How to Improve Larf & PopCorn Buds

Cannabis growers often look to improve the quality and density of their buds. While genetics play a significant role in the growth of cannabis plants, there are several techniques that growers can use to encourage denser bud growth and avoid larf and popcorn buds.

2 Pack Elastic Trellis: https://amzn.to/3oSJyqo
Pruning Shears to cut Stems: https://amzn.to/42mlquZ

Light is one of the main reasons why larf develops and without using proper techniques such as trellises of LST to allow direct access to the light, shaded buds do not develop as good as top bud sites.

This “chopping in waves” technique will probably be controversial. It’s something that I really haven’t come across anyone else doing online, but I’m sharing it not to say this is what you should do, but that its something worth considering. One of the techniques I haven’t really been using as much is screen of green, which uses trellises to spread apart your bud sites so they have better access to light. Without them, youll get a ton bud sites in the shade and these buds take longer to reach maturity. Just like the trichomes in the crevices of buds, these shaded trichomes take longer to milk and they never seem to amber. These lower bud sites always feel soft and look lighter in color and this is what growers consider larf. Every year, I do a major strain hunt and I pollinate all of the lower bud sites. At times, I find that some of the seeds don’t fully develop by the time the top bud sites are ready to harvest. To extend development on the seeds, I chop in waves. During this extra week of flowering, I noticed that these larfy bud sites grew denser and hardened up and trichomes end up milking and feeling less larfy. Even after picking the seeds out of these bud sites, not a single buddy that smoked this sifted bud ever commented and said there was a difference between this and top bud sites chopped earlier in harvest. I tested this method out in several other grows and it consistently improves the quality of these lower bud sites. If Im not using a trellis, I always use this method on taller plants that have a lot of larfy lower bud sites. The downside is that it’s a lot of work and you also have to have a dedicated room to dry and clotheslines will be your best friend. These buds still wont be as pretty or as dense as the top bud sites, but at least you allow the trichomes to develop, which is THC…… which to me, is the most important aspect of quality….