Low THC % Harvest! What Am I Doing Wrong?

Ladies and Gents,

I harvested some Sour Diesel clones I grew out and had them tested at my local lab for potency.

I am a bit dissapointed as normally all Sour D I've come across is a minimum of 18-30% THC and mine came out to 11.37% range ( see attached pic)

I know there are many variable that could be the root of my low potency results so it could be difficult to narrow down.

The buds themselves look Fantastic but the lab results don't lie.

What do you think can be causing this low THC harvest and how can I improve my THC potency??

Important grow notes: these were grown in Coco under in a 3x5 space under a 315 LEC Ceramic Metal Halide light. Humidity and was kept in check and temperature did not exceed 85 degrees. There was a hermie in the bunch that pollinated my plants slightly and I collected about 10 seeds out of 3.5 ounces at Harvest. There was also ab Aphid infestation which I had to deal with as well. Aphid situation did not affect all plants, mainly one or two since measures were taken to remove the aphids. Other than this, all went smoothly.

As always thanks for all your support and feedback.

W

Hands it tested again by a different source.

maybe a bit soon on harvest?

Was that pic taken rite after chop?

If so I'd say you might have jumped the gun a bit ....looks nice though

I quit testing shit ......I happen to know a few REAL DEAL Hippies ...old school motherfuckers wearing tie dye and long hair type shit .....I just give em some bud and if they like it ....it's some super super mind looper .....if not...I use it for toilet paper.

Frankly, a lot of those numbers cited are bullshit. If it gets you high, looks and smells good, then it's good!

ttystikk said:

Frankly, a lot of those numbers cited are bullshit. If it gets you high, looks and smells good, then it's good!

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Word, I've heard there can be huge variances between labs as well.

ttystikk said:

Frankly, a lot of those numbers cited are bullshit. If it gets you high, looks and smells good, then it's good!

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......as I said, support your local hippie ....they'll shoot you straight on flowers

Why didnt they test for thca? Most lab results i see include thc and thca for total thc%.


Like others have said tho results vary from lab to lab, and its best to compare results from the same lab.

Indacouch said:

......as I said, support your local hippie ....they'll shoot you straight on flowers

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Lol, that's my lab testing too to make sure I'm not favouring my own smoke, regular smokers, if they come back looking for more or do the "what the f*k did you spray that with" line it's a keeper, done and saved a few bucks

In the last 2 weeks of flower ,is when the thc & weight, really kicks in , You may have gone to soon
Looking at tricks thru a loupe ,doesnt always work either, as different strains show different degres of cloudyness
& just IMO chopping the whole plant at once is a no no............taking the biggest & most solid first, gives the remaining flowers ,all the energy from the plant, the flower your holding , looks underdone down low, U could have snipped that in half & let the bottom half develop futher.............just my 2 cents

Poontanger said:

Looking at tricks thru a loupe ,doesnt always work either, as different strains show different degres of cloudyness

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Id like to know how it doesnt work seeing as that is the closest that you and I will get to physically seeing the maturity of the THC....this is 100% how i determine my chop date regardless of strain because I can physically see peak THC and degrading THC of the plant.

If your familuar with a strain , yes U can tell by the trics, but growing new & different strains will be more of a challenge ,as some strains can ripen to a dull or pale orange, were others are mature when cloudy, but yes i do agree with your method, as long as youve grown the strain before

You say test don't like but u can work the numbers. If u dropped moisture right down before getting it tested it will read way higher THC. Usually drop it to 5% before it becomes crumbly. That would get u into the 20%'s

GroErr said:

Lol, that's my lab testing too to make sure I'm not favouring my own smoke, regular smokers, if they come back looking for more or do the "what the f*k did you spray that with" line it's a keeper, done and saved a few bucks

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Patients believe there must be a
Grade A Bud Spray.

no, they really do believe this. I think it comes from shitty growers and their dumb assertions they pass on to friends.

chemphlegm said:

Patients believe there must be a
Grade A Bud Spray.

no, they really do believe this. I think it comes from shitty growers and their dumb assertions they pass on to friends.

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Like hey dude, grab the dank spray, sativa not indica.

majins said:

You say test don't like but u can work the numbers. If u dropped moisture right down before getting it tested it will read way higher THC. Usually drop it to 5% before it becomes crumbly. That would get u into the 20%'s

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not arguing, dont test any more since I became that hippy, but can you verify this info for me? seems pretty shady and would put testing at a joke level.

THC % test is based on total mass provided (Weight)
Less moisture in your sample bud = less weight.
Less weight = higher reading.

When I was part of a op providing for a dispensary we would always send samples to be test that were around 4-6% moisture since then the moisture numbers would still be green and not draw attention to people looking at that. Getting below 3% the numbers would be yellow and people would notice.
Our stuff would test at 28-32% and the dispensary would pay top dollar.
Then the stuff we provided to them was around 15% moisture since it had more weight and longer bag life.
If we had sent a sample in around 15-16% moisture it would of only been around 16% THC and only gotten middle grade price.

Another trick I learnt to get higher numbers is water curing.
Bud of the same weight and moisture level would test 2% higher if it had been water cured. But the market for that was low since it also stripped away the smell.

That's fuct, I always kind of knew you couldn't trust the dispensary numbers. Now I know why.

It is hard to trust the accuracy of numbers from a dispensary. One that I went to would not even give you the numbers. The clown said he did not want to skew the outcome of what I might decide to buy. ??? WTF

zoic said:

It is hard to trust the accuracy of numbers from a dispensary. One that I went to would not even give you the numbers. The clown said he did not want to skew the outcome of what I might decide to buy. ??? WTF

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Yeah wtf exactly. I've always felt there's some shady shit going on at my local dispensary. Got some bubba kush that tested 13% tasted like shit, terrible high. It was on the top shelf too. They have "sale bud" that's usually pretty fresh though. Idk, I'm still trying to figure how they work. You know they're not going to tell you. Oh, and you don't get to see the test numbers until you purchase and open the package.