Trouble reading today's article? Click
here: Issue #296 - Sunday, December 17, 2017
Dear Fellow
Grower,
In today's issue... - Do you like your buds funky? Are you a grower who enjoys cannabis with a slap-you-in-the-face scent profile? Learn how to get the smell you've been looking for!
- How strong is the smell on Aurora Indica? All I know is that our cat makes a face whenever we open a jar of it...
- We get asked fairly often to help determine if a plant is male or female. Every so often, the plant we're shown is a lumberjack of a male!
Nebula Haze &
Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com) "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." ~William Shakespeare
How to Grow Stronger Smelling Cannabis 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. This can happen 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 harsher, 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...
Click
here for the details on what nutrients and supplements can do your your cannabis' scent profile
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 growers use for 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.
3.) Grow in "Living" Soil (Super
Soil)
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 is that 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 that 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 you won't 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 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, but 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?
Start Your Next Grow With A Strong-Scented Strain! |
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. 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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"Hi Nebula!
I just wanted to thank you for doing so much to bring accessible, easy to navigate information to the world about growing cannabis. There is a lot of competing information out there, and a lot of criticism. Your articles are always thoughtful and well balanced, with a feminine presence that is so refreshing. I feel like we're friends and I love that about growweedeasy. My buds are just
gorgeous now! So, thank you! " ~M. |
Trophy Picture of the Week! |
"Please wondering, is this a male or female plant ? Feeling silly but can’t tell by pics on line :/"
-Unknown2 |
Wow, those are definitely male plants and from the looks of it, they can probably bench press significantly more than I can!
If you have any female plants around, get rid of these males ASAP. If you don't have any female plants, this is a good chance to experiment. That being said, you'll want to clean up thoroughly after this grow. Pollen can stick around long enough to pollinate your next grow!
-Sirius We encourage you to forward this email to a friend in need!
Check Out Our Growing Community! |
Check out our friendly growing community to ask questions, discuss your grow, share pictures, or otherwise talk about growing cannabis with other real growers!
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Please note: We let each person in manually, so please be patient after you request to join and we'll try to let you in as soon as possible!! |
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 can be 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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2017 GrowWeedEasy.com NOTE: If links aren't working or if pictures are not showing up
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contributors to this magazine grow legally under their local laws but are not lawyers or medical professionals. Any decision to grow marijuana should only be made after consulting with an experienced lawyer or other legal adviser. Any medical decisions should only be made after speaking with a doctor or other medical professional. Be safe! How Did I Sign Up For This Newsletter?
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