Cannabis Nutrient Selection and Its Relation To Resin Color, Quality, and Clarity
MENDO BUDSMITH
Born and raised in the Emerald Triangle, single source cultivator and hash maker, specializing in selecting and growing for optimum resin quality, with 3 decades experience in outdoor, light dep and indoor cultivation.
Nutrient selection plays a large roll in the health of your plants, whether you choose organic or synthetic, it can affect the quality, color and clarity of the trichomes. Carefully testing and selecting the right products for your individual fertilizer requirements is crucial for a positive outcome when harvest time rolls around.
Cannabis plants are comprised of the environmental and nutritional factors they are exposed to throughout their lifetime. As the roots absorb nutrients up into the plant, it's not only growing stems, leaves and flowers, it's also producing resin (trichomes). Using cheap inputs or fertilizers designed for massive flower weight are not always the best option when the desired result is the highest quality resin. Certain ingredients can cause the trichome to become dark or cloudy, creating undesirable characteristics.
As an example of how nutritional inputs can affect color and clarity of hash or rosin, I'll use my own experience in the garden as an example. During the 2017 light dep season I had multiple different cultivars that I intended to make hash out of. Test plants were selected and processed for the wash. After washing the plant material, drying, then pressing the hash, the resulting rosin had a very noticeable "green" coloration and the taste was not very appetizing to say the least. The color and taste was noticeable across the board with all the strains.
I attributed it to operator error thinking I was a bit too aggressive with the agitation in the wash, so I proceeded to do another wash...with the same result! After analyzing my amendment program and coming to the conclusion that an excessive amount of seaweed was being used as both a soil additive and liquid fertilizer, the liquid seaweed was cut from the program.
By eliminating the liquid seaweed the green contamination disappeared from the equation resulting in a much cleaner-tasting product with improved clarity.
Implementing a quality nutrient regimen will ensure that you have a good foundation to produce the best hash and rosin possible. Attention to detail, taking extensive notes and being in tune with your plants will have you well on your way to producing world class resin.
Happy hashing!!!
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