how to get dense buds?

wakeNbaker46 said:

they were hovering at 15 wks, and i noticed that they were on the cusp of diminishing odor, the plants weren't drinking water really at that point, all calyxes were orange and receded, leaves had been fading for weeks, trichomes were all cloudy, etc. i'm fairly confident that if i had let them go much longer, i would have crossed a threshold.
i've got a new run in the tent, different breeder and strains. running the same medium, lights, etc so we'll see what happens...
thanks for the reply, appreciate it.

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Sounds like letting them go longer would not have been the thing to do.
I’ve let plants go too long waiting for amber trichs that never happened……and lost a lot of Terp profile in doing so.
Fluffy buds could be caused by a number of things. How was the health of the plants ?
Healthy plants finish up like they’re supposed to while plants with issues tend to get stuck and never wrap it up.
Too much N can be one issue that will result in leafy buds.
But, more than likely, it’s genetics.
Lastly, I’m no lighting expert but maybe someone can comment on your setup……I use 2 HLG r-specs and the buds have always been super dense….but not all lights are created equal.
Good luck.

pegboy said:

I respectfully disagree. Dense buds should pretty much be dense right out of the gate. If they aren't dense by week 5 or 6 a few more weeks really isn't going to help.

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Generally true....but not always.

ab2t2000 said:

if it’s for personal use Yh don’t Lool I’m just throwing suggestions

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Still pretty fucked up to use PGRs and sell it to people.

Tolerance Break said:

Still pretty fucked up to use PGRs and sell it to people.

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Very fucked up

More for you, enjoy

ab2t2000 said:

if it’s for personal use Yh don’t Lool I’m just throwing suggestions

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So if it's not for your own bowl you are all good with poisoning other smokers?

ab2t2000 said:

Just like smoking a cigarette increases the chance of cancer and stuff if u don’t use a lot you’ll be fine

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I've spent time with people who have stage 4 cancer, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Risking ones own health is a choice, but doing it for more weight on something as easy to grow as weed? Selling that weed for profit?

I just think it's morally wrong and it gives weed a bad name. Suggesting it to someone without a disclaimer is also messed up in its own right.

no Offense but a pgr is A lot of things and a lot of organics will too including even kelp to alfalfa ….

i don’t agree people should be using synthetic versions exp made for non edible consumption made pgr’s but there’s nothing wrong with adding organic pgr’s.

another point is compaction isn’t everything if using certain things to force such look vs genetics and environmental stability , huge con is when qc degrades for super compaction , anyone remeber bush master and growers in Canada pushing hardcore pgr produced buds aka beasters ?

Quality genetics and a balanced diet..

wakeNbaker46 said:

i just harvested and cured my first four plants. smoke report is better than i thought it would be. buds are sticky, smell like a skunk got dipped in gasoline. pretty happy with it, honestly.
however, during the trim job, i realized that the buds were fluffy AF. like, when i trimmed back leaves there was very little flower to be found. curing helped a bit with compacting it down, but still...i feel like i grew cannabis leaves vs cannabis flowers.
what are the tricks to dense, thick colas and buds?
my first grow was all auto from RQS, 3 indica dominant and 1 cbd. i ran them in FFHF with Dr Earth dry amendments, fed every 2-3 wks. lighting is ES300 x 2 in a 4x4 tent.
is it genetics? is it grow medium? will photos have denser buds?
i'm open to all advice and suggestions.

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Some genetics respond extremely well to schwazzing. If you didn't do any defoliation, I highly recommend you try it. I just started and after doing more research, I'm positive it has impacted my bud development.

Dense buds is genetics first then environment second you want to be a bit cooler in bloom if its too hot you lose density if its too cold you will get lots of resin but very little bud formation and alot more leaf growth ime

Cookie Rider said:

Id have to guess fluffy buds maybe from too hot an environment.

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I have had fluffy buds at temp above 82
Flowers to close to light, ppfd above 1200

Know what I do I think works maybe it dosent like
But see why a big bud wouldn't be one bud it would a few smaller buds like stuck to the main stem
I would always pull the bottom buds away from the main stem
Like your trying to get airflow at a big bud

Do it when your in gazing at them late in flower when they are near done last few weeks denseing out

Cookie Rider said:

Id have to guess fluffy buds maybe from too hot an environment.

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Seems like indoor boxes should not get much warmer than 75, fan need one

Cookie Rider said:

Id have to guess fluffy buds maybe from too hot an environment.

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Can be also sometimes be poor airflow too

Distance of light, light ban color, temp, humidity
Water ppm all need to be within ranges.
Pictures help

I think a wee tip obv trim the branch from the bottom up you don't want shaded really
But I think say 1 big bud is like 8 small buds stuck together
Try and pull them away from the stem like your trying to get air flow in there

All takes time.
Light, nutrients, distance, red ban.

wakeNbaker46 said:

i just harvested and cured my first four plants. smoke report is better than i thought it would be. buds are sticky, smell like a skunk got dipped in gasoline. pretty happy with it, honestly.
however, during the trim job, i realized that the buds were fluffy AF. like, when i trimmed back leaves there was very little flower to be found. curing helped a bit with compacting it down, but still...i feel like i grew cannabis leaves vs cannabis flowers.
what are the tricks to dense, thick colas and buds?
my first grow was all auto from RQS, 3 indica dominant and 1 cbd. i ran them in FFHF with Dr Earth dry amendments, fed every 2-3 wks. lighting is ES300 x 2 in a 4x4 tent.
is it genetics? is it grow medium? will photos have denser buds?
i'm open to all advice and suggestions.

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A lot of strains that are dense, is the genetics coupled with nutrients. Getting your light height dialed in without over doing it will definitely help. You want to find the right medium in the middle of rock solid and feather soft. Because if it's too fluffy and soft, it's going to take a ton just to get the weight you want, and it will burn up super fast. If it's too dense, now you got more weight and better looking nugs, but now if it's too dense you fight with powder mildew and mold, and even if you make it all the way through the harvest and the cure with no issues, now you gotta try to light a ROCK! I hate when the bud is so dense you can't even light the bowl! It just burns all the trichs and pistils around the edge and the bowl doesn't smoke right... Hahaha
It's a struggle, the struggle is real.

wakeNbaker46 said:

i just harvested and cured my first four plants. smoke report is better than i thought it would be. buds are sticky, smell like a skunk got dipped in gasoline. pretty happy with it, honestly.
however, during the trim job, i realized that the buds were fluffy AF. like, when i trimmed back leaves there was very little flower to be found. curing helped a bit with compacting it down, but still...i feel like i grew cannabis leaves vs cannabis flowers.
what are the tricks to dense, thick colas and buds?
my first grow was all auto from RQS, 3 indica dominant and 1 cbd. i ran them in FFHF with Dr Earth dry amendments, fed every 2-3 wks. lighting is ES300 x 2 in a 4x4 tent.
is it genetics? is it grow medium? will photos have denser buds?
i'm open to all advice and suggestions.

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Youre not low on watts, thats for sure. The Electric sky is a very red heavy led light; you could argue that its missing green which imo opinion is responsible for harder denser buds but lower quality in terps.
What could be done to improve? Coco hydro for nutes with high EC (at the right time) but controlled run off so you dont cause lock out. This will allow you to push more light, lower lights and push for better buds.
But mainly what can be done without changing anything and risking f- ups is to limit lower budsites, clean the bottoms and remove sucker growth, that way budding energy will be concentrated to tops and mid buds, get bigger and denser. Ymmv. Hope op is still around its been time and i didnt read the complete thread.

Edit: more than strain id say the right pheno. We had generally soft buds on our latest amnesia cross pheno hunt but number 5 had rocks all they way down, even smaller buds was hard. Hard buds and dense buds are two different things: hps have less dense dry buds due to more water but they still come out as big and hard many times. Density is weight/volume: if you have a 100g of dense buds they will look smaller than 100g of not dense, but the not dense may still be the eye catcher due to size and still being hard enough