THE GOOD OLD 1-2 TERPENE PUNCH
By this time your plants should be kicking out some great smells. While doing work around your plants inevitably we brush against a bud or two releasing some of those luscious smelling terpenes.
Terpenes are actually part of the plants natural defenses to either attract beneficial insects or repel pests or animals. For us it provides flavor and smell to our buds. Specific terpenes can actually have an effect on the type of high you will get after a smoking session. There may even be some medical benefits from using certain terpenes in treatment of many illnesses.
These terpenes start to develop during your flowering stage so it’s important to perform a few smaller stresses on our plants to increase terpene production.
One of those that I have covered is performing a light defoliation of the lower 25%-30% of the plant about 2 weeks into bloom. This is simulating an animal eating the lower leaves off your plants. Your plants reaction is to redirect its energy into the upper buds on your branches in order to increase terpenes so the plant will be unpalatable to some animals. Ever try chewing on a bud? See that’s the point!
Next, we can cautiously use a higher stress technique of branch pinching. Creating a slight amount of damage to the inner stems of the branches. Slightly rolling a softer yet strong spot of the branch well below your buds between your thumb and index finger or middle finger slightly squeezing the branch is all it takes. You can stop right there or take this a step further by utilizing a “Half Crop” technique or so I have coined it by then slightly bending the branch over at that same point say to maybe a 30 to 45-degree angle at most. When taking the branch all the way over to the 90-degree angle this would be considered a Super Cropping technique. I feel this would create too much high stress on the plant. So once again we are basically simulating an animal bending some branches creating some damage. When using any high stress techniques, we really increase the risk of triggering yet another self-preservation reaction in the plants which is the dreaded Hermaphroditism of the flowers occurs. Auto flower plants can be a bit more sensitive than photo-periods to high stress techniques. Yes, she’s quite a lady until you find out she’s putting out bananas behind your back. It’s important to keep your eyes out for those tricky bananas which if they go unnoticed will pollinate your flowers which means seeds. Once pollinated the flowers will focus on seed development not THC and terpene production. Definitely not what we want. If you see bananas cut out all stresses on your plants try to remove the affected bud/buds as soon as possible or if it’s just one plant remove it from the rest of the grow. Now if they throw out a few bananas during the late ripening phase or end of your harvesting window I would simply harvest them as soon as possible to hinder any seed development.
We know our girls put on a great show under those bright lights. Our reward is lots of trichomes baby! This is where most of the terpenes are located. Trichomes are another one of the plants natural defenses to protect itself from extreme light damage. So, creating some light stress using the ideal color spectrums during each stage of growth and bloom while gradually increasing the intensity will force the plant to grow more trichomes during the peak parts of bloom in an effort to protect the sugar leaves and flowers from too much light. Remember to achieve the proper intensity without burning your plants you may need to splurge for a PAR meter. Using this will give you some of peace of mind.
If you want to kick stress levels up a notch or two try adding 3 to 4 hours a day of UVB light during the last few weeks of your grow. A study has shown that this can increase trichome growth and density. While this study never compared if UVA light has the same effect some light manufacturers are already adding UVA bulbs in their lights.
https://news.californialightworks.com/uvb-light-and-thc-potency/
https://www.blackdogled.com/blogwhich-is-better-uva-or-uvb/
How about those beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae we’ve been adding to our soil throughout the grow? Seems like Cannabis is like a fine-tuned plant which protects itself from every angle. These beneficial microbes form a very close mutual relationship with our plants root systems they both give and receive the nourishment by breaking down our nutrients and producing natural chelates and amino acids to benefit our plants. It’s usually a good idea to use some Organic Unsulfured Blackstrap Molasses to add some carbohydrates to feed the microbe herd. Some growers claim using the molasses aids in improving the smell and taste of their buds. There is even some information that using Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) can boost potency, terpenes and yield. Check it out. I’ll have to give it a try one day.
https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/blog-lactic-acid-bacteria-lab-boosts-potency-terpenes-and-yield-n1153
Others swear by using commercially produced terpene enhancers. While I make no claim of being a chemist, I couldn’t help but notice most of these products typically contain Magnesium Sulfate or Potassium Sulfate and or some mystery bio magical ingredient. There are a few over my head type research journals on the internet which associate certain metals and sulfur are essential in forming some of these compounds found in terpenes. Oddly enough Blackstrap molasses has magnesium, potassium and even some sulfur in it plus many more beneficial nutrients. It’s important to note that “unsulfured” molasses does not contain the preservative “sulfur dioxide” which could damage your microbe herd.
Temperature for maximizing terpene production
The high temperatures from artificial light sources can damage terpenes and essential oils. This is one reason why I recommended to lower the operating temperature during the last couple of weeks of flowering (peak terpene production). Generally, the optimal operating temperature for growing cannabis is 75-80˚F. During the last couple of weeks of flowering, some growers drop the temperature range by 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit. This reduction in temperature slightly stresses the plants and increases terpene production while protecting the terpenes from being damaged by excessive heat. Just be sure the temperature doesn’t drop too low or there is not a differential of more than 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit from the light and dark periods. Operating temperatures below 60˚F can be counterproductive and reduce yields. Also, a large temperature differential between the light and dark periods could cause condensation and/or humidity related issues.
Humidity for maximizing terpene production
Ideally, the humidity level in a cannabis flowering room would fall between 50-60 percent during bloom. However, during the last few weeks of flowering, the humidity level can be dropped to around 30 percent to slightly stress the plants. This usually requires a dehumidifier. The lower humidity lightly stresses the plants which, in turn, increases terpene production. Lower humidity during the last weeks of flowering also reduces the likelihood of molds and other humidity-related problems.
Drought stress is the last trick up our sleeve to fake out the plant into thinking it’s going to die. This needs to be done very carefully. Last three weeks before harvest try to allow your plants to get a bit drier before the next watering. Not to the point where the leaves wilt from extreme lack of water but just let your pots get a bit lighter in weight. This can be dangerous if you have a high nutrient salt build up in your pots. Letting them dry out can increase the salinity in your pots and cause nutrient burn. Always monitor your runoff ppm’s when watering and feeding. You can continue this wet then dry type watering cycle after you flush your plants right up until harvest. Also, excess nutrients can hinder terpene development so don’t over feed your plants and flush 2 weeks before harvest.
Bring on the dank buddy goodness!
WEEK 8 UPDATE
They were given their last feeding a few days before the end of the week. Buds are smelling incredible with a nice heavy ripe citrus overtone filling my tent over powering the FB Blackberry Kush's berry/earthy smell. I even catch a nice whiff when I'm outside near my vent even though I'm using a carbon filter on my exhaust. I'm very impressed with this strains perfect size for using 3 gallon pots, shape, overall uniformity and the ease of lst training of the plants and buds. Bud development is nice with a low leaf to high dense calyx ratio just the way it should be. As the pistils are drying and curling the calyx are starting to show signs of swelling up. Trichome color is some clear with mostly cloudy/milky with sporadic ambers showing up mostly on the small sugar leaves. Guesstimating 10-14 days for flushing then harvest. Looking to use this as a day time smoke so I will try to take them when the main cola shows 15+% amber trichomes this should give me a nice mixture of ripening stages to sample from the lower buds. Grow tent conditions are the same as week 6.
What a fantastic diary and tutorial! I bookmarked this grow and will certainly re-read it multiple times in the future. Thanks a lot! One can clearly see that you put a lot of thinking into it. What a pleasure to read. 😍👍💪
damn that looks tastie.. I got some of them seeds on the way soon cant wait... and today I saw one of fast buds pre-released strains was the original ak, im glad the new strains are coming ive grown every single seed fast buds sells except for their rhino...anyways good diary nice pics and great write up
@visco, I sent you some info about Hella Dank Seed Company out of Nevada via the private chat tab. They carry Fast Buds Seeds and a number of other high quality genetics. If you catch a Fast Buds buy one get one free promotion you"ll make out pretty good stocking up on seeds. Just make sure they are honoring the FB promotions. If anyone else reading this post has any questions about Hella Dank Seed Company just shoot me a message and I can fill you in on the details. https://dankseed.store/genetics?olsPage=t%2Ffast-buds
Nice Diary and very entertaining . I like it that you shared your thoughts to the grow. And i found myself in this toughts. And iam going to tst your reciepe for vodka... but uncarboxylated. ) i would fall to slep immediately) i like the ideas of spices and hoeny in it....gotta test it
@Mrs_Larimar, Thank you, I usually have a shot or 2 late in the evening then glide off to sleep after a few hours. I have shared this at a holiday party with freinds it was very well received it created a nice social atmosphere. I think the effect would be determined by the strain and ripeness of the bud. Also using Vodka problably doesn't extract as much thc as say using pure grain alcohol. I think my concern was more about not winding up with a green colored mixture. Grain alchohol will extract some of the chlorophyll in the bud.
Thanks for the details. I am looking to get a light meter and this helps. Also your thoughts on week six cal mag deficiency. I’ll add in bone meal to my mix.
At the moment worm casting works great for me.
But yeah, more organic would be better.
@Philindicus, hey thanks - i'll go lightly on the bone meal then. Thought I was gonna put in 10% in the mix. Better to use 5%.
With light meters, I was really confused. But I already notice how my seedlings are doing better under cfl than LED. There are rooms to play with with various specialty light colors like green and UV.
I do grow out door but thinking about setting up an indoor space to veg.
@Med_in_Tropic, I bought an inexpensive hydro farm PAR meter for LED light use. I've already had to break out the soldering iron to fix a loose wire from pulling on the sensor cord. It gets the job done but the Apogee 500 full spectrum is $550 this is better quality. I'll put it on my long wish list. Just nice to know how intense your lights are at different positions in your tent you can pull denser trichome growth out of your buds. Also on the list is a UVB light.Growers of photo period plants running their blooms at 12 hrs a day can go a lot higher than I'm running my autos that's where the DLI comes in to play. Trying a few new things this grow with 3 gallon deeper pots. I will know if leaning organic is working by the amount of root mass leading up to nice top growth. Once again I am height restricted so I prefer to try to keep them no taller than 24 inches after stretch if possible.
I think if you premix bone meal into your soil mix ahead of time and allow it to break down for a while it could help but being high in phosphorus there's always a risk of root burn. Possibly layering the richest mix on the bottom of the pot would be better with a leaner mix closer to the plants young roots.
@SirDillton, Thanks, This has really been my best grow so far. I usually lolly pop my plants a bit more than I did this time. Seems like the top 5-7 buds on the branches have nice density. I typically run around 1.5+ oz per plant of top solid bud. I haven't separated out the larf buds yet but I will be doing a few recipes with this stuff.
@GrowGuyTy, I was trying to add more photos and stuff but the site keeps logging me out in the middle of trying to update. I've been having to log back in at least a few times per hour. I messaged GD about the issue. Wonder if anyone else is having the issue of constantly being logged out. I know GD has been making improvements to the site it could be on their list.
@EZgrower, Wish I could handle a good bong hit. Fact is since I quit smoking cigarettes like 20 years ago I can't take deep hits any more. I would like to invest in a nice vaporizer at some point.
fantastic Lemon AK. Enjoy the fruit of your hard work bro! 420FASTBUDS are best to start with when growing autos for sure! 👍 i'm Flowering the Gorilla, check it out if you like! thanks!! 👍