Soil quality is one of the biggest hidden causes of grow problems, and a lot of growers don’t even realize it. Here are some examples.

This grower thought their problem was not enough nutrients because the plant was pale.

But the real problem was the soil. Look closely.

• Thick & muddy – roots can’t get oxygen in soil that’s too thick
• No perlite – these little white “rocks” are key to loose, fluffy soil
• Holds too much water – The soil stays too wet for too long.

Bad cannabis soil can take many forms.

This grower thought he was under-watering the seedlings because the soil looked dry.

But the actual problem was they were growing in low-quality dirt that can’t hold much water.

• Pale – light-colored soil often lacks nutrients and organic matter.
• Solid – this soil is so compacted it’s hard as a rock
• Poor texture – even after adding water, it looks pale and dusty

Don’t set yourself up for failure.

Soil is something you choose before planting a seed, so make sure to set up your grow for success.

Choosing cannabis-friendly soil produces more weed with less effort, because Mother Nature works with you instead of against you. You just need to know what to look for.

Note: Seeds like Purple Haze, Northern Lights #10, Do-Si-Dos germinate strong in any grow medium.

What’s the Best Soil for Weed?

There are many brands that work great. My favorite cannabis soil is Fox Farm Coco Loco soil, which pairs well with Fox Farm soil nutrients.

That’s what I used for this grow journal.

When it comes to growing cannabis in soil, you have 3 main choices to ensure great weed.

1. Buy a proven soil – Use a brand known for great cannabis soil. Two great cannabis soil options are Coco Loco potting mix (a coco-fiber-heavy soil mix makes seedlings less prone to overwatering, but needs nutrients earlier) and Ocean Forest soil (true soil that is ”hot” enough you don’t need to add nutrients for several weeks).
2. Use locally available soil – Go to a local gardening store and find “organic potting mix” that looks like the soil examples below. Cannabis soil should be brown, rich, fluffy, and ideally already contains little white rocks called perlite. Make sure to give nutrients after just a few weeks, as cannabis plants quickly use up nutrients in regular soil.
3. Mix your own soil – If you’re looking to make your own soil, here’s an awesome tutorial by Subcool on making cannabis-friendly soil.

Example of great cannabis soil (this is Coco Loco) – click for closeup

Note about soil & nutrients: Cannabis plants are exceptionally nutrient-hungry as they enter the flowering stage. Bigger plants often use up nutrients in the soil, and need nutrient supplementation right as buds are forming, unless you grow in a big pot with a lot of soil.

You can’t go wrong with the Fox Farm trio for soil. Just follow the instructions on the label at half-strength for cannabis plants. Learn everything about cannabis nutrients & supplements for soil.

Fox Farm trio grows great cannabis in soil.

In addition to Nitrogen, cannabis specifically needs plenty of Phosphorus, Potassium, and micronutrients (a “bloom” nutrient formula) to grow big, dense, potent, and strong-smelling buds.

Give extra “bloom” nutrients as buds form to increase potency, density, and smell.

Weed grown in Coco Loco soil with Fox Farm soil trio nutrients (Candy Games #38 strain).

What should you look for in good cannabis soil?

Weed growers consistently find the best cannabis soil has these characteristics:

• dark and rich
• loose texture
• holds water
• drains well

The following video shows the soil texture you want (this is Coco Loco soil, my personal favorite soil for growing cannabis).

Click here to choose the right soil and learn how to water cannabis plants so they thrive.

When Should I Start Adding Cannabis Nutrients in Soil?

Soil is so simple. So close to nature. Add seeds, remember to water your plants, and wait for an awesome harvest, right?

But cannabis plants typically use up the nutrients in the soil. If you don’t start adding nutrients, the start running into nutrient deficiencies (see what that looks like below).

Once plants get hungry, you can’t go wrong with the Fox Farm trio for soil. For cannabis plants, follow the instructions on the label at half-strength. Get the best cannabis nutrients & supplements for soil.

Fox Farm trio grows great cannabis in soil.

Here’s what you need to watch out for as a soil cannabis grower, so you start adding nutrients before it causes issues.

Pale, lime green cannabis plants in soil = you need to add more nutrients.

If many lower leaves turn yellow and fall off, especially while buds are forming, it’s a sign the plant is “stealing” nutrients from the bottom of the plant to give to the hard-working leaves at the top.

That means if many lower leaves are turning yellow and falling off on their own, you need to add more nutrients.

Add more nutrients if bottom leaves are turning yellow and falling off.

If the bottom of your pot looks like this, the cannabis plant needs more nutrients.

When the Nutrient Problem is Caused by PH

If you see these different symptoms, the cause is likely a pH problem, not needing more nutrients. See pictures of deficiencies caused by pH.

If you see brown spots, or yellow leaves are “stuck” on the plant, it’s likely actually a pH problem.

Another example of a nutrient deficiency caused by incorrect pH.

Healthy Plants Produce Better Harvests

You can still get a great harvest even if you have some nutrient problems. But you get the best cannabis yields and bud quality when plants avoid nutrient deficiencies and get plenty of nutrients while buds are forming.

Fox Farm Coco Loco soil with Fox Farm soil nutrients works well for weed.

Vic’s cannabis plants thriving in Coco Loco soil with Fox Farm soil nutrients.

Which cannabis seeds perform in soil?

You commonly hear soil growers say “soil produces more terpenes”.

So we put it to the test, In our side-by-side grow experiment using super soil vs coco, we found the super soil buds (at least for that grow) had 17% higher terpenes at the lab on average. See the full grow journal.

When terpene production increases, it helps strains express their unique “smell personality”. That means growing strains with strong flavor/smell profiles can help you maximize your soil benefits.

Strains that produce excellent smells in soil

• Sour Diesel –  Recently released by Seedsman, this strain has a faster outdoor finish than most Sativa strains. Buds are dense and sticky growing in traditional diesel-smelling “colas” (big baseball bat buds).
• Purple Oreoz F1 – Get the power of an early finishing F1 strain and the smell of fruity dessert. Excellent bud quality and yields. Suitable for commercial grows.
• Guava Root GMO – This indica that thrives indoors or outdoors. Compact grow pattern, high yielding, “rootbeer” smell hints, beginner friendly. Great for extracts (4.7% hash by weight vis ice water extraction).

Bonus: Grease Gun Autoflower is a high-smell strain for autoflower growers.

Purple Oreoz F1 bud basking in the sun last summer.

Grease Gun Autoflower by SkunkSquatch is easy-to-grow with huge smells.

Learn how to HARVEST at the perfect time. Then process your buds to increase density and smell great.

The post Your soil might be ruining your cannabis grow appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Got marijuana plants growing in soil? Most nutrients work, but cannabis plants grow best when your nutrients are designed to grow weed plants in soil.

3 Top Soil Nutrients for Growing Weed

• Fox Farms Nutrient Trio for Soil – professional marijuana soil nutrients, mostly organic ingredients.
• Botanicare PureBlend (Grow & Bloom) – pro nutrients for beginners, one bottle per stage.
• Dyna-Gro Grow & Bloom – cheap & effective, use in soil at 1 tsp/gallon.

The Fox Farm soil nutrients are the most popular nutrients for growing cannabis in soil.

Sirius grew these in good cannabis soil with Fox Farm nutrients and LED grow lights.

Quick Guide: When to Give More Nutrients in Soil

These are signs your cannabis plant in soil needs more nutrients overall. Giving soil nutrients to plants with the following symptoms typically solves the problem within just a few waterings. Other nutrient deficiencies are often actually a pH problem.

Pale, lime green cannabis plants in soil = you need to add more nutrients.

If many lower leaves turn yellow and fall off, especially while buds are forming, it’s a sign the plant is “stealing” nutrients from the bottom of the plant to give to the hard-working leaves at the top.

That means if many lower leaves are turning yellow and falling off on their own, you need to add more nutrients.

Add more nutrients if bottom leaves are turning yellow and falling off.

If the bottom of your pot looks like this, the cannabis plant needs more nutrients.

When the Nutrient Problem is Caused by PH

If you see these different symptoms, the cause is likely a pH problem, not needing more nutrients. See pictures of deficiencies caused by pH.

If you see brown spots, or yellow leaves are “stuck” on the plant, it’s likely actually a pH problem.

Another example of a nutrient deficiency caused by incorrect pH.

You can still get a great harvest even if you have some nutrient problems. But you get the best cannabis yields and bud quality when plants get extra nutrients while buds are forming.

Great nutrients grows healthy plants – see the grow journal.

Keep reading to become an expert at soil nutrients for growing marijuana…

Table of Contents

Do You Need Special Nutrients to Grow Marijuana in Soil?

What Type of Soil Should I Get?

Which Company Makes the Best Soil Nutrients?

Tips for Growing Marijuana in Soil

Do You Even Need Special Nutrients to Grow Marijuana in Soil?

• Cannabis has high nutrient needs, especially in the flowering/budding phase. Without enough nutrients during budding, the plant won’t make buds as big as they could be.
• You can avoid using extra nutrients altogether by growing in well-amended composted soil and transplanting your cannabis into a nice big pot with fresh composted soil right before the switch to the flowering stage, which should be enough to last through the flowering stage. In composted soil, tiny microorganisms slowly bread down the nutrients for your plants, so the nutrients are fed to the plant slowly and regularly.
• A potted cannabis plant in regular (non-composted) potting soil often uses up all the nutrients in the soil before they even make it to the flowering stage. After about 3-4 weeks of growing in an average sized pot, a cannabis grower either needs to repot the plant into new, fresh soil, or supplement with extra nutrients in order to get everything to the plant that it needs.
• There are “natural” ways to provide extra nutrients to your cannabis (for example egg shells, coffee beans, dolomite lime, etc all add minerals and nutrients) but these usually do not break down fast enough or consistently enough to make sure your cannabis doesn’t run into nutrient deficiencies. Another problem with using things like this is that giving your plant too much of one nutrient can actually make it deficient with another nutrient. So it can be difficult to get the right proportions right unless using a soil recipe that’s specialized for cannabis or by adding extra nutrients in the water.
• Want more info? Since it’s just a weed, why can’t I grow cannabis in the regular dirt outside?

Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil (pictured here) is a top soil for growing cannabis. It just works.

How to Get Enough Nutrients to Your Marijuana Plants

To make sure your cannabis plants don’t run into nutrient deficiencies while growing in soil, you need to either…

• Grow with composted soil OR
• Regularly transplant to new. fresh soil OR
• Grow in a really, really big pot with tons of soil OR
• Supplement with specialized marijuana nutrients formulated specifically for growing cannabis in soil (recommended)

Conclusion: Adding soil nutrients to the water tends to get the best cannabis yields, potency, and density.

Fox Farm Nutrient Trio – excellent, mostly organic marijuana nutrients.

What Soil Should I Get to Grow Weed?

What Are the Best Soil Nutrients?

But are they the best marijuana nutrients? Which one is the best?

There are so many nutrient options out there! How can growers figure out which ones are actually the best cannabis nutrients? In fact, what makes a nutrient system good or bad for growing cannabis in the first place? The answer is it’s about the NPK nutrient ratios!

* In a pinch, nutrients for cactus or succulents can be used in the flowering stage until you get better nutrients because they have similar nutrient ratios

These aren’t the only nutrient ratios that will work for growing cannabis, but these ones work well. Adding cannabis nutrients to your grow can help you get the best potency, yields and growth from your plants, especially in the flowering stage when cannabis uses a lot of nutrients to make bud. Cannabis plants have two stages of life and they need the right nutrients at the right time.

Note: Don’t use anything with time-released nutrients (like fertilizer spikes, or Miracle-Gro soil – they deliver too much N in the flowering stage).

Most nutrient bottles have 3 numbers, often called N-P-K, which stands for Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium

(Why “K? The atomic symbol of Potassium is “K” from Neo-Latin kalium)

Marijuana plants need different ratios of these 3 nutrients (as well as several micronutrients) depending on what stage of life they are currently in.

For example, cannabis plants in the vegetative stage need nitrogen to power the growth of leaves. In the flowering/budding stage, cannabis needs less nitrogen and greater levels of phosphorus to assist with proper bud growth.

Because of the varied nutrient needs of the cannabis plant, it’s often easier for many growers to use a professional nutrient system made for a plant like cannabis, instead of trying to mix up their own. With a professional nutrient system, you don’t have to figure out your own changing nutrient ratios, and you don’t have to worry about chemical reactions that occur from combining different types of nutrients incorrectly (which can create fertilizer salts and cause nutrient lock-out).

A professional cannabis nutrient system will save many growers a lot of time, frustration and money. There are many nutrient systems to choose from which have been created by long-time cannabis growers and breeders around the world!

When it comes to finding a nutrient system to use with your cannabis plants, the first question you ask yourself should be: “What is my growing medium?”

Warning: When it comes to growing cannabis, avoid any nutrients which claim to be “extended” or “slow release”! They can cause all types of unexpected problems.

If you’re growing in soil, you will want to get nutrients made for soil.

With all nutrient systems, don’t start at full strength or it might burn your cannabis plants!

Different strains have different preferences, and some plants are very sensitive to nutrient burn.

How Much Soil Nutrients to Give Cannabis?

• Start at half strength – I recommend starting new nutrient systems at half-strength and only raise the nutrient levels as needed.
• Fast-growing plants need more nutrients – If your cannabis plants are growing very fast (inches a day) they likely need full-strength nutrients regardless of the type of grow light.

Other Factors That Affect Nutrient Levels

• Small grow lights require less nutrients for plants to be healthy, on average – Many home growers will never need to raise nutrient levels above half-strength because their plants are under relatively small LED grow lights (100-200W). Plants just aren’t “digesting” enough light to need lots of nutrients.
• Big grow lights often require need full-strength nutrients – On the other hand, cannabis plants are under powerful, bright lights may require full-strength nutrients (or even more in rare cases).
• Individual plants have different needs – Some strains or specific cannabis require more or less nutrients. You sometimes notice you have plants in the same environment, but some plants get “hungry” for nutrients while other plants getting the same conditions are getting enough or even too much.
• Pay attention to plants more than anything! If a plant looks like it needs more nutrients, give it more. If it looks like it needs less, give it less.

Plants turn yellow or lime green all over when they need more nutrients overall.

If leaves are dark green all over, they probably need less nutrients overall.

“Nutrient burn” (dry, brown, possibly curling tips) is another sign of too-high levels of nutrients or supplements. Pay extra close attention if nutrient burn affects all the leaves at once, especially if you see it happen right after raising nutrient levels or adding a new supplement.

Nutrient burn on all the leaves is another signal the nutrient levels are too high.

Plants use light for food (and to power the growth of buds), not nutrients. Just like eating a bunch of multi-vitamins every day will make you sick, giving plants too high levels of nutrients can make them sick, too. With plants, just like humans, you will get the best results by paying attention to nutrient needs on a regular basis. Don’t wait until your whole plant is yellowing to try to figure out the problem!

Some growers try to push their plants to the limit of what they can take, giving stronger and stronger levels of nutrients until plants show signs of nutrient burn, but I don’t believe this is necessary. Sometimes less is more. I believe that as long as your plant is not showing signs of deficiencies (such as growing pale green leaves towards the bottom of the plant), you are generally in the right range.

Many cannabis growers will find that professional nutrients work well at half-strength, and only growers with very bright lights and fast-growing plants will need to raise nutrient levels above that. There are also certain strains that seem to do better at higher nutrient levels than most others.

Here are pictures of cannabis plants with nutrient problems (and solutions).

Please, save yourself the time and frustration – get a nutrient system that’s proven to work for growing cannabis! If cost is a worry…

​An Example of Cheap (But Effective) Cannabis Nutrients: Dyna-Gro Grow & Bloom. Use Dyna-Gro “Grow” bottle in the vegetative stage & Dyna-Gro Bloom bottle in the flowering stage. This cannabis nutrients work great for growing marijuana. You don’t need anything else besides these two bottles of nutrients to grow weed all the way to harvest and this simple cannabis nutrient system is cheap (effective for soil, coco coir and hydro!). If you’re not sure which nutrients to get and you’re on a budget, consider going with Dyna-Gro!

An easy and simple nutrient systems that for beginning cannabis growers in soil is the Fox Farms Nutrient Trio for Soil. These are professional-level nutrients, and one of the the most popular nutrient systems for growing weed in soil.

Fox Farm Nutrient Trio – excellent, mostly organic cannabis nutrients.

The Fox Farms trio works great for growing any cannabis strain, without needing any additional supplements.

Tips for Growing Cannabis in Soil

• Low Levels of Nutrients Given Regularly is Much Better Than Giving a Lot of Nutrients at Once!

The most common mistake made by beginners growing cannabis in soil is they water their plants too often. Overwatering is almost never a case of giving your plants too much water at once. Instead, overwatering cannabis in soil is almost always caused by giving the plant water too often.

Learn how to water seedlings in soil (day-by-day watering schedule).

Never overwater your seedlings again, just use this seedling watering schedule.

How to water adult cannabis plants in soil

1. Wait until the top of your soil feels dry up to your first knuckle (about an inch deep)

2. Add nutrients to your water (if needed), then adjust the pH. Most soil growers only add nutrients every other watering, or even less often, but you will always need to adjust the pH of your water.

3. Start watering your plants and continue to add water until you see at least 20% extra runoff water drain out the bottom of your pot. Go back to step 1.

Use the above directions to water older plants in soil, like these 30-day old plants

Learn more about growing cannabis in soil!

The post Best Soil Nutrients for Growing Marijuana? 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

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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.

Every home cannabis grower knows that your strains make the difference between a ‘meh’ harvest and an amazing cannabis harvest that makes your eyes water with pride. At GrowWeedeasy.com, we are constantly growing, so we make sure to keep up with the latest developments when it comes to strains and strain breeders. That’s why I want to highlight a new strain breeder, Happy Valley Genetics, that offers stabilized seed versions of some of my favorite cannabis genetics that were previously only available as unstabilized crosses or clones.

Happy Valley Genetics is a new(ish) cannabis breeder.

Sometimes it’s hard to get information about new breeders, so I put together this page to share my research and experience with this breeder so far.

Happy Valley Genetics offers cannabis seeds that are stabilized and ideal for home growers.

Who is Ethos Genetics, and what do they have to do with Happy Valley Genetics?

Ethos Genetics is a Colorado-based company known for breeding high-quality cannabis seeds which I’ve been growing since around 2015. They offer great genetics, but the one downside (in my opinion) is they tend to release lots of “crosses” but don’t actually stabilize their strains. That means you could get 5 seeds of the same cross, and potentially produce 5 very different plants with different buds. This is amazing from the perspective of “phenotype hunting” and breeding your own strains. You get seeds of amazing genetics with lots of genetic variety to sift through.

However, for a home grower who isn’t planning on breeding seeds, it’s often more convenient to get a stabilized version of a strain when buying seeds. This makes planning a lot easier.

Advantage of using stabilized strains is you know…

• Plant size – Be able to anticipate how big plants get
• Time to harvest – How long they take before they are ready to harvest
• Bud quality – Know how buds look/smell, potency, density, etc.

With a stabilized strain, you can grow 5 seeds and all 5 plants will grow the same as each other, almost as if you were growing clones.

Stabilized strains are usually better for home growers.

That brings me to Happy Valley Genetics. They are located out of Massachusetts and have been collaborating with Ethos Genetics for several years. During this collaboration, Happy Valley Genetics won two High Times Cannabis Cup awards: Best Sativa Flower for Super Lemon Haze and Best Hybrid Flower for White Wedding.

As part of my research on this breeder, I learned that Ethos and Happy Valley Genetics primarily breed with only female plants, stating that the Y chromosome from male plants does not necessarily contribute a lot to female bud development. This unique technique of cutting out male plants lets breeders always choose two “parent” plants that produce excellent buds, and is combined with testing plant genetics to get objective data instead of relying on anecdotal observations.

Happy Valley decided to start stabilizing the best versions of Ethos strains, and entered a formal licensing agreement. Now they offer stabilized strains, based on Ethos genetics, in both feminized photoperiod and feminized auto-flowering form.

Recommended photoperiod strain (so far)

Candy Games #38

Recommended auto-flowering strain (so far)

Pineapple Diesel Auto

See other Happy Valley Genetics.

Let us know your experience with this breeder. If you’ve got pictures, don’t hesitate to submit them and we might feature them on this page!

The post Who is Happy Valley Genetics? (“Powered by Ethos Genetics”) appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

“Lemon” Scented Cannabis Strains May Be More Relaxing

Current research shows that a lemon-smelling terpene known as d-Limonene may reduce THC-induced anxiety effects for some people. D-Limonene is one of the most common terpenes in nature. But you find the highest amounts of d-Limonene in citrus fruits, especially in rind oil from lemons, oranges, and limes.  D-Limonene is only found in a smaller subset of cannabis strains. For growers looking to maximize relaxation and reduce paranoia, we compiled a list of strains that test extra high in d-limonene, including one superstar strain.

Surprising Result: Interestingly, although d-Limonene is considered to smell like lemons, upon lab testing, a lot of the highest levels we found were in “Mandarin”, “Sour”, “Diesel”, “Cookies”, and “Gorilla Glue” cannabis strains. When we examined all our lab results from over the years, we were surprised to learn that many “Lemon” strains did not necessarily have the highest levels of this terpene compared to others, though of course there are exceptions. Keep reading for specific strain “Lemon” scented suggestions.

Strain names that tend to have higher amounts of d-Limonene often include these words (of course, not always):

• Mandarin
• Sour
• Diesel
• Cookies
• Gorilla Glue

The Power of Lemon in Terpenes Like d-Limonene

Have you ever noticed that you may feel different effects from different strains of weed? When it comes to cannabis, it’s not just THC that affects the “high” or how you feel. Cannabis contains other compounds, including terpenes like d-Limonene, that alter the overall experience from smoking or vaporizing.

Did You Know? The “entourage effect” is how different compounds work together to change how you feel from different strains. Just like a celebrity with an entourage of bodyguards and assistants, THC has an entourage of chemical compounds in weed. The most studied are CBD and terpenes like d-Limonene.

Why is cannabis-based d-Limonene special?

D-limonene is a terpene that affects the experience of weed. Terpenes are smelly compounds found in plants, which often give them their distinct odor. For example pine trees get their smell from pinene. And Linalool is responsible for the unique floral scent of lavender, also contributing to the smells of coriander and mint.

Cannabis buds contain an array of different terpenes that create a bouquet of smells for each strain. However, only some strains contain d-Limonene.

Each cannabis strain has different levels of terpenes and cannabinoids.

How does d-Limonene reduce anxiety and enhance relaxation?

In this study, it was found that higher amounts of limonene while vaporizing weed reduced the likelihood of cannabis enthusiasts or patients experiencing the “paranoia” effect.

Anecdotally, citrus-scented strains are often noted for their relaxing effects. Here is one last anecdote from when we went through our data for this article. After we determined which strains contained the highest levels of d-Limonene, we noted that many of these strains had been described subjectively as being specifically relaxing and anti-anxiety.

Those two anecdotes plus a small study doesn’t prove anything, but if you’re looking for relaxing weed it seems worth giving d-Limonene strains a try to see if it works for you.

My 7 Favorite “Lemon” Scented Strains with High d-Limonene

In celebration of d-Limonene, I wanted to share 7 strains that contain relatively higher amounts of this terpene. These strains often tend to have hints of citrus smell in the buds, but sometimes you don’t actually smell the citrus smell, especially if it has strong other smells. For example, many “Cookies” strains (like Platinum Cookies), or “Sour” strains (like Sour Diesel) have significant amounts of d-Limonene, but the “lemon” smell doesn’t come through except perhaps as a note of citrus.

How did we make this list? Some of these strains were lab tested by others, but many were lab tested ourselves, as stated in each description.

We lab-test our homegrown buds to help track what does and doesn’t work. We’ve experimented with growing techniques, grow light direct comparisons, soil vs coco, and more. Check out our side-by-side grow experiments to see some of the tests we’ve conducted. We’ve tested just under a hundred different homegrown buds. It was exciting to realize we could use that data to run a little “mini-study” on d-Limonene based on results in the field over several years. Let us know if you’d like to see any particular experiments with lab tests.

Here are our best picks for d-Limonene.

#1 Strain for d-Limonene: Mandarin Cookies by Ethos Genetics

This strain beat all others on the list. When we got our Mandarin Cookies buds tested at the lab, all the samples were at least around 1% d-Limonene. One sample was even 1.4% d-Limonene. That means 1.4% of all the dried mass of the buds was the terpene d-Limonene. On top of that it measured 26.9% THC under an HID grow light, and 28.3% THC when grown under an HLG LED grow light. That means almost 1/3 of the buds of this strain (by dry weight) were either THC or d-Limonene. That easily puts Mandarin Cookies at that top of the list!

Our Mandarin Cookies not only had great effects, but buds are super photogenic.

Our lab results:

• Mandarin Cookies Lab Result #1 (PDF) – Grown with 315W ceramic metal halide light)
• Mandarin Cookies Lab Result #2 (PDF) – Grown with 350W HLG LED grow light. As a side note, this grow light produces the highest THC and terpenes of any grow lights we’ve tried so far.

At that time, there wasn’t any scientific studies on d-Limenine, but I can anecdotally attest that everyone found the Mandarin Cookies buds to be particularly relaxing and gave everyone good vibes. This seems to go along with the idea that this terpene may increase relaxing effects.

Get Mandarin Cookies seeds by Ethos.

One of the Mandarin Cookies plants we grew. Buds were incredibly sparkly.

Of the two plants, the Mandarin Cookies grown under the HLG 350W LED grow light (here’s the full setup) produced the highest amounts of THC and d-Limonene.

Mandarin Cookies just before harvest.

Those Mandarin Cookies buds after harvest.

7 More Awesome Strains with Abundant Limonene

Surprising Result: Interestingly, although d-Limonene is considered to smell like lemons, upon lab testing, a lot of the highest levels were found in “Mandarin”, “Sour”, “Orange”, “Diesel”, “Cookies”, and “Gorilla Glue” strains. When we examined all our lab results from over the years, we were surprised to learn that many “Lemon” strains did not necessarily have the highest levels of this terpene compared to others, though of course there are exceptions.

Here are examples of other strains we’ve tested (or have been tested by other growers or breeders) and found to have above-average levels of d-Limonene.

1.) Zoap by MSNL (Rainbow Sherbet x Pink Guava)

I thought this was kind of a strange name for such a fruity strain, but as they say “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. In addition to high amounts of d-Limonene, Zoap buds have a sweet berry citrus smell that’s pleasant and fruity. Buds produce over 25% THC, so the potency is very high. Another reason home growers love this strain is it tends to produce big yields, yet is forgiving and beginner-friendly.

Get Zoap by MSNL.

2.) Strawberry Sorbet by DNA Genetics

This strain has indica-leaning genetics and it naturally grows in a Christmas tree shape with just one main bud. But unusually for an indica strain, it grows a bit tall and stretchy, making these plants great candidates for plant training. You can make it grow bushy with many buds by topping it (cutting of the top) when the young plant has 5-6 full sets of leaves. Then gently spread out the branches (down and away from the center of the plant) as it grows so plants grow wide and flat. This results in excellent yields with lots of big main buds all over the plant.

Get Strawberry Sorbet by DNA Genetics.

Try to spread this plant out wide as it grows, or it will get tall.

Strawberry Sorbet effects have been described as giving you fresh energy.

3.) GG Lemon by Seed Supreme

We found in our tests that many Gorilla Glue (“GG”) strains have surprisingly high amounts of d-Limonene. This Gorilla Glue strain in particular has honed in on the lemon scent.

Get GG Lemon seeds by Seed Supreme.

Strains with Gorilla Glue (“GG”) ancestry like GG Lemon often produce more d-Limonene.

4.) Candy Games #38 by Happy Valley Genetics

Candy Games #38 is a fruity strain by a relatively new breeder known as Happy Valley Genetics. I’ve been really impressed by this breeder so far and their Candy strains are prized for giving energetic effects without being overwhelming. This particular strain makes purple-tinted buds that are tight and sparkly. Check out their homepage for more information.

Get Candy Games #38 by Happy Valley Genetics.

“Candy Games” is right!

5.) Platinum Cookies by Seed Supreme

This is just an all around easy-to-grow strain with amazing bud results. The Platinum Cookies plants were by far the favorite strain from that grow, and coincidentally have higher amounts of d-Limonene.

The one thing about this strain is it does tend to get a bit tall, and has a slightly longer flowering stage than average (about 10-12 weeks), due to its Sativa-leaning genetics. That being said, the yields and bud quality are outstanding and I highly recommend it for any grower. Check out my full strain review of Platinum Cookies.

Get Platinum Cookies by Seed Supreme.

One of the Platinum Cookies we grew.

6.) Nitro Lemon Haze by MSNL

Another strain by MSNL that is relatively heavy in d-Limonene. This is a great option for those who don’t like a a “heavy” or debilitating stone. This is perfect if you instead seek a “Sativa” high that is more psychedelic and energetic.

Unlike other similar Haze strains, this strain has a normal flowering time that only needs about 10 weeks before buds are ready to harvest. That also means it can be a good choice for growing outdoors in a climate that has a shorter summer.

Get Nitro Lemon Haze by MSNL.

This was our Lemon Haze plant from MSNL. Big ol’ buds!

7.) Tropicana Cookies Purple by Seed Supreme

This is one of those strains that is just a pleasure to grow, buds look gorgeous, and the bud effects are outstanding.

5 Special Mentions

Besides the Sour Diesel, these haven’t been specifically tested for d-Limonene by me, but are delicious strains with relaxing effects:

1. San Fernando Lemon Kush by Sweet Seeds
2. Super Lemon Haze by Seed Supreme
3. Sour Diesel by Royal Queen Seeds (this one tested high in d-Limonene, though it didn’t smell much like lemons)
4. Amnesia Fast by Seedsman (very quick to harvest compared to most strains)
5. Northern Tropic by Elev8 Seeds

Auto-flowering Strains with High d-Limonene

Auto-flowering strains are your ticket to a speedy harvest. Most strains are ready to harvest 2-3 months from germination. Learn about auto-flowering strains compared to typical photoperiod strains..

1. CheMACal Romance Auto by DNA Genetics – Primary terpene is limonene in tests, beautiful buds, fast to harvest.
2. Cream Mandarine Autoflower by Seed Supreme – Citrusy with an underlying “sweet cream” flavor make this one special! Reminiscent of a creamsicle.
3. Gorilla Glue Auto by Fast Buds – This isn’t listed as having a lemon scent (though it does say it has a fruity sour smell). However, when we got these tested at the lab the buds were almost 0.5% d-Limonene.

These Gorilla Glue Auto buds tested at 0.5% d-Limonene at the lab.

Gorilla Glue Auto by Fast Buds bud up close. Sparkly!

5 Grow Tips to Maximize d-Limonene

Besides growing a high d-Limonene strain, here are grow tactics to maximize terpenes like d-Limonene in your buds after harvest.

1. Not Hot – Avoid letting grow space get over 80°F / 27°F if possible. Learn how to keep the grow space cool and breezy.
2. Not Humid – Avoid letting humidity get over 60% if possible. High humidity is a bud killer. It results in airy buds, slower growth, smaller yields, lower potency, and less smell overall. Plus high humidity can cause bud rot if buds get too fat. Learn all about humidity when growing cannabis.
3. Harvest at the Right Time – Cannabis buds have peak potency and terpenes when buds are mature. Harvesting buds too early gives you buds with lower potency and smell. Give buds enough time to create all the good stuff! See pictures of ready-to-harvest cannabis buds.
4. Dry Buds Properly – Slow drying buds over several day helps keep all your terpenes including d-Limonene. Most important, avoid air-drying buds in a place that gets hot or humid. Learn how to dry your cannabis buds like a pro.
5. “Cure” Your Buds – Cure buds in jars for at least 2 weeks before smoking – Both the smell and potency/effects of cannabis buds improve and intensify during the curing process. Learn how to cure your buds perfectly every time.

Bonus Tip: I have not tried this, but some growers swear by Sweet Citrus by Botanicare.

The Botanicare Sweet line is a unique set of organic cannabis grow supplements that claim to “provides aroma and flavor” via “bioactive esters” that enhance bud fragrance and produces a specific smell in cannabis plants. Besides Citrus they also have an unflavored Raw Sugar Sweet supplement that seems to be the most popular from this line.

The Sweet Citrus supplement claims to enhance citrus smell in cannabis buds.

Follow the above grow tips to maximize terpenes and d-Limonene.

Conclusion: Embrace Lemon Strains!

Here is a summary of today’s article.

New research shows that a lemon-smelling terpene known as d-Limonene may reduce THC-induced anxiety effects for some people. D-Limonene is only found in a smaller subset of cannabis strains.

For growers looking to maximize relaxation and reduce paranoia, we compiled a list of strains that test extra high in d-limonene.

In our lab tests, we found that these strain names often have higher amounts of d-Limonene compared to others, though of course this is not foolproof:

Look out for these words in strain names.

• Mandarin
• Sour
• Diesel
• Cookies
• Gorilla Glue

Did you enjoy this article? If so, contact us and let us know! Also don’t hesitate to share your favorite strains or pictures.

About the Author: Nebula Haze

Nebula Haze is a dedicated cannabis enthusiast and co-creator of GrowWeedEasy.com, the go-to resource for every aspect of cannabis cultivation. With years of hands-on experience growing cannabis at home, Nebula has used her passion for simplifying the grow process to help countless growers transform their grows and achieve amazing yields and bud quality at home. She uses her in-depth knowledge to create simple, easy-to-follow tutorials that make learning to grow weed easy and fun.

In this article, Nebula dives into the fascinating world of terpenes, especially d-Limonene, and its potential to enhance relaxation and reduce anxiety via the entourage effect. Through her detailed guides, practical tips, and personal insights, Nebula’s approach to empower growers of all levels to cultivate the best cannabis possible. 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 Lemon-Scented Cannabis Strains: Grow Weed with Relaxing d-Limonene 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 plants can be male or female, but only female cannabis plants make buds. Female cannabis flowers are buds, and male cannabis flowers are pollen sacs, which contain low THC and are poor to smoke. Male pollen sacs eventually open and release pollen, which pollinates the female cannabis plants, and causes buds to grow seeds, which also results in smaller buds with lower THC levels.

These days, most home cannabis growers start with feminized cannabis seeds because they grow only female plants, which means every plant will make buds. Other growers watch their cannabis plants as flowers start developing, then identify and remove male cannabis plants.

Feminized cannabis seeds are the best way to ensure that every plant is female. This way you don’t need to worry about identifying the sex of plants!

But if you can’t buy cannabis seeds online, and must start with another source of seeds, there is a strong chance that about half the plants will be male and half will be female.

With standard, non-feminized cannabis seeds, plants grow 50/50 male vs female plants. That means half of the plants won’t make buds and, even worse, cause the buds you do have to make seeds.

If you’re worried some of your plants may be male, here is the easiest way to determine the sex of your cannabis plants while they’re still in the vegetative stagae.

How to Identify the Sex of a Cannabis Plant

Here’s how to identify the sex of your cannabis plants even if they’re still in the vegetative stage.

1.) Take a cutting (clone) from the unverified cannabis plant and put it in a glass of water.

I take stems off the plant and put them in a cup of water. You don’t need your cuttings to make roots before identifying the sex. As long as you give light and make sure the cup always has water, the cutting should stay alive long enough to identify the sex.

If you have extra stems, you can take multiple cuttings and put them in the same cup. Some cuttings will show their sex sooner than others, so taking multiple cuttings may speed up the process by a few days in some cases.

2.) Label both the clone and the mother plant with the name of the strain so you know which clone came from which corresponding mother plant.

I use disposable cups and write the name on the cup. You could also put a piece of tape on a cup and write the name on that. You should do this step if you’re identifying the sex of more than one marijuana plant at a time. If you don’t label your clones, then all your effort will be for naught because you won’t know which clone is which!

3.) Give clones a light schedule with 12+ hours of darkness every day to initiate flowering and get the cuttings to reveal their sex.

Again, you don’t need to wait for the clones to establish roots before changing the light schedule. You can start this immediately after you take the cutting. The cuttings will start flowering even if their roots haven’t formed yet. However, you should make sure they get at least some direct light during their “day” to keep them healthy long enough to reveal their sex.

4.) Clones will reveal their sex in 1-3 weeks.

Look to the joints where leaves meet the stem. Males develop balls and females develop white hairs. Click here for more information and pictures about how to sex a cannabis plant.

Female cannabis plant – The first flowers of a female cannabis plant looks like this. You will see white hairs coming where leaves meet the stem.

Notice the white wispy hairs at the “joints” where the leaves meet the stem. You can see from my fingers at the top, for scale.

This is what female cannabis flowers look like at the top of the plant. You will notice white hairs emerging from the leaves.

Male cannabis plant – The first flowers of a male cannabis plant look like this. You will see little balls, like grapes, that appear in the same place as female plants. Male pollen sacs often also appear at the top of the cutting.

Male pollen sacs are tiny and hard to see at first, but pollen sacs quickly start growing in bunches that are easy to identify. Look how tiny this pollen sac is compared to my finger.

Here are male pollen sacs after they start growing in bunches. You know for sure this is a male plant when you see bunches of balls without any white hairs.

5.) Remove male cannabis plants. 

Once you have determined the sex of your clones, you should make sure you throw away any corresponding male plants. Or at least move them to somewhere safe so their pollen can’t get to the buds of your female cannabis plants by accident.

Now you can grow your known-female cannabis plants with confidence. Once they start flowering, they will make the same type of flowers as the cuttings you took. Continue to care for your female cannabis plants with a ton of light, no nutrient deficiencies, and consistent 12-hour dark periods, and don’t let them get hot during the last 2-3 weeks before harvest.

Mission Complete: You know the sex of your cannabis plants and have only bud-making plants left.

It’s bud time!

Click here for a list of recommended beginner cannabis strains (all-female seeds unless otherwise indicated)

The post How to Use a Cup of Water to Identify Cannabis Sex in the Vegetative Stage 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.

#1 – Spread the Word

If you have a friend who’s growing weed, let them in on our secret! We love to help more growers perfect their craft and get the best results possible.

Free resources for cannabis growers of all skill levels:

• Browse GrowWeedEasy.com (use the search bar to find articles about new topics)
• Diagnose your sick plant with the free Plant Doctor.
• Join our free grow community and talk with other growers.
• Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get a tutorial delivered every Sunday.

#2 – Share Your Journey

Some of the most valuable knowledge we’ve gained has come from growers like you sharing their experiences. And seeing your progress is thrilling. Send us pictures of your plants, tell us what you think about any specific topic, or share your personal cannabis growing stories. If you have important information to share with the growing world, we want to help you. Your insights enrich our community!

We can’t always respond, but we read every email we receive.

#3 – Contribute to Our Content

Your feedback is priceless because you’re the reason we’re here. Let us know if you spot typos or inaccuracies, have ideas for new topics, or see a gap in our content that needs filling. We love running experiments, doing tests, trying out new grow methods, etc. The more eyes and ears contributing insights, the faster we can create the content you’re looking for.

#4 – Keep Growing

Continue growing weed, and let it flourish. The world is a better place when everyone who needs weed has access to it. Every new grower contributes to the broader knowledge base, lifting the whole community. The more passionate growers in the world, the better!

#5 – Support Us Through Amazon

Click on Amazon links on our website when you see something you want to buy. When you make a purchase, we earn a commission as part of the Amazon Associates program. This is at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Check out more cannabis growing tutorials!

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Calling all cannabis growers! Do you also seek to improve your cannabis yields, potency, and overall bud quality based on the latest knowledge as of 2026?

As a passionate and curious home grower, I embarked on a series of side-by-side experiments to confirm or deny long-standing theories and controversies in the cannabis home cultivation community.

The result? Prepare to get your notions questioned.

Not only did some of my findings surprise me, I sought out experienced commercial growers and learned their personal tests confirmed my surprising results, too.

Together, we’ve unlocked a wealth of new knowledge and growing skills for all growers to benefit from. Some of these tips you may already know, but some go against common knowledge.

Get ready to revolutionize your cannabis cultivation game (bigger yields, tighter buds, more terpenes, and higher THC levels) with the top 7 lessons I’ve learned about cannabis cultivation.

1.) More Light = More THC (Up to a Point)

Get More THC with Increased Light Intensity: It’s a well-known fact among growers that more light typically boosts cannabis yields, or the total amount of bud produced. However, our recent experiments and lab testing reveal another fascinating correlation: the intensity of light a cannabis bud receives directly influences its THC content. For example, even on the same plant and the same branch, the buds which receive higher light intensity tested with higher THC at the lab than their fellow buds that were hidden under a leaf during development, or located further from the grow light. For home cannabis growers who aim to elevate their bud potency, prioritizing strong direct light exposure to buds is key.

Focus on providing high light levels directly to cannabis buds during the flowering stage to maximize THC production.

Evolution of a Theory: Since my early days of growing in 2008, a hotly debated theory suggested that increasing light levels during the flowering stage could boost THC percentages in buds. Some growers speculated that THC served as a defense mechanism for the plant against sunlight, while others doubted its impact. Regardless of why the cannabis reacts to strong light with more THC, this once controversial theory is now pretty well proven to be true.

2026 Insight: There’s a clear correlation between light intensity and THC production. Our lab tests confirmed it, and several commercial growers showed us that their tests also echoed this finding. Even within the same plant, buds that receive less light exhibit lower THC levels compared to plants that develop under more intense light. Make sure all buds on a cannabis plant are exposed to strong, direct light in order to maximize THC levels at harvest.

5 Practical Tips for Home Growers to Increase THC:

• Maximize Light Exposure: Keep your grow lights as close as possible to the plants without causing light stress (which may bleach leaves or cause brown spots). Discover examples of excellent grow light setups here.
• Choose Powerful Grow Lighting: Use the most powerful light your grow space can accommodate. For most cannabis growers, LED grow lights are your best choice to maximize light to your buds. The only exception is if you’re growing in a cool grow space that regularly stays under 73°F/23°C (for example a cellar), because cannabis plants grow poorly in a cool space with LEDs. If it’s chilly, you will get better yields and higher THC buds using an HPS grow light because HPS lights keep plants warm.
• Maintain Optimal Nutrients and Environment: A healthy plant is more resilient and can handle higher light levels.
  • Be mindful of giving the right amount of nutrients, maintaining proper pH levels at the roots to prevent nutrient deficiencies, and environmental factors like temperature and humidity. These can influence your plant’s response to light and overall THC production.
  • Healthy, happy plants can thrive under higher light levels. That means that proper care and environmental management are crucial to maximize light and therefore THC yield.
• Train Plant Shape for Even Light Distribution: Bend and tie down branches to shape your cannabis plants flat and wide during the vegetative stage. This ensures uniform distance from the light for all buds during flowering.
• Expose Buds in the Flowering Stage: After cannabis buds start forming, make sure they are exposed to direct light. If buds are being covered by a leaf, tuck the leaf away, or remove if it can’t be tucked. This free and easy technique helps get the most light to buds as possible.

2.) The Surprising Effects of Red on THC and Yields

This lesson is somewhat related to the last one: Spectrum of light affects THC percentage and yields. More red is often associated with higher THC, though too much red reduces overall yields.

In the world of cannabis cultivation, the impact of light spectrum on THC percentage and yields is a fascinating topic. My own side-by-side experiments, backed by insights from a commercial grower at a recent cannabis conference, have highlighted a noteworthy pattern: more red in the light spectrum often correlates with higher THC levels. However, this comes with a caveat; an excess of red can actually decrease overall bud production and yields.

Optimizing red light in the spectrum when growing cannabis can increase the amount of THC in buds.

Evolution of a Theory: It’s well established that red-heavy light increases yields in the flowering stage compared to blue-heavy light, but it is much less well known that the presence of extra red could also increase THC production to a point. However, there is a tradeoff. Too much red begins reducing yields (though THC levels stay high). So for example, if you try to grow cannabis under just red light, the buds will stay undersized and underdeveloped. Balance is key.

2026 Insight: For max THC, always use a red spectrum light, but don’t use lights that go crazy with red spectrum. Modern “red spectrum” LED grow lights (or for growers in colder climates, the red-heavy bulb lights like HPS) typically contain more than enough red for excellent bud production. However, if you grow with “vegetative” or blue-tinted grow lights during the crucial flowering stage, you may be unintentionally sabotaging not just your yields but also your THC production.

Practical Tips for Home Cannabis Growers:

• Use a red-spectrum light in the flowering stage (or at least, avoid blue-heavy spectrum lights in the flowering stage).
  • Note: A spectrum with a lot of blue light is better in the vegetative stage because it tends to keep plants short and squat. Red light in the vegetative stage makes plants tend to grow tall and stretchy, which is not a desirable shape most of the time because it’s harder to get the same amount of light to all buds. But if I had to choose one or the other, I’d rather grow with a red light the whole way through.
  • In other words, most home growers will get the best growth patterns by using a light with more blue in the vegetative stage, and a light with more red in the flowering/budding stage.
  • “All-purpose” grow lights typically are somewhere in between. They give you the advantages of both types of light, but don’t give plants max red in the flowering stage.
• Don’t go overboard adding red or it will reduce yields and plants may start to grow strangely with unusual growth patterns. Plenty of red is good, but there is too much of a good thing.
• Recommended grow light:  HLG 350R “Diablo” LED – This is what I’m growing with right now. Check out the grow journal! This LED offers a lot of red combined with incredible brightness, resulting in maximum yields and THC per watt. This light was developed over several years of testing on cannabis plants to find the optimal configuration.
  • very powerful 350W LED grow light, best for advanced growers as it pushes plants to their full potential (i.e. works plants hard).
  • can be used in a 2’x4′ space, but also produces excellent results in a bigger 4’x4′ grow space.
  • harvest up to 1 lb of potent buds when cannabis plants are properly cared for.
  • Note: This is an extremely powerful light that can be hard on young plants at full power. For seedlings, keep this LED the top of the grow space and dim the power down to half. Don’t worry, they’re still getting plenty of light! Only after plants get bigger should you turn it up to full power or lower it.

3.) Strategic Defoliation Can Increase Yields, Bud Density, and THC Levels

Defoliation works to increase yields, bud density, and THC percentage of cannabis buds when used strategically in the flowering stage. Yes, simply using this free, easy technique can increase both the amount and quality of your weed at harvest.

Strategic defoliation in the flowering stage increases cannabis yields, bud density, and THC levels.

Evolution of a Theory: I learned about cannabis flowering stage defoliation as a way to increase yields in the early 2010s through a random forum post. I gave it a try according to his directions and was pretty blown away how it increased my cannabis yields and overall bud quality/density compared to no defoliation. When my partner Sirius and I reported our results on GrowWeedEasy.com, many growers literally told us we were lying because “that doesn’t make any sense”. More light to the leaves should equal more yields, right? We didn’t understand why it worked, but we knew it worked. By the mid-2015s enough growers had tried it that it became pretty common knowledge, with a lot less controversy.

2026 Insight: A few years ago, I started doing side-by-side grow experiments to test various theories about home growing. I finally got around to doing a few experiments on defoliation and even I was surprised by the results. I expected it to increase yields and bud quality/density, which it did, but when we sent the buds to the lab, we found that the defoliated plants consistently produced buds with higher THC too! Perhaps due to more direct light getting directly onto the buds, but even the top buds on the non-defoliated plants were less potent than the top buds on the defoliated plants. That makes me think the increase in THC could possibly be the results of a stress response. Then I went a cannabis business conference in Las Vegas, and was able to confirm this finding with multiple commercial growers, including a head grower that doubted defoliation but found it worked in tests. These days, just about every commercial cannabis grow operation uses defoliation just like we do. As we enter 2026, defoliation has been well-established as being a positive for your results at harvest as long as you don’t go overboard (which reduces yields). The theory has gone a long way from a controversial theory to accepted knowledge.

Check out the full cannabis grow journal of our most recent defoliation side-by-side experiment.

Practical Tips for Home Cannabis Growers:

• Choose to use strategic defoliation in the flowering stage to increase yields, bud density, bud appearance, and overall THC levels. When done properly, strategic defoliation hacks the plant’s natural response and causes it to grow more and better quality buds.
• Choose a defoliation schedule. There are multiple schedules that cannabis growers commonly use, but they pretty much all involve defoliating plants at the beginning of the flowering stage, and then again several weeks later. So essentially, two spaced out defoliations during the flowering stage.
• Here’s the defoliation schedule that most commercial cannabis growers use:
  • Defoliate 3 weeks after 12/12 begins. Remove all the biggest fan leaves after buds have started forming in the flowering stage (typically 3 weeks after initiating 12/12, or at 5-6 weeks from seed for autoflowering plants). Also remove any leaves covering bud sites from the light. Make sure to keep several leaves on each branch (don’t strip branches bare). Be careful not to hurt developing buds.
  • Defoliate again 3 weeks later. Repeat the exact process 3 weeks later. Again, remove the biggest fan leaves and reveal bud sites, but let some leaves remain on each branch.
  • Continue to remove or tuck leaves covering bud sites until harvest. No more big defoliations after that, but remove (or tuck away) any leaves covering bud sites so all buds are exposed to direct light. You should also remove leaves in the middle and bottom of the plant if you notice the plant is getting so bushy that no light reaches the floor.
  • Harvest bigger yields and denser, more potent buds!

Read the full strategic defoliation tutorial.

4.) The Critical Role of Temperature Management in Bud Quality

Growers need to optimize heat conditions because heat can hurt bud quality during the last few weeks of the flowering stage. Many cannabis growers subject their plants to constant heat, which is fine for most of the plant’s life, and can even help plants grow faster to a point. However, heat control during late bud formation is one of the best ways to increase cannabis bud quality, including yields, color, pristine appearance, and high density. Buds hate the heat once they’re in the ripening phase. We already suspected this but got it confirmed through lab testing and extensive discussions with commercial cannabis growers.

Heat during the last few weeks before harvest reduces cannabis bud quality.

Evolution of a Theory: Many growers, accustomed to the benefits of a warm grow environment for rapid vegetative growth, often overlook the significance of temperature during the flowering stage. A nice warm grow space causes young cannabis plants to grow faster, and even an overly hot grow space doesn’t stop many plants from growing fast and healthy. This lulls many cannabis growers into a false sense of complacency. They might think heat doesn’t matter and they can just ignore it, because for the first part of your plant’s life, that’s mostly true. However, it’s not good for buds to complete their development in a hot grow environment. It’s crucial to shift your focus as the buds enter their final development phase. Keep buds cool, if possible, as they approach harvest. Heat during the last 3-4 weeks of the flowering stage reduces yields, potency, density, burns off smells, and makes it more likely buds will become discolored. Those last few weeks matter a lot! Try to baby your plants during their “home stretch” to the finish line.

Pay close attention to the environment in the late flowering stage to maximize bud quality and get sparkly, tight, potent cannabis nugs like this.

2026 Insight: Pay close attention to the environment in the late flowering stage, and aim for the temperature sweet spot. The last several weeks of flowering are the most crucial stage of bud development. Aim for a grow room temperature of around 75°F (24°C) during the day and a cooler 65°F (18°C) at night. These temperatures, in the late flowering stage, have been correlated with higher quality buds. This is more than just growers’ lore; it has been substantiated through rigorous lab testing and corroborated by experienced commercial growers.

Practical Tips for Home Cannabis Growers:

• Set up your grow space properly from the beginning with a strong exhaust fan to vent heat from the grow space, so the temperature is under your control.
• Monitor and Adjust: Regularly check your temperature levels and adjust them as needed, especially as you enter the final weeks of flowering.
• If you have an AC, the last 3 weeks (and during air drying) may be the most important time to use it. If it’s too expensive to run, you can skip it during the vegetative stage and early parts of the flowering stage as long and plants are growing fast and healthy without signs of heat stress.
• Can’t control heat during the day? Set your “day period” to happen during the night when the grow room tends to be cooler and heat is most easy to deal with. For example, set your lights to turn on late in the evening and turn off in the morning. However, avoid switching your day and night period during the flowering stage if possible as uneven light schedules can trigger herms. But if you have to do it once to control heat, that will likely be okay. Just avoid giving it a “short” night. It’s better to give it a long day to the new schedule to ensure plants never get less than a 12-hour dark period in the flowering stage. Plants in the flowering stage are more likely to herm from short nights than long days.

Even if you don’t have an AC, simply venting out hot air with a fan can dramatically increase bud quality compared to letting buds cook in the heat.

5.) The Unmatched Quality of Home-Grown Cannabis

Home cultivation of cannabis is not just a hobby. It’s an art that, when mastered, can surpass the quality of commercially available weed.

Home grow can produce better weed than many growers can buy.

Commercial growers acknowledge the superiority of a meticulously nurtured home cannabis garden.

However, a lot of home growers get stuck in a grow pattern where they’re not getting the bud quality they want and think that’s just not possible in the home environment. This misconception is often due to growers making common mistakes in the flowering stage.

Simply avoiding these pitfalls allows home growers to achieve, and often exceed, the quality of commercial weed.

Home grow reigns supreme. Growing at home can produce consistent, high-quality and personalized weed.

When you treat buds right, they reward you with incredible quality!

Evolution of a Theory: Too many cannabis growers think it’s not possible to grow amazing weed at home. This is usually because they’re making some sort of flowering stage goof that’s reducing their bud quality or yields. This has led to a persistent myth that home-grown cannabis can’t compete with commercial weed. Lucky for us, the truth is quite the opposite.

2026 Insight: You can and should leverage the home grow advantage. Commercial growers’ main advantage is just that they often have access to a strong AC and dehumidifier to keep their garden cool and not overly humid.

However, a home grower with good genetics that controls the environment can beat the quality of commercially grown buds every time.

I’ve noticed at every grow conference when I talk to commercial growers about home growing, they lament how lucky we are as home growers, because we have so much creative freedom to cater to our personal preferences. Home growers get to pay more attention to bud quality over profitability. It’s especially interesting to see this dynamic because many home growers are jealous of commercial growers.

It’s a case of “the grass is always greener on the other side” except we’re actually on the greener side.

Practical Tips for Home Cannabis Growers:

• Adhere to proven cultivation practices. A good place to start is to follow all the suggestions on this page to avoid the 7 most common flowering goofs. You’ll end up with better buds than the dispensary and all your friends will wonder where you’re getting all this dank weed.
• Pay attention to your plants and react quickly when you notice issues. The amount of personal attention you can give each plant is a huge advantage of home growing.
• Get good genetics as you can never grow great weed with mediocre genetics. Looking for quality American genetics? Can’t go wrong with an Ethos Genetics strain. Or check out our list of recommended cannabis seed sources. What’s most important is to get a strain that will produce the results and effects you want.

How to beat the cannabis grower’s mid-flower curse.

6.) The Enduring Tradition of Smoking Cannabis

The most common way to enjoy cannabis is still simply smoking it. In an era brimming with innovative cannabis consumption methods like edibles, tinctures, dabbing, etc, it can seem like no one wants to smoke weed anymore.

Me smoking weed in 2008. Still my favorite way to enjoy weed.

I know at least I’d gotten the impression from the media that no one was smoking flower anymore. I prefer to smoke weed, but I thought I was in the minority.

2026 Insight: Contrary to these impressions, recent evidence reveals a different reality.

According to statistics, most growers smoke their weed as their main form of enjoying it.

Smoking the straight buds is still the most popular way people use weed (though vaporizers, edibles, hash, and concentrates are certainly becoming more popular). This enduring preference highlights the timeless appeal of the traditional smoking experience.

Practical Tips for Home Cannabis Growers:

• You Know Yourself Better Than Anyone: Enjoy weed however you want and don’t worry what other people think. Whether you enjoy the classic experience of smoking buds, or prefer to explore newer forms like vaporizers, edibles, tinctures, and concentrates, the best way to enjoy cannabis is the way that suits you. Learn how to smoke weed without the smell (a Sploofy alone cuts down 80% of smoke smell).
• Stay Informed and Open-Minded: As cannabis culture evolves, keep abreast of new trends and methods. An open mind can lead to discovering new favorites. I strongly believe in celebrating cannabis and its versatility, as well as the freedom we have as growers to enjoy cannabis how we want.

7.) The Art of Bud Placement

The location of buds on the cannabis plant plays a crucial role in determining their THC content. Buds located higher on the plant measure at higher THC than lower buds, even if they get the same amount of light.

Buds located at the top of the plant produce the most THC, so make as many buds as possible be at the top.

Evolution of a Theory: Most growers already know the buds at the top of the plant tend to be the best buds. Many growers attribute the superior quality of top buds solely to increased light exposure. However, our experiments seem to indicate otherwise. Even if you provide supplemental side lighting to increase light levels from the sides so it matches the light levels at the top, the top buds will still be more potent. The actual position of the buds on the plant matters even if everything else is equal. That’s why it’s so crucially important to prune your plants so they grow in a way where all the main buds are located on top. This also highlights why it’s helpful to get rid of buds that start developing too low down on the plant. These lower buds not only stay small and airy, but lack the same potency of buds higher up on the plant.

Avoid having just one main bud on each cannabis plant (the “Christmas tree” shape), because the lower buds won’t be as high quality as they could be.

Aim for a sea of top buds on your cannabis plants, like this. That helps ensure all buds reach the highest possible potency, density, and size.

2026 Insight: Keep Buds High (on the plant). Buds at the plant’s apex are not just physically higher, but they’re also higher in THC concentration on average. This isn’t solely due to light exposure; there’s something inherently beneficial about their elevated position. Position matters more than just light levels alone. Even with the introduction of supplemental side lighting aiming to equalize light distribution, the top-positioned buds consistently outperform in THC potency. This revelation underscores the importance of strategic plant training to ensure that a majority of the buds can enjoy this ‘top spot’ advantage.

Practical Tips for Home Cannabis Growers:

• Prioritize Top Bud Sites from the Start: Use plant training techniques starting in the vegetative stage to ensure most of your bud sites are located at the top of the plant. These techniques all focus on training plants to grow wide and flat like a table, and especially to avoid the natural “Christmas Tree” shape with only one bud at the top. If you focus on pruning plants throughout the vegetative stage, by the time you reach the flowering stage you will have created a wide flat “sea” of buds directly under the grow light that are all the same height as each other.
• Use “Lollipopping” on Tall Cannabis Plants: Lollipopping means removing all lower bud sites. This is typically done in the cannabis flowering stage after buds have already started forming. The goal is to remove lower buds that are unlikely to achieve full development, so the plant’s energy is all directed only to the top buds. Rough rule of thumb: Remove buds that are growing more than a foot from the top of the plant, especially if they seem airy and wispy, as these buds steal energy from the plant and will likely never develop properly.
• Rethink Side Lighting: In many cases, an investment in side lighting may not yield the expected benefits. Focus instead on upgrading or optimizing top lighting (and on training plants to grow only top buds).

Understanding and applying these insights about bud positioning can significantly impact the THC levels in your cannabis harvest.

Even if you give tons of side lighting, the top buds will still always be the best.

Grow Experiments Coming to GrowWeedEasy.com in 2026 and Beyond

3-day dark period

• What we know: We’ve done some informal experiments on whether giving cannabis plants a “3-day dark period” before harvest will increase THC percentage. Surprisingly (to me) the initial results actually seem pretty promising. In the two plants we tried in an informal (not well-controlled) experiment, both plants’ buds tested at higher THC levels when harvested after the 3-day dark period vs before.
• The test: We’ll be doing a formal side-by-side experiment with clones to test this in a controlled environment.

Soil: Nutrients vs no nutrients

• What we know: My experience using nutrients vs “just add water” style grows is that cannabis plants grow faster and produce bigger yields when given nutrients in their water. Even when using a “hot” soil that prevents any nutrient deficiencies, giving nutrients in the water (officially known as “fertigation”) seems to give plants exactly what they need in the most easily absorbable form. We previously did an experiment in growing with “just add water” super soil vs coco, and the coco plants had faster growth and bigger buds. However, we have not conducted any formal experiments on growing in plain soil (like what you buy from the store) vs plain soil with nutrients. This is the most common choice a new soil grower will make (is it worth it to get nutrients?) and I want to show just how important I believe it is to your results. I anticipate that the soil plants grown with nutrients will have bigger yields, faster growth, and overall higher levels of THC.
• The test: Two sets of clones grown in identical conditions. One set will be grown in regular “hot” soil (Fox Farm Ocean Forest) with no nutrients from seed to harvest. The other will be grown in the same soil but I’ll be adding General Hydroponics Flora nutrient trio in the water (my favorite nutrient system or growing cannabis that can be used in any grow medium). Let’s see how big a difference it makes!

Test new LED grow light models

• What we know: HLG and Mars Hydro have released new LED grow lights that seem to be beating the results of even their previous ones (which were already industry leaders). Spider Farmer also has some interesting new developments. We’d also like to run our first tests on the new 2026 versions of LEDs from ViparSpectra, Vivosun, BLOOM Plus, and Phlizon.
• The test: Grow two sets of clones in identical conditions, where the only difference is what LED grow light is used. Contact us and let us know if there’s a particular LED grow light (or any grow light) you’d like to see us run a test on.

Hydroponics

• What we know: Sirius and I were hydroponic growers for years but moved to growing with soil and coco for our website GrowWeedEasy.com because they’re more popular for most growers. Coco and soil are awesome, and we wanted to make the tutorials that you requested the most. However, we both miss hydro and it’s time to revamp our hydroponics tutorial so this year we’ll be doing at least 1 fully hydroponic grow with everything we’ve learned and also to get more clear pictures of every step of the process for new hydro growers. We’ll likely also test a few different types of pre-made tubs and buckets that can be purchased as most growers don’t want to make their own hydroponic system.
• The test: Test a few different hydro systems against each other.

Big plants vs little plants (and plant pot size)

• What we know: This year showed that when it comes to bud quality, some surprising things are important including position on the plant, temperature, light spectrum, and overall light levels. Based on all this, and my personal experience, I suspect that perhaps the overall size of the plant has an effect on bud quality and THC percentage. I’ve never heard anyone else talk about this, but it’s a pet theory based on all the experiments from the last few years.
• The test: Grow clones in the same grow tent but have them grow in different size plant pots so that some plants naturally get bigger than the others, then get all the buds tested at the lab to see if the bigger plants with bigger pots produce higher levels of THC.

Exciting stuff! Let us know what you think about today’s tutorial, and share what you want to see us test next! I’m always looking for a reason to grow more plants. ~Nebula

Wrapping It Up: The Cannabis Home Grower’s Edge in 2026

Alright, fellow cannabis enthusiasts, we’ve navigated through some game-changing insights together, and I hope you’re feeling as pumped as I am about the future of home growing. What we’ve covered isn’t just another cannabis grow guide; it’s about the essence of pushing boundaries and outgrowing the old myths.

You’ve now got the inside scoop on some of the latest breakthroughs in home growing, from cranking up those lumens for more THC, to the art of defoliation, and mastering temps for quality buds. It’s like we’ve been given a new set of superpowers for our grow rooms. And for those who’ve always thought that homegrown can’t compete with the commercial stuff, well, we’ve busted that myth big time.

We’re on this journey together, and it’s about more than just growing plants. It’s about growing our skills, our knowledge, and sharing the highs (pun intended!) of each successful harvest. I’m stoked to see how these insights will transform your grows, and I bet you’ll soon be the envy of your grower friends.

As we look towards the horizon, with new experiments and adventures in growing waiting for us, remember this: You’re now armed with knowledge that many growers would kill for. You’re not just a grower; you’re a cultivator of bud excellence.

Keep experimenting, keep questioning, and keep those cannabis plants thriving. Here’s to all the sticky, aromatic, potent harvests in your future. Let’s show 2026 what we’ve got – it’s grow time!

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

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About the Author: Nebula Haze

Nebula Haze founded GrowWeedEasy.com with her husband Sirius Fourside in 2010. Our mission has always been to demystify the world of indoor marijuana cultivation. Over the years, we’ve shared our passion and knowledge through a wealth of articles, both in print and in digital realms, and guided numerous students through comprehensive online courses. For us, it’s not just about growing cannabis; it’s about empowering each of you to discover the simplicity and joy of nurturing your own plants. Here’s to your success in the grow room!

Happy growing!
Nebula Haze

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