How can i make my buds tighter and a bit harder?

[quick643]

I started a strain in bud cycle that a friend has had problems getting tight hard buds. Is there anything I can do to improve my chances of tighter buds?
I'm using a 600hps in a very small room.

 

[koregon]

i dont know how for during the grow, but when your done you can water cure it.

 

[Hightide805]

don't give it too much nutrients is one thing that will help.. if they get a slight overdose they will stress and streach out. its helped me.

but some strains are just lanky like that, sativa's more of the time. good luck

 

[quick643]

thanks for the tips. i'm using foxfarm grow big, big bloom, and banana mana. first time grower. my plants look great. first week in bud room. this will be my first crop of any kind, extremely pumped. i will try potasium. what's the best source for getting plant potasium?

 

[sully508]

on top of potassium, try to get the plants as close to the light w/out burning the leaves . possibly put a fan blowing at the top of the plant. keep it like 24 inches away from the light.are you using co2 is your room reflective? whats the ph?

 

[quick643]

my room is reflective. light is approx. 2 feet away. not using co2. i'm on a pretty low budget. i have an exhaust fan at the top of my room and and an oscilating fan at plant level. ph levels are within proper levels. my plants are extremely healthy. they are about 26 inches right now. 1st week of flowering. not sure if i will have a loose bud problem, just trying to cover my bases. i read alot of postings on this site. i try and take what i can from everyone. my only setbacks are monetary. i need to have a low cost operation.

 

[Harry Red]

I started a strain in bud cycle that a friend has had problems getting tight hard buds. Is there anything I can do to improve my chances of tighter buds?
I'm using a 600hps in a very small room.

Aside from genetics, which plays a major role in the "tightness" of buds, you can LST/HST and focus all of the growing energy on 4-5 main colas. Trim away all the lower branches and scrub that's not receiving much direct light and the plant will focus it's energy on remaining colas, giving you larger, tighter buds.

Just be careful on the very large tight buds. High humidity can & will cause mold & rot deep inside really big nugs. I had one cola do that with me on my last grow and I lost 3-4 grams of bud. I was fighting 70%-80% humidity levels though..

 

[quick643]

sounds like everyone has had success doing things their own way. i'll experiment with my light and see how close i can get without burning. thanks for all the input from everyone. i'll post some pics when i get some buds. talk to you all later.

just read your post Harry Red and i did trim away the lower smaller branches and leaves. my buddy recommended the same tip, and he's grown some huge nugs, so thanks for the info.

 

[Retired One]

sounds like everyone has had success doing things their own way. i'll experiment with my light and see how close i can get without burning.

You just hit the nail squarely on the head. Not saying by any stretch of the imagination, to not ask questions, but personal experimenting is the best teacher there is. You most likely won't get a "huge" yeild your first time or two out, but you'll learn everytime, and as you learn the yields will improve, I promise.

 

[sully508]

ya when i have problems, they are 98% monetary.
when i got into growing, i no idea it would cost so much.
but i think i have all of basic things i need to grow. anything else is a luxury.

 

[DEAN420]

to get tighter and harder buds use a MH bulb the blue spectrum will make your nude spacing more closer than a HPS will in veg and in my experience produce more tighter buds in flower. I would also wait till your plants are mature, showing preflowers. So they can develop to there fullest.

You'll also want to get the light as close as possibe to your plant without causing any burns or heat stress like mentioned above and lastly a good dry and cure should give you the result your looking for

I do all my grows with duel spectrum I start off with just my MH's on then a couple weeks before flowering I turn on my HPS's. By doing this you get the best spectrum possible for indoor growing

 

[KatoRica]

For cheap CO2 I use to get a small amount of dry ice and break into pieces and put it in cups of water below my plants. when it melts it turns back into CO2. It worked good as far as I could tell.