When requested by my expensive buddy Ellen, the editor in chief of this publication, to renew writing for High Times I jumped on the request. As a journalist/educator and lifelong scholar I’ve all the time loved diving into matters that I’ve coated for this journal through the years and revisiting sure topics as new science grew to become out there. Here I look into rising hashish particularly for terpene manufacturing.
Terpenoids or terpenes are one of the vital vital chemical compounds produced by the hashish plant. They are the compounds accountable for the plant’s odor and provides every cultivar their distinctive fragrance. Terpenes, like cannabinoids, are produced within the plant’s trichome. The trichomes are the little appendages that develop out of the plant, they’re discovered on the buds in addition to typically on the leaves of the plant. In the hashish plant they’re sometimes comprised of a stalk and head. Inside these heads are many of the important oils discovered within the hashish plant, together with the cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and different compounds.
Currently there’s a shift within the dialogue concerning THC percentage and its sole significance to promoting hashish within the many authorized markets around the globe. This needs to be understood as unbelievable information to shoppers, as they’ll lastly be the beneficiaries of extra data surrounding the plant and the best way through which its energetic compounds work with one another to steer results. This has come to be often known as the entourage impact. THC is just like the fuel of the automobile and the terpenes and different compounds act just like the GPS, giving the excessive its route.
The first researchers to debate the entourage impact had been Dr. Raphael Mechoulam and Dr. Shimon Ben-Shabat. They proposed that the mixed impact of all of the compounds discovered within the trichome head labored in a “botanical synergy,” to maximise the pharmacological impact of hashish. This idea was additional expanded by Dr. Ethan Russo in a paper he wrote in 2011. In the British Journal of Pharmacology, Dr. Russo wrote “that phytocannabinoid-terpenoid interactions found in cannabis offer complementary pharmacological activities that may strengthen and broaden clinical applications and improve the therapeutic index of cannabis extracts.”
This dialogue has mirrored enhancements within the cultivation of hashish and have proven that phytocannabinoids and terpene percentages rise to unbelievable ranges. It’s not unusual for some strains to check as excessive as 35-38% whole cannabinoids, with some flower testing as excessive as 5.5-6% whole terpene content material. As extra hashish analysis emerges, cultivation strategies have gotten an increasing number of refined. Using a science-backed strategy, cultivators can take a look at their flower and actually dial in surroundings, nutrient utilization, and genetics. When it involves rising for terpene content material, the principle components a grower can management are: vitamins, ultraviolet (UV) gentle, temperature management, harvesting schedule, the drying/curing course of, and genetics.
Nutrients
Nutrients, particularly sure plant hormones like methyl jasmonate, can stimulate the systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in a plant. This forces it to extend the pure oils, on this case terpenes, flavonoids and cannabinoids, as a method of safety. Another method to entry this response is one thing referred to as salicylic acid. In an article discovered within the journal, Food Science and Nutrition, a workforce of botanists from Urmia University of Medical Sciences in Iran, found that utilizing salicylic acid as a foliar feed can improve cannabinoid, flavonoid, and terpene manufacturing. When sprayed on the hashish plant the acid regulates the jasmonate signaling pathway naturally present in hashish. This makes the flavonoid and terpene synthesis extra environment friendly, growing their values by a number of share factors. The most well-known nutrient used for terpene enhancement is the Terpinator. The product accommodates no methyl jasmonate or salicylic acid, as an alternative its most important ingredient is potassium (Ok) which will increase enzyme exercise making the important oil manufacturing extra environment friendly. Another product in the marketplace is FlaVUH from Ventana Plant Science; it makes use of a proprietary polyaspartic amino acid which will increase the nutrient uptake to the plant, growing yield and pure oil manufacturing. It additionally accommodates no jasmonate or salicylic acid.
UV Light
UV gentle has been discovered to even have a big effect on terpene manufacturing in addition to a rise in cannabinoids. This comes from the truth that the plant naturally protects itself from UV gentle by growing important oil manufacturing. One of the extra attention-grabbing advances in cultivation has been the advance within the high quality of LED lights. In latest years LED fixture firms have added UV diodes to their lighting, which causes cannabinoid and terpene values to extend. The very long time query surrounding the advantages of outside vs. indoor cultivating has additionally discovered new proof to assist the advantages of UV gentle. In the journal Molecules a bunch of scientists from Columbia University, in partnership with a number of cultivators in California, examined the distinction between out of doors and indoor cultivation. Using the identical clones, medium, and nutrient regiments, they grew vegetation in out of doors farms and beneath synthetic lights. Their discovery confirmed that not solely had been the terpene and cannabinoids greater in out of doors grows, however that there have been additionally distinctive terpenes and minor cannabinoids detected within the vegetation grown outside. Additionally, the odds of sesquiterpenes like b-caryophyllene and a-humulene had been greater within the out of doors vegetation. One might speculate that these terpenes had been extra current within the out of doors vegetation as a result of they wanted further safety from the UV gentle.
Temperature Control
Temperature management is one other vital issue within the manufacturing of terpenes. Typically by reducing the temperatures on the finish of your flower cycle additionally, you will see a rise in terpene manufacturing. Usually a drop between 5-10 levels Fahrenheit will do the trick. An additional benefit to dropping the temperatures is that flavonoid manufacturing may even improve and the vegetation that naturally get purple may even improve the quantity of coloration current within the buds.
Harvesting Schedule
A harvesting schedule is a reasonably straightforward issue to regulate because the introduction of cannabinoid and terpene testing labs. In the previous we needed to depend on loupes or magnifying glasses to check the colour of the trichomes. Now you possibly can take a look at your flower at any level within the harvest cycle and choose the proper second of ripeness, relying in your wants. Usually for terpene manufacturing you wish to harvest a bit on the sooner aspect, whereas with THC you’ll wish to harvest a bit later within the cycle.
Drying & Curing
Drying and curing is simply as vital a course of as rising is. Most individuals overlook that your 9 weeks of labor can simply be ruined by an improper remedy or storage. Especially in cities like Denver the place the altitude can simply dry out your flower. My choice for drying is a decrease temperature surroundings between 45-50 levels Fahrenheit and round 55-60% relative humidity. I additionally prefer to hold the fan leaves on the plant in addition to conserving the plant as intact as attainable. This permits the hashish to dry on the slowest attainable fee preserving the important oils. As for storage, glass is all the time higher than plastic, until you possibly can nitrogen flush and vacuum seal the luggage. The key to storing flower is to have a full jar. The head house within the jar, which is the native house between the lid and the flower is what causes the terpenes to slowly evaporate, due to this fact choose a jar dimension that may be crammed to the highest. Some individuals additionally swear by means of the humidity-regulating packs. I personally have discovered that they trigger a response to a few of the extra risky terpenes with the end result being a extra homogenous odor throughout totally different cultivars. I’d say put money into some analysis and take a look at your flower earlier than and after utilizing any humidity packs to see in the event that they be just right for you.
Genetics
Finally, genetics also can play an vital position in terpene-rich flower. The key right here is to experiment together with your surroundings and hold testing. Test which cultivars work greatest for you, on your surroundings and for the nutrient program you’re utilizing. Science is your ally right here, use hashish testing labs to your benefit. Remember that science relies on proof and never perception, so utilizing it would assist you to uncover extra about your flower and the chemical compounds discovered inside. This will help you develop the dankest, loudest, and most potent flower you possibly can. May the terpenes be with you.
This article was initially revealed within the May 2023 issue of High Times Magazine.
The publish Growing for Terpenes first appeared on High Times.
