Purple leaf

[evergreen]

I hope I am posting in the right section. I was wondering how to get you leafs to turn purple? I know you need to start by using the right strain but is there any method besides having the strain? Can you add any chemical or temperature change to enhance the purple?

[kindgreenbuds]

there are two ways to get purple buds. first and best is to actually have a strain with Purple genetics in it. second is kind of a cheat, but some strains will turn blue / purple in lower temperatures. this, however, only changes the color, it doesn't give it the "purple" taste and smell that you'd get from an actual purple strain.

[evergreen]

(09-18-2009 01:35 AM)kindgreenbuds Wrote:  there are two ways to get purple buds. first and best is to actually have a strain with Purple genetics in it. second is kind of a cheat, but some strains will turn blue / purple in lower temperatures. this, however, only changes the color, it doesn't give it the "purple" taste and smell that you'd get from an actual purple strain.

When you say to lower the temperture how much and is this at a specific time in the growth of the plant?

[kindgreenbuds]

dont know how much exactly.. and from what i know, it's usually done at the very end, right before harvest.

[evergreen]

Thanx KGB

[roadapples]

Its done at the end of harvest. Some strains will easily turn purp when given cold temps like 50 F, but some turn under colder temps, like during a frost in the canadian north.

An easier way to bring about ancillary colors would be to deprive your plant of Nitrogen, and allow the "hidden" pigments emerge due to lack of chlorophyll. Its the lack of chlorophyll that give buds the yellows/reds/blues, and sometimes purple hues associated with autumn. A k deficiancy can to purple stems and calyxes.

Blueberry tends to change colors late in flower after flushing and nutes have been cut off.

However I would not try to turn a green plant purple. Let it be as healthy as possible for as long as possible until the final flush 2-3 wks before chop. Your buds will bw bigger, frostier and taste better. Generally not a good idea to stress your plants just for an acessory pigment. Purple is overrated IMHO.

If you really want purple nugs then buy a purple strain like the purps from BC bud depot. Or if you're lucky find a clinic with a purple strain to buy a clone from, like grandaddy or urkle.

[evergreen]

roadapples
Thanks for your post. I know of someone that has grown several harvests of some purple kush. The first one was great and had great purple color Taste and Smell, But the last two are great tasting and smell ever so sweet but the purple color is lacking. I didn't understand what was the problem. Also the thing that gets me is that these are clones from the first harvest. We'll see if the temp change is the fix.

1 more think Does the temp really need to 50 degrees F? I know for a fact on the first harvest temp was no were near that low.

[roadapples]

I was using 50 f as an example just from reading about canadian growers. Some canadian growers intentionally expose certain plants to low temps to get them to purple up to get higher dollar.

Evergreen, If it was from clone another possibility other than temp is that he picked them earlier or they weren't as ripe as before. The deeper purples tend to come in later flowering. Sometimes growing the same strain will mature earlier or later depending on the environment. Clone 1 can be ready at 9 weeks one time but may need a few more days the next time if environment wasn't exactly identical. This year we had a heat wave and the clones directly under the light matured their hairs a little faster than the ones off to the sides cuz it was probably too hot. I had to raise the light to 20 inches above canopy when in the winter I was doing 18.

Also your friend may have also tried to push his plants a little more this time with more ferts, or a fert that had more N in flowering, or maybe he/she used organic nutes. They tend to take a lil longer to work and stay in the soil longer.
Also dont forget to flush flush flush those fert salts away and let the fan leaves start to yellow and die off. Flush 2-3 weeks before chop. Even your green strains will show subtle hues of orange, blue, red, etc if deprived of ferts late in flower and flushed well.

Flushing, no nutes, and waiting a lil longer will probably do it. A slight drop in temp might also help. I hope that helps. Peace.

---

PS, I think I read that article about intentionally lowering temps to artificially produce purple in a high times. Dont take 50 F as a rule of thumb or anything. There was a "purple issue" of high times documenting the 'purple craze' a few years ago, it might be in that one.

[evergreen]

Thanks roadapple!!
Will it make a dif if it grown hydo in rockwool?

[roadapples]

Actually, it will be easier to flush the nutes, especially if using an active system like ebb & flow w/ rockwool. You can push them longer then use a clearing solution like "Final Phase" by Advanced Nutrients (I recommend this product because it supposedly has the widest range of chelating agents on the market and was formulated especially for cannabis) 7-10 days before harvest then pure PH'd water till chop.

If you flush 10-14 days before chop you're sure to have the cleanest smoke. Dont worry about the fan leaves yellowing and dying off late in flower, you want that. The plants are consuming stored sugars and chlorophyll (green pigment) which will expose the underlying secondary pigments that are "hidden" behind the green; i.e. colors like reds, yellows, orange, blues, and in your case purple. Drying and curing takes this step even further and adds that final touch of quality to your product.

These are all important steps to improving the quality of your final product and smoking experience. Plus it will improve your bag appeal.