How can I grow denser buds??

Title pretty much says it. Here's a pic of a Blue Dream bud from recent grow. Smokes excellent...smells fruity delicious...so I guess I shouldn't be bitchin', but I just like the look of really dense buds. Must be in the drying/curing huh? Chopped them, hung them for five days, trimmed the fan leaves a few days before harvest, started trimming them for real two days after hanging, avg was temp 65f, humidity 40%
Any ideas?

NicNug said:

Title pretty much says it. Here's a pic of a Blue Dream bud from recent grow. Smokes excellent...smells fruity delicious...so I guess I shouldn't be bitchin', but I just like the look of really dense buds. Must be in the drying/curing huh? Chopped them, hung them for five days, trimmed the fan leaves a few days before harvest, started trimming them for real two days after hanging, avg was temp 65f, humidity 40%
Any ideas? View attachment 2555708

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What kind of lights you use??? That makes a huge difference, as well as the way it was grown, Nutes, Soil, Super Cropping. But lights have a huge effect on the density. Oh and the length of time you allow them to flower is another big one.....

gravity(or some type of kelp) if they sell it in your state the stopped in cali. also try using shooting powder last 3 weeks of flower.

Calismoker24 said:

gravity(or some type of kelp) if they sell it in your state the stopped in cali. also try using shooting powder last 3 weeks of flower.

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Kelp meal does the jobs for sure. But density of buds is dependent on nutrients, ph, temperature, humidity and co2 increases bud size too. High temps is a killer of dense buds cause the buds get to hot and stretch to cool themselves off. Most importantly green lush foliage keep a healthy plant and she will reward you in the end.

That bud looks like bottom bud, meaning buds that don't get enough light. You need more light. I use T5 in early veg but you must have MH and then hps for late veg and flower at decent strength.

Veg-4,000 lumens per square foot/flower 6,000+ lumens per square foot. You can use watts to.
Take square foot of room(width x length) and divide that into how many lumens your bulb/s have. Example-a 4x4 foot room is 16 square feet, a 400 watt hps for flower averages about 55,000 lumens. Take that 55,000 and divide it by the 16=3437 lumens per square foot, barely half of what you need. Adding a 600 watt hps instead at an average of 92,000 lumens would be 5750 lumens per square foot, close enough to recommended lumens.

More lights better buds.

I love the Gravity, it really works, but to make sum decent bud starts in the veg. Trimming those sucker branches. Along with nutrients and tempature. Some strains have denser buds than others too.

Its all about genetics sativa has less dense buds than indicas thats the first step then lighting plays a roll but for the most part its going to be genetics

Not enough p and k. Is my guess...gotta pound em with p n k in bloom ...I like kool bloom the last 2.5 weeks.

That will just help with bud size not density

#1 genetics, #2 is light and a lot of it. Go big to grow big with lights and air handling equipment. #3 and close is air - like I just said. Move it and move a lot of it. I was not a believer in lollipopping until the last year when we moved to Alaska and was literally forced indoors. I believe in it now.

Disagree...p / k. Is huge...not enough n you get airy buds.

You must have never grown a 100% sativa

Corso312 said:

Disagree...p / k. Is huge...not enough n you get airy buds.

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Give all you want with a weak light and get small buds anyway. Nobody said to ignore the nutrients.

Bud density = genetics + lumens + nutes.

Genetics, f/c, air/soil/water temp, nutes. Thats what I have found. I have also grown a 100% land race sativa outside that yielded dense buds, and the same sativa that yielded looser ones. The only difference was one was shaded the other was not. Drying also has an effect. the hotter the room the looser the buds. Remember they stay alive for 3 days after cutting. Happy Harvesting Everyone!!!!

Without reading any of the thread I am going to answer with - get a HID.

I will now read the thread - apologies to all concerned if my assumption was incorrect.

Doesnt say what type of lights he has, but I am willing to guess he is using the tried and true "CFL work just fine" lights.

cough...

CFL's do work fine, as long as you position them close to the plant.

Look... you hit on it.. looks good.. smells fruitylicious.. we should all have such worries.

Density is 'of the mind' it means nothing. In FACT, for home growers, it isn't a bad idea to back off the lights at the end so they DON'T compact as much, as the more compact the bud the more inclined you are to get bud rot (oh sure, never happened yet.. just wait til it does).

Now if you are trying to profit from it and are looking for bag appeal, that aint my gig.. But if you want to grow good product at home, get over 'Density' as a goal.. Nice, big, healthy.. as long as she is reaching her genetic potential for potency and flavor, none of that other stuff matters one bit.

CFL's are fantastic for small gardens. I can get just as dense of buds (I didn't say 'size') under CFRL as I can under my HID. IF Dense buds were the goal.. they are not.. unfortunately they still end up a bit more than I would like them to be with my 'space' and venting