How To Grow Really Colorful Cannabis Plants

How To Grow Really Colorful Cannabis Plants

How To Grow Really Colorful Marijuana Plants from CannabisNet on Vimeo.

Have you ever bought pot because its vibrant colors attracted you?

You’re not alone.

The visual beauty of cannabis is one of its most appealing properties. Aside from its potent effects, mouthwatering flavor, and delicious aroma, colorful pot is a marketing tactic that can be used to attract consumers, and make the experience of smoking it a little more interesting. But you don’t always have to spend your hard-earned money just to buy colorful pot – you can grow it at home, too.

The Role of Genetics

If you live in a state that experiences all four seasons, then you’re already familiar with the changing colors of the leaves from green to burnt oranges, vibrant reds, and subtle yellows during fall. Cannabis changes colors following a similar process.

All cannabis flowers start out predominantly green. But when temperatures drop and light is restricted, evolution has allowed the plant to automatically undergo a metamorphosis. However, not all cannabis strains go through this metamorphosis; it will depend on the strain. Some kinds of strains will change into certain shades, which is also the reason behind their names; like Granddaddy Purple, for instance.

But most people who grow cannabis don’t live in a place where the seasons are ideal for outdoor cultivation, unless you live in Southern Oregon or Humboldt County. This is why indoor growing has become more popular, and the most feasible option, but in this case your environment will need to be recreated to mimic the changes in seasons to trigger these changes.

Plants can only express non-green colors if they are equipped with the genetic building blocks to do so. These are known as anthocyanins, a group of flavonoids that give plants their red, blue, or purple pigments. Anthocyanins are responsible for the colors you see in eggplants, violets, red cabbage, raspberries, and other vivid-colored plants. Some cannabis strains already naturally contain a higher level of anthocyanins than others, which is why it’s much easier to manipulate colors in them.

So to help you learn to grow your own awesome colorful cannabis that will make you the envy of your toking circle, we’ve created a guide to help you do just that. You’ll need to keep in mind that no matter what color you want your pot to grow, you will need to decrease the temperatures in your grow house and shorten the light cycles as your plants approach greater maturity. Doing so is the only way you can mimic the effect of fall for your plants.

Reds and Pinks

Hunting down red and pink cannabis strains may take some time, since it’s one of the least common variety of colored pot. But there are some strains that have red or pink hairs on their leaves, which are expressed because of certain phenotypes that have been genetically coded for these colors to appear in the flowering stage, which is when temperatures are dropped and daylight is restricted.

When you deprive your plant of some phosphorus, you can effectively manipulate your cannabis into expressing slight variations of these shades. Some of the best known red and pink strains include Pink Lemonade, Pink Flower Shaman, and Alaskan Thunder Bolt

Yellows and Oranges

Cannabis strains produce yellow and orange hues because they contain certain carotenoids, which thrive in alkaline conditions. You can increase the alkaline conditions of your plant once it reaches the end of the flowering stage as this is when the greens will fade and it will express these bright, sunny colors. These hues will be more pronounced on the buds and hairs as opposed to the cannabis leaves.

Alkalinity may be raised by focusing on soil quality. You can add homemade composts and other organic matter. It also helps to test the pH levels of the compost prior to adding it in the soil, but either way organic matter will be beneficial to the health of your plants during the growing process. Check out Lemon Kush, Alien OG, and Olive Oyl.

Blacks

The general rule of thumb in manipulating your strains to produce darker colors is by keeping your growing conditions as cold as possible. Around 50F should suffice, provided that you’re growing a strain that is already genetically predisposed to turning into darker shades. If the conditions are warmer, your buds will probably turn into golden or red-orange hues. Without the right strain and temperature combined, there’s no way your bud will turn dark or black.

For ebony-like colors, check out the Black Widow, Black Mamba, Black Diesel, and Vietnamese Black strains.

How To Grow Really Colorful Marijuana Plants from CannabisNet on Vimeo.