# Really dense buds



## poopsie (Sep 12, 2015)

Hi.  I haven't been on here in forever.  I hope everyone is doing well on the old marijuana passion forum.

I've done several closet grows, and what I grow is good enough for me to smoke happily and share with friends (usually, hah), but I have a ways to go to becoming an expert. 

I was wondering if anybody could tell me how you grow really dense buds?  One time I grew Bubblelicious from Nirvana, and that turned out pretty dense, but I'm talking about when buds are so dense and frosty they look like gold nuggets.

Thanks for helping me out.


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## Bongofury (Sep 12, 2015)

I grew 2 plants of THC Bomb and the buds are really dense. Same grow of 2 AK47 plants and the buds are sooo airy I will not grow AK47 again. These 4 plants were grown same soil, nutes, light and everything else. Tells me it must be the genetics.


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## mindtrip (Sep 12, 2015)

Genetics is a huge part of it.  Genetics alone, however, won't get you dense buds.  You'll get nowhere without proper lighting, temperature, ventilation, nutrients, watering, humidity...the factors go on and on.

Best way to address this: tell us what you're growing with - your grow room, your light setup, your growing medium, etc.  The pros on here can help you much better from there.


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## Hushpuppy (Sep 12, 2015)

To me there are three keys to growing really great buds: The first is the genetics and that today is getting harder to guarantee with sooooo much breeding happening. But if you know you have good genetics, then the second key is: try to make the plant as healthy and happy as it can be. That means proper nutrients, proper temps, maintain the pH really well, and keep a real(very) good flow of fresh air going to the plants. *A happy plant is one that will grow happy flowers*:hubba:
The third and equally important: make sure you have as much light energy as you can get without damaging the plant or creating uncontrollable heat issues. I try to keep around 8000Lum per square foot of Hps shining on my girls. You have to have some fans to keep the flowers cool but they will grow to the potential of their genetics when all of this is in balance.


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## Bongofury (Sep 12, 2015)

mindtrip said:


> Best way to address this: tell us what you're growing with - your grow room, your light setup, your growing medium, etc.  The pros on here can help you much better from there.



Well said mindtrip.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Sep 13, 2015)

Both hush and mindtrip are right--it is a combination of things.  Good genetics, proper grow room environment and giving the plants the required food and water will give you those dense buds.

Tell us about your space and what you are growing.  Maybe we can offer some suggestions that would help.


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## poopsie (Sep 14, 2015)

I'll have to look for the right genetics.  I grow in a closet that's about 3x6, but it's in an open loft so it's kind of an open space with no door (I just use a curtain to block light.  But maybe extra intake would improve things.  I usually just use a little rotating fan inside for circulation since it's kind of an open space, and keep my windows open a lot.  

My light is a HydroPro LED that's "equivalent to 600w."  It helps keep temps low, but I wondered if maybe a 1000w HPS would create more density.  Anyway, it's so low wattage, maybe I'll just have to compromise on density a little, and just look for the best genetics.  

I usually grow in Fox Farm Ocean Forest with amendments.  I have this book called True Living Organics that describes how to prepare soil with composted material in it, and then you mostly just have to use clear water, with less frequent bottled fertilizer feedings.  I use Fox Farm Big Bloom for fertilizer, plus Great White Shark mycorrhizal and molasses.  I learned about mycorrhizal from this Youtube video where Snoop Dogg heard about this guy that grew giant vegetables, and he asked him how he did that, because he wanted to grow the biggest buds.  It makes my plants live longer, so they bud more, but I'm still working on perfecting the finished bud to be as quality as possible.

Thanks so much for the feedback.


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## poopsie (Sep 14, 2015)

This forum has helped me more with growing than anything.  This is the place where I even learned that I could grow for myself.  So thanks for sharing.


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## mindtrip (Sep 14, 2015)

poopsie said:


> I'll have to look for the right genetics.  I grow in a closet that's about 3x6, but it's in an open loft so it's kind of an open space with no door (I just use a curtain to block light.  But maybe extra intake would improve things.  I usually just use a little rotating fan inside for circulation since it's kind of an open space, and keep my windows open a lot.
> 
> My light is a HydroPro LED that's "equivalent to 600w."  It helps keep temps low, but I wondered if maybe a 1000w HPS would create more density.  Anyway, it's so low wattage, maybe I'll just have to compromise on density a little, and just look for the best genetics.
> 
> ...



Do you currently have a grow going, poopsie?  I'd love to see pictures if so.

Sounds like light-proofing may be your most serious issue when flowering time comes.  You *really* don't want light leaking in to your plants during dark time.

How many TRUE watts is your LED?  I'm on my first-ever LED grow (and third ever grow), so I can't really say.  But a 1000w HPS that you can keep cool will do a great job.  And how many plants do you plan on growing at a time?  One 1000w HPS can cover several plants, but one LED can only do so much - even if it's high-wattage.


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## pcduck (Sep 14, 2015)

Need complete darkness during lights off. Keep temperature at appropriate level.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Sep 15, 2015)

Unfortunately there are many many LED companies that over-hype (lie about) their lights and what they will do.  While, say, every 600W HPS is basically the same and fairly equal in quality and lighting capacity, LEDs are not.  Is this your light?  http://lgledsolutions.en.alibaba.co...ants_Blooming_and_Fruiting_Bigger_Yields.html  If not, can you give us some more info about your light--the actual working wattage is what we are most interested in.  I doubt though that a light that is _advertised_ (they rarely live up to their hype) to replace a 600W is nearly large enough for a 3 x 6 space.  Adequate lighting is critical to dense buds.  Just to give you an example, I am running a 700W (around 330 actual draw) and a 768W (around 370W actual draw) LED in a space just slightly larger than yours--3 x 6.5--and wonder if I am underlit.  This is my first go with LEDs and there is a learning curve (or maybe an unlearning curve if you have been growing a while) and I am sure to get better, but my yield from this grow will not match what I get with HPS.  So, your first order of business will probably be more light.


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