What makes purple bud well purple?

I have seen a few posts recently concerning purple bud and there seems to be confusion and some well informed members but I thought I would start this thread anyway.

Well what makes our bud purple? Yes genetics and yes even lower temps in certain strains(and I do mean certain strains) late in the season can do the trick. But what does the MJ plant contain that allows it to turn purple? From my understanding it is the pigment anthocyanin. The chlorophyll that produces the green color in our bud starts to lose its color later in the season therefore exposing the anthocyanin pigments and creating many different hues of purple. I also believe that carotenoid is another pigment in cannabis that can create a range of colors from yellow to red. If this is incorrect or incomplete please feel free to chime in.

Well in honor of this thread I am going to blaze some Perkel as we speak. Happy blazes GC!

 

I was referring to "mature" plants at the end of the flowering stage, cause I noticed that a lot of "purple" strains do not show the real vibrant colors of purple until full maturity not to say that purple colors can not be detectable before hand. Like you said and hopefully I stressed too, genetics has a lot to do with it.

 

You are one of the informed members I was talking about my friend.

 

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I have never heard of this and I can't see how this would make bud purple. I did read somewhere that the cooler temps. restricts phosphorus absorbtion which contributes to the purple color.

 

I agree with you on a couple points. One, Granddaddy Purple is primo dank. Two, purple marijuana doesn't ensure quality one bit. Three, I have smoked "green" marijuana that fucked me up more than GDP or other purple strains. I would have to disagree with your point about temp. It is not just temperature that affects color but genetics as well however if a strain is prone to turning purple, lower temps WILL increase color from my understanding. A lot of purple bud I have blazed recently were mostly indica. At least the high felt that way like Grape Ape or Lavender (very tasty bud btw) while the GDP I have smoked produced a more sativa high. The attraction to purple bud imo is the fact that it is semi exotic and something different as well as great marketing for dealers. I say semi exotic cause in reality, purple bud is common around here.

 

Anything that doesn't turn purple through genetics is a waste of time IMO. But there are some aftermarket items that supposedly turn plants purple when growing but I've never looked into it nor do I really want to.

I think the purplish hue is cause more by lower temps rather than warmer ones but anything is possible right? And in my opinion while there are definitely some highly potent purple strains, I personally think the bud that is green is generally more potent than purp weed in general. But then again it could be my personal preference.

 

I've read somewhere that high altitudes can affect yield but never heard of high altitude increasing purple in already genetically purple strains. However if your source is a seasoned grower I would tend to believe it.