part because it is one of the best-yielding types of grow lights for budding cannabis, and produces very potent buds.
However, HPS might not be the best type of grow light to use when it comes to increasing the level of smell. There is some evidence that some types of light, specifically a type of light known as UV-B light,
can possibly enhance trichome production and smell.
On the spectrum of light, UV-B is below blue/violet (that's why it's called "ultra-violet") and outside of our range of vision. However, even though we can't see UV-B light, it still has a big effect on both humans and plants!
But it's not just any kind of light, UV-B light is bad for humans (we use sunscreen to protect ourselves from UV light from the sun) and can actually hurt plants, too. In fact, we believe trichomes may help
protect the plant from UV-B rays, kind of like how humans get a tan.
This could be why increasing UV-B exposure seems to increase trichome production. However, because of the danger of UV-B light, always make sure to protect yourself and your skin from exposure and never look directly at the light! It's a great idea to always wear protective glasses that block UV light so you don't damage your
eyes.
Supplementing your flowering plant with UV-B light may increase the potency and smell production by triggering a natural stress response
There are two types of UV light: UV-A and UV-B. What you want for cannabis is UV-B. It is "stronger" whether it comes to increasing
cannabis trichomes or giving humans a tan.
The main sources of light that provide UV light are....
- The
Sun - probably the best source of UV light
- CMH / LEC grow lights - These give you lower yields than HPS but produce higher levels of
UV-B
- LED grow lights - Some specialized LED grow lights these days are coming with a few UV producing diodes, however it's unclear whether these produce enough UV-B light to actually make a difference to the plant. Most panels
have just a handful of small UV diodes at most.
- Black Lights - These do produce UV light, but usually the UV-A variety that is not as effective to your plants as UV-B. They are also usually not very bright or powerful.
- UV-B Reptile Lights - Certain lights made for reptiles (and aquariums) provide UV-B light, however they tend to be relatively low powered. More testing is needed to learn if these have the strength and range to make a noticeable difference to your
buds!
Note: Glass blocks most UV light, so if your light is separated from your plants by glass (for example by a greenhouse or hood) it will prevent a lot of the UV light from reaching your buds. When it comes to UV light, there should always be a clear and direct path from the light source to the plants.
Even better than giving
your plant organic nutrients is to grow with your roots in a living soil. In other words, this is a type of soil with an active colony of microorganisms. It is like the soil a plant would be using in nature, only it's even better because it's been amended with exactly the right kind of nutrients and supplements. There's evidence buds grown in this
medium tend to have a more varied and complex terpene profile, which may 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 analysis here. Living soil is often referred to as "Super Soil" in the cannabis world; this just means soil that has been amended and composted. This creates a "micro-herd" of microorganisms in the soil, which break down
and feed nutrients directly to your plant roots. As a result, you don't have to provide extra nutrients or worry about the pH of your soil, because your micro-herd is doing all the work for you. You just water your plants and that's it!
The one downside is plants tend to grow a little slower compared to using liquid nutrients, but as a reward for using super soil your buds will be much more fragrant,
with a lovely bouquet of smells that's difficult to produce any other way.
If you're serious about maximizing the taste and smell of your buds, growing in super soil is probably one of the best-known ways to achieve that
goal!
4.) Temperature & Humidity After Week 6 of Flowering
This may be difficult to control depending on your grow situation, but controlling the temperature and humidity for the last 6 weeks of flowering can make a significant difference in your bud quality.
If you're not sure when to start, I recommend starting this effort 6 weeks after the switch to 12/12, as that's a common halfway point for many
strains.
Keep Day Temperature Under 80°F
Keep the temperature under 80°F in the second half of the flowering stage because high temperatures can "burn off" some of the smell contained in your buds! It can also make buds feel hard and crispy on top, and cause buds to grow airy and loose with foxtails. Don't let your buds cook under hot grow lights!
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 is really starts to ramp up.
Night Temperature Should Be 5-10°F Cooler
Having somewhat cooler nights can help cannabis produce more terpenes, and cooler night temperatures towards the end of the flowering stage also helps bring out colors like pink and purple if your plant has the genetics.
Keep Humidity Under 50% RH
Keep grow space around or under 50% relative humidity throughout the flowering stage for the best terpene production and overall plant
growth.
For the last few weeks before harvest it may increase trichome production even further to lower the humidity below 30% RH with a dehumidifier and/or AC. The lower levels of humidity not only prevent bud rot,
very dry air can cause the plant to produce more trichomes as a stress response.
Temperature & Humidity Adjustment Cheat Sheet
- Dehumidifier - Raises Temperature (somewhat), Lowers Humidity
- Space Heater - Raises Temperature, Lowers Humidity
- Air Conditioner - Lowers Temperature, Lowers
Humidity
- Evaporative Cooler - Lowers Temperature, Raises Humidity
- Humidifier - Raises Temperature (somewhat), Raises Humidity
Continue Reading! How Do You Improve The Smell of Cannabis?
Strain with an Amazing Scent! |
There are strains that are particularly pleasant smelling compared to other strains and others that have a downright pungent odor. There are growers who want both kinds. The strains below have been hand-picked by us because they're exceptionally strong and aromatic, as well as being stable strains from
known and trusted breeders.
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Aurora Indica (by Nirvana) - Diesel smell, almost like gasoline or fuel.
This indica strain produces dense buds with very strong "couchlock” effects. Plants tend to grow short with a very fast flowering time of about 8-9 weeks. It has a typical Indica growth pattern and this strain responds very well
to training to increase yields! We just bent it over in the vegetative stage and it did everything else itself.
This plant was a breeze to grow, and had seemingly had no problem even after several mistakes were made. The only real training we did was bending this plant over in the vegetative stage to help keep it flat like a table. After that we just let it do its thing. The plant stayed short and was only 1.5 feet tall at harvest. Despite the quick flowering time it produced 5.3 ounces all by
itself! Here are the freshly trimmed buds at harvest. The smell was intense, almost like fuel!
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I just wanted to let you know what great information you supply and how well your information
is delivered. I have a small four plant grow happening and you are my go to website. Other websites just don't measure up and their forums become a vehicle of mis-information by people sharing ill informed information without the experience to back it up.
It's nice to have a stream of valuable information come from a single source backed by experience.
So thank you and please continue with your website, I for one will surely recommend your site to all who are looking for a good source.
All my best,
P-strain |
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Without all the great articles on this site I would have been lost. My one piece of advice is if you're growing the first time, make the first grow small so you'll be learning instead of going crazy!
The curing has been great. I have a week to go till my 4 week and testing, it's getting better. I'll be making dry ice hash and the cannabis caps
Thank you so much
<3
~Karlee
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Who Runs This
Newsletter? |
Nebula Haze:
I'll be honest with you, when I first started growing, I struggled. Now, it is my mission to make it easier for new growers to
get started as well as help advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. We are updating and adding articles every single week and our goal is to eventually build a comprehensive growing resource so anyone and everyone can grow if they want to! If we all share the knowledge there's more buds in the world for everyone :) |
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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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