When MJ flowers, the buds are obviously not green, so do the buds actually need direct sunlight during flower or is it most important that the photosynthesizing portions of the plant get the bulk of the light?
You bet your ass there's chlorophyll in bud. That's one of the main reasons for curing... fresh chlorophyll makes for a harsh and green-tasting (think the way fresh cut grass smells) smoke. In the final stages of plant maturity before harvest, nitrogen stores which are necessary for photosynthesis to occur are sapped from the leaves and used by the buds.
interesting...cool, learned something new today. Thanks. Makes sense. Dude, these blueberries that I'm smoking must make me stupid, in retrospect, I said that the buds weren't green, wtf was I thinking.