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Contents:
- 1. What’s the difference between green and purple buds?
- 2. Are purple buds more potent?
- 3. Which parts of the cannabis plant can turn purple?
- 3. a. Calyxes
- 3. b. Trichomes
- 3. c. Pistils
- 3. d. Leaves
- 4. How to make my flowers turn purple?
- 4. a. Genetics
- 4. b. Bright light
- 4. c. Temperature
- 4. d. Ph at the roots
- 5. In conclusion
Purple weed buds really draw attention. It’s hard to believe but there are a lot of cannabis growers out there that will tell their customer’s purple weed is better or more potent than a standard green bud and this is completely wrong.
1. What’s The Difference Between Green and Purple Buds?
In most plants (including cannabis), the dominant pigment is chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is extremely efficient at capturing light energy because it can absorb nearly every wavelength of the visible light spectrum. In fact, the only wavelength it does not absorb and reflects is those in the “green” spectrum, that’s the reason why most plants appear green to the human eye.
Purple bud after harvesting.
However, most plants have functional pigments other than chlorophyll and in the absence of chlorophyll, many plants will use anthocyanin or carotenoids (other pigments) to capture sunlight energy. Unlike chlorophyll, anthocyanin absorbs all wavelengths except for those in the indigo/violet spectrum, this makes it reflect back violet light, making the plant look purple to the human eye.
In case you’ve never seen a purple cannabis plant before, make sure to check our Purple Punch Auto strain review video below. Now that you have a better idea of what purple weed or a purple weed strain is, you’ll get a better understanding of this article, so read along!
Related story
Why Do Some Cannabis Buds Turn Purple? 2. Are Purple Buds More Potent?
There’s no correct way to know if purple weed is more potent. In fact, purple weed can be more potent than green buds or vice-versa. But have in mind that color has nothing to do with it, it’s all about genetics. If you're a fan of purple strains, our LSD-25 with THC levels above 21% is just the right option.
LSD-25 Auto Buy seeds from 11,00 € Genes Sativa 35%/Indica 65% Genetics LSD Auto Flowering 9 – 10 weeks Harvest 400 – 500 gr/m2 Height 70 – 120 cm THC Up to 21% CBD < 1% Autoflowering Yes
Every single person is different and can react differently to the same flowers. There are probably a lot of growers that swear purple weed is more potent. The truth is purple light contains the highest energy on the visible spectrum. So based on this we can assume purple bud can’t be more potent than green bud since purple flowers are reflecting and not absorbing the spectrum that produces the most energy.
3. Which Parts Of The Cannabis Plant Can Turn Purple?
Calyxes
Calyxes (the bud itself) are the small pods that make up your buds. Cannabis flowers are actually made up of hundreds of these small calyxes stacked on top of one another. Even if not all the calyxes change color, there are cases where some stay green, and others turn purple, resulting in a multi-colored bud.
Trichomes
Trichomes are the tiny glands that cover your buds. Even though they usually start clear, then cloudy, and later on become amber, it is possible to find genetics with purple or even pink trichomes.
In some genetics trichomes can turn purple or even pink trichomes.
Pistils
Pistils are the fine hairs that pop out of your buds, letting you know they’re female. Pistils generally start a white color and turn orange/red/brown as plants mature. It is possible for your plant’s pistils to turn pink or purple, and this color will remain after you harvest, dry, and cure your buds.
Leaves
The fan and sugar leaves of your cannabis plant can also turn purple. Cannabis leaves can turn completely purple, but sometimes they only exhibit a purple coloration around the veins or the tips of the fingers.
Beautiful purple leaves on cannabis plant.
However, they usually won’t have a big effect on the final color of your buds. So you can trim away most of the leaves after or before drying.
Related story The Importance Of Cannabis Fan Leaves
4. How To Make My Flowers Turn Purple?
There are only two ways to correctly make your buds change color: genetics and temperature.
Genetics
Some strains will grow purple all on their own. If you are looking to grow purple weed strains you’ll get the best results by finding purple genetics like our Purple Lemonade.
Purple Lemonade Auto Buy seeds from 13,00 € Genes Sativa 30%/Indica 70% Genetics Purple Lemonade Flowering 9 – 10 weeks Harvest 400 – 500 gr/m2 Height 70 – 120 cm THC Up to 22% CBD < 1% Autoflowering Yes
These plants have been genetically selected to produce anthocyanin rather than chlorophyll and will grow purple on their own, you don’t have to do anything special to them.
Bright Light
In some cases, especially with LED fixtures, strong lights can help bring out different colors on cannabis plants. This happens because strong, direct light can end up destroying chlorophyll cells, thus promoting different tones such as red, pink, and purple. But, when this happens, the colors are more apparent on the parts of the cannabis plant that are getting the stronger light, so the rest will most likely stay green. When growing under HPS lights, this is uncommon but can also happen when growing under 400 W or higher wattage HPS bulbs, although growers mention that the colors are not as bright as when growing under LEDs.
Temperature
It seems like having a cooler night period can encourage cannabis plants to display red, pink, or purple colors. This does not work with all strains and while trying to change colors with low temperatures you may sometimes shock your plants, resulting in smaller yields. You can go as low as 13C (55F) with most strains and it shouldn’t be a problem, but remember you can cause permanent damage for some cold-sensitive strains.
Optimal temperature to turn your bud purple.
Lower temperatures may help the plant turn purple but it may also likely slow plant growth, it’s generally not recommended for growers to lower down the temperature just to achieve colored buds, especially at the beginning of the flowering stage where you may actually be doing more harm than good.
PH At The Roots
There are a couple of plant species that are known to exhibit different colors based on the substrate’s pH. Even though it’s not confirmed, growers have noticed that different cannabis strains can exhibit slightly different colors on the leaves and buds depending on the pH levels. For example, purple strains tend to turn even more purple if the pH is below 6.0 but most strains will show signs of deficiency when the pH is below 6.0 so it’s not recommended to use this method if you’re a beginner.
In most cases, when the substrate’s pH is below 6.0, the purple, red or blue colors get even deeper but it’s most likely that most of the leaves get deficiencies so if you’re a beginner and want to try this, make sure you do it close to harvest so you can harvest your plant if something goes wrong.
5. In Conclusion
True purple weed strains will turn purple no matter what you do in the environment, this lowers significantly the harm you can cause by lowering temperatures and will guarantee a 100% healthy purple plant, leaving you and your plant happy. In case you need help choosing purple genetics for your next grow cycle, here are more purple autoflowering strains that you may like.
| Strain | Sativa/Indica | THC |
|---|---|---|
| Blueberry Auto | 35% / 65% | 22% |
| Lemon Pie Auto | 50% / 50% | 24% |
| Blackberry Auto | 25% / 75% | 23% |
Just remember that purple weed or purple weed strains are not stronger than green buds because cannabinoid production does not depend on bud color. Purple cannabis buds are definitely beautiful but are basically the same as green buds, both buds contain cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and everything else; Obviously, there are differences between purple weed strains and green ones just like the differences you’ll find when growing different strains, but at the end of the day, purple weed is the same it just looks better. If you still want to grow your purple weed, remember that the main elements that affect bud color are:
- Genetics;
- Temperature;
- Lighting and;
- Possibly pH.
So make sure to take all of these into consideration and experiment on your next grow cycle if you want to harvest some beautiful purple marijuana buds.
This post was most recently updated on August 12, 2021.
