Hey Gitter!
Yeah... I know its a dumb mistake to make, but easy to do if you are more focused on a frost free overnight temp pattern and getting them outside and into the sunlight ASAP! It is amazing how much of a difference 30 minutes less sunlight per day can make to these plants! That was literally the difference between when I put them out this season, and when I normally put them out in seasons past. We were getting 12.5 hours of daylight when I put them out this spring, as compared to the 13 hours of daylight we are at when I normally put them out just a few short weeks later in the month!
Regarding the light, airy bud syndrome...
Provided you are gowing a strain that normally produces the good dense kind of bud.. I call that light airy stuff "Pop Corn" bud. It can often have a very good amount of potency, but it lacks that dense, solid, firm feel and appearance of premium bud. You're right to assume that fluffy bud is the direct result of the plant not getting enough light during the flower cycle. Most plants end up producing at least some of this kind of bud on their lower branches because those buds are often blocked from good light by the foilage and buds further up the plant. One of the impressive things about this Harlequin I grew this year was how little of that stuff there was, even on the lowest branches. It still had some close to the main stalk, but far less than even the GDP and Blue Cheese do, and they have a lot less than your average strain does.
I really don't care for Pop Corn bud myself, regardless of its potency... Thats why this year, I have been giving those lower branch buds away to Cannabis friendly neighbors who are more than happy to take them off my hands for free! LOL! Saves me the trouble and guilt of tossing them in the compost pile. This arrangement also shifts the burden of the harvested plant's disposal over to them to deal with! One less thing to worry about after harvesting a plant, which is always a good thing.
I just give them a call when I have one ready for them, they come over, chop it off at the base, bag it up and take it all away!
Growing up around here all we ever had was compressed brick weed. We would get a hold of some stuff from the mountains every now and again It was so fluffy and frosty a ounce would fill up two sandwich baggies. We called it "The kind bud" it tasted so good and the high was crystal clear the more you smoked the better you felt. I also like the dense nugs, but I will never shy from the fluffy stuff it may very well be best weed you ever smoked! I hope I never have to smoke that moldy brick weed again.