Last summer, 40 growers germinated cannabis seeds as part of a global outdoor grow study. That fall, only 16 growers submitted harvest reports. Learn what made the difference between those who struggled, and those who succeeded.

What did successful outdoor growers do differently?

Reported by Alexandria Doner-Irons, owner and founder of Queen of the Sun Grown. GrowWeedEasy.com is not affiliated with Queen of the Sun Grown, but we thought this was awesome research that outdoor growers need to hear about.

See the full results of the study on Seedsman.

Quick Summary of BLAZE 2025 Outdoor Cannabis Grow Study

Written by Nebula Haze based on this report.

• 95 growers registered and bought seeds to participate
• 40 growers reported they germinated seeds
• 16 growers completed the challenge and submitted harvest reports

Doner-Irons stated, “While the completion rate came in below 30%, this highlights an important truth about outdoor cultivation: it’s unpredictable, challenging, and requires consistency. And that’s exactly why this data matters.”

• 40% completion rate (based on germination survey → harvest reports)
• 16.8% completion rate (based on total registered → completed)

3 Core Themes in The Study

Outdoor results were heavily affected by environment, grower decisions, and the chosen soil

• Your Climate is Key – The environment is ultimately the boss when it comes to outdoor growing. You can’t control the environment, and the most successful growers found ways to work with their climate instead of fighting against it.
• Grower Choices Matter –  Including, but not limited to, strain choice. Growers working with the same genetics in different regions had wildly different results from each other. The most experienced growers got great results even when the strains weren’t well suited to their climate. Preventative pest tactics (like IPM) and good watering habits avoided many of the stress and bug-related issues experienced by the less successful growers.
• Healthy Soil = Healthy Plants – One of the most notable results from the 2025 study was the connection between plant performance and soil.

Key Finding: Living soil growers had the best results.

“Growers who utilized living soil systems consistently reported stronger, more vigorous plants with increased resistance to both pests and environmental stress. These plants not only grew better but also recovered faster when challenges arose. Practices like microbial inoculation, compost teas, and regular top dressing with organic inputs proved to be highly effective.”

• Living soil – stronger, more vigorous plants

This is just the tip of the iceberg, don’t miss the full report!

Purple Oreoz F1 bud from the study basking in the sun.

Their outdoor grow calendar for cannabis growers helps you stay on track.

2026 Study Still Open to Outdoor Growers

For outdoor growers who want to participate for the 2026 grow season, there’s still time.

Sign up for the 2026 outdoor BLAZE study here (it’s free and helps other outdoor growers)

After completing a full cycle and sending your results, you get free seeds the following season if you want to participate again. Outdoor strains for this year’s study (if you didn’t participate last year, you can still use code BLAZE to get 10% off on these strains to participate in the study)

• Sour Diesel JUST RESTOCKED (Sativa dominant) – This new stabilized version of Sour Diesel was recently released by Seedsman. It’s particularly well suited to outdoor growing, with a faster finish than most Sativa strains. Especially likes warm, dry climates with room to stretch out and get big. Buds are dense and sticky growing in traditional “colas” (big baseball bat buds) like its Haze ancestors.
• Guava Root GMO (Indica dominant) – Compact grow pattern, high yielding, “rootbeer” hints, beginner friendly. Purple-tinted 22%+ THC buds are strong but not overwhelming, great for a mellow afternoon. Great for extracts (4.7% hash by weight using the ice water extraction method, for lovely bubble hash). Give it lots of sun and love.

She also offers a cannabis Botanical Latitude Wall Calendar. Even if you don’t grow outdoors, it’s fun to have a calendar about it.

This outdoor grow calendar for cannabis growers helps you stay on track.

See the full results of the study on Seedsman.

Wesley’s Acapulco Gold, Amnesia Haze and Lemon Skunk plants took over the yard.

The post What Successful Outdoor Growers Did Differently appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Today learn the universal principles that let you grow better weed than you can buy. 

I love these strains for home growers: Blue Dream (pictured here), Candy Games #38, and Purple Ghost Candy.

1.) Start with Extraordinary Genetics

What to Do: Start with the best seeds you can find. Good seeds germinate consistently and produce the kind of weed you want (density, smell, size, effects, strength, color, smoothless, etc.).

Why: Good seeds grow good weed with your desired effects, even if you make mistakes. Plants works with you instead of against you.

Quick Win: Use one of the following 3 methods to find great genetics for your next cannabis grow.

1. Choose a proven breeder and read the strain description to find what suits you. A good breeder always maintains quality for all their seeds. Some breeders I like lately are Happy Valley Genetics, Seedsman, Seed Supreme, and Ethos (all represented in my current grow journal). 
2. Copy what works – Get the genetics that you see people growing great weed with. For example, if you have friends that grow weed, or interact with growers on social media, take their lead if you like what you see. Find out what they’re growing and get seeds from the same source to copy their results.
3. Enjoy the gamble – The old fashioned method. Grow the seeds you have, or choose a strain that sounds good and go for the adventure! Good seed banks curate their seed selection and have seed germination guarantees, so any of their seeds should produce good weed.

The seeds you pick make a huge difference to results. For example, the following plants were grown together with the same grow medium, nutrients, and care. But look how different they’re turning out! The difference is 100% genetics, not anything I did.

Blue Dream and Candy Games #38 have wildly different genetics! Choose a strain that makes weed you want to grow.

2.) Use a Strong LED Grow Light (Cannabis-Specific)

What to Do: Get a proven cannabis grow light that’s designed for the size of your grow space.

Why: Light = food for plants. More light is better, up to a point. Spectrum (light color) matters too, affecting not only yields, but also density, color, and potency. Older grow lights, most especially “blurple” LEDs, don’t get nearly as good cannabis yields or bud density as newer “quantum board” style LEDs with pinkish or white light.

Modern cannabis LEDs usually produce white or pinkish light.

Quick Win:

1. Choose an LED grow light that’s proven to get great results with weed. The best thing you can do is use a grow light that growers are already using to produce great cannabis harvests. 
2. Good LED companies include… We’ve consistently found these are the most popular grow lights for GrowWeedEasy.com readers: Spider Farmer, Mars Hydro, and HLG. I’ve used multiple models from each of these companies and always had great results with growing weed. Which one to get? Choose the grow light that best fits your grow space and budget requirements. Spider Farmer and Mars Hydro get about equal results. HLG lights tend to be overpowered and cost a lot, and often have to be turned down even in a dialed in setup, but gets some of the best bud density of any LED we’ve tried so far. Even their tiny 65W and 100W LED lights have produced multiple ounces for us.
3. Check out our list of 9 recommended cannabis lights with yield estimates, and see pictures of real cannabis plants we’ve grown with them.

A HLG 65W LED is surprisingly productive in a 2x2x3 grow tent. Not bad for an LED that uses less electricity than my bedroom fan.

Or upgrade to a bigger grow light, like a HLG 350 Diablo (or two).

Or go BIG, like Max did here, with multiple lights including a Spider Farmer G5000.

Often it’s easier to combine multiple smaller grow lights than have one enormous grow light. That way you can adjust them independently and have more control over where light falls.

3.) The Right Nutrients at the Right Time

Whether you grow in soil, coco, or hydro, provide proper nutrients. Either use cannabis-specific nutrients and dole out to plants on a schedule. Or start with a cannabis-specific soil that slowly delivers the right nutrients at the right time (called “just-add-water” super soil). 

What to Do: Make sure plants get the right amount of nutrients at the right time.

Why: Faster greener growth, but more importantly, proper nutrition in the flowering stage greatly increases bud quality, yields, and potency. On the other hand, a plant that is starved of nutrients while buds are forming makes small, airy, non-potent buds. Most crucially, make sure plants have plenty of nutrients for the first 6+ weeks of the flowering stage, until hairs start darkening and curling in. Plants still need nutrients after that, but for the best harvest, it’s especially important to avoid significant nutrient deficiencies during the early flowering stage and initial bud formation.

Quick Win: Use cannabis nutrients and follow an already-tested schedule

1. Easy cheap option – Dyna-Gro Grow + Bloom. Give at 1 tsp/gallon. Give “Grow” for seedlings until first 3 weeks into flowering stage. Then once the flowering stretch is over, give “Bloom” until harvest. These nutrients were initially designed for orchids, but growers have discovered they give surprisingly great results with weed. I was impressed when I tried them in coco.
2. Advanced nutrient system – General Hydroponics Flora trio. My personal favorite nutrients, I find the GH trio provides some of the fastest growth and biggest yields. No need to follow a special schedule. Just follow the amounts listed on the side of the bottle at half-strength, and only raise the amounts if plant seem pale. I’ve had good results in soil, coco, and hydro.
3. Use super soil instead – Use a “just add water” organic soil that’s made for a plant like cannabis. This kind of soil slowly releases nutrients over the course of the grow, so you don’t need to add any extra nutrients. Nature’s Living Soil is a proven super soil concentrate that makes super soil when used with Coco Loco soil. Just remember, super soil can be stinky at first! But the smell settles after the plants make themselves at home in the soil.

General Hydroponics Flora trio are my personal favorite nutrients for growing weed.

Follow the directions on the bottle at half-strength to grow green, happy, and abundant cannabis plants.

4.) Water Plants So They Grow Faster

Water plants regularly with the right amount at a time. It’s important roots don’t dry out, or stay overly wet for too long. Luckily, if you’re following all the other steps here, you can make some watering mistakes and plants still turn out great. Cannabis plants are remarkably able to recover from watering issues as long as you course-correct.

What to Do: Water plants properly. The easiest method is to follow a cannabis-specific watering schedule like the one below. Or follow proven general principles.

Why: Plants grow faster and get fewer deficiencies, especially seedlings, when given the right amount of water. Good watering practices helps plants start growing fast out the gate. 

Seedlings grow super fast if you give the right amount of water!

I use a battery operated water transfer pump to easily water plants.

Quick Win: Basically, give seedlings just a little water at a time, at first, in a small circle around the base, every few days. If you don’t want guesswork, follow the following seedling watering schedule that I use. It’s suitable as long as you’re in a 3 or 5-gallon pot (and works pretty well in most sizes). Never wonder again if you’re over or under-watering your seedlings!

Day 1 – Give 2 cups (500ml) water per plant (at this point, your cannabis seedlings should have their leaves completely open and be in a 3-gallon or 5-gallon pot under the grow light)
Day 3 – Give 2 cups (500ml) water per plant
Day 6 – Give 2 cups (500ml) water per plant
Day 8 – Give 3 cups (750ml) water per plant (every 3 days after this)
Day 11 – Give 3 cups (750ml) water per plant
Day 14 – Give 4 cups (1 liter) water per plant
Day 17 – Give 4 cups (1 liter) water per plant
Day 20 – Give 5 cups (1.25 liter) water per plant
Day 23 – Give 6 cups (1.5 liter) water per plant
Day 26 – Give 6 cups (1.5 liter) water per plant
Day 29 – Give 8 cups or 1/2 gallon (2 liter) water per plant

At first, cannabis seedlings only need a little water in a circle around their base.

After the first 30 days, start watering like this…

(1+ Months) Cannabis Watering Schedule

1. Wait until top inch of soil is dry (for coco, wait until top is mostly dry)
2. Water until you get 10-20% runoff out the bottom
3. Remove runoff (test the pH if needed) and start over

P.S. Learn about auto-watering pot bases so you can water plants less often. I’m loving them lately.

5.) Harvest at the Right Time

Wait to harvest until buds have reached peak potency, size, and bud quality. Harvest earlier (speedier more “up” weed) or later (stronger relaxation effect) to achieve your desired effects. Dry and cure using a proven home method.

What to Do: Harvest buds based on their maturity level. After harvest, dry buds to make them smokable (buds are mostly water on the plant), and then jar them so they “cure”.

Why: Choosing the right harvest time maximizes yields, potency, and effects. Drying and especially curing increases density, appearance, potency, and effects, while enhancing the natural bud smell.

Quick Win: 

1. Follow our free harvest & curing guide on GrowWeedEasy.com
2. Check out our new digital book HARVEST. It’s perfect if you want a step-by-step harvest guide that’s available anywhere without the internet Growers who sign up for our Home Grow Masterclass next week get a free copy of HARVEST. And those who have already purchased HARVEST get a steep discount on the class! Make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter and watch your email for more info coming soon.

Wait until buds have reached maturing before harvesting for best effects…

Harvest time may be my favorite part of growing!

The post Grow Better Weed: The 5 Core Principles appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

“Curing” is a special process that makes cannabis better after you’re done harvesting and drying buds. A proper cure improves the density and smell of buds, but that’s not all. Curing cannabis actually increases the subjective potency of buds, and improves the overall subjective effects.

The #1 Most Important Tool for Curing Weed: Boveda Humidity Control Packs (automatically maintain humidity)

Why do growers cure weed in the first place?

• Higher Bud Density – Curing tends to tighten buds so they are overall more dense and feel more solid.
• Improve Smell – Sometimes the cannabis smell gets lost during the drying process. Curing helps bring those smells back. They also increase the overall complexity of smells.
• Increase Potency – After curing buds for two weeks, they typically feel “stronger” when smoking compared to smoking right after they are first dried.
• More Lovely Effects – Many growers feel the effects of cured buds are more captivating, more relaxing, or otherwise improved.
• Smoother to Smoke – Curing buds tend to make them less “harsh” to smoke, so they’re easier on your lungs.

Curing can make the difference between “good” and “out of this world” cannabis!

Curing gives you higher quality, more potent weed! (This is Alaskan Thunderf*ck after curing)

This Purple Ghost Candy got ultra dense after curing.

A cannabis grower’s 3 best curing tools:

1. Boveda Curing Packs – Moisture levels in the air are key to a great cure, and these packs automatically maintain the humidity (amount of water in the air) to ensure buds never get too wet or too dry. The right humidity ensures buds are exposed to the perfect amount of moisture during the curing process.
2. Wide-Mouth Glass Mason Jars – Glass mason jars are perfect for curing and long term storage, as they are airtight but easy to open and close. The “wide mouth” version ensures you can fit your hands inside. Glass mason jars are what most cannabis growers use for curing, and what I use. The most popular size is 32 oz (1 quart), which holds about 1 ounce of weed. A few other types of containers can be used for curing, but are much less common (more info below).
3. Mini Hygrometers (Optional) – It’s nice to know the humidity inside your jars. However, the Boveda Humidity Packs automatically maintain the humidity, so this is the least important of the 3 tools.

With these three tools alone, you can achieve a fool-proof professional cannabis cure every harvest!

Complete Step-By-Step Guide to Cannabis Curing

Curing is actually one of the most straightforward parts of growing cannabis, especially if you invested in Boveda Humidity Packs. Before these packs were popularized, growers had to manually maintain the humidity, which can be a pain. Luckily, the packs take out the guesswork and do most of the work for you.

Step 1: Dry and Trim Your Buds After Harvest

Before putting jars is buds, it’s essential to make sure your buds are fully dried and most of the leaves have been trimmed off.

Why Dry Buds Before Curing?

Freshly harvested buds are mostly water (75-85% water). Although humidity packs can take out extra moisture, they don’t have the drying power to take all that water out of your buds. Too much water locked in the jars can grow unwanted stuff, so you must dry buds first.

Buds are dry and ready to jar when…

• Small stems snap instead of bend
• Buds “pop off” the stem, without leaving strings behind

If the small stems are still bendy, or buds are leaving strings behind when you try to pop them off, it means there is still water contained inside and they should be dried a bit more.

The most common way to dry weed is hang branches upside down and let them air-dry.

Why Trim Buds Before Curing?

Although you can trim your buds before or after drying, it’s crucial to trim your buds before curing. If a lot of leaf matter is put in the jars to cure, the buds get a grassy hay smell, and buds won’t be as smooth to smoke even if you trim the buds at that point.

Don’t skip trimming before jarring your buds! Buds respond well to curing in jars, but leaves don’t.

Example of trimmed vs untrimmed cannabis buds.

Helpful Tutorials

• When to Harvest Weed Tutorial
• Complete Guide to Trimming Weed
• How to Dry Cannabis Buds

Step 2: Put Buds in Airtight Container with Humidity Pack (Optional: Add Hygrometer)

Once buds are trimmed and dried, it’s time to put them into an airtight container to start the curing process. These containers should be easy to open and close because you will be “burping” your jars once a day for a few weeks. Most cannabis growers use glass mason jars for curing cannabis.

During curing, it’s crucial to maintain the proper humidity. Luckily, this is easy with today’s curing tutorial! Just add a Boveda humidity control pack (sometimes called “Humidipaks”) to automatically maintain the humidity in the right range. They come in different versions, which I’ll explain below.

Lastly, you can optionally add a mini hygrometer to monitor the humidity in the jars.

Less than $20 for a 10-Pack of Humidity Control Packs – An investment worth EVERY penny!

There are two types of humidity packs you can choose to use for curing weed.

58% vs 62% Humidity Pack – Which is Better for Curing Weed?

• 58% Humidity Pack – The 58% version keeps things a little more dry than the 62% option. I personally prefer this version for curing weed. I think buds tend to smoke better, and it lowers the chance of any moisture building up in the jar, especially if you’ve got bigger or denser buds. It is also an ideal humidity for long-term storage, as weed should be a bit drier when stored for more than a month or two.
• 62% Humidity Pack – The 62% size is another great choice for curing weed. This is better if you prefer slightly softer weed, and also is an ideal choice for smaller buds (which tend to be easier to dry out). Although I like slightly drier buds, many cannabis enthusiasts prefer the texture of weed that has just a bit more moisture contained inside. However, if you plan on storing your weed for more than a month, you should opt for the 58% version (or switch after the 2-week cure).

Besides the humidity rating, these packs also come in different sizes. Boveda’s “Size 8” (this stands for 8 grams, which is the weight of each pack) is the perfect size to cure 1 ounce of weed. If you’re

Whether you get 58% or 62% packs, choose “Size 8” for 1 ounce of weed.

What containers to cure weed?

These are the most popular types of containers to cure your weed inside:

• Wide-Mouth Glass Mason Jars – These glass jars were originally made for cooking, but they’re also perfect for curing! These are what I use, and (by far) the most popular container for curing weed. They’re completely airtight, yet easy to open and close. You can easily see the weed inside.
• Turkey Bags – Also known as “oven bags”. These are what you would stick a turkey inside of to cook in your oven without drying out. They happen to work well for curing weed, especially if you’ve got a BIG harvest and don’t want to have to “burp” tons of jars once a day. The one downside is the trichomes may stick to the sides from static, but if a bag is full of a ton of weed that won’t make a significant difference.
• Other Airtight Containers – Glass tends to get the best results. Wood containers can leave a woody smell, and plastic tends to make static and can attract trichomes so they stick to the side instead of staying on your weed. Some growers get specially made curing containers that claim to automatically “burp” the weed for you, like the insanely expensive Herb Guard Auto-Cure Smart Jar or much more reasonably priced 2-Way Humidity Control Bags. However, in my experience these don’t work any better than the tried and true glass-jar-plus-humidity-pack combo.

Make sure to get the “wide mouth” version (not “regular mouth”) so your hands can easily fit inside.

Glass mason jars – tried and true for awesome curing. The 32 oz (1 quart) size is most popular, and holds about 1 ounce of weed.

After buds are cured, they can be kept in the jars for long-term storage.

Another option that’s popular for a big harvest is to cure the buds in “turkey bags” (the kind of bag you would use to cook a turkey in the oven). Buds are put into the bag, and then you tie it closed tightly to make it airtight. The benefits of turkey bags are you can put a lot more weed in them, and they’re easier to open and close to “burp” than jars (which you’ll learn about in the next step).

If you’ve got 20 ounces of weed in 20 jars, it can actually get a bit time consuming to burp them all every day. But you could put that much weed in a few turkey bags, and opening/closing is easier.

With a large harvest, daily burping can feel a bit daunting. Turkey bags make burping easier.

The only thing to keep in mind with turkey bags is they’re not suitable for long-term storage. Even if you tie them tightly closed, they’re not airtight like glass mason jars. That’s fine during the curing process when buds still need a little fresh air. But once the buds have finished curing for 2 weeks, you should move them into a truly airtight container.

Turkey oven bags can also be used for curing cannabis the first 2 weeks.

Tie the bag as tight as you can. Note: Even tied tightly, they are not completely airtight.

Remember, buds need to be moved to an actual airtight container after 2 weeks of curing.

Hygrometers are optional, but fun. If you want to see the actual humidity in you jars, you can buy cheap mini hygrometers that fit right inside a glass mason jar! However, if you follow all the other steps including getting the Boveda humidity packs and burping the jars, you don’t really need them.

Mini hygrometers are unnecessary if you follow all the other steps.

But they’re cheap and fun!

Step 3: “Burp” Jars Once a Day for 2 Weeks

While curing buds, the container should prevent air from going in and out, but buds do need some amount of fresh air. That’s why jars should be “burped” once a day during curing.

“Burping” means to open the jars and then close them. Larry had a LOT of jars to burp last harvest.

This step is pretty straightforward. Open your jars (or other curing container such as a turkey bag) once a day for the first 2 weeks. This ensures they get some amount of fresh air.

Don’t skip this step even if you feel like you overdried your weed. It’s crucial for the buds to get some fresh air to properly cure. The humidity packs ensure there is the right amount of moisture for a proper cure.

Sniff your weed! Burping is also a good time to enjoy the smell of your weed as it intensifies over the curing process. Maybe keep a nug for a smoke test 😉

Some strains like Platinum Cookies smell like a tasty dessert!

If buds smell musty or feel wet on the outside, pay attention! Buds should feel dry to the touch. Also, if buds smell like something besides weed (ammonia, vinegar, musty, or otherwise like something unwanted is growing in there), don’t ignore it! Typically, this happens when the weed was still too wet when jarred.

A humidity pack can remove some amount of moisture, but if the buds weren’t fully dried before being put in the jar, it may not be able to pull enough water out. Or the moisture may be building in the bottom of the jar, away from the humidity pack.

If you think your buds aren’t dry enough, dump them out of the jars onto a clean surface and let them dry for a few hours. Don’t put them back in the jars unless the outside of each bud feels completely dry. You may need to repeat this process again the next day if you still notice a musty smell or the buds feel wet again.

If buds seem wet in the jars, lay them out on a clean surface and let them dry for a few hours.

Step 4: Enjoy Your Cured Buds!

After 2 weeks, your buds are done their initial cure. At this point, they’re ready to smoke!

After 2 weeks, you don’t need to keep burping the jars every day. But it’s not a bad idea to open the jars once a week for a few more weeks to keep the curing process going. Buds may continue to improve for several more weeks or even months of curing.

Is it worth curing buds for longer than 2 weeks?

I’ve noticed certain strains keep getting more and more potent for months, while other strains don’t seem to improve much past the first 2-4 weeks of curing.

For example, we grew some Full Moon and Purple Ghost Candy plants together. The harvest was enormous, and we were smoking it for over a year. We noticed that the Full Moon maintained its potency, but for the Purple Ghost Candy continued getting more and more potent until we used it all up. We actually started calling it the “Day Ender” because if you smoked some of it you weren’t going to be doing anything else that day!

Some strains continue improving from longer curing, like this Purple Ghost Candy.

Buds were super potent after 2 weeks of curing. (Note: although the leaves were purple, the buds were mostly green)

But after curing in jars for a few more months, the Purple Ghost Candy potency reached “day-ender” status!

On the other hand, the Full Moon buds (plant on the left from the same grow) only maintained the same potency after a long cure.

So strain and genetics seem to play an important role on the effects of long-term curing.

What about long-term storage?

One of the coolest parts of being a home grower is after you’ve gotten the hang of it, each harvest results in way more weed than you can use. Even for daily smokers!

Check out this unbelievable harvest by our friend Mr. K!

So you may end up in a situation where you want to store your weed for a long time. Properly stored weed maintains its potency for years.

Here’s what’s most important for long term storage:

• Buds are completely dry – It’s a good idea to open jars once a week for a little while to ensure that moisture isn’t building up inside. After a few weeks, if buds seem totally dry every time you check, they’re ready for long term storage.
• Add a Boveda 58% Pack – For long term storage, moisture is your enemy, so you want to keep buds on the drier side. A 58% Boveda pack works great.
• Cool, dark place – Besides moisture, the biggest enemy to weed in storage are heat and light. Both tend to degrade THC levels. Ideally, you want to keep your buds completely in the dark, in a place that stays cool all the time. Don’t store your weed jars next to a window with the sun shining on them, or a room that gets hot!

If you followed all the steps, buds can be stored for years without losing potency. And as mentioned before, in some cases, you may find they’ve actually gotten more potent!

If you follow today’s 4 easy steps, you’ll end up with perfectly cured cannabis every single harvest!

Happy Growing!

Looking for some awesome new cannabis strains to grow? Wondering where to buy marijuana seeds? There are lot of choices, but learn about the marijuana seed banks we recommend here: https://www.growweedeasy.com/seeds

Want free cannabis grow tips delivered to your inbox every Sunday? Join our weekly newsletter!

About the Author: Nebula Haze

Nebula Haze founded GrowWeedEasy.com with her husband Sirius in 2010. Our mission is to demystify the world of indoor marijuana cultivation. We’ve shared our passion and knowledge through hundreds of tutorials covering every aspect of growing, both in print and online. We’ve also guided numerous students through our comprehensive online courses. For us, it’s not just about growing cannabis; it’s about empowering every grower to discover the simplicity and joy of nurturing cannabis plants to an outstanding harvest. Growing is easy, you just need to know what to do!

Keep smiling and growing,
~Nebula Haze

The post The #1 Method to Cure Buds Perfectly Every Time appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

The moment has arrived! Your cannabis buds are finally ready to harvest and you’re ready to start the cannabis drying process. You’ve decided to trim the leaves off your cannabis buds because you know trimming helps buds look better, smoke better, and taste better.

Yet should you trim your cannabis buds before or after drying them? This is a surprisingly controversial topic, with strong supporters on each side. The controversy is often referred to as “wet trimming” vs “dry trimming” in the cannabis grow community.

But does it even make a difference when you trim your cannabis buds? Let me clear it up for you today. By the end of this tutorial, you will know exactly the difference between wet trim vs dry trim, including the pros and cons of each. Let’s go!

Dry Trim (before and after) – Cannabis buds were dried first before getting trimmed.

Wet Trim (before and after) – Cannabis buds are trimmed as soon as they’re harvested.

“Wet Trim” vs “Dry Trim” – Should Cannabis Growers Trim Buds Before or After Drying? 

When I first started growing cannabis, I didn’t know anything about trimming. I knew you could do it before or after drying buds, but I didn’t know the pros and cons of each method. From reading online, I could see that growers successfully use both methods, so there’s no “right” or “wrong” way to trim your buds. As long as you’re happy with the results, you did a good trimming job.

But what do cannabis cultivation experts say about timing when it comes to trimming buds?

A beautiful trimming job. This cannabis job received a “dry trim”.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to trimming cannabis:

Trim before drying (“wet trim”)

Some growers trim their cannabis buds before drying them.

Pros

• Best If Humidity is High  – Cannabis leaves are mostly made of water, and they give off a lot of moisture as they dry. Trimming means fewer leaves, which adds less humidity overall to the drying space. For reference, it’s getting too humid for drying buds above 60% RH in the dry space.*
• Buds Dry Faster – Overly leafy plants can add a surprising amount of moisture to the surrounding area. If buds are drying too slowly, trimming extra leaves can help buds dry faster.
• Helps Prevent Mold – In humid conditions (or when there is no air movement), leaves can cause wet spots. Mold loves to grow on wet buds. Trimming off extra leaves before drying can help prevent that.

* Up to 70% RH can be okay if the temperature is below 70°F/20°C, because mold doesn’t like cool temperatures. But most growers should aim for under 60% while drying.

Cons

• Not Optimal If Humidity is Low  – Without the protection from cannabis leaves, buds in dry air conditions tend to dry out unevenly
• Buds May Dry Too Fast – In dry air, buds may dry too fast, which can prevent them from curing properly later.

Freshly harvested buds that haven’t been dried yet, about to be wet trimmed.

Trim after drying (“dry trim”)

Some growers trim their cannabis after buds have already dried.

Pros

• Best Choice in Low Humidity – Low humidity (below 50% RH or so) tends to make buds dry unevenly and too fast. Keeping leaves until after buds have dried can help raise the overall humidity in the drying space.
• Buds Tend to Dry Slower and More Evenly – The extra leaves adds moisture to the air and create humid pockets around buds to help them dry more evenly. These buds tend to smoke better, and improve more from the curing process.
• Some Growers Find it Easier to Trim Dry Buds – If buds are fully and completely dried first, it’s typically faster to trim them. Since the leaves are dry and crispy, you can brush a lot of them off.

Note: Unless it is extremely dry (under 35% RH), you should remove at least some of the big leaves on a leafy plant. If your plant is a bundle of leaves it will get wet and make the buds wet for too long. If you’re not sure, leave the fan leaves on, and check on the drying plants after 24 hours of drying. If the plants seem super wet, remove the excess fan leaves and let the buds continue drying.

Cons

• Not Suitable if Humidity is High – If it’s high humidity in the drying space, it’s crucial to at least remove all the big fan leaves protect buds from mold. Even if you don’t give your buds a full trim, removing the fan leaves helps keep excess moisture out of the dry space.
• Some Growers Find it More Difficult to Trim Buds – Some growers find it more difficult to dry trim buds and get a neat, manicured appearance. This is worst if the buds are still a bit underdried. If you’re going to dry trim your buds, it’s important to let them be fully dried before trimming. For example if the buds come off with strings when you try to pluck them off the stem, this is a sign there is still moisture inside and the buds should be allowed to dry for a bit longer.

Buds that were dried first before trimming, about to be dry trimmed.

If buds are dried first before trimming, sometimes it can be difficult to remove all the leaves.

When deciding whether to trim your cannabis wet or dry, think about your grow environment and what you want from your buds. If your area is very humid, wet trimming can help avoid mold and gets your buds ready faster. But if the humidity is moderate, and especially it’s really dry where you grow, dry trimming might be better because it lets your buds dry out more slowly and evenly, resulting in better quality. The best choice depends on your situation and preference. I highly recommend trying both ways to see what works best for you.

Check out what growers say about dry trim vs wet trim.

Why are they called “wet trim” and “dry trim”?

Trimming your cannabis before drying is known as a “wet trim” because the leaves still contain all their moisture during the trimming process. Trimming after the cannabis buds have already dried is known as a “dry trim” since your buds and leaves will already be completely dry before you trim off the leaves.

Most cannabis growers will at least remove all or most of the big fan leaves with their fingers before drying, though some growers will hang the whole plant upside down without any type of trim whatsoever.

Wet Trim Example (fully trimmed before drying) – All leaves are removed before buds are allowed to dry. These buds are still full of moisture.

Dry Trim Example (light trim before drying) – Only the biggest leaves were removed before the buds were dried. Most leaves are still there for the dry process.

Dry Trim Example (no trim before drying) – Full branches were hung without any trimming. Not even fan leaves were removed before drying.

Here are some examples of buds from plants where I trimmed half the buds before, and half after. I wanted to help you see what difference it made. It’s really kind of different depending on each strain and your drying conditions.

Notes on the test of dry trim vs wet trim:

• The untrimmed cannabis buds took 0.5 to 3 days longer to dry. The leafier the plant, the longer it added to the total dry time.
• The biggest difference is I noticed the “dry trim” buds seem noticeably more dense/uniform. Drying with the leaves on seems to help them “tighten up” and seem more solid.
• The dry vs wet trim buds smell a bit differently, but all smell good. Neither seems particularly stronger or better as far as smell.
• I noticed that the “dry trim” buds often seem browner as if they’ve been curing for a while. The effect was most pronounced on the leafiest plants. Perhaps the additional water content causes some processes to go faster at the micro level?
• As far as comparing taste/smoothness/potency. In blind tests with cannabis enthusiasts, I’ve gotten mixed results. Some people prefer the smell or smoothness of the buds one way, while others like the exact opposite. It doesn’t seem to follow any particular pattern that I can tell. I truly think it’s a matter of personal preference, and also varies from strain to strain.

Buds drying with their leaves on.

In practice, I’ve seen a huge variation between growers as far as when they trim. Some cannabis growers trim plants immediately after harvest, some trim partway through drying, some wait to trim until after buds are totally dry, and some never trim at all. It can also vary with the local weather and even the particular plant. For example, if I had an extremely leafy plant and the humidity was high right as I was harvesting, I may opt to trim that plant before drying to prevent the chance of mold, even though I might normally prefer to trim after buds dry.

In the end, nothing beats trying both options for yourself. Next cannabis harvest, trim some buds before drying and some after drying. See what you like best!

Ready to get trimming?

Learn how to trim your cannabis buds like a pro!

Conclusion: Dry Trim vs Wet Trim

Let me sum up today’s tutorial on dry trimming vs wet trimming cannabis buds after harvest.

Trim before drying (“wet trim”) when…

• You’re worried about mold
• You have high humidity (above 60% RH)
• There is poor air circulation and little air movement
• There’s a lot of buds drying in a small space
• Buds are taking too long to dry

Freshly harvested buds that haven’t been dried yet, about to be wet trimmed.

Trim after drying (“dry trim”) when…

• You’re not worried about mold.
• You have low humidity (below 45% RH)
• You want buds to be “tighter” or more dense
• You want buds to dry more slowly

Buds that were dried first before trimming, about to be dry trimmed.

FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about trimming cannabis.

Read the full tutorial on how to trim cannabis buds.

Why do growers trim cannabis buds in the first place?

• “Top Shelf” Appearance – Trimmed buds are often considered higher quality. Most buds are completely manicured (or at least somewhat trimmed) when you see them in magazines, at the dispensary, and online. This is the appearance we’ve come to associate with “good weed” and so untrimmed buds may look less appealing to some people.
• Better Smell – Buds that are trimmed before being going into jars tend to gain a stronger “weed” smell over time. On the flip side, untrimmed buds sometimes take on a “planty” hay smell if they’re stored in an airtight container for too long with all their leaves intact (several weeks to months).
• Easier on Your Throat – Leaves are more “harsh” on your throat/lungs than flowers when vaping or smoking. Trimming off extra leaf matter makes buds more “smooth” to smoke or vaporize by removing unnecessary leafy matter.
• Higher THC Concentration – Buds from modern strains can be 20-30+% THC by dry weight, while leaves have much lower THC (1-4%, depending on strain).  Even trichome-encrusted sugar leaves have a significantly lower concentration of THC and other cannabinoids than the flowers. That means trimmed buds tend to have higher levels of THC gram-for-gram, so you can smoke or vape less to get the same effects.

Many growers want trimmed buds but don’t want to waste any THC, so they process their trim to extract the THC in the leaves separately. You have endless options for getting the good stuff out of your leaves and other trim. My favorite ways to extract THC from leaves include making dry ice hash, weed butter or canna caps. I sprinkle dry ice hash on top of bowls to skyrocket their potency, I use butter for edibles, and I love canna caps for the ability to easily dose edibles on the go.

An example of well-trimmed cannabis buds. You can barely see any leaves.

Untrimmed cannabis buds with leaves intact – pic by psychonaught

What Other Cannabis Growers Say – Dry Trim vs Wet Trim

I thought you might be interested in learning what we’ve heard from growers in our cannabis grow forum on this topic. It’s often nice to hear multiple opinions from different experienced growers.

Pro Wet Trim

• “Trimming when wet (just picked buds) is easier!” ~Sylvester
• “Wet trimming always. Easier to get all the sugar leaves before they dry and curl into the bud.” ~CaptainWiese91
• “Wet trim. I got tired of seeing beautiful, tiny crystals go flying everywhere when dry trimming.” ~YYCannabis
• “I think wet trimmed buds look way better than buds that have been dry trimmed with half of all the sugar leaf stems in the bud still.” ~CaptainWiese91
• “Wet trim, I leave about 40% of the sugar leaves so it dries slower.” ~Ace1973

Pro Dry Trim

• “I feel like dry trimming is better for me. I like to get as much of the leaf off as possible and it feels easier that way. I also like that it takes a little more time to dry. I got a bowl leaf trimmer that works pretty good on bigger buds, and a Cannabrush for everything else. Both cut off a lot of time on my meticulous trimming. And if I over dry it I just soak a stem (or a few) in water for a little while and it goes in the jar too until it’s around 64-65%. That eliminates the Boveda packs that some say makes the weed taste different. I never noticed personally, but I stopped using them anyway.” ~dphipps1020
• “As a person making a living from growing dank buds and selling them at a high price just for the quality; I personally have found that wet trimming diminishes the bud quality and smell. It dries not just quickly but the wrong way. It dries up from all the open tissue connected by the plants circulatory system. Meaning the branch looses water way too quickly. You need that moisture reservoir to keep the buds from drying to quickly. The same goes with trichomes. Leaves make a moisture cocoon that protects terpenes and trichomes from evaporating and drying the outer layer of the trichomes so quickly that it rips open and the trichome oxidizes and the terps fly out. Gotta mention I got full control of my drying room and keep at 60% rh 22-24C.” ~9fingerleafs
• “I live in the desert super low rh and leaving the leaves on while drying helps hold some moisture in. The leaves form over the buds after a few hours like a cocoon and I lay them out on stackable sweater drying racks (old days we used window screens) with a cover over them to trap more moisture.” ~MeEasy

Depends

• “If its low humidity dry trim and if high humidity wet trim.” ~LemonBuzz

I hope that helped give you some ideas of what works for other cannabis growers depending on their goals and environment. Contact us if you have experience to share!

You might be interested in…

10-Step Guide to Grow Cannabis

Complete Guide to Trimming Weed

When to Harvest Cannabis Buds

How to Grow More Dense Weed

The post Wet Trim vs. Dry Trim: Which Makes Better Cannabis? [Controversial] appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Cannabis growers often use a magnifier to look at the glittery trichomes to know when to harvest weed. Some growers wait until most of the clear trichomes turn white, and some wait longer until some of the trichomes turn amber before they harvest. But what about when cannabis trichomes turn purple?

What do purple trichomes tell you about cannabis buds?

I decided to make this article in response to a post about purple cannabis trichomes in our free grow forum.

You need a magnifier like a jeweler’s loupe or USB magnifier to clearly see trichomes. (Learn how to see trichomes.)

Marijuana growers often examine the color of the cannabis trichome heads as harvest time approaches. These trichome heads typically turn white when buds reach maximum THC levels, but not always.

If trichomes are normally clear, white or amber/gold, what does it mean if they turn other colors, including purple?

What Makes Trichomes Turn Purple (or Pink or Other Jewel Colors)

What makes cannabis trichomes turn purple: Genetics.

While growers have developed methods to increase the amount of purple on your buds or leaves (temperature swings, cold nights, LEDs, slightly lower pH, harvest on the later side, etc.), the color of trichomes is almost 100% dependent on your genetics. The strain is in charge when it comes to cannabis trichome color.

Purple Lemonade by North Atlantic Seed Co. loves growing purple trichomes

For Most Strains, Trichomes Go from Clear > White > Amber (Yellow)…

With most cannabis strains, the trichomes appear with clear glass-looking heads, turn a milky white when they hit peak THC, and then turn amber (a nice way of saying “yellow”) when the THC is starting to degrade. For optimum potency, most growers harvest weed when the heads are mostly white or just starting to turn amber.

• Clear trichomes – not ready for harvest
• White trichomes – highest THC
• Amber/yellow trichomes – more sleepy effect, THC is starting to degrade

Clear trichomes (not ready yet – these are a sign of low THC potency)

Mostly white trichomes (max THC potency)

Mostly amber/yellow trichomes (THC is starting to degrade, effects are more “sleepy”)

What about purple trichomes?

When Do You Harvest Weed with Purple Trichomes?

Unfortunately, with cannabis strains that grow purple trichomes, you can’t use the color to know when to harvest the buds. So how do you know when to harvest your weed?

• Option 1: Ask the breeder – Most trustworthy cannabis breeders will answer questions about their strains, including hints about the best time to harvest buds. Additionally, the strain description from when you bought the seeds may have relevant information.
• Option 2: Look at the buds directly to see whether they look ready to harvest. Here is a picture gallery of ready-to-harvest cannabis buds to help guide you.

Some cannabis strains produce trichomes in colors like purple or pink. These trichomes may never turn white. When it comes to these “exotic” trichomes, the standard rules don’t always apply. In these cases, it’s best to ask the breeder when the trichomes indicate readiness. If that’s not possible, make sure to look at the buds and ensure they look ready from a visual inspection and use the trichomes as only a secondary indicator.

These trichomes started white as normal and then just turned purple instead of amber.

But for some strains, the trichomes turn purple from the beginning and therefore the color doesn’t tell you anything about potency. That’s why, with colorful trichomes, it can be best to either ask the breeder about when to harvest, or judge the apparent maturity of the plant.

Regardless of the color of trichomes, most cannabis strains are ready to harvest when buds look solid. At this point, all of the hairs on the buds have darkened and curled in. When you can’t tell when to harvest based on the trichomes, use the visual appearance of the buds to guide you. Here is how to look at the buds themselves to determine when to harvest.

Need more help knowing when to harvest cannabis?

• Full cannabis harvest tutorial: https://www.growweedeasy.com/harvest
• Picture Gallery of Ready-to-Harvest Cannabis: https://www.growweedeasy.com/ready-for-harvest-pictures
• Trichome Deep Dive: Picture Gallery of Ready-to-Harvest Trichomes: https://www.growweedeasy.com/what-do-trichomes-look-like-when-ready-to-harvest-ready-to-harvest-trichome-picture-gallery

Harvest your weed at the right time and get rewarded!

The post Purple Trichomes: When do I harvest buds? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

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Harvest time is here (or almost here), and you must be ready. A prepared cannabis grower maximizes their yields and bud quality while reducing the chance of running into challenges.

What do you need to ensure a great cannabis harvest? Find out now!

Before Harvest Day

Stay vigilant in caring for your maturing buds until it’s time to harvest. Here are some tools to help you keep a close eye on your cannabis buds during the final weeks.

Thermometer / Hygrometer to monitor temperature and humidity

Monitor conditions to make sure it doesn’t get too hot/cold or too humid. Buds develop best when it’s slightly cool and not too humid. Good conditions help prevent bud rot and improve overall bud development.

If growing outdoors, you don’t have a lot of control over the environment, but it’s still good to monitor the humidity so you aren’t surprised when the weather starts getting bad. Indoors you actually have a lot of control to change your environment. Learn more about changing your indoor environment.

This thermometer lets you monitor the conditions remotely, whether your plants are outside or in a grow tent.

Extra tips:

• Weather stations and thermometers help you monitor environmental conditions, so you can take action if necessary.
• Consider defoliating a super leafy plant especially if you see leaves lying over each other and making wet spots. Extra moisture leads to mold.
• It’s better to harvest a little earlier than to harvest after you’ve already started seeing mold or bud rot.

Fiskar micro-tip snips are useful to remove leaves or prune plants easily and cleanly.

Magnifiers (to Inspect Color of Trichomes)

• If it fits your camera, get a Spider Farmer phone microscope (what I use)
• To use with a laptop or newer smartphone: USB Microscope
• Low-tech option: Jeweler’s Loupe

Learn everything you need to know to check your trichome color with a magnifier.

Harvest Day

Here are the supplies a cannabis grower needs for harvest day.

Use shears to cut the big, thick branches

Big shears – to cut through thick stems.

• I like this heavy-duty pair of pruning shears by Fiskars when I have to cut through a really thick branch that regular scissors can’t deal with.

Plant scissors to cleanly cut stems

Fiskar micro-tip snips are one of my favorite and most used tools around harvest time (before, during, and after).

Protective gear

• Gloves – protect your hands from all the sticky weed, and help keep everything clean.
• If growing outdoors, wear your gardening apparel (hat, hardy clothes, etc.)

I think black disposable gloves look the coolest 🙂

After Harvest

Drying

Cannabis buds need to be dried before they can be used. There are many ways to dry weed, and here are the most common:

• Air drying – Hang individual branches upside down to dry. For the best result, buds should be dried in a cool spot with slight air circulation and humidity in the 50-60% RH range.
• Drying racks, nets, or lines – Various ways to hang harvested buds. Typically it’s better to hang each branch upside down, but drying racks and nets can be useful if you have to dry a lot of bud close together in a small area.
• Cannabis-specific bud dryers – These are a good choice if you don’t have a great drying environment. Air-drying in a cool spot gives the most consistent results and is difficult to mess up, but if your drying spot is warm or humid it may cause mold to grow on your buds. If that’s a concern, you can use something like the HerbsNow or other cannabis-specific dryers to dry your buds with strong airflow under low heat. However, with these dryers it’s super easy to overdry your buds, which reduces their quality and potency, so when using any dryer it’s crucially important to monitor your buds closely and stop drying them as soon as they’re dry enough (the small stems snap instead of bend). Read my review of the HerbsNow.

Learn how to dry cannabis buds perfectly.

If your space has a good drying environment (doesn’t get hot or overly humid), hang your branches upside down to dry. I typically dry my buds inside the same tent I grew them in.

If your drying space gets warm and/or humid, you might want to consider using a specialty cannabis dryer. Check out my HerbsNow review for one example.

Trimming

Spring-Loaded Scissors

You want trimmers or scissors designed for harvesting cannabis. Regular scissors are unwieldy and typically aren’t strong or sharp enough to harvest cannabis plants. The scissors listed here are designed particularly for cutting through plants.

When trimming away extra leaves from your buds, it’s best to get a pair of scissors that is “spring-loaded” which means it will automatically open on its own between each snip. This ends up saving your hands half the work since they only need to work to close the scissors and never to open them.

Examples of good cannabis-trimming scissors – The thin blades of these scissors make it easy to cut accurately.

• The 6″ Fiskars micro-tip pruning snips are my personal favorite.
• I also love these disposable bonsai pruning shears.

What are the “best” scissors for cannabis? Everyone has different preferences so I recommend getting a few different kinds and trying them out. Whatever scissors you like best is the best option for you.

Storage and Curing

“Curing” is the process where you store your cannabis buds in an airtight container and let them continue to age like fine wine, occasionally “burping” the container (letting in air) to help the curing process. Cannabis buds typically improve in perceived quality and potency for the first 2+ weeks of curing.

• Airtight container – Quart-size wide-mouth glass mason jars (most common), curing-specific jars, etc. These are excellent for curing and long-term storage of cannabis buds.
• Oven bags – For short-term storage and curing, you can put buds in turkey oven bags (Like what you’d use to cook a turkey in the oven). These are not fully airtight, but that’s okay for the beginning of the curing process since you have to burp the air regularly. Some growers will cure their buds in bags for 1-2 weeks, then transfer to jars or other air-tight container after that. If you’ve got a big harvest, this can be easier than burping 20 jars every day. But oven bags are not sealed and therefore not good for long-term storage.
• Hygrometers – They sell packs of small hygrometers that fit in most curing containers. These make it easy to monitor the humidity in the airtight container. Ideally, it should stay between 55-62% RH to ensure proper curing.
• Humidipaks – Boveda and Boost offer specialty humidity-regulating packs that will automatically maintain the humidity at a specific reading. I use the Boveda 58% RH packs. Each of the “Size 8” packs is enough to maintain the humidity in a quart-size jar (about 1 ounce of weed).

Quart-size wide-mouth glass mason jars are the most common container to cure and store weed. You can often find these cheaper at Walmart, the grocery store, home improvement stores like Home Depot, and craft stores.

Turkey oven bags can be a convenient choice for the first 2 weeks of curing, but aren’t suitable for long-term storage since they’re not totally airtight.

Small hygrometers can be placed with your buds during curing and allow you to monitor the humidity.

Boveda “Size 8” Humidity packs are one great option for automatically maintaining the humidity in a quart-sized jar. I like the 58% RH packs because I like how the bud tends to burn smoothly at that level.

You now have all the gear you need for an epic marijuana harvest!

Looking for more harvesting resources? You might like these articles…

Complete Tutorial: When Do I Harvest Weed?

Outdoor Harvest Tutorial: When to harvest cannabis outdoors

How to Trim Your Cannabis Buds

Complete Drying and Cannabis Curing Tutorial

The post Your “Cannabis Harvest Kit” – Get Supplies for a Successful Harvest! appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Outdoor cannabis harvest season is here! But when should you harvest your gorgeous outdoor marijuana buds?

When to harvest outdoor cannabis plants? Find out in today’s outdoor harvest tutorial.

When it comes to growing weed outdoors, figuring out the perfect time to harvest is both an art and a science. However, getting the harvest timing just right rewards you with maximum yields of the best quality buds. Today’s tutorial on when to harvest outdoor marijuana plants first tells you what to look for when it comes to bud maturity, so you harvest buds when they have max THC, CBD, and terpenes (smells). After that, I’ll show you a ton of pictures so you don’t have to do any guesswork, even if your buds don’t look like most other strains.

What to pay attention to when harvesting outdoor cannabis plants:

1. Appearance of buds – Hairs should have all darkened and curled in. This is the best way to know when to harvest your buds. Learn what your strain looks like when outdoor buds are fully mature, and pick that moment. Today’s article will focus on how to choose when to harvest buds based on how they look.
   • Trichome color – The tiny mushroom-shaped trichomes (“glitter” on the buds) typically look white or gold (“amber”) when the buds are ready to harvest. You need a magnifier to see the trichomes clearly, and trichome color is not as consistent an indicator on outdoor plants compared to indoor buds. Therefore, checking the trichomes is not a bad idea, but also not as important as the other factors on this list. Learn how to look at trichomes with a magnifier.
   • Watch out for round leaves – Pay attention to the leaves touching your buds for signs of re-vegging (re-vegging causes round leaves), which causes your cannabis buds to stop developing.
2. Strain-specific harvest time – Different strains take more or less time before buds are ready to harvest. Typically when you buy a strain, the breeder gives an estimate as to how long the buds will take before they’re ready. When in doubt, it can’t hurt to contact the breeder directly and ask if they have any info about when to harvest this particular strain outdoors. I’m often surprised at how helpful breeders are if you ask about their strains.
3. Weather conditions – Keep a close eye on weather forecasts because you don’t want to let some bad weather ruin your whole crop. If you see predictions for heavy rain, frost, or freezing temperatures right as buds are looking mature, it might be best to harvest early to avoid bud rot or other damage.
4. Bud density and size – Big fat buds are more susceptible to mold and pests. If you have very big buds on your plant, consider harvesting those ones early just in case.
5. Mold and pests – Inspect your plants regularly for signs of bugs, webbing, mold, or spots of major discoloration. It’s always better to harvest a little early than harvest buds covered in bugs.

Over time, cannabis growers gain experience and a sense of intuition about the best time to harvest their outdoor marijuana plants. I recommend writing down any observations for next year, pay attention to the plants, and trust your gut. Don’t hold it against yourself if you make a mistake. Gardening (and life) is a learning process.

Until you gain that cannabis grower’s intuition, here’s a bunch of pictures to help.

Pictures of When to Harvest Outdoor Cannabis Plants

First, let’s look at outdoor cannabis buds that are NOT ready yet. You can tell because the hairs on the buds have not fully darkened and curled in.

Outdoors Cannabis Buds – Not Ready Yet

You can tell that these outdoor cannabis buds are still not ready to harvest because they still have lots of white hair sticking straight out.

Still a lot of white hairs. Getting close but still a few weeks until harvest.

Outdoors Cannabis Buds – Ready to Harvest

These outdoor cannabis buds are ready to harvest. Sometimes outdoor buds look a little different than indoor buds from the same strain. For instance, outdoor buds are often leafier (though not always).

Beginning of outdoor cannabis harvest window – buds are mostly solid and most hairs have curled in.

This outdoor cannabis bud is also at the beginning of the harvest window. It’s normal for outdoor buds to be a bit more leafy than the same strain grown indoors.

The hairs on these cannabis buds have all curled in and turned purple. Ready to harvest.

There’s still a few white hairs left on this next bud, but they’re a very small percentage of the total number of hairs. This purple bud is in the harvest window and can be harvested now if necessary.

3 Signs It May Be Time to Harvest Immediately

Sometimes it’s better to harvest cannabis buds a little early to prevent other kinds of damage to them. Here are the 3 most common reasons to harvest buds earlier than you normally would.

Bad Weather is Coming

These cannabis plants are getting close to the optimal harvest time, but still have a lot of white hairs left. However, a huge rainstorm is predicted in a few days, and then it’s going to be cold. Best to harvest now, because you don’t want to lose your harvest to bud rot!

What’s the matter with a little bad weather? The biggest issue is wet and cold weather can trigger bud rot, which can decimate an entire outdoor harvest almost overnight. What do outdoor cannabis growers need to know about bud rot?

Bud Rot

If you see bud rot, harvest now! This problem is caused by a fungus and spreads quickly, especially outdoors.

The first sign of bud rot is usually the leaves around the buds get discolored.

If you look at the base of the discolored leaves, you’ll see the cannabis bud is rotting at that point. It may appear moldy, brown, gray, or otherwise have dead patches.

Bud rot is most common after wet weather (or a lot of dew in the mornings) as it’s caused by a fungus.

A cannabis bud with bud rot will often “open up” or split open where it’s rotting.

Learn more about cannabis bud rot.

Pest Infestation

If your buds are already close, and you’ve got bugs, it’s best to harvest now before they reduce your bud quality further.

Harvest now if your cannabis plants are overrun with bugs.

Learn about “bud washing” to help clean buds that were infested by bugs.

Conclusion – Pick the Perfect Time to Harvest Outdoors

With outdoor growing, the visual appearance of the buds is often the best method to know when to harvest. The most important things to keep in mind…

• Watch the Hairs – Wait until the white hairs have all darkened and curled in. This is the most consistent indicator of cannabis bud maturity for most strains.
• Watch the Weather – Watch the weather forecast and harvest before days of heavy rain or freezing temperatures
• Watch the Plants – Check your plants and buds closely to immediately identify any issues that mean you should harvest early.

You’re now armed with the information to harvest your outdoor cannabis buds at the perfect moment.

Learn how to dry and cure your buds after harvest.

About the Author: Nebula Haze

Nebula Haze is a cannabis enthusiast and co-creator of GrowWeedEasy.com, your ultimate resource for cannabis cultivation. Nebula has over a decade of hands-on experience growing cannabis at home, and uses her knowledge to create simple, easy-to-follow tutorials that make learning to grow weed easy and fun. Her tutorials and online classes have helped countless growers use simple methods to achieve outstanding yields and professional bud quality.

In this article, Nebula demystifies the art and science of harvesting outdoor cannabis, providing insights into the visual cues and environmental factors that ensure perfect timing for maximum yield and quality. By focusing on bud appearance, strain-specific harvest times, and weather conditions, she guides growers to make informed decisions that lead to successful harvests.

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to improve your results, Nebula’s expertise and enthusiasm are here at GrowWeedEasy.com to guide you every step of the way.

Nebula Haze wishing you abundant harvests!

Don’t miss out on the latest tips, tricks, and expert advice from Nebula Haze! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get the best cannabis cultivation tactics delivered straight to you every Sunday morning at 4:20 am.

The post Is it Time to Harvest My Outdoor Cannabis? (Outdoor Ready-to-Harvest Weed Picture Gallery) appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Is there a last-minute trick to increase THC right before harvest?

If your cannabis plants are close to harvest, you probably want to make sure you do everything possible to maximize your results. What if I told you there might be a way to increase THC and overall bud quality in marijuana plants, right before harvest time?

Enter the 3-day dark period.

I’ve heard about this tactic multiple times over the years.

Essentially, the idea is to “shock” your plant in the days leading up to harvest in hopes of increasing the potency of your buds. The most common tactic is to place your plants in total darkness for 3 days before harvest. Another tactic is to water your plants with ice water. I’ve even heard a grower say that you should put nails through the main stem to “scare” your plant.

But do these tactics work to increase bud quality, potency, THC, or anything measurable in cannabis plants?

Keep reading to learn more about whether the 3-day dark period works to increase cannabis potency.

Does the 3-day dark period actually work?

I don’t know for sure. I have only seen one other grower do an experiment on the cannabis dark period with lab testing. Check out the bottom of the article for my first set of experiment results, and a comparison between our findings.

From a theoretical standpoint, I personally have difficulty imagining a vast difference in bud quality using last-minute tactics. My reasoning is that THC develops slowly throughout the flowering stage. It takes “work” on the part of the plant to create molecules of THC. Even if stressing the plant increased THC production, how much extra THC could be produced in a few days?

But I’ve grown cannabis long enough to know that sometimes what seems intuitive isn’t correct, which is why experiments are so helpful and powerful.

Check out my other side-by-side cannabis growing experiments.

My experiment: Test a 3-day dark period before harvest

These 2 cannabis plants are close to harvest. They were grown in small grow tents under small LED grow lights.

Square One Genetics special cut plant under an HLG 65 4000k LED grow light (65W) in a 2’x2’x3′ mini tent (check out the full grow journal).

Runtz cannabis plant under a Spider Farmer SF-1000 LED grow light (100W) in a slightly taller 2’x2’x4′ grow tent.

I harvested buds off these two plants from before and after giving them a 3-day dark period.

Lab Test 1 (by GrowWeedEasy.com)

Let’s see how these buds test against each other in the lab.

• Before 3-day dark period: 18.4% THC average
  • Pacific Punch: 19.8% THC
  • Runtz: 16.9% THC
• After 3-day dark period: 19.7% THC average
  • Pacific Punch: 21.9% THC
  • Runtz: 17.6% THC

Wow! This was a spur-of-the-moment test without any controls, so take this with a grain of salt, but it’s pretty stark how much higher the THC tested after the 3-day dark period on both plants. The average is more than 1% higher. I must run more side-by-side experiments to see if this is a fluke. It’s hard for me to believe a dark period could increase the THC this much on a consistent basis.

I wonder if there is some other factor. Perhaps it was natural variation between the buds and it was a matter of luck which ones I picked. It’s also possible that harvesting half the plant caused stress that increased THC in the remaining buds. That would mean it actually had nothing to do with the darkness. Or there may have been some other unknown factor.

A follow-up experiment is definitely coming. This first one was last minute and not well planned. There were no control plants. But the next experiment will involve clones and I’ll harvest plants separately  before and after the dark period to reduce the total number of variables. Maybe I’ll think up some other similar tests. Such an exciting time to be a grower!

Closeup of one of the Runtz buds.

Lab Test 2 (by CannabisGreenTeam.ca)

CannabisGreenTeam.ca is run by a long-term cannabis grower and friend who also sells cheap dry cannabis nutrients. He recently released the lab test results for his own 3-day dark period experiment, and he got the opposite results.

Max tested the THC of Wedding Cake and 3 other strains.

See his dark period experiment with THC analysis.

Now we have two lab tests, each showing opposite results… Clearly it’s time to run another experiment and collect more data points.

Check out more side-by-side cannabis growing experiments.

Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter to get updates on my current experiments before they’re published on the website!

Now learn how to improve…

• Yields
• Bud Quality
• THC Levels
• CBD Levels
• Smell/Taste
• Density
• Bonus: What Determines Yields?

The post Does a 3-Day Dark Period Before Harvest Increase THC? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Recently we’ve received a few emails about “bud washing” or essentially giving cannabis buds a “bath” to clean them after harvest.

Is bud washing necessary to grow the best cannabis?

Do marijuana buds need a bath after harvest?

Possible reasons to wash your buds

• Pesticides were used while buds were forming
• Plants had a bug infestation (bud washing can help remove bug poop and dead insect bodies)
• Remove large amounts of any other contaminants including hair, dust, fur, etc.
• Buds were grown outdoors and exposed to contaminants from nature

Essentially, bud washing is a last-resort option when buds need to be cleaned and you’re not willing to throw the weed away.

Bad reasons to wash your buds

• Most other reasons

➡ Jump Right to How to Wash Your Cannabis Buds

Some growers wash buds because it seems like a good idea. For example, you wash an apple from the store right? There’s a big difference. We wash produce from the store because we don’t know what it comes in contact with before it reaches our home. Most produce you buy was also grown outdoors without a personal touch. If you’ve grown your buds indoors in a clean environment, they shouldn’t be exposed to contaminants that need to be washed off.

Bud washing is a last-resort option when buds are dirty and you’re not willing to throw them away. In my opinion, the time to “wash” your buds is in the process of making bubble hash 😉

Not only is it unnecessary to wash clean buds, you run the risk of triggering mold. If you’re going to treat your buds with anything, stop to consider why. The best way to grow clean weed, in my opinion, is to grow weed in a clean environment.

How to grow clean weed indoors

• Grow tent – Growing plants in a tent typically produces cleaner weed than if the plants were grown in an open room.
• Air filters – There are air filters that proactively clean dust and pollen from the air. An intake filter is used to clean air that is coming into the grow space.
• Keep the grow room clean – It helps to be organized and put things away in their place. A cluttered grow room tends to get dirty over time.
• Vacuum – If you are seeing dust or pet hair on your buds, it makes a huge difference to vacuum the grow area on a regular basis.

You don’t need to wash buds that are already clean

What about outdoors?

Growing cannabis outdoors is one of the times where bud washing may be helpful. Unfortunately, nature is full of fun surprises including fur left by deer rubbing your plants, nettles or pollen, webbing from the occasional spider, and more. There are few outdoor environments that can produce weed as clean and pristine as what can be grown indoors.

For outdoor growers, bud washing can remove some natural contaminants from nature and give you cleaner buds. The jury is still out on how well bud-washing removes mold, fungus, or spores. Please contact us if you’ve ever done any lab tests that demonstrate the efficacy of this technique.

The dangling eggs on these cannabis buds are lacewing eggs. It’s good to see these eggs in the garden because lacewings are a natural predator of many cannabis pests. But you might want to wash them off after harvest.

What about pets?

It’s a good idea to keep any shedding animals away from your plants, but I love hanging out with my cat while working in the garden. However, I’ve noticed that as long as I vacuum and use a grow tent, buds come out clean. However, I’ve grown an autoflowering plant in a window before, and I noticed the buds had pet hair on them even though I vacuumed.

Use a grow tent in the flowering stage to keep pet hair off your buds

What about bugs?

Bugs are a fact of life. They love cannabis just like us and when they invade your grow room it feels violating. It’s relatively straightforward to get rid of bugs when plants are in the vegetative stage because you can use most pesticides and you don’t have to worry about anything getting on buds.

Learn about common cannabis pests

Can you save plants after an infestation? (these are aphids)

But if plants have already started making buds when pests move in, you have some hard choices to make. Do you throw away the plants? Do you treat them? Will buds be safe to smoke?

• Bad infestation – If the infestation is particularly bad, you might consider throwing the infested plants away. A really bad infestation is often hard to treat. Once bugs have taken over your plants, they seem impossibly good at surviving. This is especially true for spider mites (aka “The Borg”), broad mites, and hemp russet mites. Most other pests are survivable.
• Small to medium infestation – Look at the safe insecticide list and see if there are safe options for the type of bug you have. Some bugs are easier to get rid of than others. Additionally, bugs that come from other species of plants are typically much easier to get rid of than if your bugs came from another cannabis grow room. If you get thrips on clones you bought from the dispensary, they’re probably going to be much tougher to get rid of than some random thrips that wander onto your cannabis from outside.
• Flowering stage – The more buds have developed, the more it’s recommended you either toss plants or harvest them early and cut your losses. Even if you successfully treat an infestation without getting pesticides on the buds, the buds may still be covered in bug poop, eggs, webbing, dead insects, etc. Some growers choose to wash their buds at this point, but I personally recommend tossing plants just to be safe.

These buds are covered with mealybug bodies and the white fluff produced by their babies. Not good to smoke.

How to prevent bugs

1. Start with seeds – The most common reason growers get a bad infestation is because they brought an infected plant into the grow room from someone else’s garden. For example, a clone or plant from a dispensary or other grower. The best way to ensure you are not importing bugs with your plants is to grow cannabis with seeds. If you have no other choice, consider spraying or dipping new plants with a safe insecticide like a horticultural oil. After treatment, quarantine plants for 14 days to ensure they’re bug-free before bringing them into your grow space
2. Avoid using soil – You are much less likely to get bugs when growing in an inert medium like coco or hydroponics because many bugs need soil for their life cycle. The few times I’ve gotten bugs in my growing career were always when I was using soil (I’m pretty sure they were coming from my neighbor’s roses through a bad window screen…). It’s possible to get bugs in coco or hydro, but it’s much more rare. However, if you follow all the other tips on this page you can easily grow plants in soil without bugs.
3. Grow indoors – It’s much easier to protect plants from bugs when you’re growing indoors because you have much more control over the environment.

How to identify and get rid of cannabis pests

It’s easy to avoid bugs when you start with seeds, avoid soil, and grow indoors (especially in a grow tent)

Other tips

• Grow tent – Even indoors, a grow tent can help prevent outside bugs (for example your neighbor’s rose bush) from getting to your plants. However, this is only marginally effective because you’re still going to be opening the tent to check on plants. Plus some bugs are small enough to crawl through the mesh air holes.
• Keep grow room windows closed – If you have a lot of plants around your home, it can help to make sure the windows are closed in the grow room.
• Don’t walk into the grow room from outside – Along the same lines, don’t check on plants as soon as you get home. Avoid going from outside directly into the grow room.
• Inspect new plants or flowers – If someone gets a bouquet of roses or a new houseplant, take a minute to make sure they don’t have bugs before you let them in the house.

A grow tent offers some protection from bugs and greatly reduces dust/hair getting on buds

Now you know how to grow beautiful, sparkling buds without a hint of contamination. No bud baths are required.

But if you have read through this tutorial and bud washing your cannabis seems like the right choice for you…

How to Wash Your Buds (tutorial by Doc Bud)

This forum thread goes into some of the specifics of bud washing (which I haven’t personally tried myself), including commentary from Doc Bud, the self-described creator of the technique.

Directions from Doc Bud from this thread (posted October 5, 2013) – The following text is the property of Doc Bud and is published here for reference purposes. 

I’m glad to see people are adopting my bud washing technique!

Yes, I “invented” it. I shared it with you folks here on 420….and nowhere else. I’ve never met, spoken to, or heard about anyone else doing it before I tried it…..and I enjoy freaking people out by putting fresh buds in a bucket of water….

But as many have said here, the results speak for themselves!

Let me put it to you like this:

Let’s say I grew lettuce, cucumbers, tomatos and carrots in my basement. It’s dusty down there, I’ve got fans flowing all around….battled with some PM, had some mites…..every now and then I get some rot or other disease on my plants….bugs flying around, dead skin cells, hair…..and I spray the plants with compost tea, fish fertilizer, kelp meal, etc.

So, you wanna come over for a salad? We’ll just pull the veggies out of the ground, plop ’em in a bowl and start eating! No need to wash…..right?

The first time you wash your harvest and see all that brown crap left behind you’ll begin to see the light! Then, when you smoke your first washed harvest, you’ll understand.

For those who are new to this, here’s my method:

4 buckets total. (5 gallon buckets are perfect)

Bucket 1: 3 parts RO water to 1 part 3% H202.
Bucket 2: 5 gallons of RO with 1 cup baking soda, 1 cup Lemon Juice
Buckets 3 and 4: RO only.

Cut down plants, pull off fan leaves by hand, remove any necrotic leaves. Leave sugar leaves and anything with frosting on the plant.

Fully submerge in bucket 1 (H2O2) for 30 seconds. Submerge for a full minute if you had ANY sign of PM or bud rot. Let water drip from buds and then…..

Fully submerge in buckets 2 through 4 for 30 seconds each…lightly agitating the whole time.

Allow produce to drip dry. You can blow a fan on it if you like, just make sure it’s blowing clean air.

Hang and dry per usual.

Final manicure of buds is best done after they dry. It goes very fast and you’re left with washed, highly resinous trim….makes superb joints. I’m also educating my customers to select untrimmed buds, which are actually better than the manicured ones because they still have sugar leaves attached. The trichomes in the leaves have more THC than those in the buds…..so it’s good to get the whole spectrum in there.

I give instructions for this in my journals, as I do it every single week, on every single harvest. Once you try it, you’ll never go back.

This works so well for a couple reasons:

1. takes off dirt, foliar sprays, bugs, fiberglass dust, etc.
2. fully hydrates the leaves, allowing photosynthesis to occur for a day or two on cut and trimmed buds. I recommend leaving a light on the buds for the first day or two after washing.

This results in very, dense, clean burning, smooth tasting produce! That’s the basic recipe….and I’m tweaking and changing it all the time.

Warning: Do NOT use an “organic produce wash” that is based on oils! They sell these in grocery stores and health food stores, and while they might be good for lettuce and cukes….the oil removes resin from the plants…..don’t use it!

Water will not harm resin….oil can and does.

Anyone who wants to know more about my methods is welcome to ask me about them anytime!

Doc Bud

Ben’s Experience with Bud Washing

I recently received this email from a reader sharing their experiences and processes for washing cannabis buds. I thought it was helpful so I’ll share it here.

Hi, I liked the article on bud washing and thought I could add my experience.

When I Wash Buds: I wash all plants grown outdoors and all indoor plants that were sprayed for any reason or if there was mould any where in the grow.

Water Source: If the plants have not been sprayed and don’t have bugs on them I just use rain water to wash.

Mould: I have often washed buds over the years and have not had a mould problem and the end result does not seem degraded. I have regularly had bud in storage for over two years that does not get mould. ( I don’t recommend keeping bud that long. No matter how well cured or stored, it seems to start degrading after a year.)

Process: In my washing process I have a step where I soak buds in a 3:1 mix of rain water and white vinegar for 20 to 30 minuter then do a rain water rinse.

Drying Buds After Bud Washing: When I have finished the wash I put the buds in a salad spinner to remove the water. From the spinner the buds go on racks in an air conditioned room where I run the air conditioner on the dehumidifier mode. If there had been any indication of mould I also run an air purifier that has an ultra violet function in the room during the drying stage.

Making Extracts: An air conditioner on dehumidifier mode also works well for drying keif if you are making bubble hash or rosin.

Thank you for all the great articles.

Regards,
Ben

There you have it, straight from cannabis growers with bud washing experience.

What do you want to learn more about next?

• Bigger yields
• Better bud quality
• Higher THC
• Higher CBD
• More trichomes (sparkle)
• Bud density

The post Bud Washing: Should Cannabis Growers Wash Their Buds? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Nebula’s Cannabis Grow Journal Experiment Final Results – Keep reading to see the whole grow journal!

This is the beginning of the cannabis grow journal featuring a grow-off between two LED lights:

Spider Farmer SF-2000

vs

Mars Hydro TSL 2000

Why these LED grow lights?

• We’ve received lots of questions about Mars Hydro and Spider Farmer (more than other “quantum board” or “spread style” LEDs)
• They are each company’s design for a 2’x4′ grow space (my favorite tent size)
• Summer is about to start in California and they both run cool

LED Light Stats

• Mars Hydro TSL 2000
  • Claims up to 21 oz harvest
  • Must be assembled before use
• Spider Farmer SF-2000
  • Claims up to 18 oz harvest
  • Ready to plug in out of the box (convenient)

I am very skeptical of those estimated yields by the manufacturer but I would be happy with half that. I’ll update this section with more differences between the lights as I gain more experience with them.

Setup details

• 3 different strains (one clone of each strain in each tent )
• Grow Medium: Mother Earth Coco + Perlite Mix in 5-gallon fabric pots
• Grow Space: Each set of plants gets a 2’x4’x6′ grow tent
• Nutrients: Dyna-Gro (recently rebranded as “Superthrive” Foliage Pro + Bloom
  • 1 tsp/gallon every watering except…
  • 1.25 tsp/gallon for the first 4 weeks after 12/12 (plants looked pale like they needed some extra nutrients so I gave a bit extra for the first few weeks of flowering)

​

Experiment Procedure

Vegetative Stage

• Top each clone above the 4th set of leaves
• Spread each plant to grow wide and flat with multiple buds

Flowering Stage

• Initiate flowering stage with 12/12 schedule when the entire grow space is filled and plants average about 12″ (30cm) tall
• Defoliate lightly week 1 and week 4 of flowering
• Also lollipop plants on week 4
• As plants grow, remove any leaves that are laying on each other making wet spots (to prevent mold)
• Otherwise, leave plants alone until harvest so any differences come from the grow lights

Day 1 (April 1) – Clones rooted and ready for transplant

Rooted clones get moved to cups today!

Mama plants with cuttings in the aerocloner. Now that the babies have made roots, time to start the experiment!

Day 10 (April 10) – Clones ready to be put in pots

The clones for this test are rooted and happily growing in paper cups. They’re ready to get transplanted to pots and put into their respective grow tents this week.

Strains are Zweet Inzanity, Amnesia Lemon, and Pacific Punch (limited edition Square One Genetics strain). I’ll pick the 2 most similar clones from each strain for this test.

Day 17 (April 17) – Clones transplanted into tents with grow lights

I did my best to pick two identical clones for each strain to try to make this trial as fair as possible. Here are the clones immediately after being transplanted to 5-gallon pots and put into their respective tents. I tied some branches down to help spread them out (which is why some branches appear sideways). I anticipate these plants are going to explode with growth now that they’ve got big nice lights and plenty of room for their roots to grow.

Spider Farmer on top (white labels), Mars Hydro on bottom (with red labels to help remember that’s the “Mars” tent)

More about the Spider Farmer SF-2000 setup

Spider Farmer tent at 24″ away

Here are the Spider Farmer light levels at 100% power

Lux meter shows bout 33,000 lux at 24″ away in center

Here are the results with an Apogee meter (measured in µmol m-2 s). There is quite a bit of variance between the middle and sides of the tent (between 478-567 µmol m-2 s), especially compared to the Mars Hydro, which you’re about to see next

More about the Mars Hydro TSL 2000W setup

Mars Hydro tent at 24″ away

Here are the Mars Hydro light levels at 100% power

Lux meter shows bout 40,000 lux at 24″ away in center

Here are the results with an Apogee meter (measured in µmol m-2 s). I’m pretty impressed as this light seems to put very similar amounts of light (between 564-594 µmol m-2 s) throughout the entire tent onto every plant

Clones seem happy so far! Can’t wait to see how they grow this week now that they’re in their respective tents.

April 23 (Day 23) – Clones are growing and being trained to grow flat and wide

The plants took a little time to get adjusted to the new LED grow lights (they were yellowing a bit on top) but now seem ready to enjoy them at 100%. There wasn’t much growth the first few days after plants were put in the tents but they’ve been exploding in growth the last few days.

The Spider Farmer plants seemed to have adjusted quicker but the Mars Hydro ones may catch up this week. I think by next week there may be a clear leader for vegetative growth, but I also know from past grow light experiments that the light that does best in the vegetative stage is not always the one that produces the best yields in the flowering stage.

I did some plant training to make plants more flat and wide. As far as nutrients I’ve been giving them 1 tsp/gallon of Dyna-Gro Foliage pro at 6.1-6.2 pH.  The two Pacific Punch plants (left) seem pale/hungry (they’re also the biggest and fastest-growing) so I’ll be giving that plant slightly higher nutrient levels for a few waterings to see if I can get it to the same perfect green color of the others.

Spider Farmer tent before and after spreading out plants

Here is the Spider Farmer tent a little later after the leaves had time to mostly stand back up. Spider Farmer is currently 24″ away.

Mars Hydro tent before and after spreading out plants

And the full Mars Hydro tent. Mars Hydro is 26″ away (I moved it up a little because the tops were looking a little bleached) but I will let them grow up to it now that they’ve fully adjusted

Still neck and neck!

May 1 (Day 31) – Initiate the Flowering Stage with 12/12 light schedule

Strains typically about double in size after the switch to 12/12 so I’ve been watching the plant height. The plants have grown quite a bit and finally reached half the final desired size which means it’s time to start flowering them.

Today I initiated a 12/12 light schedule to get them to start making buds. Next week they’ll get their first defoliation.

The plants in the Spider Farmer tent seem to be growing at about the same rate as each other, but I noticed in the Mars Hydro tent that the right plant (Zweet Inzanity) is falling behind while the left plant (Pacific Punch) is almost double its size. All the plants are getting the exact same amount of water and nutrients, and the same light level according to the PAR meter, so it’s just how that particular plant is reacting to the Mars Hydro.

As we initiate 12/12 today, the overall average plant size in both tents still seems about the same.

The real exciting part is going to be how they produce in the flowering stage.

May 8 (Day 38, Flowering Day 7)

Although the plants don’t have any actual flowers yet, I’m seeing lots of pistils (white hairs) popping up everywhere and the plants have been stretching. They’ve grown about 6″ taller in the last week, and also just bigger and wider.

I gave them Vegetative nutrients for the last week because plants do a lot of vegetative growth the first few weeks after 12/12 and I wanted to make sure they had plenty of Nitrogen to power their growth. But starting today I am giving flowering nutrients (Dyna-Gro Bloom at 1 tsp/gallon). When I add that to my tap water it automatically sets the pH to 6.2, so no need for PH Down! A nice little bonus. So far I’ve been pleased with the results from Dyna-Gro.

Plants got a lot bigger this week, but still pretty well matched. By next week we should have little mini budlets to look at.

May 14 (Day 44, Flowering Day 13)

Plants are chugging along and seem to be fully into the flowering stage now.

Finally seeing buds this week. Or more like “budlets” right now.

I defoliated the plants today to thin out the leaves as some were laying on top of each other creating wet spots. I also removed leaves that were covering bud sites. Learn more about my defoliation method for these plants.

Spider Farmer tent before & after defoliation

Mars Hydro tent before & after defoliation

I filled a 5-gallon bucket full of leaves but the plants were so bushy it barely looks like I took anything. I plan to do a more robust defoliation and lollipop around week 4. The idea is to take away parts of the plant that will never amount to anything in order to force the plant to put all energy into fattening main buds as opposed wasting energy all over the plant. Until then I’ll only remove leaves that are covering bud sites or creating wet spots. That’s because bud sites tend to fatten more when they get access to direct light, and wet spots can attract mold and powdery mildew.

From the pictures above it may not look like I defoliated much, but I filled a 5-gallon bucket with leaves

May 21 (Day 52, Flowering Day 20)

Plants are still stretching but seem to be slowing down and starting to focus more on bud growth. Here’s an update of the tent and a comparison between the buds in the two tents.

Now let’s look at the buds starting with Pacific Punch (left plant)

Amnesia Lemon (middle plant)

Zweet Inzanity (right plant)

I’m surprised again that there doesn’t seem to be major differences between the buds in different tents. Next week they get their last defoliation and then it’s pretty much just waiting until harvest!

May 28 (Day 59, Flowering Day 28)

Wow the tents look TOTALLY different from last week!

You may remember at the beginning of the grow journal I wrote out a training regimen for the flowering stage. Since it is week 4, it was time for defoliation and simple lollipopping. After this point, plants are mostly going to be left alone until harvest. I won’t remove more growth or leaves unless I have to.

For defoliation, I removed all leaves that were…

• laying on top of each making wet spots
• on long stems (longer than 1″)
• in the bottom and middle of the plant where light couldn’t reach
• covering bud sites from the light

For lollipopping, I removed….

• Any branches that were small and spindly
• Any branches that were never going to make it to the top canopy (buds lower on the plant don’t usually fatten much, and can steal energy from top buds)
• Any buds or growth that was right at the base of the plant where I know from experience it will never make decent buds

I took pictures so you could see exactly what that looked like.

Spider Farmer tent before defoliation

After defoliation and lollipop

Now onto the Mars Hydro tent.

Mars Hydro tent before defoliation

Mary Hydro tent with two left plants defoliated and lollipopped. The right plant still untouched. I thought this was a cool way to help see the difference between defoliated and undefoliated plants.

I noticed the beginnings of a calcium deficiency on the Pacific Punch plants close to the grow light where leaves are working hardest. It’s a pretty purple color thanks to the LED grow lights but it’s too early in the flowering stage to see discoloration on the leaves. When leaves turn color too early, they aren’t as good at photosynthesis and can therefore reduce your yields. Whenever you see a calcium deficiency, the number 1 first thing to check is the pH at the roots. Calcium deficiencies tend to show up when the pH is too low because it is poorly absorbed at low pH ranges. Other reasons to see calcium deficiencies are when using filtered water, low PPM (“soft”) water, or when you’re not adding any nutrients that contain calcium (cannabis plants LOVE calcium especially under LEDs).

Calcium deficiencies may appear purple especially under LED grow lights. In my experience, these deficiencies are most often caused by low PH at the roots. If that’s the cause, the solution is simple: give higher pH water.

My water has been going in at about 6.2 pH but when I checked the runoff water coming out of the Pacific Punch plants it was coming out at 5.2 pH. In coco you want a pH between 5.5-6.5 so this is way too low especially considering the water I put in had much higher pH. In response, all watering from now on will be given at 6.5 pH until the runoff water starts coming out closer to 6. Then I may lower it again to try to maintain between 5.5-6.5. I anticipate that the pH should be corrected within a few waterings and hopefully by next week. I’ll make sure to get a little extra runoff each time to help “clear” whatever is lowering the pH at the root zone.

June 5 (Day 65, Flowering Day 35)

Now we’re talking! Buds are forming and differences are starting to emerge. The Pacific Punch plants look like they’re only a few weeks away from harvest while the Zweet Inzanity plants are still all white hairs. It’s crazy to see the difference between strains.

Now onto my favorite part of doing side-by-sides… bud comparisons!

Pacific Punch (left plant)

Amnesia Lemon (middle plant)

Zweet Inzanity (right plant)

Since the leaves look good, I’ve been lowering the LEDs an inch every few days (currently about 20-22″ away). I plan to keep lowering it until plants show signs of stress or it gets to 18″ away. Bud fattening time.

June 12 (Day 72, Flowering Day 43)

Plants tend to stop needing as much nutrients when they get far enough into flowering that the plants aren’t growing many new leaves anymore. I noticed the tiniest bit of nutrient burn on a couple of leaves today so I decided it’s time to start backing off the nutrients as we enter into the second half of the flowering stage. I was using Dyna-Gro Bloom at 1 1/4 tsp per gallon, and I’m going to taper down to 1 tsp/gallon from here until we start getting closer to harvest.

The smells are pungent now. If I open the tent the smells pour into the room. The two Pacific Punch plants have a delightful sweet fruity smell. Normally I’m very reluctant to use the term “fruity” to describe the smell of buds because frankly most strains smell pretty stank. However, hats off to Square One Genetics because these buds truly smell delightful.

Not much else to say yet. The buds look a bit bigger but otherwise the appearance hasn’t changed significantly. I’d guess the plant on the right (the Pacific Punch) has 3 weeks to go, the middle (Amnesia Lemon) has 4 weeks, and the left (Zweet Inzanity) still has all-white pistils so it has at least a month to go. It’s packing on the weight though so I don’t mind but I’m surprised because it’s never run this long in the past. But that’s the luck of the draw with seeds. And who knows, it might surprise me.

June 19 (Day 79, Flowering Day 50)

Buds started falling over this week and I had to start tying them up using plant yo-yos.

Using plant yo-yos to hold up falling branches. Here’s how I attached it to the top of the tent

The yo-yo-attached to a branch (these are made specifically to hold onto cannabis branches without bothering the buds)

The plant on the left appears to be held up by strings. Those are the yo-yos!

Not much else to report on except that the smell is starting to get a little crazy. When I open the tent I feel like my face gets smacked by the scent lol

June 24 (Day 84, Flowering Day 56)

Whew, this week should have been called “yo-yo week” consider how all the buds started falling over, especially in the Mars Hydro tent 🙂

The Mars Hydro buds look like they might be getting bigger (except the middle plants seems bigger in the Spider Farmer tent) but the Spider Farmer buds seem like they smell more when I open the tent… I can’t wait until harvest the suspense is killing me!

July 2 (Day 92, Flowering Day 62)

I got requests to see the plants in their tents with the LEDs on to get a sort of better look of the inside of the tents. Here they are!

Spider Farmer tent (flowering day 62)

Mars Hydro tent (flowering day 62)

So sparkly!

We are getting sooooo close to harvest. I strongly anticipate that next week’s pictures will include the buds drying! I will give all the plants one last “photo shoot” before harvest so you get an up-close-and-personal look!

July 9 (Day 100, Flowering Day 70) – HARVEST DAY!

Ah, harvest day. So satisfying and exciting.

Here are a few more pictures of the Spider Farmer tent in different lights

Here’s what the plants look like with a flash (which helps you see how big the buds are all the way down)

Pacific Punch under Spider Farmer LED (left plant)

Amnesia Lemon under Spider Farmer LED (middle plant)

Zweet Inzanity under Spider Farmer (right plant)

Here are a few pictures of the Mars Hydro plants in different lights. If you click on them you may be able to see all the strings from plant yo-yos I used to hold the buds up

Here’s what the Mars Hydro plants look like with a flash

Pacific Punch under Mars Hydro LED (left plant)

The Pacific Punch buds were super sparkly and purple in both tents. Genetics makes a huge difference in bud results!

Amnesia Lemon under Mars Hydro LED (middle plant).

Zweet Inzanity from the Mars Hydro tent. This strain always comes out sparkly and yields well

It’s hard to get a clear picture because the trichomes reflect light back

Buds drying!

This is exciting! I have an AC and a dehumidifier to keep the room at 60°F and 60% humidity while they’re drying. I hung buds from inside the tent with the exhaust fan turned to the lowest setting for gentle airflow. I’ve found this environment provides consistently great results even if you’re drying a lot of buds at once.

I’m actually a little amazed at just how similar the two tents and all the buds look. I’ve done side-by-side grows before with clones, and usually, there are at least some visible differences. I can’t wait to see what the scale and lab results have to say. One thing for sure is both these lights performed awesomely!

Weigh-in and Lab Results

I am sooooo excited to share these results. I am surprised and delighted by how everything turned out with both lights, though I do believe there is a clear winner.

After the buds were dried they were trimmed and jarred..

Pacific Punch bud (limited edition Square One Genetics strain) before trimming. Visually, the Pacific Punch buds were the sparkliest 🙂

Pacific Punch bud after trimming

And here’s what they looked like all jarred up after they were trimmed.

Spider Farmer harvest in jars

Mars Hydro harvest in jars

Looks pretty similar! So what about the final weights?

Both grow lights produced about 10.5 oz in total, with the Spider Farmer edging ahead

But here’s the crazy thing… The Spider Farmer only uses 200W to the Mars Hydro’s 300W. That means the Spider Farmer produced more weed with only 2/3 the power usage.

But what about cannabinoid levels? Did one light produce better weed than the other? In our smoke reports, we couldn’t tell the difference between the weed from each light, so I was excited to see what the lab results had to say. Unfortunately, I’m still waiting on the terpene lab results so I will be posting those as soon as I get them!

Amnesia Lemon

• Spider Farmer – 13.9% THC, 0.8% CBD
• Mars Hydro – 14% THC, 1% CBD

Zweet Inzanity

• Spider Farmer – 24.5% THC, 0.9% CBD
• Mars Hydro – 25.4% THC, 0.9% CBD

Pacific Punch (limited edition Square One Genetics strain)

• Spider Farmer – 26.9% THC, 0.8% CBD
• Mars Hydro – 26.4% THC, 0.9% CBD

Spider Farmer Results

• 21.8% THC, 0.8% CBD (average of 3 plants)
• 10.67 oz yield
• 1.51 g/watt

Mars Hydro Results 

• 21.9% THC, 0.9% CBD (average of 3 plants)
• 10.43 oz yield
• 0.99 g/watt

Nebula’s Chosen Winner: Spider Farmer SF-2000

Spider Farmer SF-2000

Why did I choose the Spider Farmer as the winner of this side-by-side grow journal?

• Easier to set up – weighs less and is less bulky than the Mars Hydro, which made it much easier to hang
• Better construction – while the Mars Hydro has sharp edges that could accidentally cut your forehead if you get too close, the Spider Farmer has round safe edges
• Fewer nutrient deficiencies or leaf problems – While both tents produced excellent growth, I did notice a few nutrient deficiencies in the Mars Hydro tent on the leaves directly under the grow light. On the other hand, I saw no nutrient deficiencies in the Spider Farmer tent throughout the grow, despite the fact that these plants were grown in otherwise identical conditions. It’s probably worth noting that the Mars Hydro is a stronger light, which may have contributed to this.
• Better Yields! This is where the Spider Farmer lamp really shined (*ba dum bum*). It produced over 1.5g per watt while the Mars Hydro produced about 1 gram/ watt.

The quality of the buds was remarkably identical. In the past, I’ve noticed much bigger differences in bud quality when comparing between different grow mediums, or between LEDs vs other types of grow lights. But between these lights the actual buds seem almost exactly the same. It’s just a matter of how much of them were produced.

Overall, the Spider Farmer light performed better in almost every way. It cost about $20 more than the Mars Hydro light, and I believe the extra money is more than worth it.

That being said, both of these lights performed amazingly and I think most growers would be happy with either one!

Delicious 🙂

I hope you enjoyed this grow journal! It’s been one of my favorite grows so far 🙂

~Nebula

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