How To Get Bigger Buds and Increase Yield
1. Pruning and topping
2. Add a flower booster grow light
3. Correct type and amount of nutrients
4. Harvest the plants at the right time
1. 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. When you top the main cola, the energy goes to the side branches. The next two lateral branches will become the main branches.
Topping will increase the overall yield of your grow. Although one shoot will produce a more massive individual cola, topping will give multiple colas with a higher combined weight. More colas will get more light than one large cola, and the cumulative yield will be higher. Do not top your plants more than two times per grow. When you trim a plant, growth will slow initially, but the plant will eventually become stronger and yield more.
The main cola is pruned so the lateral ones will grow; Image courtesy of DormGrow
2. Add a G8LED Flower Booster Grow Light
G8LED 90W Red Flower Booster light; Image courtesy of DormGrow
Increasing the light intensity for the plants at the correct time will add size and weight to your yield. The G8LED 90W Red Flower Booster grow light is an extremely effective light that should be added during the flowering phase.
The Flower Booster can be used with LED grow lights, HPS bulbs, metal halide lights, T5s, CFLs and plasma indoor grow lights. The 90W Red Flower Booster increases the light intensity at the specific light spectra that is most effective for flowering, the 630nm and 660nm reds.
This one light can do wonders for a plant in the flowering phase. To get even more flowering, leave the Flower Booster on for a few days after you have turned off the rest of your lights, at the end of your grow. Doing this will focus all the energy of the plant and swell up the buds before you harvest.
Bigger buds and increase yield by adding G8LED flower booster grow lights; Image courtesy of DormGrow
3. Nitrogen and phosphorus
Nutrients assist plants in the process of photosynthesis, encouraging the plant to absorb light and increase the chemical processes. During vegetative growth, add nitrogen to your plants. The main ingredient in fertilizer, nitrogen helps plants produce sugar from water and carbon dioxide along with amino acids.
Once your plant enters the flowering phase, decrease the nitrogen levels and increase the phosphorus levels to help the colas to develop and grow denser. Bat guano and worm castings are an excellent source of phosphorous to add to the top layer of the soil.
Avoid nutrient burn, which is the stress caused by overfeeding plants or using too high of a concentration of nutrients. Overwatering can exacerbate nutrient burn since plant roots need a dry period to access oxygen properly. When it comes to nutrients, less is truly more. If you are growing with LEDs, use even less than you would with HPS and MH bulbs.
4. Don’t harvest too early
This point seems obvious, but many growers harvest before the plants are finished flowering because they are eager to get their crop. The flowering time is different for every strain. Indica plants typically go through an 8-12 week flowering cycle. Sativa plants can take 10-16 weeks to reach maximum flowering.
Being patient will pay off with increased size by up to 25%. The added size adds weight to buds, which ultimately increases the yield of the harvest. As the saying goes, good things come to those who wait.
There is a 2-3 week window during which will be the ideal time to harvest. Another consideration is the desired THC concentration and CBD levels. When the trichomes are at their THC concentration peak, they have a translucent color. At this moment, THC is at its peak, but CBD levels are low. Waiting for the trichomes to become less translucent and milkier white will increase the CBD levels and its sedative effects.
Harvesting at the correct time can increase yield by 25%; Image courtesy of DormGrow
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