Increasing the amount of CO₂ in your grow room can help you grow bigger, denser buds. By doing so, you'll help plants photosynthesise faster and encourage them to take up more nutrients and water.
Light – The most common reason buds aren't dense is the plant didn't get enough light in the flowering stage. Light is like food for the plant. Although cannabis plants can survive in relatively low light levels, they won't produce much bud. Up to a point, more light in the flowering stage = bigger buds.
Topping to increase the number of colas
Prune to clear off dead leaves to help your plants focus their energy on the live parts of the plant. Prune large leaves which get in the way of light reaching the colas. Topping is a form of pruning and involves pruning off the branch tip of the main cola.
Weeks 4-6: Buds Fatten Up
At this stage of cannabis flowering, your buds are getting bigger. They'll still have all the white pistils sticking out, but you'll be able to see the buds getting bigger every day.
Flowering – 5-20-5 or 5-25-10 – During flowering, you want to prioritize phosphorous to promote bud growth and make sure to limit nitrogen so your plant doesn't get too tall or “leggy.” You want it to concentrate on developing huge buds, not lots of stems or leaves, and phosphorus will make your buds grow.
Lack of light is perhaps the most common reason that cannabis produces fluffy, light buds. You may have noticed the lower, puny 'popcorn' bud sites that form below the main canopy. Often these buds are discarded by growers allowing the plant to focus biochemical energy on the main blooms.
General Hydroponic KoolBloom
Available as Liquid KoolBloom or Dry KoolBloom, this additive is widely regarded as the best bud hardener out there.
In order to get more potency in the flowering stage, you want to inspire your plant to produce more resin-producing trichomes. You do this by cranking up blue, white, and UVB lights to 100% and backing red down to around 50%. Why does that work? Plants produce trichomes protectively.
Week 7: The calyxes in the seven-week varieties swell to near bursting as THC is produced in the glands. At the end of the week they will be ready. The trichomes stand more erect and the caps swell with newly produced resin. At the end of the week the flowers reach the peak zone.
The last three weeks is when your buds can actually gain the most weight – that is if you feed them Overdrive®. After your peak bloom phase, your plants enter their late bloom phase (the precise timing and length of which depends on the strain of cannabis you're growing).
During flowering, switch the lighting schedule to 12 hours on and 12 hours off. The key for maximum yields is to provide large amounts of light and to distribute it as evenly as possible across the canopy. Space your lights accordingly.
Yes pot size will affect cannabis yield. A bigger pot will result in bigger yields. Cannabis grows long roots that need ample room to reach their ideal outcome. Growing cannabis in a container that is too small will lead to root bound and stunt the plants growth.
Most of the time, the bigger the buds, the better the quality, but each strain produces a different size and shape. Indicas tend to be more dense and smaller, while sativas are much less dense, fluffier, and generally regarded as less aesthetically pleasing. ...
Cannabis plants need water and nutrients to grow and develop big, healthy flowers. Drought, overwatering, and over/underfeeding can all affect your plant's ability to develop big, dense, and heavy flowers.
Whether they're grown indoors or outdoors, it's impossible to get the same amount of light on all sides of the plant. Because of this, there are always some buds that are smaller than others. These smaller buds usually grow near the base where there isn't enough light for them to grow large.
Weak Light Source: On a similar note to distant lights, a weak light source can cause unnecessary stretching and growth in your plants. A light bulb that does not emit the necessary watts and lumens for your specific growth stage can force plants to grow tall and skinny in order to absorb the weak light.
In week 5 of flowering, you can observe the buds all over your plant becoming thicker. You may also spot new buds growing in new places such as along the main cola. With buds abounding, your cannabis plants will get fatter every day. This is a surefire sign you are in full flowering mode.
Late flowering / Ripening stage – week 6 to harvest
They are sticky to the touch and can be very smelly. You are very close to reaching your goal = harvesting! Most importantly, buds are now covered in trichomes, which are rich glandules for secreting THC and other cannabinoids.
In weeks 6-8, the buds of your plants will begin to harden; the delicate trichome heads of your flowers will cloud and turn amber, and the once milky pistils of your buds will shrink, turn brown and become fragile. Also, as your plants continue to ripen, new aromas, flavors, and pigmentation will develop.
Remember, genetics is the biggest factor when it comes to growing big buds. So it is crucial to select high-quality genetics when choosing your cannabis strains. Make sure to do your research and choose a strain that is known for producing large, dense buds.
After a sugar application, the resulting sugar-like crystals are the flower's trichomes, which are believed to double in production after the plant is treated with sugar.
Stunted growth – Topping can also stunt the growth of a cannabis plant, as it can reduce the amount of energy the plant has available to put into new growth. When topping is done properly, the result is generally a larger number of smaller buds whose combined yield is greater than it would have been prior to topping.
Fluffy buds don't only look less appetising, but you'll need to use more of your harvest every time you roll a blunt or hit a bowl. Dense buds will offer some resistance and spring back to their original shape. Airy buds will almost collapse in on themselves, and feel much more feeble to the touch.
Depending on the strain of weed you choose, it will take between 8-12 weeks for your plants to be ready for harvesting. Most strains of weed are ready for harvesting after 10 weeks.
Photoperiod cannabis is sensitive to changes in the hours of daylight it receives. In fact, photoperiod cannabis strains cannot transition from vegetative growth to flowering without long nights. 12 or more hours of darkness is the biological trigger for photoperiod cannabis to bloom.