Increasing Trichome Production

[f-e]

An AC that exceeds 10,000 btu consumes approximately 800W + .... 1200W and can be used on a volume of 30m³ +.
In order to maintain the temperature (I assume that most of them have problems during the summer) you have to consume as much as the whole LED kit, ventilation, etc.

During a grow I don't think it all comes down to W (LED)/g when l / g, nutrients/g, soil/g, total consumption should be taken into account: fans, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, irrigation systems, etc / g, no?
During a grow they can bring a minimum consumption of over 150kV per grow and that grow price/g !

A good comparison can be made with electric cars that show you how many kV they consume per km but they don't show you that for a period of 2 weeks you can lose 20% + in standby right? This changes the actual kV consumption / km.

Refrigeration based units (as most are) shift roughly 3 times more than they consume. Meaning a 1000w unit, can move 3000w of heat out. While thermoelectric units, such as the useless $50 wardrobe units, Are about watt for watt.
The 3rd type of drier doesn't rely on cold surfaces at all. The desiccant based units. These are what you would use to get below 40% RH at any meaningful flow rate.

If a 600w LED is 33% efficient, then 400w is directly turned to heat. If moving that uses 150w, then we find ourselves struggling to get a small enough aircon. It's about 1300btu. Such a tiny unit as 150w, is like a 12L dehu, which at 50% RH is more like a 3L so there is no hope of it drying the 10L out that a 600w LED grow produces. 66% of which is in the 12 hours of light.

A freezer evaporator differs from a room based one, it that it's fins are wider spaced. The freezer one is working with much colder air, and as such dries it more and must resist ice from blocking it up. It would be a good choice for over chilling the air, which could then be desiccant dried and warmed up a bit before entering a tent. This becomes possible using an actual freezer, and some sort of defrost cycle at night. So the freezer is a small cooler/drier and then another drier finishes the job. The larger aircon is only needed where outside air is too hot, so more cooling than the light is required.



As yet, I have seen only evidence that UV doesn't work. When it does, we will see it added to larger opps. I have seen many people try, but it's just not catching on. A few positive experiences will always come through the placebo effect, but in labs, the lighting guys can't prove we should be buying them.

 

[Lester Beans]

I know I have an issue if my room hits a max temp of 75 or an RH of 50%. Those two numbers are my upper limit and I try to immediately correct it.

Cool and dry equals the frost!

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Mucho respect DHF, you've posted an amazing amount of great info.... and everything is relative. Your highest transpiration rate times (hot/wet) grew the most resinous flowers, and cooler/wet, slower transpiration did not. (Edit: have you had the opportunity to grow in <70F, 20% RH??)

Had you taken photos, the most resinous was likely not as trichome dense as what I've posted... but definitely more resinous in relation to the rest of the season's grow.

Did you take close macros?? I would LOVE to see them.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

I will stand by my declaration, that hot/wet grows more plant and less trichome density.

 

[TPFTFW]

I don’t think there’s any one right answer beyond the obvious, genetics.

beyond that it’s dialing the specific strain you have and doing what it likes best

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

I don’t think there’s any one right answer beyond the obvious, genetics.

beyond that it’s dialing the specific strain you have and doing what it likes best

I have yet to come across genetics which do not become much more trichome dense in cool and dry flowering environments. Everything in my garden is less frosty during warmer and wetter times.

Genetics only seem to determine how many trichomes per square centimeter a plant is capable of at maximum. Or the trait controlling trichome coverage extending densely out to the tips of leaves and such, instead of stopping just past the flowers edge.

 

[TPFTFW]

I’ve always ran mid 70s and 60-65% Rh
and I’ve consistently pumped out insane fire for a pretty long time.
I’d focus more on inputs that dont sacrifice yield

 

[f-e]

In the 1980s we thought nipping a plant increased yield, but the resin by a smaller percentage. As if it was some potential in the roots behind resin production. This idea was in books published into the 90s, but then seems to of slipped away.
Any truth in this would guided us towards lollypopping. Which is also something of more historic value than it is seen in today's grows.

 

[moose eater]

I believe strain dictates how pervasive trichs become more than any other factor.... not that the most 'fuzzy' strain can't get screwed up by environmental variables or grower 'misdeeds'.

I have thought that fertilizer array and strength makes a difference as well.

I have a fairly tight house (energy-rated as 6-star a few years ago), and we run an HRV 24/7.

When I was running larger crops, it was always a concern in winter to try and keep humidity low enough not to have sweating windows in extreme cold weather, but the shop, mostly due to the plants/boxes there, stayed closer to 20% to 35% rh, while elsewhere in the building would be even slightly lower.

At the moment, my shop is running around 40% rh, +/- 5%, with temps in the room being lower 70s f., but directly under cmh lights in the chambers/boxes, it's obviously notably warmer.

Over the years, and in these varying conditions, I've had decent (but often not stellar) trich production.

And, in re. to strains that were QUITE potent, but which had questionable trichome presence, I've had a few of them, as well.

 

[TPFTFW]

Right, frost doesn’t directly correlate with potency by any means.
some of the ugliest plants are the strongest

The bracts themselves have a high concentration of trichs but leaves do not, they look almost silver in the right light more often then not ime

 

[exploziv]

I will throw a guess in too! Some of the guys that prefer low rh might be lied by their RH measuring devices. A shitty sensor or an old one (they last about 2 years in good precision) will go to produce lower readings than real rh.

 

[ZOnaVerde]

First of all, it doesn't matter what type of climate you have, whether it influences the need for AC or not. What we do not notice is that the price of electricity is rising and many people cannot use the climate in certain situations such as electricity consumption or its price and prefer a "hot" harvest.

There are many things that can influence the plant in a certain direction such as high resin production that can be produced at a high humidity of 50-90% (no later than 3-4 weeks of flowering or poor ventilation) or low as used by other people: D

The idea is that resins can be obtained even at 40 ° C + only it seriously affects the quality of the bud.

I am attaching some pictures with 1 wedding cake in 11l in a 40x40x120 box, under a cob of approximately 60W, without ventilation, without humidifier or something else, the plant and the cob.
The temperature was between 26-33 ° C and the humidity between 40-100% and the resin production is good

Good results can be sure on both sides only that the plants behave differently when dealing with a different type of climate, and maybe the same variety done in places with different fluctuations may not be an advantage.
Attached are some pictures of some plants below 400W with a VPD between 4-16hPa, negative pressure between 2-0Pa, humidity 50-85%

 

[ost]

I work backwards from most by growing less flower under the same number of trichomes. Nearly 20 years ago it was by accident, and now I do it on purpose.

Veg longer, then flower at 69F and 15-20%RH

Light feed till physical flower bulking quits, then taper off till harvest.

View attachment 18129125

duly noted ,i will try this out.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

That is the point I have not found yet... what is the highest yielding RH @ <70F which still has the minimum 'burnt plant' effect to it?? Aand... how strain dependent is this variable?

 

[TPFTFW]

Just into 8th week of flower lol
Night time
I guess my buds are gonna instantaneously combust into mids
After I buy the anden dehuey that’ll read 70f and 65% tho

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Lol, losing terps for a short while is not the end of the world. Funny though.

 

[flylowgethigh]

The very dryest I can get my tent is around 50%. The air picks up 10 points in the tent over the room. I am going to try turning off the window AC and let the dehuey heat the room and tent at night, with the AC set to come on at 76. What that will do is keep the plant at a little over 1.0 kPa. Not ideal, but an improvement.

 

[TPFTFW]

This is the perfect example of not having frosty leaves but being some of the strongest pot I and many others have smoked
notice the silver sheen on the bud itself

 

[maryjaneismyfre]

Here are 2 pics of same clone, blocks are side by side...Variety is a CBD haze hybrid, THC<1% CBD 18%. I took pics that are an accurate representation of the average plant in each block, looking at the blocks side by side the difference is obvious,
Same environment, multispan greenhouse with light supplimentation, climate control computer, wet walls and diesel boiler for heating/dehumidification etc. We are not in peak light period of the year, but not yet into winter. Humidity and temperature I can only control within a range, humidity between 40% and 80/90% average 60-65% and temperatures ranging between 20 and 30 degrees centigrade, average 22-25 degrees. Night temps 20-22 range.

Same dialed in food recipe for both, I formulate recipes for products on the shelf, I am a partner in a commercially available nutrient line that is used by multiple large commercial greenhouse licences. Same watering system, same schedule, drip irrigation etc.. All is same same..same microbial inoculations, same oxygenated feed water..

The only difference between the blocks of plants is the medium, in fact it is the same medium, coir and perlite, which I re-use indefinitely, but the plant on the right I refreshed the mediums texture in with some added fluffier and chipped coir to increase porosity and air holding capacity back to its original state, called 50/50 coir in industry.

We get good UV also in the greenhouse with the ozone hole being close by..I've had and beaten skin cancer 3 times already.

One block is mainly spear form the the cola, one block is mainly blockhead form, same clone, same trays, same same same..one block has degree more frost..only difference is root zone aeration or porosity of media resulting from the texture of the media, same media. Live and learn people..Funny enough the fatter block with fluffier media, it coloured up better too in the fade. Pest and mold incidence were the same.

Howsit DHF!!! If there is one grower I owe a thanks its you bro!! You'd be proud to see what your students have been up to for the last few years!

 

[maryjaneismyfre]

Pictures of random plants in our testing block, 3rd pic from outside, couple hundred individuals we growing out the first clone from seed or it's second round of confirmation testing..Genetics are Inhouse Genetics, my own seed, Getmo/drohammed seeds, our own seeds, Seed Junky, Surfr Seeds, Mel Franks personal seeds, etc..and many more.. Some of the old school stuff...oh my..Some of the old school stuff hybridized with the new school stuff..Oh my oh my...

Just to illustrate that at the end, it comes down to genetics, and then environment and all that entails.. Same as us, same as a fish..

I can only post ten pics now, so rest are continued in next post. Last two pics are to illustrate selected commercial clones, second last one of our main commercial clones that we run probably 60% of our production of, the super terpy CBD haze, and last picture is the Amnesia Hy-Pro/Core cutting, a 20+Yr old commercial cutting. These old commercial cuttings were kept for a reason, most times they are as or almost as frosty as the modern, most times they kick way harder, and the terps are on another level. Standing next to this clone you can smell its pungent bubblegum hazey citrussy vibe you don't need to stick your nose in the bud, nevermind rub a sugar leaf and smell your fingers.. We had plants out the 90's white widow, from Old School Genetics out of Spain, for example that were as nugged as tight, and frosty, as anything out a modern seed packet, or any modern descendant of a triangle kush, and they were super terpy, one or two phenos were kept as the top 20 winners out of more than a thousand plants in our previous test runs.

There is more to life than frost..But frost is nice. Below is different genetics reacting to the same environment..