Rock solid nuggets, how to grow?

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TSD

TSD

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A lot of commercial weed is tumbled to get that hard nug effect, but it is possible to do at home too. A lot of it is genetics, if a plant grows sparse flowers, nothing short of tumbling will make them tighter and denser. Of course getting the plant to full maturity helps, sounds obvious, but so many growers harvest early. For me personally, curing is the most important step to hard nugs. After a 1-2 month cure, most of my strains are dense nugs if not rock hard, without being overly dry... and I grow outdoor, which is notorious for producing fluffy buds. I don't personally use any bud boosters, just high quality nutrients throughout, and a dose or so of molasses in flower for the microbes. I think scrogging can help too, remove all that lower crap so she can focus only on nice colas... I did a scrog this year and the buds seem slightly more dense earlier in the cure than usual... but you can get them there without a scrog cause I have in every year past. Patience for proper curing is key, grove bags make curing easier.
 
Dub_City405

Dub_City405

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These people are wild. Lol rock hard nugs come from the genetics and the light intensity. With the proper environment. Temps cooler from week 6 and on. The correct PPMs when feeding. All of it matters.
 
mysticepipedon

mysticepipedon

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I used to have an indoor grow I could only use in winter months, so I sometimes put cuts from the spring indoor grow out in my yard for the summer (35 N latitude). Light intensity definitely is at play, but planting directly into amended mineral soil would also add silica that my indoor soil mix might have lacked.

Regardless, same genetics went from a bud density of about 6 on a 1-10 scale, to a 10.

With HPS, one way of increasing light intensity is lowering the light, but the increase in heat causes tasseling, which makes buds more fluffy. So there is a sweet spot when increasing light intensity also increases heat.

All this said, I've come to realize bud density is unrelated to potency. I no longer care about bud density.
 
TSD

TSD

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These people are wild. Lol rock hard nugs come from the genetics and the light intensity. With the proper environment. Temps cooler from week 6 and on. The correct PPMs when feeding. All of it matters.
Of course if you don't care for your ladies properly and give them enough light they won't reach thier full potential... but a lot is definitely genetics... and curing properly definitely plays a huge role, in my experience.
 
T

Titleist

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I have been a novice grower for a couple seasons now.
The commercial stuff that I buy, the nuggets are like rocks.
Is there something in the grow process or the curing/drying process that is making them this way?
The stuff that I grow is always good and potent, but the dried and cured buds are always nothing like the commercial stuff.
Thank you.

Although this can't be said for every commercial grower out there it can be said of many. Oftentimes the reason "commercial" product is much more dense that what "amateur" grow is due to the use of PGR's. I don't know how many these days or which ones are using them, but in a lot of cases commercial growers are using PGR's to obtain the type of product they want. PGR product tends to be very dense and hard. This generally translates to heavier product per square inch. It usually looks like it was vacuum sealed onto itself and very solid.

And as others have already stated, strain has a lot to do with it as well as lighting.
 
Naughtynodes

Naughtynodes

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Must get these dialed in-temps, humidity, lights, feeding, watering and if you can co2. ( mine are hard without co2) of course genetics go a long way. All it takes is 1 or more things out of wack and the plant will lack in 1 or more areas. Happy growing!!
 
Happyreefing

Happyreefing

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Although this can't be said for every commercial grower out there it can be said of many. Oftentimes the reason "commercial" product is much more dense that what "amateur" grow is due to the use of PGR's. I don't know how many these days or which ones are using them, but in a lot of cases commercial growers are using PGR's to obtain the type of product they want. PGR product tends to be very dense and hard. This generally translates to heavier product per square inch. It usually looks like it was vacuum sealed onto itself and very solid.

And as others have already stated, strain has a lot to do with it as well as lighting.
Here is a useful article relating to PGRโ€˜s
 
Happyreefing

Happyreefing

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Something about this is really piquing my interest, for the last 16 years I have been consuming cannabis and I have never met anyone who grows so I have never had the luxury of trying some homegrown, I believe everything I have encountered is this PGR weed and I might be pleasantly surprised after trying a batch that is full of tricombs and Turpines I will be back to report after my stuff is all cured up because I might just be changing my opinions drastically on this whole density situation I am under knowledged and looking to learn a great deal about this. Thank you guys for posting all of this awesome info I know it has definitely changed some opinions I have toward cannabis I definitely donโ€™t want to be putting things in my body that are genetically enhanced hormones, at least I donโ€™t think I do ๐Ÿ˜ท need to try some real deal is the deal โœŒ๏ธHappyreefingโœŒ๏ธ
 
Happyreefing

Happyreefing

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I also think that my opinion on fluffy versus dense cannabis comes from the fact that everything that I have had that is fluffy has always tasted like hay or grass, and then everything that I think that I have preferred has been very dense but because of my situation and the fact that I am unable to obtain homegrown quality I cannot so quickly pass judgment and even offer an opinion on this I have not seen both sides of the fence, currently week five of flower I think around New Yearโ€™s I should be able to report back after trying a batch of the real deal Holyfield โ›ฝ๏ธ
 
2Bad

2Bad

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Of course if you don't care for your ladies properly and give them enough light they won't reach thier full potential... but a lot is definitely genetics... and curing properly definitely plays a huge role, in my experience.
I like the getting rid of larf Idea along with genetics silica and light intensity. Sounds like a good combo.
 
TSD

TSD

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I like the getting rid of larf Idea along with genetics silica and light intensity. Sounds like a good combo.
I've never added silica, but I'm sure there must be some in my soil, it's very rocky and full of minerals all aroundmy holes... and it doesn't get more intense than the โ˜€๏ธ๐Ÿ˜Š
 
tobh

tobh

Supporter
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A lot of bro science going on here...

silica isn't the end all be all. sure, it helps, but it's only a component. game changer? hardly. helpful when more basic problems have been addressed? sure.

genetics, lighting in flower (too much = foxtails, too little = poor bract production, both dependent on stage of flower), proper nutrient ratios at the right EC + pH delivered at the right times, VPD, dry, processing, cure...

it's not "one thing" that makes rock hard buds, unless one uses PGRs, which are outlawed for human consumable goods most everywhere in the US (with contentions).

Dispensary weed is automatically processed and the process of tumbling leads to what you get in those bags or jars -- super compressed buds with no discernible bud structure and a "fuzzy" look -- those are headless trichomes. That's the result of multiple pounds tumbling against each other, reducing the air in the flower structure. The hand manicured shit goes for premium prices, and even that is lightly processed on trimming machines, so they're still getting their extra cut on the medicine the consumer should receive.

Just work on your techniques OP. Dial in your grow, run clones, and find what works for you. You'll get what you're measuring against, maybe, or you'll figure out dispo weed is commoditized and home grown still has a bigger market if you know the right people.
 
TSD

TSD

2,795
263
A lot of bro science going on here...

silica isn't the end all be all. sure, it helps, but it's only a component. game changer? hardly. helpful when more basic problems have been addressed? sure.

genetics, lighting in flower (too much = foxtails, too little = poor bract production, both dependent on stage of flower), proper nutrient ratios at the right EC + pH delivered at the right times, VPD, dry, processing, cure...

it's not "one thing" that makes rock hard buds, unless one uses PGRs, which are outlawed for human consumable goods most everywhere in the US (with contentions).

Dispensary weed is automatically processed and the process of tumbling leads to what you get in those bags or jars -- super compressed buds with no discernible bud structure and a "fuzzy" look -- those are headless trichomes. That's the result of multiple pounds tumbling against each other, reducing the air in the flower structure. The hand manicured shit goes for premium prices, and even that is lightly processed on trimming machines, so they're still getting their extra cut on the medicine the consumer should receive.

Just work on your techniques OP. Dial in your grow, run clones, and find what works for you. You'll get what you're measuring against, maybe, or you'll figure out dispo weed is commoditized and home grown still has a bigger market if you know the right people.
Yes. People need to realize most commercial grown is concerned about one thing... profits. Spray them with chemicals for pests, pump them full of everything they can handle for fast growth, get max crystals so you can tumble a bunch off to use for another product to double profits, do a quick dry and cure or maybe no cure at all, for fast turnover... why anyone would want to strive to make thier homegrown like commercially grown, is beyond me... it's mid level at best. Small craft grows and dispos are obviously a little different, but profit is still king most of the time. I can spend 8 months growing and curing my year's worth of smoke because profit isn't in my equation. I've seen videos from a friend that works in the industry in Cali, it definitely does not look like hard little Christmas trees when it goes into the tumbler, and the trichs on the tray below the tumbler are bountiful... thry wouldn't spend hundreds of thousands on the tumbling machines if it wasn't worth it. It doubles thier profits and makes uncurred weed look like it's been cured for 2 months.... until you smoke it and it gives you a headache and has a shit flavor profile... but that's why they invented terp sprays, to trick your nose... usually it's not even weed terps, it's shit extracted from lemons and herbs and shit. As usual, the almighty dollar has ruined something beautiful.
 
Ganjadad

Ganjadad

796
93
Yes. People need to realize most commercial grown is concerned about one thing... profits. Spray them with chemicals for pests, pump them full of everything they can handle for fast growth, get max crystals so you can tumble a bunch off to use for another product to double profits, do a quick dry and cure or maybe no cure at all, for fast turnover... why anyone would want to strive to make thier homegrown like commercially grown, is beyond me... it's mid level at best. Small craft grows and dispos are obviously a little different, but profit is still king most of the time. I can spend 8 months growing and curing my year's worth of smoke because profit isn't in my equation. I've seen videos from a friend that works in the industry in Cali, it definitely does not look like hard little Christmas trees when it goes into the tumbler, and the trichs on the tray below the tumbler are bountiful... thry wouldn't spend hundreds of thousands on the tumbling machines if it wasn't worth it. It doubles thier profits and makes uncurred weed look like it's been cured for 2 months.... until you smoke it and it gives you a headache and has a shit flavor profile... but that's why they invented terp sprays, to trick your nose... usually it's not even weed terps, it's shit extracted from lemons and herbs and shit. As usual, the almighty dollar has ruined something beautiful.
Nicely said ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
This is one of many reasons why I grow my own herb
 
Happyreefing

Happyreefing

424
93
Wow boys , well fucking said thank you ๐Ÿ™ I canโ€™t wait to try homegrown you have no idea how excited I am my whole life Iโ€™ve believed these rockhard dense was what everybody was going for , Iโ€™m very undereducated and extremely happy that I have been able to learn what you guys are putting forward here essentially itโ€™s almost like apples at the grocery store versus apples at a true farmers market I love this my mind feels like it just exploded this morning! Much much love โค๏ธ
 

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