How certain methods and applications affect potency.

Ok I have recieved bud from several types of people. Recently a new connect has had some different types of strain lately. I noticed though the potentcy was not all that there.

To describe the buds they were NOT airy or light. Some were solid not really compressed or dense but were solid. Some had a slight odour when you smell it, upon opening the back. However the smell wasnt anything like a kick to your face. You can see the nice built up crystals on the bud as well..When you used your fingers to break up the bud, you get a slight stickiness to your fingersn and smell it a little better. The bud was somewhat fresh ( meaning it didnt crumble easily when I tried to break it up)

Anyways when I compare this to another connect I HAD, had similar strain names but way more potent.. Now I look up the buds according to the name and try to relate the high type with the high I had and the pics of the bud comparing it to mine.

My question is how can potency go up and down?

What are the biggest factors?

Is it just light, and right spectrum?

Obviously light plays a important factor in developing bud. However how does it affect the potency? We know it can affect the yields but potency?

Is it nutes?

With so many brands on todays market is it possible some may provide horrible results? Of course under or over use of nutes will show some signs of stress. However, how bad would it affect potency if one was to use to much or too lttle of nutes?

Is it method grown in? ( i.e hydroponics or soil)

Some people may argue which is better, however in a novice or beginner grower, I recommend soil. Less mistakes, as with Hydro setups there is more monitoring involved.


Or is it just plain ole genetics?

I think genetics has a big role in it, and I would like to do my own test runs in the future once I get my setup. However if a strain such as og kush has so many different genetics ( ie diff breeders) how does the potency alter from one og kush to another? Unless it truly wasnt og kush.


If possible I take pics of the bud to show you, its just aggravating to me when I get some bud and it doesnt smoke no where near potency it should be. I will never get the time I but trainwreck and it smelled so good but when I smoked it i did not get high.. It even looked good.. really really good.. but it was if there was no thc?

How does this happen?

I DO NOT TAKE CREDIT FOR THIS INFO. However after looking on RIU and not finding much, I found this site which hit exactly what I was looking for.

The link for the full article is here: I think this will be a great addition to beginners when deciding what to incorporate for there grow.

Tricks of the trade
Delving through the history of marijuana cultivation you will find a myriad of techniques used to supposedly increase THC production. Much of this is little more than hippie folklore, but over the years some techniques have appeared which seem based on some amount of science.
Although some of the younger growers these days may never have used a metal halide light, many of the older set still swear by them as a complement to high-pressure sodiums in the flower room. With the advent several years ago of the Son-Agro HPS bulbs and others like it, which offer a higher amount of blue in the spectrum than standard HPS, many growers have felt that that they can do away with metal halides altogether. Growing strictly under sodiums has its advantages in terms of yield per watt, but is still lacking as far as a balanced spectrum when compared to a mix of HPS and halide.
Anyone that has ever seen a mixed light garden can testify that the healthiest, most crystallized buds occur where the two spectrums overlap. Again this brings us back to the UV factor, as metal halide bulbs emit a fair amount of UV while HPS emit almost none. Most growers employing halides in conjunction with HPS do so at a 2:1 HPS:halide ratio. Many growers, especially those restricted to one light, have been having good success using one of the new enhanced metal halide bulbs such as Sunmaster, which have a more balanced spectrum than either sodium or regular halide alone.
Glass and plastic materials used in greenhouses and air/water cooled light reflectors will block most useful wavelengths of UV from reaching plants. Luckily, recent research has shown that allowing UV to enter the greenhouse has many advantages on non-cannabis crops, and so some European greenhouses are beginning to switch to UV transparent glazing materials. Trade names for some of these products are Planilux, Diamant or Optiwhite. Plastic made from polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) also transmits UV-B (the type that we are looking for). Traditional greenhouse coverings such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), fiberglass, polycarbonate or regular glass allow little if any UV-B transmission.9
Harvesting in the morning ensures that your plant will be at peak THC content, as cannabis has shown THC fluctuations peaking in morning and dropping during the day. Some growers leave their lights off for several days before harvest to increase potency. This seems to have some scientific validity as light has been shown to degrade THC, hence the morning peaks. As light is the degrading factor and the plant still has the ability to manufacture THC during darkness, leaving the lights off for a day or two before harvest likely utilizes the plants stored potential for THC conversion without any opportunity for it to be degraded into cannabinol (CBN) and other breakdown products.8
Your magnifying glass is your friend.Traditionally marijuana has been harvested when the pistils die and the calyx starts to swell into a false seed pod. These days the best growers are getting much more detailed in their harvesting criteria. They take a close look at the trichomes themselves to judge peak harvest. Evidence that this is the only real way to tell peak maturity is in Sagarmatha's strain Matanuska Tundra, which ripens resin glands while most pistils are still alive and white. This seems an odd twist of evolution but proves that the pistil color and ripe glands do not necessarily have any correlation.
A small 25x or more pocket microscope, which can be picked up inexpensively at any electronic store, works well for taking a closer look at trichome development. What we are examining are the capitate stalked glandular trichomes, which will be a round gland head supported on a stalk. The coloration of these gland heads can vary between strains and maturity. Most strains start with clear or slightly amber heads which gradually become opaque when THC levels have peaked and are beginning to degrade. Regardless of the initial colour of the resin head, with careful observation you should be able to see a change in coloration as maturity levels off.
Some cultivators wait for about half of the heads to go opaque before harvest to ensure maximum THC levels in the bud. Of course nothing tells the truth more than your own head, so try samples at various stages to see what's right for you. While you may be increasing the total THC level in the bud by allowing half of the glands to go opaque, the bud will also have a larger proportion of THC breakdown products such as CBNs, which is why some people prefer to harvest earlier while most of the heads are still clear.
Indica varieties usually have a 1-2 week harvest window to work with, while Sativas and Indica/Sativa hybrids may have a much longer period to play with.
Kali Mist: It looks good, but does it have phat trichomes? photo BargeGlandular conclusion
With the growing popularity of personal hashmaking through precision screening, many growers are starting to pay closer attention to the development of glands. The use of different size screens to separate glands of different sizes can only broaden our knowledge of the subtle nuances of trichome quality.
Growers using the same clone line over many crops have an excellent opportunity to play with some of these different techniques, as the main variable will be the environment, not the plant. Keep in mind that different strains may react very differently to the same techniques so be careful about drawing general conclusions.
Marijuana growers must look closer at their crop than the average farmer to achieve a premium product. Rows upon rows of beautiful plants are of no use if they do not glisten with the THC-laden trichomes that are the object of our quest.
Nurture your trichomes and feed your head!
? Look for Jason King's new book of photos, The Cannabible, coming in November from Ten Speed Press: www.tenspeed.com

Kali Mist: It looks good, but does it have phat trichomes? photo Barge
References:
1) Starks, Michael. 1977. Marijuana Chemistry Genetics, Processing and Potency. Ronin Publishing, Inc., Berkeley, CA pp. 17-86.
2) McParland, Clarke, Watson. Hemp Diseases and Pests; management and biological control, CABI Publishing, New York, NY
3) Pate, DW, 1994. Chemical ecology of Cannabis. Journal of the International Hemp Association 2: 29, 32-37.
4) Kutscheid, 1973. Quantitative variation in chemical constituents of marihuana from stands of naturalized Cannabis sativa L. in east central Illinois. Economic Botany 27: 193-203.
5) B?csa, M?th? and Hangyel. Effect of nitrogen on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in hemp leaves at different positions. 1997. Journal of the International Hemp Association 4(2): 78 -79.
6) Helen Philbrick and Richard B Gregg. Companion Plants and How to Use Them. 1996. Devin-Adair Company, Old Greenwich, CT.
7) Oldtimer1, 2001. Personal communication
Vic High, 2001. BC Growers Association. Web site and help desk.
9) Hoffman, Dr Silke. 2001. Ultraviolet radiation in the greenhouse. Floraculture International, May 2001. Ball Publishing, Batavia, Illinois. pp18-27.
? An excellent general reference is Marijuana Botany, by Robert Connell Clarke. Ronin Publishing, Inc. Berkeley, CA

something I have noticed in the past is that "connects" as you call them tend to shake the trics off before passing on the bag, I have watched this happen so I know it does,,,,,,,,,,,,,,just another reason to grow your own

Yes but you can tell with a magnifying glass if that is the case.. It is just really aggravating... because the one connect his strains were the shit. They smelled awesome, had awesome bag appeal, and smoked great.

It was the only connect I had where i got smoke, and smoked some, and at one time thought I had too much lol! cause it was strong! but the stuff i have now... I can smoke all of it and get high just not "superman high" lol...

perhaps there is no curing involved or total darkness at the end of the harvesT?

not the first two, but the next two pics of buds that is kinda centralized in texas region. When I am in texas you can get what they call "popcorn" kinda like kind bud, high reggi, etc.... there was a thread on this forum about it.

The other pics are of the weed I get from my new connect. Suppose to be sour diesel, granddaddy purp, and something else. This connect just doesnt seem to come thru and deliver bunch.. perhaps its the lighting and not enough of the right spectrum.... Who knows.. I just thought i provide pics to show what they look like.

I am really fortunate to come across this "popcorn" bud, when you come across the right person, you get some really good bud. I mean the stuff, as the pics show has intense amount of red hairs lots of trichomes and no seeds! NO SEEDS! Lime green, great smell.. not strong but its there... This stuff only runs 50 for a half oz... stuff is practically dro...

Which brings me to another thing, anyone heard term baby dro? I assume the term baby dro premature harvest of dro...

thoes buds doesn't look well. the grower didn't trim the leaves properly, probably to increase weight.

however, the basic method to get the full potential of your plants is growing it without stress.

Stress could be caused from insufficiant light, from over-feeding or under-feeding, heat stress, cold stress, root bounding, any kind of bugs or decease, under-venting, over-venting, humidity issues and so on and so on.
As the grower is more experienced he knows how to dial up thoes things and create a stress free enviroment to the plants and they in return grow to their potential.

Usually hydro buds are better simply because hydro won't forgive you for mistakes like soil will and if the plant got to harvest the grower probably was doing something right. In soil you can harvest really crappy plants.

this is an easy one guys, your connection has bud thats not been cured long(if at all) enough for it to regain its full smell and reach max potency.

the change in potency over curing is minimal. the taste however changes greatly.

curing does increase potency, the buds have a useless cannaboid that degrades into thc as it cures.

Night Claptoman said:

the change in potency over curing is minimal. the taste however changes greatly.

Click to expand...

heres something that explains it a bit more from the grow faq

There are several process and effects which take place during curing that can rationally and scientifically explain the increase in potency and improvement of the smoke in cured material:

Moisture Content

Moisture is essential for the curing process, it is both your friend and enemy. If too much moisture is left in the buds, with out the regular mixing, venting and turning of buds involved with curing, molds and bacteria can quickly form and ruin the taste and potency of your stash. On the other hand, without the necessary moisture metabolic processes essential to curing do not take place.

Fresh cannabis plants are around 80% water (all %’s by weight); curing generally begins after the cannabis has lost half of it’s initial mass, and contains approximately 33% of it’s initial water.

Once curing is complete and the pot is “dry”, it should still contain 10-15% moisture, approximately 2-4% of its’ initial water. This is an ideal because most bacteria and molds can not grow below 15% water content, and below 10% cannabis buds tend to powder.

Cannabinoid Conversion

Naturally, as the metabolic processes continue during curing, the conversion of cannabergerol to tetrahydrocannabinol will continue and the potency of the pot will increase. This is because cannabergerol (CBG) is the non-psychoactive precursor for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Of course, the exact change in THC content will necessarily be dependant upon the concentration of CBG in the fresh material at harvest. Of course any remaining precursors necessary to form additional cannabidiol (CBD) and other cannabinoids will also be consumed and converted.

Be aware though if curing is excessively prolonged (most connoisseurs would agree after 6 months no more benefit could be had from curing), the conversion of THC to non-psychoactive cannabinol (CBN) will occur. The exact rate of decomposition can vary widely depending on handling and storage conditions, but can be less than 10% to greater than 40% decomposition per year.

Yes curing makes all the difference, on all levels, you can cure from a week to 6 months, anything after that isnt suggested.
buying weed blows i know, either they wet it down with spray bottles to sell less for more, or the tap the crystal off some of em, or leave big ass stalk on there, or hell it could even be full of fert and you wont know till you get home, some bags are good some arent so good, thats why i grow my own, you got quality control and choice, besides id rather hand my hydrostore dude 50 bucks for nutes that a dealer anyday ahaha
keep smokin.

I have read that other factors affect the overall strength. exposure to low temps during flowering stunts growth yet has been reported to increase potency/

Correct harvest time and harvest procedure, basically if you harvest too early or too late it affects the overall quality, as does fast drying, lack of curing and exposure to light during this process. Hydro grows faster yet soil smells stronger! The quality of your weed depends on your source, if he loves his job and weed you will get a good product. if he just loves the money your will prob get a load of crap!

I love both as wife and mistress!

Yea thanks for you guys input. I think it is possible due to lack of lighting. I was reading about how light can affect potentcy due to the spectrum. How mh bulbs can actually create better bud then hps.

So fellow members RIU, do those pics of those buds look decent at all?

they are pretty leafy but not too bad except pic 3, that one looks like total shit. lol, i dont believe mh would increase potency over hps, i dunno where you heard that but i never have........a uv light will increase potency though. i would feel a little cheated paying 50 an 1/8 for that stuff on looks alone and when you take into account the low potency and lackluster smell and taste 30 an 1/8 (maybe 35 max) would be my limit on what i'd pay. im picky though

so what do u think was wrong with this bud? not enough light?.....

probally harvested too early.

I c... thanks hey I could use some opinions on my soil grow. link is in my signature below. I could use input.