I've been growing for a few years now and I've grown many different strains, but I've not been able to master tight buds at harvest. None have ever been super loose, but they aren't as tight or dense as I've seen. If I pack them super tight they are more dense due to being super sticky, but I'm looking to grow them dense. Any suggestions on how to achieve this during a 12 week growing cycle?
most times when i hear people say they cant get tight buds its either from excessive heat/lack of airflow or low wattage. would you mind giving a little info on your setup?
I have a pretty nice set up. My veg cabinet is equipt with a 400 Mha with a 6 exhaust on a 10" vanaxial fan pushing quite a bit of air for the size of the cabinet, plus a 4" cpu fan wired to a thermostat setting at 65 to 75 degrees depending on the temperature in the grow room. I generally have no more then 6 to 8 plants in there for around 6 weeks. And my flowering area is set up with two 400 watt sodium vapor lights, mylar on the walls, micro filter for exhaust, and another vanaxial fan to keep the room around 70 degrees. Veg lights are on 18 hours and flowering for 12 hours. Light tight room. Nutes: Budda Bloom during veg, I give about 1/4 of the recommended amount to keep the salts from building up, and I water every 4 days (during these cooler months) and nute once a week. Foxfarm Tiger Bloom, Budda Bloom, Beasty Bloom for flowering, full recommended amount every other watering which right now is about once a week right now during the colder months. And ChiChing in the last few weeks of flowering.
hmmmm it sounds like you have everything going great. Theres a couple more things i can think of that might play a part, but itd be nice to have a more seasoned grower chime in. They are:seed genetics, humidity level, soil, and distance from light to plant.
The first time I grew from seed, I bought some Afghani from a well known seed bank in Vancouver BC. I also obtained a few Purple clones from a seasoned grower friend. Both came out about the same as every clone from those plants since. I've also grew some plants from the seeds I got from a Purple plant that produced a couple seeds in the late stages of flowering...same results. Now I Buddas and one White widow that I just put in flowering that I got from seeds from a well known seed bank in Amsterdam. They have been difficult to germinate, and of course I've had to weed out the males. So I'd like to really make these plants grow to their potential! I've always use organic Black Gold (that I buy from inside the nursery, not the stuff sitting outside). I ad one part perlite, 2 parts sand and 4 or 5 parts soil. With these Buddas and White Widow, I've changed over to Fox Farm soil. As far as the lights go, I keep them at 6 to 12" from the plants in veg and 12" from plants in flowering. Humidity is pretty low in the winter but higher in the summer. Doesn't seem to matter what time of year I grow, the flowers/buds are about the same consistency...
A couple things come to mind. 1. A good dry over and extended period of time can really compact the buds. 2. Really letting the buds fully ripen as the pistols get swallowed up almost all the way before you harvest. 3. Think of getting air cooled hoods so you can get get your plants a couple inches from the lights. 4. try some Low stress training to get an even canopy to get all buds closer to the light. 5. try to decrease the time between watering by feeding less more often so that your roots get oxygen more. 6. think about switching to organic nutes. The FF can kill the beneficial bacteria needed in the root system. 7. try to get the temps above 76 in 12/12 8. all else fails, some 1000 watt lights will tighten them right up.
Try blue mystic strain from nirvana. I grew this strain under a 240w LED light and in all organic soil. My buds ended up being rock hard after a cure.
could you simply be expecting too much? it sounds like your set up is good and you should get dense bud. but personally, if the bud is dense or loose, what does it matter as long as it weighs the same and the potency is the same. loose bud is less likely to mould so there's an advAntage right there. what are you comparing it to? perhaps bud that you have bought? keep in mind that that bud has probably been bagged and stuffed in a pocket squashing it somewhat
Get the lights closer in flowering and LST or scrog during veg depending on the strain. If you are using the cheapest bulbs you can find for your HPS then that is another issue, cheap bulbs compared to pricier ones can have a night and day difference in usable light output. The thing that worries me now is how you said you get some hermie buds with some seeds every now and then. That is a definite sign of some sort of stress unless you have pollen in your ventilation system from a previous male. Do you have some pictures of your past plants at a couple different stages just so we can see how they were looking and give us a little more to go off of.
Yeah, probably! Like I said, I've been growing for a few years now and I'm just trying to get better and better at it. I figured it would be nice to master something new! I've had good results with some chronic bud and some being a little more mellow....I like having both on hand. I didn't think of the mold factor tight buds might allow. So maybe I have a pretty good thing going on after all eh?
Far left strawberry cheesecake actually , rest r Afghani not the best looking , I know, but I was still proud of my first harvest
Lower temps in flower are better between 70-78 Don't make your watering such a ridged schedule, get to know your plants. And you could also up the nutrients as they adapt to the strength of them. Start out at quarter strength like you are and build up to half or maybe full, slowly. I'm full organic and get pretty tight buds, I feel like carbs like molasses or or other sugars help but that's just me, definitely maturity and light are the two biggest factors IMO. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
+1 blue mystic. First grow I grew this strain under hps nice tight dense buds. Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Grasscity Forum mobile app