1. Flushing isn't drowning, so don't over do it. Just double your run off % for the last 2 weeks . You'll still get fade,tasty flowers, and yield is allowed to increase. Plants don't like being drowned for 2 weeks without anything, and I've never really seen better results by flushing my soil with over 2 times my regular amount of water. It's fun to harvest everything at once, but honestly flushing too heavily kills yields on the lowers. I harvest every plant 2 times; the first time I take the tops with 5-20% amber and anything faded out. The lowers are left to mature another 4 to 6 days. Yields went up 10% and the lowers more towards the center end up being the most resinous because they are allowed to finish, and they are protected the whole grow.
2. Defoliating. Before flowering I defoliate any foliage that I feel will not be saturated enough with light to compete with the canopy. Though this can be done after the onset of flowering, I like to begin about 2.5 weeks before the 12-12 flip. I thin out side shoots as they come up to prevent them from using energy, leaving the leaves on stem so that it can stretch to fit into the canopy above. It is an ongoing process, but the goal is to produce fewer branches with larger overall production. It got me to nearly 1g/w and I feel that this method makes fewer, larger, higher quality buds.
3. Organics/Supersoil/Fading. Supersoil isn't just about being one of Subcool's followers. A lot of people have different methods of cooking organic supersoil to their liking, but Subcool's recipe is a great place to start. Ever since I started putting soil with heavier nutes at the bottom, I have noticed increase resin production early in flowering, and amazing colors in the last few days of flowering. Green buds fade to; blue, purple, orange, red, and yellows. Organics are now taken seriously, when my plants are in this type of system they just seem to be on overdrive.
4. Carbs. Molasses is awesome for lowering ph of low ppm water, it adds in a nice mix of cal/mag, and increases energy to your rhizosphere. Using it too much will have bad results, a lot of people say to use 1tbs/gallon when using it. I use 1tsp/gallon, and feed it 3 to 4 times per flowering period depending on strain. Since using it my plants have picked up more funk to their smell; generally all the aromatics have increased. This was one of the first tricks I learned early on.
5. Harvesting/ Trimming. The way you trim can have a large effect on the final quality of the cannabis buds. I like to take everything green off, give that too my worms, then I trim all sugar leaves with exposed stems into the trim bucket. After crushing the cut stem ends, I hang for three days until the buds go from being super juicy, to having a more robust form, also thinner branches tend to not flop around when they get dried for a few days. Then I do a final trim. This amount of drying shrinks up the buds a bit and makes it easier to reach some of the sugar leaf stems. 70% of the work before you hang, 30% 3 days after. I know a lot of people like to talk about letting the plant sit in 24 or even 48 hours of darkness before harvest, personally I know that the plant is still alive when you cut it down, and it remains alive for the next day at least. End result, is whiter flowers in your jar
6. DIY and Workers Pride. Ever since starting to make my own nutrients, recycle my soil, create cabinets, and raise cannabis; I have noticed that my quality threshold increased, and my bullshit half-assed threshold decreased. Doing things yourself creates a pride in your work that alters your thinking and leads to better quality. You no longer settle for O.K. You want the best, and you are willing to make it if no one is up to the task. Truly you make all of the important changes, and if your head isn't in the game you may not be making the right calls.
Really great question, and even better answers. It would be great to have "1 Million and 1: Ways to increase cannabis potency" on rollitup.
Sincerely,
ILovePlants
