Tips on how to increase yield and trichomes

[piffffalici0us]

Does anyone have any tips on how to increase yield and potency in flowering.
best tips i gathered so far:


Keep temps 75 (on) 60-65(off)
Use bloom enhancer
Low humidity=more crystally buds
Use more P then N
Continue Veg nutes 2 week after the switch...


Doesanyone have any tips to add to this?
Whatis everyones favorite bloom enhancer?

How to make bigger more potent buds?

 

[Guest]

Hey piff...

Over in the outdoor grow section i have a thread titled
" yield increasing planting method". Its probably on page 3 or so now. It will increase yield dramatically.

Potency? In my view genetics - the strain is going to dictate 80% of this and you can only play around at the margins. Once youve made sure the plants getting all the light it needs and its grow medium is well within acceptable range, theirs just not a lot you can do to increase potency. There are many things you can do to decrease potency and the quickest way I know of to do that is by jiggling the ferts during flowering. Ive seen more crops ruined by growers with good intentions.

Once a grower has provided a optimum enviroment and has a potent strain, i only know of 2 things that can enhance potency.
1. Once the plants are ripe, remove all the shade leaves and allow all of the buds to be totally exposed to the light for 3-5 days before harvest.
2. Once plants are finished, turn out lights and don't come back for 5 days. Allow them to die from no light. They continue to make resin glands in the darkness, but the old glands arent destroyed by the light.

Just my opinion. Im sure there are many others.

 

[sativo]

Has anyone told you about a good bloom enhancer piff? Also silverback, what do you mean jiggling the nutes?

 

[ShootinBudz]

Healthy plants of proven strains. proven strains.

New light bulbs

Constant air exchange or co2 and a sealed room.

pH correct nutrients.

those are some critical things right there, as far as nutes and stuff any quality nutrient will give good results at the right levels, I think AN carboload and overdrive are really good products and I was the last person to use their products because I avoided the hype.

 

[bounty29]

I've heard both sides to the leave them in the dark before harvest. Some people swear by it, and some grower's I trust very much have done side by side experiments and reported no difference.

One other thing I've heard, in addition to some of the things here, is to wait to water your plants when they're flowering until they're just about to flag, or even wait til they begin to flag just a little. The theory is they will produce more trichs to better protect against drying out the next time there's a "drought".

 

[Miko]

It's simple, really - more and better light

 

[bounty29]

Oh is that all it is Miko? I guess we can delete this thread guys, we figured it out.

He does have a point though, nobody has mentioned UV. Trichs protect the plant from UV rays, and a lot of growing lamps don't emit the levels of UV you'd find outside. I know you can get UV from MH bulbs, CMH bulbs, and specialty UV bulbs made for reptiles.

 

[WheelsOG]

In my very limited experience I think most potency comes from good genetics.

Heres some Jock Horror grown with only soil/perlite, AN 3 part ferts, 150w HPS.

Plant #1: Light, airy, sweet smelling buds, covered in resin





Plant #2: Dense, sweet smelling buds, covered in resin. Great stone.

 

[Guest]

Jiggling nutes?

I think some growers overfertilize during flowering which in my opinion is has a more negative impact on potency than letting the plant remain nutrient deficient.

After genetics, which make up about 75% of th potency capacity, I think there are 3 other major influences:
Light- not enough does effect potency in my view
Feeding- too much is much worse than not enough
Harvest date- I think some growers often wait too long and let the trichs go amber resulting in the loss of that "high" effect.

Thats what I think. sb

 

[Miko]

Oh is that all it is Miko? I guess we can delete this thread guys, we figured it out.

He does have a point though, nobody has mentioned UV. Trichs protect the plant from UV rays, and a lot of growing lamps don't emit the levels of UV you'd find outside. I know you can get UV from MH bulbs, CMH bulbs, and specialty UV bulbs made for reptiles.

I understand your sarcasm. No, you don't need to delete the thread but you could use this http://www.icmag.com/ic/search.php?searchid=4558337

You could also go as deep as you would like with this and create many more threads of this sort, but I am pretty confident there's nothing you can do to really increase herb potency except to provide better lighting. You'll have to provide adecuate feed for the lighting as well, but that's too obvious innit.

Yes, you could put your plants in dark and it might help but only if the plants aren't really finished yet, in other words you simply prolong its life.
Cold nights? May be, seriously though I haven't seen my outdoor weeds any better in potency then indoor.

Give it good light, feed well, let finish properly. The rest is myphs. But take it as my opinion, off course. You're free to experiment with whatever you will as you know. In the end of the day I know I have stressed many plants in all imaginable ways for the sake of experiment and it made no difference. You have more then 2k of posts mate you should've already tried those things like dark period if you beleive in what those others say, not just hear about - I think it would make more sence to you.

 

[Miko]

I've been speaking on ptency, btw.

But it is pretty much the same about yield, I think. More light and radily available nutrients. I use mostly TopMax as flower enhancer, it works to some extent but if you use much it can actually decrease yield. It is also imoprtant to find right timing for feedings, ammount and balance of nutrients. SOG or SCROG types of grow indoors and just more plants outdoors. Veg longer. cheers

 

[bounty29]

I understand your sarcasm. No, you don't need to delete the thread but you could use this http://www.icmag.com/ic/search.php?searchid=4558337

You could also go as deep as you would like with this and create many more threads of this sort, but I am pretty confident there's nothing you can do to really increase herb potency except to provide better lighting. You'll have to provide adecuate feed for the lighting as well, but that's too obvious innit.

Yes, you could put your plants in dark and it might help but only if the plants aren't really finished yet, in other words you simply prolong its life.
Cold nights? May be, seriously though I haven't seen my outdoor weeds any better in potency then indoor.

Give it good light, feed well, let finish properly. The rest is myphs. But take it as my opinion, off course. You're free to experiment with whatever you will as you know. In the end of the day I know I have stressed many plants in all imaginable ways for the sake of experiment and it made no difference. You have more then 2k of posts mate you should've already tried those things like dark period if you beleive in what those others say, not just hear about - I think it would make more sence to you.

You think I've got 2k posts and don't know how to use the search feature?
You have to provide adequate feed, obvious? Not really, people grow weed with a huge variety of concentrations and recipes. Some people grow their plants with two to three times the concentration of the next person. Every plant is different, so what is adequate for one may be too much or too little for another. I agree the first major step in knowing a cut is running it a few times and figuring out it's exact nute demands, so that you can cross nutes off the list of things to improve for that strain.

You saying everything else besides better lighting to increase potency is myth is your opinion, and you are completely entitled to that. I disagree.

I have tried things, I have experimented, and I have educated myself. I doubt I'll ever be done. But to think that I would take someone's word as truth without questioning it? Sorry, that's not how I do things. Frankly, I don't think anybody should operate like that. Why let people answer questions for you when you can answer them yourself, recreating results right before your eyes, so you know 100% without a doubt what is true and what isn't. There are clearly some things that have been proven over and over and over again that you wouldn't want to spend your time doing, but the fact that questions like this are still asked on a frequent basis shows that there is more to be learned. If we knew how it all worked, there wouldn't be any debate.

If I could I would have a warehouse full of plants, figuring out the best ways to grow them, putting all the theories you see to the test, I would, but I can't. Until the laws change, everyone will just have to do their part, and share their findings with the world. This forum is an amazing place for that, and it really helps people come to a consensus on what works and what doesn't.

For some ideas it takes a long time to gain acceptance, but I remember a year ago when nobody knew what CMH was, and now it's all over the place. I haven't been on the scene for a long time, but I've already seen things come and go. There are people on these forums that have been growing and smoking for 20 times as long as I have, I don't claim to know everything, and I never will.

Oh, and post count doesn't mean anything. The only thing it indicates is activity in the forum, it has nothing to do with the skill of the grower. Quality of posts is what you look for, not quantity.

 

[bounty29]

http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2159.html

There's a good article to read about potency, the back issues of Cannabis Culture are a great resource, lots of information tucked away in there.

 

[zoolander]

I think the best way to do both is to learn the strain your runnin, train your plants to get maximum light penatration and and proper c02 levels and thats gotta be alot of it but like Bounty I'm always learnin and wanting to do better and learn by watchin others regardless of their grow level. This is just my 2 cents so lets not yell at me to much

 

[piffffalici0us]

Wow this turned out to be a great thread!
Thanks for all your inputs.
I heard KoolBloom is really good for the last stage in flowering.
but then i heard it can causehermies to develop.
I heard AN line is great, but is not avaliable to me at the moment.
I ran out of bud and im dying to smoke :"(

Thanks for the tips. I like the dark period idea.

 

[hermanshooltz]

I ran out of bud and im dying to smoke :"(

Seems that it turned out fine according to your current mood)))

Here's my method of rising trichomes quantity (checked by experiment) its quite common btw:
Just do not water the plants for the last 3 days before harvest - the plant takes the best from the leaves and puts it all to the buds (note it works best if you didn't cut down the all leaves on the late weeks of flowering)
Pretty simple and popular, but really works

 

[piffffalici0us]

lol...yea i didnt change my current mood in a while...i just picked up some piff from the block (i hate doing that shit...) so my mood is soon to change...lol

Thats a great method, i also like the idea to wait until they are very dry to make it think its a drought... (they will produce more trichomes thinking it will dry out) I wouldnt go to extremes with that method, cuz im sure that too dry will be counter effective.
But definetly the last few days wouldnt be a problem, and im sure it will help drying it out quicker too...

Its funny that a user (sorry i forgot ur name) posted his pics of jock horror, because its 1 of mine too...i am very excited to see it

 

[piffffalici0us]

how many ppms should i be at on week 4 of flowering? for promix
i didnt carry the the veg nutes into flowering so now left with a bunch of yellowing
:'(
basically i want to add more N but i also want to add a good amount of bloom.
And at the same time i dont want to burn my ladies.

I keep adding GH gro + lucas formula. and still not correcting my yellowing...bottoms are already dead, and its starting to affect the tops.

I wanted to add some koolbloom but i dont want to start that until i get this N figured out.
anyone have any words of advice?
they are looking beautiful, lots of trichomes for week 4(except the yellowing, i fear it will decrease my yield and potency).

if anyone wants to personally guide me thru this pm me...thanks...

 

[greenisgold]

The key to growing good weed is good genetics, good lighting of course, good soil/water, good ferts and "know how". AND most important using the KISS method. Too many people over-think when it comes to growing weed. I am by no means a great grower, but I have at least 20 plus years doing it. I have tried so many f-ing ferts, additives, etc.... And what I have found is that a simple 2 part system with a little help from just few other additives is one of the best ways to grow weed. Oh, and time for sure. The more grows under your belt the better.
That's my 2 cents.
Peace out all and may all your grows be great.

 

[Miko]

That was good post bounty29, thank you. I am in agreement with what you say there, just would like to clarify a few things.

You have to provide adequate feed, obvious? Not really, people grow weed with a huge variety of concentrations and recipes. Some people grow their plants with two to three times the concentration of the next person. Every plant is different, so what is adequate for one may be too much or too little for another. I agree the first major step in knowing a cut is running it a few times and figuring out it's exact nute demands, so that you can cross nutes off the list of things to improve for that strain.

I think you're confusing things here a little. Strain dependancy does not mean one don't have to provide adecuate feeding for the ammount of light available to the plants. All it means is that there are variations between different varieties - how much light and feed and their ratio a given variety requires, tolerates, or what's the best for the results you're after. I think we can agree that all varieties of highly psychoactive cannabis (and not only cannabis) all share one trait - the more light they receive the more food they will require to succesfully use it to their full potential. This holds true for any strain, in my opinion.

In one of your previous posts on the topic you used words like "I've heard" that led me to think you yourself had not tried those techniques mentioned. I think it would be better fr us to speak from our own experience and point of view just to have things a little clearer and not let confusion in.

It is indeed wrong to think I/you know everything and there's nothing left to discover. I am not saying don't try other things, what I am saying is more like do it but know your limits. Our limit is we're not a scientific group or anywhere near and on the subject of potency, at least my limited experience tells me, it is absolutely pointless to shoot in a blind mode and try this and that without any serious (scientific) debates and resarch. We can only go as far as our abilities let us - that is why I put it in rather simple and imho only apropriate fashion. CMH, for instance, is a new product researched and created by scientists and all we can do is try it and see how it does - we're consumers for new technology, not exactly those who discovered something new (well, on our wn level we have, off course).

There are so many other issues most growers need to resolve before even start thinking precisely on potency improvement. Yes, that's an opinion and I can't speak for all but I truly think many are confused and think in wrong direction. There are consumer questions we have to ask ourselves - is improved potency what we really need or perhaps we should be concentrating on something else? could it be that modern available to us strains already are potent enough? could it be we're better off improving on other things like quality of high or smell and taste? I can say for myself I'd rather have it less potent but with better high and taste. In other words, imho, where we are today is like we have herbs with 8 points in potency and 4-5 in other qualities and we still try to improve on how strong it is instead of concentrating on those qualities that are (imho) left behind.

cheers