How to Increase Trichome Production?

If you’re an avid cannabis grower, you probably never tire of looking for information on how to increase your yield.

Apart from ensuring that your plant is constantly supplied with proper nutrients and enough sunlight, you should also look for ways to increase your plant’s trichome production. The more potent the trichomes, the healthier the plant.

Of course, growing a healthy cannabis plant involves other factors as well, but trichomes are extremely important if you want successful yields in the long run.

In the lines below, I’ll share some tips on how to maximize your trichome production so that your cannabis plant can grow in optimal conditions. Let’s get started!

First of All, What Are Trichomes?

Trichomes are gooey, sticky resin glands of the cannabis plant that contain all those wonderful cannabinoids in one place (CBD, THC, and others). Technically, they are the key elements that dictate how potent your plant will be. They even dictate things like flavor and smell as well.

Trichomes have three main functions:

1. They protect the plant from excessive sun exposure.
2. They provide protection from various insects, fungus, and plant-eating predators in general.
3. These powdery substances also ensure that the plant grows and develops properly by absorbing the needed nutrients as well as moisture.

Now you understand why you need to boost their production. Let’s see how to do that.

Choose the right genetics

If you want your plant to grow and be healthy, the first thing you need to pay attention to is genetics. Genes control everything (well…almost everything), and if you want to boost your trichome production, you’ll need to choose a strain with optimal genetic background. In this particular case, you’ll need genetics that can produce an abundance of trichomes. 

If I had to recommend some strains here, I would definitely go for Chemdawg or Lemon Shining Silver Haze. Both strains are rich in trichomes and they’re also relatively easy to grow. You won’t make a mistake with any of them, that’s for sure!

Once you have optimal genetics in check, you can start focusing on what else you can do to improve trichome production.

Pay attention to lighting 

The environment is the second most important contributor to optimal trichome production. Without proper lighting, there’s no healthy plant, and your yield will ultimately fail.

One important role of trichomes is to protect the plant from absorbing too much light. However, if you expose it to light temporarily (for roughly 2-3 weeks), you will see a difference in the quality of your yield.

Now, this is not an optimal strategy. To get the most out of this conventional approach, you’ll need to grow your plants in equatorial areas. That’s easy for people who live there, but there are some viable alternatives for those who don’t.

One popular (and easy) way that you can use to improve those trichome levels is to use an appropriate LED. Even though they don’t produce UV-B light, they still have an enormous impact on trichome production.

You need to keep checking the vitality of your plant while exposing it to LED lights. Technically, that exposure is a stressful event for the plant, and while low-grade stress can’t hurt, long-term, high-grade stress will undoubtedly damage your plant. Be careful and make sure that light exposure is reasonable.

Plan your harvest accordingly

Every cannabis grower knows how important harvest is. You need to plan your harvest well ahead – ideally, in the last couple of weeks of the flowering stage.

Pay close attention to the color of the trichomes, it will tell you when you should start harvesting. You’ll need a magnifier to observe what is happening as trichomes are so tiny that a naked eye cannot see them.

If you see that the trichomes are translucent rather than white, don’t do anything for at least two more weeks. The trichomes are still producing cannabinoids and you need to wait for this stage to end before you start harvesting.

Once they turn milky white, you can start planning the harvest. They still won’t be ready at this point, but that’s a sign that the production phase is coming to an end.

Eventually, the trichomes will change their color from milky white to cloudy white. That’s when the harvest can finally begin, although the results may not be optimal.

While you will definitely benefit from the psychedelic effects, the yield itself will not be great. I advise waiting until you see the color turning to amber. At that point, all conditions are met and harvest will give the best possible results.

As you can see, timing is everything here.

Are There Any Other Factors That I Should Consider?

Both humidity and temperature are equally important if you want to increase your trichome production. The trick here is to find an ideal combination of these two factors. That will create a (mildly) stressful environment that will trigger an increase in trichome production.

The best way to do that is to switch your focus from humidity to temperature (and vice versa) in the last couple of weeks of the flowering stage. You can also try lowering your relative humidity levels to around 30% and keeping your temperature levels around 80°F (26°C). That should do the trick.

I don’t recommend going for higher temperatures as the trichome potency will suffer. Make sure you smell the plant from time to time. If you feel that the aroma is strange and distinct, the temperature is probably too high.

You should double-check if everything is alright with the yield from time to time. Make sure you spot any nutrient deficiencies on time so that you can act on time. Keep close attention to the airflow as well and make sure that your plant has enough water.

Another Important Note

Make sure you don’t get into direct contact with trichomes during the flowering phase. Trichomes are extremely sensitive and they can burst easily even upon minimal contact. The same rule applies to all cannabis flowers in general.

In conclusion

Increasing trichome production can be a bit of a challenge, but an enthusiastic grower will surely overcome it. Hopefully I’ve helped you realize the full importance of trichomes, and why you should prioritize their production if you want your yield to succeed. Stick to the instructions above and you’ll be fine. And, of course, your cannabis plant will be grateful to you!