Where is the best place to get cannabis seeds? We recommend these cannabis seed source as of late January 2026…

• ILGM (I Love Growing Marijuana) – California, United States
• MSNL (Marijuana Seeds Netherlands) – Amsterdam seed bank now ships from US, Canada & UK
• North Atlantic Seed Co. – Maine, United States
• Seed Supreme – Florida, United States
• Seedsman – Ships from US & Europe
• Other – Did we miss anyone you like? Let us know.

Check out my recent grow journal featuring seeds from Seedsman, NASC & Seed Supreme.

Seeds of different strains grow different buds.

Are you looking for yields (like Blue Dream) or beauty (like Candy Games #38)?

Maybe density & potency are most important. Then go with a strain like Purple Ghost Candy.

Note: Purple Ghost Candy is an oversized stretchy plant that always makes potent, dense buds, but not always purple. See the full strain review.

Or perhaps the key to your heart is a pungent, memorable smell (like Mandarin Cookies V2).

Check out the new cannabis strain library for reviews of strains GrowWeedEasy.com recommends for home growers.

Note: Here’s how to store your seeds so they last for years.

Where to get cannabis seeds? Here’s our note to marijuana growers looking for good seeds going into a turbulent 2026…

Updates on the 2026 Farm Bill

“How will the new Farm bill for 2026 affect home growers? Is there a specific deadline for growers? I have seen many opinions, but have yet to find a straightforward answer to this question.” ~ Bob

Laws and regulations seem to be evolving every day. The reason no one can give you a straight answer is because no one knows for sure what will happen.

If you want my personal opinion, I suspect it will have a small effect in the short term, and a long-term dampening effect.

Seed companies may try to work with lawmakers to find ways to ship seeds in compliance with the law. But unless the law is changed, fewer small breeders will participate. Some people are concerned that only the biggest companies with deep pockets for a legal team might be able to easily sell seeds and take payments.

That’s why home growers need to value cannabis genetics.

In other words, don’t panic. However, do take on a general preparedness mindset.

Learn more about the new U.S. cannabis seed law that goes into effect November 12, 2026.

Nebula Haze
GrowWeedEasy.com

Hey growers,

Looking for good cannabis genetics? We got you! We have run our recommended cannabis seed source page on GrowWeedEasy.com since we started the website in 2010.

GrowWeedEasy.com’s trusted seed sources list has helped home growers find seeds since 2010.

If you don’t have cannabis seeds in hand, it can feel like it’s going to be hard to get them. Luckily, these days, you can get viable seeds of good strains sent to you almost anywhere. Today, we want to hear about your experiences ordering seeds online.

Marijuana seeds are so tiny…

But within each seed is a tiny living thing, longing to be released…

Did you know? A cannabis seedling embryo is already fully-formed inside each seed, just waiting to germinate and grow weed for you!

Germination lets the seedling inside escape its shell prison!

Never touch newly germinated seedlings like this, I only did it for the picture!

Leaves are yellow inside the shell, and turn green once the leaves start getting exposed to light.

Less than a day after being planted into a Rapid Rooter, the seedling is green and already growing new leaves!

Learn how to germinate seeds here.

Back in 2010 when we started GWE, we’d only had good experiences with a single seedbank so far (the others had been mediocre-to-bad). So back then, the seed source list had only one option…

Bonus: Check out the October 2010 version of the seeds page on the Wayback Machine! You can even click around to see the original version of the site 🙂

Our seeds page is not meant to be a comprehensive list of seed sources. Sirius and I are just a two-person team and can’t try every seed company. There are many, many outstanding cannabis seed sources not listed on our seeds page.

But what the page is, is the list of the seed banks we actually use ourselves to grow weed at home and document on the website.

Check out our recent autoflowering grow journal! The OG Kush Auto produced smooth, potent buds.

When we stop using a seed company ourselves, for whatever reason, we take it off the seed source page. Usually, they haven’t done anything wrong, just simply no longer carry strains we’re looking to grow with.

We believe it’s crucial to ensure every seed bank on the list is legit, and only stay if we continue to use it for our home grows.

Our seed bank testing is led by you: If we hear about a really great new company that everyone loves, we will test it out ourselves. Our goal isn’t just to grow great weed (though we do a lot of that too!), but also help home growers find exactly what they’re looking for.

GrowWeedEasy.com testing process for seed banks

• Community feedback – If we keep hearing good things about a particular seed source, we know it’s time to give it a try.
• Order seeds anonymously – We never tell them it’s us. I always order the seeds myself as if I were a regular customer. I feel like that’s way more likely to give the “authentic” experience.
• Grow the seeds – Next, we actually grow the seeds from germination to harvest in a home grow environment.
• Document the results – We take pictures and notes about each plant, including where we got the seeds, and share that information on GrowWeedEasy.com and through our newsletter.
• Lab testing – When funding is available, we get the buds lab-tested, especially for side-by-side grow experiments with clones (like testing super soil vs coco or plant training methods like defoliation vs natural)

We also love, love, LOVE when you send us grow pictures, or tell about your experience with seed banks and their strains/seeds.

Our current cannabis seed source recommendations, as of January 2026.

• ILGM (I Love Growing Marijuana) – California, United States
• MSNL (Marijuana Seeds Netherlands) – Amsterdam seed bank with shipping centers in the US, Canada, and UK.
• North Atlantic Seed Co. – Maine, United States
• Seed Supreme – Florida, United States
• Seedsman – Ships from US & Europe
• Other – Did we miss anyone you like?

We encourage you to write us any time with specific cannabis seed bank feedback, including anecdotes, or just your overall thoughts or experiences buying cannabis seeds online where you live.

We’ll be considering everyone’s feedback as we go through 2026. And make sure to sign up to our newsletter to ensure you get insider information and updates about seed sources that we can’t post on the website. You can email GrowWeedEasy.com directly by responding to our weekly newsletter.

Harvest great smelling, dense, potent buds with proven home harvest techniques. By Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside, authors of GrowWeedEasy.com.

Get total guidance next harvest.

Find the Best Marijuana Seeds for You

Every cannabis strain listed here is personally recommended by GrowWeedEasy.com for home growers. Check out our notes and the pictures to see why we chose each strain. Our goal is to make it easier for you to find the perfect cannabis seeds for you. More strains added every week!

The post The Seed Banks WE Use to Grow Weed (2026 Update) 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.

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.

Looks aren’t everything… but who doesn’t love beautiful cannabis buds covered in glitter? If you want buds dripping in trichomes, grow trichome-heavy strains like Slurricane #7, Sugar Cane, or Double Afghani Kush.

Start with the right seeds to grow trichome-covered buds, like Early Lemon Berry.

Choose a Strain That Grows Tons of Trichomes

Note: Trichome-heavy cannabis strains are perfect for extractions, edibles and concentrates.

The most important factor when it comes to the sparkle of your buds is genetics. Some strains get covered in sugar, while others don’t produce many visible trichomes. This isn’t an indicator of quality. I’ve had glitter-covered buds that had very weak effects (there are even no-THC strains that produce a lot of trichomes) and strains with no visible trichomes that sent me soaring to the moon for hours. However, sparkly buds are super trendy right now, and there are many outstanding choices that give you a glittery appearance and captivating effects at the same time.

These plants were grown together in the same setup. The buds are the exact same age and stage of development. Look at the difference in trichomes based purely on genetics:

Maui Wowie produces excellent buds with lovely effects, but not much sparkle.

In contrast, a strain like Mandarin Cookies goes all-in with sparkle.

Tips for Finding Glittery Genetics

• Look at pictures of the strain online so you know what to expect (learn how to research strains).
• American genetics tend to have higher trichome production than European strains, though not always.
• Care for plants properly to get the most out of the genetics (more info below).

Today I’ll share some strains that produce lots of trichomes as well as great effects.

Slurricane #7

Slurricane #7 produces dense, potent buds covered in trichomes. Extremely high bag appeal. Medium yields, but some of the most beautiful buds you’ve seen.

Slurricane #7 grown by Going2Fast (see the grow journal)

Bruce Banner

This strain combines trichome-heavy genetics with big yields and strong potency.

This version of Bruce Banner has been stabilized to produce hardy, high-yielding plants covered in big sparkly buds.

Purple Punch

This strain is a hybrid that includes Larry OG and Grand Daddy Purple. It has that perfect mix of fruity sweet smell and dense, potent buds.  Plants tend to stay short to medium sized, and are hardy enough to handle a bit of stress without a problem.

Purple Punch is a crowd pleaser with its sweet smell, high potency, and beautiful sparkly buds.

Pineapple Chunk

Pineapple Chunk – I’ve grown this strain many times and it always comes out outstanding in appearance, taste, smell, and potency.

Most American Genetics

American genetics tend to have high trichome production, though it can be hit or miss. In the US, lots of seeds available for purchase are random crosses (seed “drops) and not consistent strains.

Mandarin Cookies

Mandarin Cookies by Ethos Genetics is one of my favorite strains. Buds are just something else when it comes to how they smell, look, and especially the effects.

Mandarin Cookies produces incredible trichome-covered buds

Purple Urkle

Purple Urkle X is bred from Mendocino Purps with the intention to create a truly outstanding smell with high potency. Relaxing strain with gorgeous purple-tinted buds.

Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake buds may stay green, but if given a lot of light, the buds often take on shades of purple like the ones pictured here. This strain make beautiful, sparkly buds that smell sweet and have high potency

Wedding Cake buds may turn purple if they receive high levels of light.

Autoflowering Strains

Now let’s look at some examples of cannabis autoflowering strains.

THC Bomb Auto

THC Bomb Auto (an autoflowering strain) lives up to its name

Cinderella Jack Auto

Cinderella Jack Auto (autoflowering) by Dutch Passion produce outstanding potency and trichome production

Zkittlez Auto

Whenever I grow Zkittlez Auto, I’m impressed at the yields, ease of growth, and overall sparkle of the buds.

Zkittlez Auto is an easy, heavy trichome autoflowering strains.

How to Increase Trichomes with Any Strain

Grow Lights

• LEDs – Each model produces somewhat different plant growth and bud development. I’ve grown with a few blurple LEDs and several quantum board LEDs, and as of this writing, I really like the Mars Hydro LED lights: for example the TSL2000 for a 2×4 tent or a FC-E4800 for a 4×4 tent. Here is a regularly-updated list of my current favorite LEDs for growing cannabis with a breakdown of the pros and cons for each model. LEDs seem to get the best results with temperatures around 79-82°F (26-28°F). Let us know which LED grow light has produced the most trichomes for you.
• HPS – HPS grow lights produce excellent trichome production as long it’s not hot or humid. HPS seems to get the best bud quality and trichome production with temperatures around 74-79°F (24-26°F). Since HPS lights produce a lot of heat and plants respond best at cooler temperatures, they are the perfect grow light in winter or any situation where you would otherwise need a heater to keep plants warm enough.
• CMH/LEC – There are different bulbs you can use in this type of fixture, and they produce different results. The “vegetative” bulbs (like the Philips 4200k “blue” bulb) can be used from seed to harvest, including in the flowering stage. Although this lowers yields compared to using the “flowering” or 3100k bulb, it amps up trichome and terpene production (likely due to increased UV light). The CMH flowering/3100k bulb produces amazing yields but has not produced an above-average amount of trichomes when I’ve used it. See an experiment.
• Blue and especially UV light seems to contribute to the creation more trichomes. Always wear eye protection around UV light sources!

I’ve had great trichome production under the LED grow lights. This is how Power Africa reacted to the light.

HPS grow lights produce excellent trichome production as long as it’s not too hot or humid. These autoflowering plants were grown under a 250W HPS (from top left going clockwise: Purple Chem Auto, THC Bomb Auto, Purple Roc Berry Auto, OG Kush Auto).

CMH/LEC grow lights with a 4k bulb produce the most trichomes of any light I’ve tried so far. In some tests, it also seems to produce a high level of terpenes compared to other grow lights.

Environment

I touched a little on the environment when talking about the different grow lights but here’s more on what you can do to help produce as many trichomes as possible.

• Not Hot – Keep a comfortable temperature (it shouldn’t feel hot or cold to you) while buds are forming. Especially don’t let it get hot during the last 2 weeks before harvest
• Low Humidity – Keep humidity under 60% in the late flowering stage
• Strong Light – Lights should be bright but not so much plants get light stress
• No Nutrient Deficiencies – Plants tend to produce the most trichomes when they’re getting enough nutrients to stay healthy. Plants that suffer from nutrient deficiencies tend to grow less-sparkly buds.
• Low Nitrogen in Late Flowering – Nutrients should be designed specifically for bloom/flowering. These nutrients have less Nitrogen than Phosphorus/Potassium. Nitrogen is important at every stage of life, so it shouldn’t be completely cut out, but too much Nitrogen in the second half of the flowering stage can reduce trichome development and keep buds smaller.
• Supplement with UV light – Some growers add extra UV light during the last two weeks before harvest. This can increase trichome development but watch out for foxtails, herms, or bleaching.

“Good” Plant Stress

Some strategies to stress plants may increase trichome production.

• Supercropping – Bending/snapping plants in a way that stresses them without “breaking the skin” (if done right this can increase yields, too)
• Other Physical Stress – I’ve heard of growers cutting leaves and putting nails though stems the last day or two before harvest. The later option makes me sad ?
• Give 24-48 hours of darkness just before harvest – Be careful because if you don’t have a lot of green healthy leaves, this may discolor your buds.
• Water plants with ice water just before harvest – I’ve heard of some growers giving plants icy water just before harvest to try to shock their roots. Again, this is an unproven method…

Trichome-Increasing Supplements

Some supplements claim to actually increase either the number of trichomes on your buds, or the potency of your buds. Although there are lots of “snake oil” products out there in the supplement world, some supplements have proven themselves time and again.

Rhizoflora Terpinator is one of the most popular supplements to help increase trichome production and is used by both hobbyist and commercial growers to increase both the number of trichomes and terpene (smell) production. There are probably other great supplements that do this, too, but this particular one has been tried and tested by many real cannabis growers.

Just be careful. Overdoing it with Terpinator can cause foxtails, herms, or even kill your plants in extreme cases. This supplement works by stressing your plant in a way that increases tichomes, but too much stress is a bad thing. Use as directed!

Rhizoflora Terpinator can be an effective supplement. Just be careful not to go overboard!

Learn How to Improve Cannabis…

• Yields
• Bud Quality
• THC Levels
• CBD Levels
• Smell/Taste
• Density
• Bud Color (How to Grow Pink or Purple Buds)
• Glitter (Make Buds Sparkle with More Trichomes)
• Bonus: What Determines Yields?

The post List of Sugar-Dusted Strains (Heavy Trichome Genetics) appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

GrowWeedEasy.com teaches you the secrets of cannabis home grow.

• Start Here: How to grow weed
• Get Seeds: Best online seed sources (I like Seed Supreme)
• Sick Plants? See the plant doctor
• When to Harvest? Harvest guide

Get cannabis seeds at Seed Supreme or see our full list of our favorite cannabis seed banks.

Growing weed is easy when you know what to do, but most “how to grow marijuana” tutorials leave you feeling like you need a degree in horticulture.

GrowWeedEasy.com only contains useful cannabis grow tips, tactics, and lessons from actual home growers with years of growing experience.

Even a total beginner can consistently produce top-shelf weed by following our step-by-step home grow tutorials. 100% written by humans who care.

Who Made GrowWeedEasy.com?

Grow Weed Easy.com was started in 2010 by home growers Nebula Haze and Sirius Fourside. Together, we built a free online “encyclopedia of cannabis home grow” with 650+ expert home cannabis cultivation tutorials about every aspect of growing weed.

GrowWeedEasy.com is now the biggest and most comprehensive source of free home grow information in the world.  We show you how easy it is to grow your own marijuana at home.

The GrowWeedEasy.com Ethos

Our Goal: You grow as much top-shelf weed as possible, with as little time and effort needed to grow your desired yields and cannabis bud quality.

Whether you’re a total beginner who wants to start growing cannabis indoors for the first time, or an experienced grower who wants to upgrade your skills to Pro level, this website was built for you.

Looking for a complete harvest system?

If you want dense, beautiful, great-smelling weed, our new digital book gives you our complete harvest system. Follow the straightforward instructions and massively upgrade your next harvest. A few small changes can make a huge difference to your results.

Get our fool-proof harvest system.

FOR SERIOUS GROWERS ONLY

🌟 $200 Off Special Offer: Enroll today in Home Grow Masterclass!

If you’re reading this right now, you want to grow great cannabis at home.

Cannabis plants isn’t a regular house plant, but learning how to grow isn’t as complicated growers make it seem. We’ve spent the last 16 years breaking down the home grow process so anyone can learn it.

The key to consistent harvest results is simple: follow a proven system developed for home growers.

You could waste an entire grow learning through trial and error…

Or take the shortcut and harvest a sea of fat, dense, beautiful buds that smell great. At home!

Follow our 5-week course and get walked through each part step-by-step. Build by experienced home growers and honed with hundreds of students since 2019, we ensure you achieve great results on your very next harvest.

Learn How To Grow Top-Shelf Weed at Home!

Start Your First Class TODAY!

You may be asking yourself these common growing questions:

“How do I grow marijuana indoors?”

Read this guide on how to grow marijuana indoors. Or check out this article to learn what materials you need to get started growing your own marijuana!

Luckily, it’s really easy to get a cannabis seed to sprout!

“How much money will it cost to get started?”

If you’re considering growing weed, it costs as little as $300 to get started growing or a bit more for a semi-automatic, high-yielding bubbleponics grow system. See examples of yields to expect, electricity use & startup costs for different setups. Read this article to see even more growing styles with different price ranges.

“Where can I get marijuana seeds?”

Check out our How to Buy Marijuana Seeds Online Guide (with delivery to every state of the USA) to safely get your hands on good genetics. Starting with good seeds lets you choose the looks, smell, and effects of your buds!

Learn where it’s safe to buy cannabis seeds online (2026 update).

What do good cannabis seeds look like?

Learn about the best marijuana beginner strains and how to research and find the right strain.

Cannabis buds are generally green, but can also be pink or purple with certain strains.

“How much will electricity cost each month?”

If you’re just growing a few marijuana plants for personal use, it will cost you $20-$100+/month for electricity, depending on what grow lights (electricity) and nutrients you use. On average, I’d say a hobby-size grower might pay about $50/month to grow, but it depends greatly on your setup and local electricity costs! How much will electricity cost each month?

“How can I increase my marijuana yields?”

We have quite a few techniques to choose from or combine! See some of our most popular pages:

• Super Cropping – A simple technique to bigger yields
• Simplest Guide to Growing Short & Bushy Marijuana Plants
• LST (Low Stress Training) – Training your plants can easily double your harvest!
• Or check out our page on the controversial defoliation technique

Even More Ways to Increase Cannabis Yields

1. Increase Light Intensity (plus choose right light for desired yields & possibly add CO2)
2. Manipulate How Plants Grow (a free way to yield more bud indoors)
3. Provide Right Nutrients (low Nitrogen in the flowering stage, and remember sometimes less is more!)
4. Control Growing Environment (let the growing environment work for you)
5. Harvest Plants Properly (most importantly, don’t harvest early!)
6. Lastly, it’s important to remember that the strain has a major effect on yields!

Two small cannabis plants can yield several ounces of premium weed!

“How can I grow weed privately?”

Read guide on growing weed indoors without anyone knowing. But remember the most important factors to stealth growing: “No tell, no smell, no sell.” Never tell anyone, not even your best friend, that you’re growing. Be on top of preventing smells, and never ever sell cannabis. Breaking one of those 3 principles is how 99% of growers get found out!

“What if my plants get sick?”

The most common issue a grower runs into is a pH imbalance. Barring that, your marijuana plants likely either have a nutrient deficiency, heat or light stress, or are being attacked by some sort of marijuana mold, pest or bug. Whether you call it weed, cannabis, sinsemilla, skunk, pot, marijuana, or something else, the plant known as Cannabis Sativa is a hardy weed in the wild and can actually be easy to grow indoors at home when you know what to do.

Growing Medical Marijuana

“Medical marijuana” has become a household name. The body of evidence for medical marijuana in the treatment of cancer and other illnesses is growing every day. And for those who need medical marijuana, growing weed indoors is the perfect way to ensure a safe, regular supply of buds, for cheap.

In fact, when you grow weed indoors for personal use, you often end up with way too much. If you catch the growing bug like I did, and if you start enjoying the process of tending your cannabis garden just for the sake of gardening, you’re going to have to find a way to press, cook, freeze, and concentrate all your extra buds. 🙂

As you probably know, both medical marijuana and recreational cannabis have been decriminalized or legalized in many places around the world and weed is becoming legal in more places every day! Yet there still aren’t many simple indoor “how to grow weed” guides for beginners (even for those who legally grow, such as medical marijuana users and those who live in places where marijuana is legalized for personal use).

If so, I know how you feel. It can be hard to weed out all the bad information on the internet and find well-researched, free tips or instructions on how to grow your own cannabis. That’s why Grow Weed Easy.com aims to be a simple online resource that explains from start to finish what you need to do when growing cannabis so you can learn how to grow cannabis with great yields and potent buds, even if you only have a small grow space like a closet or even a computer case.

We’ve grown cannabis out of closets and have gotten ounces of buds and you can too. Grow Weed Easy.com covers many popular cannabis cultivation topics, including:

• A comparison between different cannabis grow lights including experience-based information about LED grow lights
• A page that teaches you the basics of how to grow weed
• Detailed how-to weed growing tutorials
• How to start growing weed tomorrow  (simplest cannabis growing guide!)
• Grow 4 oz with a 100W LED <– An Easy Way to Start Growing!
• Our famous grow guide that teaches you how to grow weed using bubbleponics (hydro).

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Table of Contents

4 “Parts” of Cannabis Plants Can Turn Colors (Buds, Pistils, Leaves & Trichomes)

How to Maximize Color & Genetics

• Start with Colorful Genetics (this is crucial – choose a consistent dark purple strain for the most dramatic colors after drying)
• Warm Days & Cool Nights (temperature difference day and night encourages pink/purple coloring)
• Use the Right Grow Light (strong direct light helps, and certain LEDs tend to bring out colors)
• PH at the Roots (low pH can encourage purpling in some strains though it’s actually a nutrient deficiency so use with caution)

Examples of Colorful Strains

• Photoperiod (Regular) Strains
• Auto-Flowering Strains
• Colorful “Duck” Strains (Stealthy Leaves)

Why Do Leaves and Buds Turn Purple?

Would you like to grow colorful cannabis buds? You may have seen marijuana buds that are pink, purple, red, orange, or possibly even blue! But how do you grow colorful buds at home?

If you want to grow buds that are pink, red, or purple, you must choose the right genetics

The tendency to turn colors is greatly affected by strain/genetics, so you can’t force any plant to produce colorful buds. However, you can purchase seeds of strains that naturally turn vibrant colors, and there are tricks to maximize their genetics and bring out extra colors on your buds.

You cannot produce buds this purple without a strain that has been bred to makes purple buds. There are tricks to maximize the natural color of your genetics, but you have to start with the right genes

4 Different “Parts” of Cannabis Can Become Colorful

When people are talking about “colorful” buds, most people imagine brightly colored buds in their hands. But there are actually different parts of cannabis plants that can display non-green colors, and sometimes people will lump all them all together. Each one is a little different from each other, and some have a significant effect on the final looks of your bud, while others don’t make much difference.

Many different parts of a cannabis plant can turn purple, including the whole plant!

The parts of the plant that can become colorful are…

• Pistils (Hairs) – some of the color remains after drying/curing
• Calyxes (Buds Themselves) – very strong effect on final color
• Leaves – relatively small effect on final bud color since many are removed by trimming
• Trichomes – small effect on final color

Buds are made up of different parts and are usually more than one color

Colorful Pistils / Hairs 

Most growers want the buds themselves to appear colorful, so the color stays even after the buds are dried and cured.

There are two parts of the buds that can turn color. One part is the pistils/hairs that stick out. There are several strains where the pistils turn pink or purple.

Sometimes just the pistils/hairs turn pink or purple, while the leaves and buds may still be green.

When buds are dried, they retain some of their pistil color, but you will still be able to see the color coming through underneath.

Colorful Calyxes / Bracts (Buds Themselves)

“Calyxes” are what make the buds themselves (some growers call them “bracts”). Cannabis “buds” are actually made of hundreds of calyxes stacked on top of each other, and some or all of them may become colors other than green.

This fantastic picture shows how the overall appearance of buds changes with the ratio of colorful vs. green calyxes.

Nearly all Smooth Smoke buds (by Tropical Seeds) produce at least a few pink calyxes here and there, and some plants in the right conditions can produce buds where almost every calyx is a deep purple.

Calyxes are what give the most color to your buds. Even a few purple calyxes can give the buds an overall purple tint, and when you break open the buds there will be some pieces that are completely purple.

This nug contains several purple calyxes.

After being ground up, you can see the purple pieces distributed throughout. The higher the percentage of purple calyxes, the more vibrant your final bud color will be.

Colorful Leaves – Sometimes It’s Not the Buds That Turn Color!

With some strains, the leaves may turn purple while the buds stay mostly green. This can make for absolutely gorgeous plants, but since leaves mostly get trimmed off after harvest, usually, a lot of the purple will no longer be as visible on the buds after the trimming process.

For some strains, the leaves may turn purple while the buds stay green. This often happens after the plant gets exposed to chilly night temperatures (but not always). Cannabis leaves exposed to direct light (especially LED grow lights) are most likely to turn purple, while leaves in the shade usually stay green. Low pH at the roots can trigger a nutrient deficiency that makes leaves appear purple on some strains, while the leaves of other strains get brown spots from low pH.

Strong LED grow lights can turn leaves purple on some strains, like this clone of Girl Scout Cookies. When this happens, leaves in the shade often stay green. The purple is essentially a “tan” to protect the leaves.

However, many strains turn yellow in response to too much light, like a human that burns instead of gets a tan in the sun. Notice how some plants in this tent turned purple due to the strong LED grow light, while other plants turned yellow. The only difference was genetics.

Although the leaves have turned purple, the buds themselves may be mostly green.

Only the tops of buds exposed to direct light have any purple left after trimming off all the leaves. Trimming removes a lot of the purple coloring. You can still see some hints of purple but they’re not really “purple” buds.

Why Do Cannabis Leaves Turn Purple?

Colorful Trichomes

In general, cannabis trichomes go from clear (not ready) to white (highest THC) to amber/yellow (more of a mellow effect) before they eventually wither and die. These color changes are often used to determine the best time to harvest cannabis.

However, sometimes, trichomes can turn purple or pink, making it difficult to know when to harvest. In that case, you want to also look at the pistils to determine the best harvest time!

Purple or pink trichomes can make it tough to know when to harvest, but they’re exotic and beautiful. The color of trichomes may leave a slight tint on the buds after they’ve been dried and cured, but the bud color underneath will be the dominant color.

Now that you know all the parts of the plant that can turn green, let’s move on to growing pink and purple buds at home.

How to Maximize Color and Genetics

Before you do anything else, you need to begin with the right genetics. If the genes of your plant don’t make colorful buds, there’s nothing you can do! So, you must start with a colorful strain to get the best results with maximizing color.

• Choose Colorful Strain (Most important!)
  • Choose Strain that Produces Very Dark Colors (if you want buds to maintain color after being harvested and dried)
• Temperature – Warm days & cool nights
• Bright Light – Strong light levels can help bring out color, especially LEDs
• PH at the Roots – Some strains may express colors at lower pH ranges

Choose Strains with Brightly Colored Buds and Pistils If Possible – This maximizes the overall colorful appearance of your buds.

For the most significant final effect on your dried and cured buds, you want to choose a strain where as many parts of the plant as possible are colorful. So ideally, you want buds where the pistils and calyxes (which make up most of the final color) are both vividly colored. If the leaves and trichomes are also colorful, that will improve the effect even further.

In this case, the buds are purple, but the pistils are orange.

To maximize the final color, you want to choose a strain with brightly colored buds and pistils. For example, this bud has purple calyxes, mostly purple pistils, and even some purple leaves. This combination makes the entire bud appear bright purple.

Choose Deep Purple Buds for Maximum Color After Drying/Curing – Deeply colored buds (sometimes called “black” strains) tend to be the most vibrant after drying/curing.

To produce the most colorful buds, you need to make sure the color goes all the way through the buds, and ideally, also through all the surrounding leaves. This level of color-penetration is most likely to happen with intensely dark colored buds. Buds that are paler in color tend to lose a lot of their vibrancy in the post-harvest processing.

These buds were mostly pink at harvest, but the color is relatively pale and muted

With this strain, all the leaves stayed green. Only the buds became colorful

After they’re trimmed and dried, the pink color has become more subtle.

You will “keep” the most color after drying/curing by choosing strains that are dark purple through and through, from buds to pistils to leaves if at all possible. Deeply colored buds keep more of their color after drying and curing than pale purple or pink buds.

These buds were deep purple at harvest…

When buds are darkly colored, they tend to keep more color after being dried and trimmed.

Note: Your buds will naturally lose some of their overall vibrancy and color during the drying/curing process (but not any of their potency!). That’s why you will likely never run into neon purple buds that have already been dried and cured for 2+ weeks. Even green buds go from being bright green to a more muted green color by the time they’ve cured for a few weeks. When you see very brightly colored buds, it almost always means the buds are still relatively fresh.

Although color is determined primarily by genetics, there are a few things you can do to help your plant express its natural colors…

Temperature – Some Strains Express Colors When the Night Temperature is a Few Degrees Cooler than the Day

If you’re growing a strain that turns color, some strains will only show their colors when night temperatures are at least a few degrees cooler than during the day in the flowering stage, especially towards the end. However, some plants don’t react to cool night temperatures, and many strains (like Panama) nearly always turn color no matter what the temperature.

Certain strains like Sangria turn color more often when the temperature is warm during the day as opposed to cool at night. So, it’s always a good idea to aim for nice warm days, and cool, comfortable nights, because that contrast seems to help bring out colors for many strains.

How to Maximize Color with Temperature

• Warm Days (75-80°F / 24-27°C)
• Cool Comfortable Nights (65-70°F / 18-21°C)

Note: Some strains turn color no matter what the temperature. You can contact the breeder and ask if they have advice on how to bring out colors for a particular strain. I’ve found that most breeders will get back to you quickly if you go to their website and ask questions!

Temperature makes a difference! Some strains need contrast between day/night temperatures for their buds to turn colors. For example, these Frisian Dew buds turned bright purple after nights started getting below 70°F (21°C), though that doesn’t always happen with this strain.

Learn How to Control Temperature

Strong, Direct Light may help bring out colors (especially LED grow lights)

In some cases, a plant may produce purple tones in response to intense, direct light (on buds and leaves). This is kind of like the plant getting a “tan” and typically is most pronounced on the parts of the plant that are getting direct light (other parts of the plant tend to stay green). The importance of light levels varies on a strain by strain basis.

LED grow lights tend to bring out purple coloring in some strains. Of all the LEDs I’ve tried, I noticed the most purpling under the Mars Hydro TSL 2000W, Spider Farmer SF-2000, and HLG 35R (hotter than the others but the most purpling).

Strong HPS grow lights (especially 400W and bigger) also can bring out colors when temperatures are under control, but to a lesser extent than LEDs. If you want a grow light that tends to bring out purples, I recommend getting an LED.

The pH at the Roots may affect cannabis bud color expression

Outside the cannabis world, there are a few species of plants with flowers that are known to turn different colors based on the pH at the roots.

For example, the flowers of specific types of hydrangeas can turn blue in very acidic soil but may turn pink if exposed to neutral or only slightly acidic soil (though this type of variation is rare in the plant world).

Yet there have been occasional reports of cannabis strains that produce different bud colors based on the pH at the roots.

I have noticed that some strains (especially ones that tend to turn purple already) will often get much more purple if the pH is low (under 6 pH). However, for some strains, this causes plants to get brown spots (a calcium deficiency) so use this tactic with caution and watch plants closely for brown spots.

Low pH at the roots (under 6 pH) can bring out purples in some strains, specifically strains that are already prone to turn purple. This is what it looks like initially.

Here is that plant a few weeks later

For many (if not most) strains, low pH can cause brown spots and sometimes yellowing, so use this tactic with caution, and it’s probably only good to try it close to harvest in case your plant becomes riddled with brown spots. T

These buds were given low pH early in the flowering stage while buds were still mostly white. It did help bring our purple, but as a result, many of the leaves got deficiencies which reduced yields at harvest. If you try to bring out colors via low pH, make sure to wait until plants are close to harvest so you don’t harm the leaves by accident.

If growing multiple plants of the same strain or from clones, you might consider giving plants different pH ranges to see what effect it has on the final bud color.

Learn more about how pH can affect cannabis color!

Pictures and Examples of Colorful Strains

Here are some pictures of cannabis strains that sometimes grow colorful purple and pink buds.

Photoperiod (Regular) Strains

Frisian Dew

The next two pics are of the strain Frisian Dew, a popular strain by Dutch Passion, who specifically designed the strain for growing outdoors. It is exceptionally hardy, high yielding, and is also mold and pest resistant. About 50% of the time, Frisian Dew buds will turn bright purple instead of green!

The plant in the middle with the dark purple buds is Frisian Dew.

Peyote Gorilla

Peyote Gorilla buds are often purple-tinted with purple leaves, especially when grown under LED grow lights. The effects of this strain are awesome and bud quality is above-average.

Panama

The following plants with pink pistils are from the strain Panama by Ace Seeds.

This is what Panama buds may look like when they’re first growing in. This beautiful pink pistil pic is by trippergreenfeet.

As the Panama buds develop, the pistils and even the buds themselves may intensify their pink color

Smooth Smoke

Smooth Smoke buds (by Tropical Seeds) can become quite colorful, with colors from hints of pink to deep purple!

Auto-Flowering Strains

Learn about auto-flowering strains, which are typically ready to harvest within 3 months from germination, and don’t need a 12/12 light schedule to start flowering (like regular cannabis plants).

Auto Frisian Dew

Auto Frisian Dew by Dutch Passion (this is an auto-flowering version of the original famous marijuana strain) – Unlike the regular Frisian Dew which gets about 50% purple bud plants, the breeder claims only 10% of the plants from this strain produce purple buds. Still, some growers are getting far better odds than that. When purple does appear, the color is incredibly vibrant and spills out onto the nearby leaves!

Auto Pink Kush CBD 

This Pink Kush CBD auto consistently turns purple and produces excellent high-CBD, low THC buds.

The bright plant here in the lower right is Auto-Flowering Pink Kush CBD

Closeup of the Pink Kush CBD buds. They looked even brighter in person!

Auto-Flowering Bloody Skunk

Auto Bloody Skunk by Sweet Seeds is a strain famous for its beautiful vibrant color.

Bloody Skunk auto strain consistently produces captivatingly purple buds

Auto-Flowering Dark Devil

Dark Devil Auto is another fabulous auto-flowering strain by Sweet Seeds that turns a gorgeous purple or even a deep red.

This Dark Devil Auto bud turned completely purple from top to bottom.

Purple Kush Auto

Brilliant color on Purple Kush Auto plants! The buds turn almost black after being dried!

pics by kingkola1

Colorful “Duck” Strains (Stealth Leaves)

“Duck” strains are characterized by their oddly shaped leaves. The idea is that the plants look less like cannabis with 3-finger leaves. The bright colored buds also help make them look less like cannabis.

Frisian Duck

One of the most popular variations of the Ducksfoot (Ducksfeet?) strains is called Frisian Duck. This strain thrives outdoors and grows with the traditional stealthy leaves. This strain also often makes bright, beautiful purple buds (with cold enough temperatures) that have a fresh scent that is sometimes even a little fruity.

Frisian Duck plants react well to growing in a living soil that’s been composted and amended with slow-release organic ingredients.

This is a Frisian Duck plant in the vegetative stage.

This Frisian Duck plant was grown outdoors in a greenhouse. More than half of Frisian Duck plants grow bright purple buds!

Frisian Duck is based on the famous Frisian Dew strain which also produces purple buds and has been bred for generations specifically for growing outdoors. The Frisian genes thrive under sunlight, and buds are resistant to bugs and mold!

This Frisian Duck plant is just about ready to harvest!

​

However, even with stealthy strains, be aware that they still smell like cannabis in the budding stage! 

Why Do Cannabis Leaves and Buds Turn Purple?

Sometimes you’ll see purple leaves because of a nutrient deficiency, but oftentimes purple leaves are actually caused by natural plant processes.

There are many species of plants that make purple leaves. The leaves appear purple due to high levels of a purple pigment called anthocyanin. Anthocyanin may act as a sunscreen for plant leaves because it protects against damage caused by UV-B rays. Anthocyanin is also known to help protect against cold or heat stress on the cellular level.

It’s not just cannabis plants that grow purple leaves. Here’s an example of a False Shamrock plant, which has glorious purple leaves from top to bottom!

With some cannabis strains, the leaves may turn purple while the buds stay green. Just like with buds, leaves are more likely to turn color when plants get cool night temperatures in the late flowering stage.

The leaves most likely to be affected are the top leaves and other leaves getting direct light. With this purpling, the leaves in the shade of the plant usually stay green.

For some strains, the leaves may turn purple while the buds stay green.

The leaves of this plant turned purple overnight after that plant was exposed to chilly night temperatures.

The leaves exposed to direct light are most likely to turn purple, while leaves in the shade often stay green

In this case, all the leaves that are exposed to the light have turned purple, including the sugar leaves. However, once the leaves are trimmed off, the buds will be mostly green.

Buds may still be purple-tinted from leaves that weren’t completely trimmed off.

If there’s a lot of purple leaves, there may be a lot of color left even after trimming.

Case Study – Super Purple Haze plant

The top leaves of this Super Purple Haze plant have turned a vibrant purple

Here are the buds from that Super Purple Haze plant drying – you can see that the parts of the buds that were exposed to the light have strong hints of purple

A closer look at those buds so you can better see how much bud is purple and how much is green after being trimmed and dried (click for a closeup!)

This cannabis plant has grown vibrant red and purple leaves.

This outdoor cannabis plant has turned purple everywhere it received direct sunlight. Splendid!

Cannabis sometimes has neat mutations, like this two-tone plant where only half the leaves turned purple!

These Swiss Cheese plants by Nirvana exploded with red, pink and purple leaves when it got cool at night right near harvest time, but the buds themselves did not change color. Unfortunately, when just the leaves turn color, the buds themselves will often look mostly green once they’re trimmed. But this beautiful picture lives forever!

Bright purple stems may be a sign of a phosphorus deficiency, but this “symptom” is sometimes actually caused by genetics, just like purple leaves, pistils or buds!

Blue Dream (rare deep purple phenotype)

Blue Dream buds usually don’t turn this deep purple, so if you want to see buds like this you’re better off with a strain that’s bred to always grow dark purple buds. However, the pictures were so beautiful I just had to share!

A closeup of a purple cannabis calyx

Now learn how to improve…

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

The post How to Grow Pink or Purple Cannabis Buds appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Question: Help! My cannabis plants are young (growing in soil indoors with sunlight and my leaves are medium sized) yet my main stems are turning purple from the top downwards. Have you seen this before?

Answer: When a cannabis plant or seedling has a purple stem without any other signs of problems, it is often the result of genetics. However, sometimes you’ll see red stems (pictured below) which are often caused by light exposure (kind of like a “tan”), nutrient deficiencies, various types of stress, poor environment, or pH problems.

Wait a week or two before making any alterations if your plant otherwise appears healthy and is growing fast. 

If there are no other symptoms and the rest of the plant is growing fast and healthy, red stems usually aren’t a big deal. As long as you’re continuing to take good care of your plant and responding quickly to any other problems, you should be okay.

These red stems were caused by transplant shock and overall stress, but the clone just needed some TLC and time to grow out of it.

Truly purple stems are often caused by genetics

If you believe there is a nutrient problem with your cannabis plant, for example, if your plant is also growing slowly or the leaves are discolored, then the plant may be suffering from…

• Incorrect pH – The pH being too high or too low at the roots is the most common reason to see a nutrient deficiency)
• Magnesium deficiency can cause purple stems. A good cannabis-friendly nutrient system has a significant amount of magnesium, but if you’re using very soft water, or RO water, you may need to add a Cal-Mag to your nutrient regimen.
• Temperature – Heat or especially cold can trigger red stems in some places. Big temperature fluctuations can also do it even if the temperature is in a good range.
• Humidity – Very high or low humidity can stress plants (especially young seedlings)
• Other types of stress such as light burn, transplant shock, or overwatering can trigger red stems
• Sometimes you’ll never know why and plants just grow out of it 🙂

Jump to…

Cannabis plant problems by picture

7 Steps to Cure 99% of Cannabis Growing Problems

Cannabis Nutrients: Explained

How to germinate cannabis seeds

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