Appearance vs Potency???

[TGT]

I have been growing for many years now and have noticed that usually (not always) a plant that smells appealing is usually some what potent. Also, a bud that is coated in resin is usually more potent than one that is not. I would say this is true about 80% of the time for the later remark (from my experience purchasing and growing for over 15 years now). That sayed, I have a Blueberry strain that looks terrible and like bunk when finished, but the potency and taste out shoots anything I have ever grown before. So this plant, along with others sometimes changes the above it seems.

My question to all of you is - what is your view on this? Is potency directly related to smell, or is it more so related to taste? Also, is trichrome or resin production relative to potency or to taste, both or neither? What way do you believe these traits interact with the value of a given strain?

It seems to me that more often than not a plant that looks excellent in the bag is more potent than one that is not. We can't include colour, as this I believe has no bearing on potency or taste. Actually I have noted quite the opposite. I find the more purple pheno's in a strain seem to be the least desireable on average. But, I am sure crystal formation, smell and trichrome production does have something to do with taste and potency, just not sure which relates to what.

Below I have listed what I have noticed over the last 15 years in the business. This doesn't make me an authority, and i'm sure many will disagree, but please no flaming. This is just what I have noticed with the strains I have purchased over the years and others could have totally different expriences. So please remember I am not saying this is written in stone and the way it is, it's just from what I have experienced from the strains I have purchased and grown.

I believe to be true: Resin production has a lot to do with taste.
I also believe trichrome production has only about a 50% effect on potency.
I believe their is a direct relationship to smell and potency.
I believe their is a direct relationship to resin production and potency.

I hope you all understand what I mean. I just smoked a huge bowl of BB so my writing skills are not the greatest at the moment. May be I can better describe myself when i'm clearer. By the way, it was the bunk looking BB that got me this way!

Anyways, what's your take on it? I hope I didn't open a thread that's going to start problems. I just think it is a topic not talked about much and many have different oppinions on the matter. Should be interesting. Thanks in advance!

TGT

 

[GMT]

I'm not sure what resin you are talking about if not the trichs, but I would say that there are certainly strains that are more potent than would be imagined by mere trich development.

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

....,..It's not so much about how much resin a plant produces......it's about the chemical composition of that resin that determines what sort of high you may get out of a plant.......What I suggest is that you do some reading up on what Sam Skunkman has to say around this topic.......Here is a little of it and a link to much more......

Sam is a good friend and someone I consider to be the best cannabis officianado/teacher/conniseur......that I know:

'Misturemike,
You are wrong about Sativas having no CBD, most industrial hemp are Sativas and they have more CBD then THC. I have CBD clones with 10% CBD dry weight, and they are pure Sativa. The reason the Western bred bud has less CBD is because the western growers and breeders have rejected plants with CBD and do not use them for herbal production or seed breeding. Hashish seeds imported directly from the third world will have CBD because about 25%of the plants are high THC, 25% High CBD, and 50% a mixture of the two. This is because while Sinsi growers worldwide keep the clones or seeds of the plants that smoke the best and use them for clones or seed breeding or growing next years crop. Hashish farmers in the third world do not do this, they do not smoke individual plants so they have no idea if a resinous plant is THC or CBD or both. They save the seeds from the plantsin the field that look the best, and have the most resin, regardless if the resin is THC or CBD. They have done this for hundreds of years and the genepool for hashish Indica plants has considerable CBD in it. But most growers in the west buy their seeds from breeders who have eliminated most or all of the CBD plants by smoking the plants and only saving the high THC ones, discarding the plants with CBD.
Where you grow the bud has nothing to do with the CBD content, what it was used for does.
BTW when was the last time you were in Jamacia? I would say that well over 50% of the genepool there is not Sativa, the growers in Jamacia like the fast short buds that give 4 crops a year. So Sativas are on the decline. It is hard to find pure Sativas in Jamacia anymore.
Also plants do not produce CBN, CBN is a degradation product from the other Cannabinoids, you do not find CBN in young flowering plants, and even in newly harvested you will often find none. Store the buds for a year and there it is.
The bottom line is that THC or CBD has nothing to do with Indica or Sativa, it is just how the growers decide to save their seeds, and what the variety was developed for in the first place.
-SamS

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=39661&page=4&pp=15

*Like the people you may meet in life......it's not so much about how they look but who they are..........quality and beauty can often be found beyond looks....

 

[TGT]

When I say trichrome production I mean the actual trichromes. When I say resin, I mean the oily feel the plant gets that contributes to weight. These two I consider not one and the same.

Gypsy: I have done much reading - like I stated I am not saying this is the way it is, it is just what I have noticed. I can't deny the fact that I have noticed that the more resin a plant produces makes for a better smoke - in my plants anyway. I'm not saying that is the way it is, that is what I have noticed in the past and I want to see if others notice this as well. I totally understand the fact that it is chemical make-up of the plant, but from what I have witnessed it seems to be a little odd that the more pleasant a plant smells or more resin production usually (in my case I must stress) means a better smoke. I just want to see if others have experienced this too. It could be all coincidence in my case, but reading is not going to help as I am just stating what I have noticed. It has nothing to do with what I have read. I understand the science behind the plant. Just curious what other think.

Edit: Sorry Gypsy, I responded to your first response before the eidt. I understand more what you are trying to say now.

Thanks for the response, any inout is great.

TGT

TGT

 

[TGT]

Good read Gypsy - Thanks!

TGT

 

[Closet Funk]

Alot of people tend to thin that pugnent smelling buds are the most potent. Sure they are potent but it isn't because of the smell. Some buds don't have as much aroma as others. Aroma has nothing to do with potency. Trichomes are another debate saying the bud is potent. Yes a frosty nug of White Russian is going to blow your mind but a not as nearly frosty Acapulco Gold nug can do the same. Gypsy's post was excellent explaining the topic. This is why when I buy a sack of kind (rarely!) I like to smoke it first. Looks and smell is one thing but smoking it will tell you where the potency is.

 

[spectrum]

to the non-growers tho, i think there is importance in smell & appearance. if you give someone a frosty red-haired skunk-smelling nug, its definitely going to have a placebo effect on how they rate the high, imo.

i know before i started growing, if somebody gave me a purple nug, i enjoyed it 2x as much as regular buds.

 

[TGT]

So basically we all agree that smell, resin content and trichrome production have nothing to do with potency or taste? This is what I believe scientifically, but it just seems so many times that when a bud has not many trichromes and not much smell it seems to be almost always bunk. I know we get the odd strain, like my Blueberry that looks bunk and is great, but usually this is not the case. Is this just coincidence, or is there something else to it? May be there just isn't a market for bunk looking crap that's good so it makes it rarer than it actually is?

TGT

 

[GMT]

Well given that commercial growers tend to sell to non growers, its mainly the heavy yielding strains that are grown and these tend not to be as good as the good smokes anyway. So it may be true that within those plants the more sparkles not shaken off the stronger whats left will be. But if you are a grower and think its all about the sparkle, all I can say is pick up some black domina seeds.

 

[Guest]

THC and CBD aside,it's definately been my experience that the more visable trichromes a plant has,the stronger it is.I've grown bagseed with few trichs and no high,I grow blockhead with a ton of trichs and very potent,to say 1 has absolutely nothing to do with the other isnt exactly accurate in my experience

 

[Nape]

I harvested my LowRyders 2 weeks ago. They didn't AUtoflower indoors (some real heat and PH issues), so after 2 months of veg they went outside. They flowered for 80 day's and were frosty as hell. The trichs were about 50% amber. The smell while trimming was almost sickining. Kinda fuel, Sour, Must and Lemon smell. Sticky as hell. The smoke is as expected for 80 day's, Mind numbing, trippy almost confusing All the GBD or whatever almost gives an upset stomach.

Hopefully after a good cure, it will settle down some.

 

[weed_snob]

I would say that potency, taste and smell, and resin production have no true direct effect on each other.

The resin on the plant doesn't contain many active cannaboids, but does make the plant more harsh to smoke, and wiegh a good deal more

taste and smell are important, but a lack of smell or taste doesn't mean that potency is necessarily lost.

But in the end if it is grown well most of the time you will have a high potency, a good smell and taste, lots of resin.

so this means a nice looking smelling bag = probably potent, hopefully tasty

but a potent weed doesnt necessarily taste or smell good, look good, or feal sticky.

Also very strong weed can sometimes appear to have tiny/no trichs on it, but i dont think ive ever had a crystaly nug that i felt was unpotent (unless it was undried).

Also, i agree color is useless in judging quality its just most people dont realize this so people buy it up like crazy.

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

True......I have gotten VERY high on what to most looks like complete bunk schwaag-weed before......

 

[Guest]

Not me,spoken like someone who breeds a lot of trichless strains lol.

 

[the cult]

Potency depends primarly on the concentration of THC in the plant material, to quote Rosenthal. Why? Because cannabinoids are roughly one fourth of the resin, and the levels of THC and other psychoactive substances vary within the cannabinoids.

 

[Maj.PotHead]

nice thread great info GN

hey TGT you said {I believe their is a direct relationship to smell and potency} what would you think of some kind bud smelling like fresh picked mushrooms rotflmao would you think its good. the stuff i smoked had nice tric coverage and high was very good also the strain is shroom i have 1 babie growing i was gifted a seed. this stuff tasted just like biting into a fresh picked portabello mushroom apon inhale and exhale was a true trip to taste

 

[THCV]

Smell does effect potency. the various terpenes--the highly volatile smelly molecules--are encapsulated in the trichome along with the other cannabinoids. These terpenes have been shown to have positive systemic/medicinal effects on humans. Check out this thread for a rundown. When combined with the THC/CBD/CBN, these terpenes can change the quality of the high, increasing potency. And as a general guide for buyers, immature plants don't smell as strongly as ripe buds that are truly ready for harvest. So, for example, a really strong smelling sample of the same strain, say Trainwreck, is generally more potent than a weak smelling Trainwreck, which might be immature or poorly grown.

So I really do believe that the instinctive smell of any new bag is the right move. Strong smelling weed is stronger IME, unless it has been kief'd by some jerk (but then it will smell less strongly, as so much of the smell comes from the trichomes themselves). Smell is certainly a guide; it gives you a great sense of how well cured the bud is too, and that makes a difference in quality--potency and smoothness.

Some strains smell strongly without packing much of a punch. But once you are familiar with a potent strain, like SourD, when you smell a great smelling batch, you KNOW that shit is STRONG. And it's worth learning the smell so that no one can trick you too!

 

[TGT]

THCV, thanks for the above post - you made quite a few good observations I forgot (or didn't realize) to point out.

I was regretting coming back to this thread I created in fear I would have been flamed all to hell. Quite the opposite to my relief. I am glad we can all respect each others views even though we do not all agree 100%. It seems this forum in particular is great for that. Other forums I have been on turn threads like this into a fighting match. I am glad to be in the presents of so many good people.

TGT

 

[southpaw]

Thanks for pointing out that Boggled link. Everything he posted ought to be stickied.

 

[Misturemike]

Thcv,
i'm with you on smell relating to potency, 95% of the time. i mean if it smells like dank, looks like dank, and taste like dank....most likely fantastic weed. very seldom do you get some herb that looks alright, and gets you coma baked. and visa-versa can't say i've had too many buds that smeel like a skunk, and are covered in trichs that didn't lay down a nice head change. and as you were saying about the terpenoids/terpenes having a positive medical effect, this is deffinitly true. lots of the chemicals within your herb act with eachother to exemplify the desired effects.