Do More Trichs = More Potent Buds?

[instaGRAM]

Have been examining the medicine I have been receiving from my local dispensary as of lately with the 30x scope and have noticed that the more trichs, the stronger the medicine. Also the more golden the trichs, the stronger. So I came to the conclusion, the more trichs, especially golden trichs, the stronger. I am from the Westcoast and we are known for our potent OG's, and honestly thats all I like to order being that I love the chest expander, eye watering, heavy smoker nugs. Whats your guys take on amount of trichs. Does this mean the meds will be more potent as compared to a not so heavy trich flower??

 

[Javahead]

As I learned Botany, years ago, the trichomes are just part of the female anatomy, their function, is to help capture pollen. By putting the (female) plant into a male (pollen) free environment, she tries that much harder to find and capture the pollen. Her main "weapon" is resin, very sticky, water resistant, and GREAT for catching pollen. She WANTS to make SEEDS, so she tries to capture the elusive pollen, making more and more resin, it Springs forth from her trichomes.

I believe the Answer to your Question, it is not the NUMBER of trichomes, although theoretically, more trichomes MIGHT mean more resin, but it is the ACTIVITY of the trichomes that is of interest.

Please, I put on my kevlar and asbestos before posting, so shoot me down, & flame my bad science. ( really though, I thnk that is correct?!?!!!)

 

[Silentbob-420]

As I learned Botany, years ago, the trichomes are just part of the female anatomy, their function, is to help capture pollen. By putting the (female) plant into a male (pollen) free environment, she tries that much harder to find and capture the pollen. Her main "weapon" is resin, very sticky, water resistant, and GREAT for catching pollen. She WANTS to make SEEDS, so she tries to capture the elusive pollen, making more and more resin, it Springs forth from her trichomes.

I believe the Answer to your Question, it is not the NUMBER of trichomes, although theoretically, more trichomes MIGHT mean more resin, but it is the ACTIVITY of the trichomes that is of interest.

Please, I put on my kevlar and asbestos before posting, so shoot me down, & flame my bad science. ( really though, I thnk that is correct?!?!!!)

Sounds pretty legit to my heavily medicated mind

 

[Icemud]

I first off want to say, great question. I love the questions that "medicated minds" come up with Well in response to the question, do more trichomes=more potency I would have to say, maybe and I can see the answer going slightly either way depending on these things. By no means is this "scientific" proof, but more of my own take on the question...

I would have to say yes, more trichomes=more potent in the case that the you are growing strains with similar genetic capability. From my understanding, a lot of the plant's potency comes from its genetic makeup and even though you might have the perfect environment for growing, the plant may only be capable of reaching a certain "potency". So I would have to say with this being said, if you were growing 2 different strains of MMJ that at the "optimal" condition are producing a similar THC content, the overall bud with more trichomes would be having a higher concentration of THC holding trichomes, therefore more potency....so in this case I can see the answer being a yes...

Now lets visit the same scenereo with 2 clones...one of OG kush type genetics and one with poor breeding qualities and lackluster quality genetics.... in this case plant #1 the og would be capable of a higher concentration/quality of THC based on its genetic capability even if plant #2 had more trichomes, because plant #2 has less genetic potential for producing high amounts of THC. This example is why you can take a gram of Hash from 2 seperate plants assuming the hash was made the same way. (hash is basicly the trichomes filtered out from the leafy material) and test the THC quantity, some hash is higher THC, some lower, even if by mass you have an equal weight of trichomes.

Now also outside of the 2 scenereo's listed above, one must also take into consideration the harvest time of the buds. THC typically produces the uplifting energizing high vs CBD (amber trichomes) which produces more of a couchlock, stoned numbing type of feeling. So lets say you had 1 plant, harvested some of the buds on week 8 of flowering with clear trichomes, harvest some more of the plant a few weeks later with 25% amber trichomes, and the remainder of the plant a few more weeks later with 50%+ amber trichomes...All of these buds came from the same plant, but the overall high/effect will be different based on the harvest time. The 1st harvest will give you a very uplifting type of high, the 2nd harvest would give a good balance between uplifting and couchlock, and the 3rd would have the lowest THC/highest CBD content which would make you feel much more "stoned" than the other 2.... So even though the trichome count in numbers may be about the same, the end result can vary depending on when the harvest was pulled, even if on the same plant. So in this case more trichomes would not neccesarily mean more potency, just depends on the effect your looking for.

Another scenereo between "potency/high" and trichome count may also be relevant to if the plant is a sativa or indica. I know that I have smoked blue dream (sativa) that is over 20% THC and felt really good, motivated, somewhat high, but with more of a clarity and I have smoked heavy indica's with lower than 20% THC that have flat out put me on my ass, made me lay back on the couch and pass out.. both were full of trichomes but i felt more "stoned" with the indica than the sativa. So in this case I would have to say NO, amount of trichomes isn't directly related to "potency"

Last example is this... a few of us here at 420 magazine have been experimenting with a method of growing called high brix. This method is providing the optimal soil food web/environment for our plants to grow and allows much more of the trace minerals to be available for the plants. We have been finding with this type of growing the results are amazingly potent but in a much different way than non High brix grown buds. My personal experience with High Brix buds provides a much more full "high/stoned feeling" which lasts much longer than hydro grown buds or non high brix buds, and even though I've had some super duper amazing hydro buds, I still have had nothing compare to high brix buds. Please don't hate me hydro growers The reason we are finding this is possible and part of why the quality is superior with high brix, because we are allowing the plant to thrive in a perfect environment, but using natures own feeders (microbes and fungi) to produce the nutrients for the plant, which also allows things to form that the plant uses such as amino acids, trace minerals beyond the regular 16 that most people look at, and other goodies the microbes provide as food. Therefor giving a more "well balanced meal" for the plants to thrive on, raising their sugar levels and adding more nutrient density to the plant, which essentatially is bringing it closer to the best genetic potential that can be reached. So even though hydro and non high brix grows can produce some amazing trichomed out frosty nugs, the overall genetic potential in Non High brix buds has not been reached so the quality and amounts of the cannabinoids may not be as great. So in this case the answer to your question would be no.

As you can see, the answer of your question may not be as easily a yes or no answer based on many different factors that affect the feeling the buds bring you. Besides the 2 cannabinoids I mentioned earlier (THC and CBD) there area also many other cannabinoids in marijuana that we do not know as much about, but some have been found to actually counteract the "high" and produce a less high feeling when in a higher ratio to the other cannabinoids. So again, depending on these ratios of the cannabinoids, the high/feeling may vary, even though there may be the same amount of trichomes...This is why you could have 10 different strains, all at a THC content of 20% but all of them giving a different "feeling/high" than the next... they could all be frosted out, amazing nugs, but all show different end results on the final high...

Well these are my thoughts on a medicated mind...hope this opens up a good discussion

 

[Farang]

can you start a new thread directly addressing Brix growing.

I've looked into it on line but haven't found anybody who knows how to change the Brix of any plant.

grape growers/wind growers use the Brix meter to check the sugar content but even reading wine making sites doesn't answer the question as to how to increase the Brix. it seems more like they use their meter to shunt certain grapes into this or that wine.

I'm interested. I think others would be, too.

thanks

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Altering brix i believe is assoicated with remineralized soil, phosphorus & calcium play a part also letting benifical microbes/fungi do their part by breaking down the minerals for plant food.


A lot of information relates to veggie growing & fruits making them more health, brixs is reasonable new to MMJ growing but proves to be good for the girls.


I see the long term benifits for mineralized soil in out door grows improving brix levels etc as solid/powdered minerals takes time to break down by micro organism/fungi to become aviable to the plant.

Maybe not so much on indoor short growing sessions tho inless using recycled soil.


Plus a lot of brix growers still use some form of nutrient solutions to aid feeding their plants !

 

[Icemud]

can you start a new thread directly addressing Brix growing.

I've looked into it on line but haven't found anybody who knows how to change the Brix of any plant.

grape growers/wind growers use the Brix meter to check the sugar content but even reading wine making sites doesn't answer the question as to how to increase the Brix. it seems more like they use their meter to shunt certain grapes into this or that wine.

I'm interested. I think others would be, too.

thanks

There are a good handful or 2 of growers here at 420 magazine that are experimenting with High brix...if you type it in the search function you will find them. I good place to start is with Docbud's journals...tons of valuable info there

 

[Farang]

ooh. thanks for the tip.

you cite calcium, which is the only thing I've been able to grasp about raising the Brix; the problem seems to be that there is no way to force feed calcium to the plants.