Any kush tips?

[PurSaveer]

This is a kush strain I got a long time ago, and I've grown from cuttings. When I get really lucky, it smells and tastes amazing when smoked. In a 'normal' crop, the flavor is elusive. A long time ago there was purple kush floating around that was sold in tuna fish cans. It had that fantastic kush taste too- sometimes. I know heat is the enemy, and I use straight water for the last 10-14 days. I've even left the finished plants in the dark for a week, but sometimes the buds developed a flavor that tasted like the soilless mix they were grown in. They've now been on water for a week, with a week to go. This is my second SF LED grow. The first one, the potency was great, but the flavor, not so much. I sure would like to know how to get to that special kushy place every time- or is that even possible? Thanks all.

 

[JWM2]

Kush is known for having an earthy terp profile. Some of the hybrids exhibit flavors like you have experienced but that’s usually because of the other parent in the hybrid. Kush tends to grow very compact and dense buds and has a pungent terp profile. I grew Bubba kush years ago and it had a perfume like terp profile which disappeared after curing.

 

[PurSaveer]

Thanks JWM2. Back in the 90s I went to Amsterdam and bought Jack Herer seeds from the Sensi Seed Co. When I grew it, it had a fantastic smell and taste when smoked. It smelled like incense. You almost wouldn't know it was marijuana, it was so 'incensy'. After growing it for a bit, the flavor just went away. Many years later I got 'Jack Herer' seeds and grew them- but the JH flavor was not there! Now, this kush has that flavor- occasionally! I'm of the belief that if I try hard enough, I can capture the elusive flavor more often. The weed is always good, but I'm looking for that taste to go with it. I flower these girls for 56 days. I've been able to keep the temp down to 77 most of the time, and never above 80.

 

[RippedTorn]

Kush is known for having an earthy terp profile.

I'll always consider that a flaw, and when the community figures out what causes its, I'm sure everyone will.

It's definitely from the soil,not a Cannabis metabolite. There seems to be a correlation between "earth" and color changes. There's also a correlation with texture of the resin, Ive learnt to feel the flaw with two fingers, blindfolded with cotton balls shoved up my nose.

That's a huge problem with the Cannabis realm, no one wants to identify/acknowledge/quantify flaws. Personally the Cannabis community has a lot of growing up to do unless everyone wants the top price for an ounce of good dark to be that of a 30 pack of Rolling Rock rather than the price of an expensive wine.

 

[PurSaveer]

To clarify: when I said the weed tasted like the soilless mix it was grown in, there were 2 other varieties that had the same taste. When the kush tastes its best (to me), it tastes almost like sandalwood incense smells, sorta kinda. I thought somebody might comment on the flowering time, and I had another question from before too. What does anybody think about lowering the light intensity (going from a Spider Farmer SF-4000 to a SF-2000). Yes I know I could dim it. It just seems to me that when kush matures in nature, the light would be less intense at the end of flower. Maybe that doesn't apply to indoor growing under lights because we don't approximate the same power as the sun indoors?