Does size matter?

[FlowerPower]

I'm a newbie that has just finished my first grow, and am kind of curious as to your thoughts on the following subject.

It says in the "Complete guide to growing marijuana" and I quote

It's not the size of the plant, but the maturity and quality of the product that counts.

True, but I think the size of the plant, and more importantly the size of the buds directly effects the quality of the product. For the simple reason that a larger bud has less surface area than an equal proportion of smaller buds. Less surface area means less trichome loss through transport, and contact with bags.

Like I said I am a newbie to growing but am an experienced user and along the way have found larger buds do last longer than an equal amount of smaller ones.

:scratchin :scratchin :scratchin

[quizywig]

It's not the size of the plant, but the maturity and quality of the product that counts.

yep that sums it up acuratly, epecially when it comes to hydro which is generally better with smaller ( compared to outdoors ) plants and buds, a little nugget can be just as potent as a bud the size of your arm, possibly better from what ive grown, bigger buds have more stem and are harder to dry and cure properly which can make or break the best smoke, i usually trim my big buds down to nugs for convieniece

[LoveMeBucket]

Hrm.. interesting topic.. AFAIK i thought the bigger 'top' buds were more potent coz they were closer to the light (indoors) than the scraggly smaller underbuds.. did that make sense? again AFAIK. anyone know? :smoke

[FlowerPower]

i usually trim my big buds down to nugs for convieniece

 

Do you ever notice all the trichomes that you've knocked off the buds as your doing it?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that a larger bud protects the crystals better than a small bud.

Like when u rip a bud open the crystals are a lot more dense in the middle than on the surface, and a larger bud has a lot more guts.

[quizywig]

FlowerPower: what your saying is basicly true, i used to go 1/2s in an oz with a bloke who would insist on breaking it down into tiny bits for a fair split, which is ok if your just going to sell it but if your keeping it it detiriorates within a day or 2, i tend to hoard my smoke so it stays around for months sometimes, mulling up ruins your mull if you leave it for more than a day or 2.

however even if i grow a foot long bud it has a noticeable stem thru it so i trim maybe 5/6 of it as they can be cliped off easy with sisors and little damage, usually the top most part is too fine and dense so is left as is.

too much handling can spoil a smoke for sure i try to hold the bud by the base of the stem when triming and harvesting, also helps with not getting gross sticky fingers so bad.

[FlowerPower]

oh yeh a foot long bud is gunna have a really large stem/branch and if I were to sell it, a lot of that stem would have to be removed. But what about a three inch bud? I have had bags before of really nice head but just about completely de-stemmed and it hasnt seemed quite as nice as a bag of 2-3 inch buds.

There must be some point where getting rid of the stem is doing more harm than good.

[quizywig]

i guess thats due to strain type more than anything a 3inch bud to me is final dried cured manicured and stored in jars, if ive learnt one thing over the years you have to have a good strain with a stable genetic history, anything outside of having a good strain is secondary, I've grown some massive donkey dick buds from bagseed picked from a decent smoke, but the quality is second rate due i guess to genetic stability, bud size is a secondary thing with growing caused more by conditions, available space and time

[WantDaChronic]

i have read on a few sites and in books that a plant gets more potent as it grows untill it reaches its maximum or optimal potential....from that i have gathered that the higher up on a plant a bud is, the more potent it can be...

 

i have also read that bigger isnt always better...take leaf for example, the smaller the leaf, the more potent, even if it was taken from the same plant in the same area....from what i have read, this is due to the plant material being spread out as the plant grows and that means that the thc is spread out too....if that sounds confusing (does to me as im stoned ) think of it this way, if a 1 gram bud has the same potency of a 2 gram bud, you would need 1/2 as much of the 1 gram stuff to have the same effects of the 2 gram buds