For most marijuana growers, producing purple weed is equivalent to the Holy Grail. The most common reason is perhaps it’s so aesthetically pleasing! But, at the same time, showcasing the talent to grow purple marijuana plants also displays the skillset of any grower.
However, let all the aesthetics not convince you that the purple strain you are cultivating is in any way superior compared to your traditional green buds. This is perhaps one of the most popular misconceptions about growing purple weed – in reality, the potency always depends on several factors, including the strain itself.
So without wasting any time, let’s look at the ultimate guide to growing Purple strains – it’s not about the potency, fellow growers, stoners, and enthusiasts. Instead, it’s all about aesthetics.
But First, What Makes Purple Weed, Purple?
If you have noticed, you will see that most marijuana strains are traditionally green. A solid majority of such strains actually use a pigment known as chlorophyll. It is the chlorophyll that will transform lights into what we call energy – the marijuana plants use this energy to grow.
Moreover, the thing about any plant is that they don’t have any use for the green wavelength from light’s spectrum. But Chlorophyll absorbs every single color except green-black – it simply reflects this shade. So, as a result, the majority of nature is green.
Here is where things get really interesting! Plants take the help of other pigments to transform sunlight into regular energy. These pigments are mostly anthocyanins, which absorb the sun’s wavelength, except the colors on the Indigo spectrum. This is exactly what gives that purple tint to plants!
Thus, purple weed strains basically have a dominating amount of anthocyanins as compared to chlorophyll.
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Solving A Mystery: What Parts Of The Cannabis Plant Change Color?
Yes, we will talk about weed with purple flowers but before that, let’s check out all the primary parts of a cannabis plant that can change color!
Leaves
Your plant’s sugar and fan leaves can definitely change color, but this doesn’t have much impact on the bud’s color. Perhaps, it is the leaves which provide a striking appearance during pre-harvest of the purple weed strain.
Pistils
Pistils are basically the hair on the buds and signify that the plant you are growing is female. Generally, these start with hues of white before becoming orange, brown, or even red. But they can also turn pink or purple. And that’s not the best part! The best part is how the color is retained post-harvest, even after you have dried your purple flower weed.
Calyxes
Calyxes are small pods that comprise your buds. In fact, when multiple calyxes are stacked one upon another, all of them together make up your purple weed flower!
Trichomes
Trichomes are tiny crystals that cover all the buds and generally start with a frosty yet glistening white color. When the harvest period appears and disappears, these trichomes turn amber. However, you can easily turn these into purple!
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Growing Purple Weed: 3 Simple Steps!
There are several ways of boosting the purple color in your purple weed or even other variants like purple kush. However, in the absence of the correct genetics, there’s no chance for you to succeed.
#Step1: Choose Purple Genetics
Did you know that it is primarily the strain’s genetics which has the most effectiveness when it comes to growing your weed in a particular color? If you select marijuana that lacks the propensity to become purple, then you are just wasting time. Moreover, genetics also has an important role in determining the CBD or THC content as well as the flavor.
So if you are growing purple runtz weed strain, for instance, then you can consider the options mentioned below,
- Granddaddy Purple,
- Purple Queen,
- Frisian Dew,
- Purple Trainwreck, and
- Smooth Smoke.
You also have to opt for a strain that has multiple colorful parts. Ideally, your plant should possess purple-colored calyxes and pistils. You can also seek buds in intensive purple shades since these will provide maximum coloring even after the drying and even the curing takes place.
#Step2: Adjust The Temperature
Several colorful strains, such as purple runtz weed, for instance, display their magnificence only when grown at room temperature, which is lower at night as compared to the day. Ideally, this process takes place when the flowering stage begins.
So while growing purple weed, keep the room temperature around 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and somewhere between 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit at night. The relatively cooler temperature range slows down chlorophyll production and instead boosts anthocyanins production.
But be careful because there are strains that might not react to this strategy. Panama, for instance, can change its color because of genetics and has nothing to do with temperature. On the other hand, Querkle is more dependent on temperature when it comes to color.
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#Step3: Use Powerful Lighting
The third step is a pretty risky procedure considering it is already difficult to select strains with great genetics. For instance, if you are opting for good strains like purple gushers weed strain, then you can use intense lighting.
The thing is, several strains produce more vivid purple coloring once exposed to direct, intense lighting on the buds and leaves. But you need to be careful and experiment to understand how your strain is reacting to the light. After all, you would not want your strain to suffer from a light burn.
Fast Facts About Purple Weed
Is Purple Weed Better Than Green Weed?
The answer you might want is a ‘yes’ but it is sadly a ‘no’. While shopping for cannabis, you might often come across characters who will claim that the purple weed is better than the green run-of-the-mill weed we get. He might be somewhat right if he is selling some really good stuff. However, chemically speaking color does not make the potency go high. If you take green weed and purple weed of the same quality side by side, you will see the potency is not affected. Therefore color does not affect the potency at all. Next time a seller tries pushing you for a ‘better’ quality purple weed, just tell him that you know how things work and then take the weed you want at a more reasonable price.
Why Are Weed Usually Green?
Well, this is gradually going into the territory of botany class. But we are here to help you. So, every plant you come across has a pigment that is known as chlorophyll or C55H72MgN4O5. This helps in converting the light energy from the sun into energy for growth. Chlorophyll appears green in color and is a widely abundant pigment for plants. Therefore, a bud of weed appears green in color.
Apart from this pigment, there is another pigment called anthocyanin or C15H11O. This pigment is similar to chlorophyll but appears green in color. The weed that is purpe in color has more anthocyanin than chlorophyll.
Are Some Purple Cannabis Better Than The Green One?
Well, the answer might be yes at times. Well, color does not affect potency all the time. However, some purple cannabis strains like Granddaddy Purple or Pinkman Goo are really strong and quite potent. Both of these strains are quite high in the THC content. Therefore, they are of superior quality than most other cannabis out there. But this potency is not related to color. But is all about the genetics of these cannabis strains.
Some Purple Strains You Can Check Out
Purple Queen
- Purple Afghani X Hindu Kush
- THC: 22%
- Indica 75%, Sativa 25%
- Calming, Euphoric
Blue Mystic
- Northern Light X Oregon Blueberry
- THC: 18%
- Indica 80% Sativa 20%
- Stoned
Purplematic CBD
- Afghan Rose Auto CBD X Kush Rose Auto CBD
- THC: 0,5%
- Indica 90% Ruderalis 5% Sativa 5%
- Calming, Clear
And It’s Wrap
Ultimately, if you think about it, there is literally no miracle formula for turning your weed purple. It’s all about genetics. For instance, to obtain the perfect tall purple flower weed or other purple weed variants, you have to make sure that you avoid strains like Green Crack, Green Dream, or Green Door Kush.
Instead, you can experiment with the following:
- Purple Kush,
- Ayahuasca Purple,
- Purple Haze,
- Shaman, and
- Purple #1.
So tell us, what do you think about growing purple weed at home? And in case you have any such experiences, don’t forget to tell us all about them in the comments below.
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