I’m sure a lot of people already have said what I’m about to say, I haven’t bothered to check the responses. Here is my experience as I have had issues with this also.
Number one:
key to density is simply light. The more light you have, the faster your plants grow.
Number two:
Defoliate when the plant is healthy. Trim weak stems off because they will steal energy and product weak buds.
Number three:
Drop your nitrogen levels in flower. Yes the plant needs nitrogen at all stages of growth, but from my experience using the exact same amount of nitrogen in flower that I used in veg, will produce Larf. I’ve had this issue once and I watched it happen. So I know this to be true. Drop nitrogen levels lower, but increase pk levels. Soon as it goes into preflower, hit it with a pk booster. Make sure it’s a good booster like big bud.
Number four:
Bigger plants will naturally produce less dense buds. Your plant is a life form, it has a limited energy source. The more buds on your plant, the less energy you have being used into producing better quality buds. I have grown monster plants with fairly dense buds, but I have literally tested this. Snip off the flimsy stems and produce less buds. Less buds does not mean less weight or quality.
Number five:
Drop your humidity in flower to 50% and your temps down a little. This will produce solid buds. The higher your temp, or humidity (they go hand in hand), the less dense they become. I’ve also seen this for myself through experience.
Number six:
Use high quality genetics, and high quality nutrients. I recommend advanced nutrients.
Number seven:
Adjust your light cycle in the last week of flower. Each day of your last week, adjust your cycle to be an hour less. This creates more dark time, which means colder temperatures. It helps bring out colours and density
