Question Fluffy vs. Dense af nugs

Jaley69420

Member
Feb 16, 2022
49
79
Maybe a dumb newbie question but i was wondering why all the homegrown bud i see online, grew myself, or tried from friends is super soft, fluffy, and light. And the nugs I've gotten from dispensaries or bought on "the streets" are super dense and tight and weigh like twice as much on the scales but still crumble in your fingers like they are over dry. Is it as simple as its just been compacted in packaging for sales&delivery or is it something to do with the way it is grown? I mean for example i had some grease monkey not long ago grown by a friend of a friend and it was soft, fluffy, chunky, sticky and everything you'd imagine grease monkey should be. Then i get a bag of some amnesia haze that had been brought in from colorado that was still amazing but was kinda dry, not sticky and super dense like someone had pressed it into brick weed even though you could clearly tell it was whole, non compressed, high quality nugs
 

Tracker

Well-Known Member
Oct 15, 2021
552
1,386
If it was packaged for transportation, theres a high probability that it was vacuum packed, in which case it will be dense because it was squeezed during transit.

Besides that, the same clones can have variations in density depending on environmental conditions temp/RH and lighting conditions.

Then there is significant variations between different cultivars, or different phenotypes within the same batch of beans. Ive had some that are very whispy and airy, great smoke but not the best bag appeal, and I have one that makes super dense rocks.
 
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Jaley69420

Member
Feb 16, 2022
49
79
If it was packaged for transportation, theres a high probability that it was vacuum packed, in which case it will be dense because it was squeezed during transit.

Besides that, the same clones can have variations in light density depending on environmental conditions temp/RH and lighting conditions.

Then there is significant variations between different cultivars, or different phenotypes within the same batch of beans. Ive had some that are very whisky and airy, great smoke but not the best bag appeal, and I have one that makes super dense rocks.
Okay makes some sense. I have had identical strains that looked and even smelt slightly different and that was before i even knew about phenos so i swore dude was trynna pull some bs on me 😅😅😅. But as far as the whole growing them super hard and dense thing, ive asked a grower friend that has a few years experience and he said it's possible to use kelp, i think he said, to get more mass, weight and density during flowering. Is there any truth to that? Is it some kind of miracle condenser? Lol
 

Tracker

Well-Known Member
Oct 15, 2021
552
1,386
I use the following kelp. I think the plants benefit from it with faster growth rate, but I've grown the same clones with and without kelp in the same environment on sequential runs, and I didn't notice a significant difference in density of the flower...bigger plants from faster, healthier growth, but not really big difference in the finished flower density.


There are other Plant Growth Regulator hormones that can make a significant difference to the buds, but you should not mess with those. It is possible that stuff you find on the street has PGRs. Just google search for cannabis PGR....here's one example...
 

SlowGrower

Member
Jan 24, 2022
26
27
A lot has to do with genetics, environment and nutrients as well. I think amenesia is one of the thicker/denser buds. Just grow out a few different strains and you'll see. I've even had 2 clones from the same mother come out with different densities because of the medium I used.
 

Jaley69420

Member
Feb 16, 2022
49
79
I use the following kelp. I think the plants benefit from it with faster growth rate, but I've grown the same clones with and without kelp in the same environment on sequential runs, and I didn't notice a significant difference in density of the flower...bigger plants from faster, healthier growth, but not really big difference in the finished flower density.


There are other Plant Growth Regulator hormones that can make a significant difference to the buds, but you should not mess with those. It is possible that stuff you find on the street has PGRs. Just google search for cannabis PGR....here's one example...
I'll definitely check those out. Also a sort of off topic question. Im interested in learning to grow in coco. Is it okay to grow in 100%coco or do i have to mix in perlite with it? Also since i found a bag of organic pure coco from my local nursery im kindly eager to use it, so would it be okay to use it as my medium when transplant time comes for a few of my plants or should i wait till the next round and start with a fresh seedling after i make room with my male purge?
 

Jaley69420

Member
Feb 16, 2022
49
79
A lot has to do with genetics, environment and nutrients as well. I think amenesia is one of the thicker/denser buds. Just grow out a few different strains and you'll see. I've even had 2 clones from the same mother come out with different densities because of the medium I used.
thats amazing. If you told me a year ago, before i began my first grow and had 0 knowledge of growing, that something as small as a different nutrient or soil could dramatically impact the outcome of a plant growing next to an identical clone i never would have believed it. Thats part of what has made me fall in love with cannabis gardening. I wish i had the space and lighting to grow 100 plants all different just to study the results 😅😁
 

Tracker

Well-Known Member
Oct 15, 2021
552
1,386
I'll definitely check those out. Also a sort of off topic question. Im interested in learning to grow in coco. Is it okay to grow in 100%coco or do i have to mix in perlite with it? Also since i found a bag of organic pure coco from my local nursery im kindly eager to use it, so would it be okay to use it as my medium when transplant time comes for a few of my plants or should i wait till the next round and start with a fresh seedling after i make room with my male purge?
Disclaimer....i dont have a lot of experience with coco.

Mix perlite with coco coir 70%/30% coco/perlite by volume. This allows it to drain better and allow more aeration for the root zone. You can get bags of perlite at Home Depot pretty reasonable price.

You may need to pre-rinse and soak the coco coir in a nutrient solution to buffer it before use. Ask a coco guy about this.

Once the plants gets established, you will need to water multiple times per day. Coco does not retain moisture like soil.

Whenever you get your grow going, please post a journal. I'll follow along.

Good luck! Peace ✌
 

Tracker

Well-Known Member
Oct 15, 2021
552
1,386
Oh....you asked a question about repotting into coco....

If they are still in something like the size of a solo cup, you can gently rinse off some of the dirt and up-pot into coco. If they are already in larger pots, I would up-pot into soil and finish them that way. Since the soil retains more moisture than coco, it will make the progression of dry back after watering weird. Either the coco wont have enough moisture or the soil will have too much. I dont think the roots will like it.
 

Jaley69420

Member
Feb 16, 2022
49
79
Oh....you asked a question about repotting into coco....

If they are still in something like the size of a solo cup, you can gently rinse off some of the dirt and up-pot into coco. If they are already in larger pots, I would up-pot into soil and finish them that way. Since the soil retains more moisture than coco, it will make the progression of dry back after watering weird. Either the coco wont have enough moisture or the soil will have too much. I dont think the roots will like it.
Fair point. They are in small pots the size of a solo cup so i may try it with one or 2 just to experiment. I'll post results if i do
 

Joheim

Well-Known Member
Aug 23, 2021
540
1,345
I have a couple I up potted into coco that were in soil. I left their soil root mass alone and surrounded it in coco&perlite. Thus far, they're great. Now I water the surrounding coco every other day or so and water the whole surface once a week. This is MLK4 2 weeks from the flip
 

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Hemp Knight

Well-Known Member
Nov 2, 2021
185
377
Autos (not always) will give fluffier flowers. Photos will be more strain dependent. You 40 indica/60 sativa will stack on heavier than your 60 indica/40 sativa. A more separated flower set will be more dense compared to a (short stretch in flower) short node set in an indica dominated cultivar.

You can find sativas that have a more whispy flower set but for the most part a sativa will have a thicker calyx in each flower.
 

Jaley69420

Member
Feb 16, 2022
49
79
Thats makes sense. I have noticed the bud nodes on my bcn critical auto(indica dominant hybrid) are alot tighter and closer together than they were on on my last plant that was photoperiod. Dont know what strain it was since i got it from a friend but the bud spacing was fairly big imo and i think thats part of why its buds ended up being so light and airy, almost no density
 


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