Purpling of buds: Can it be controllably done in susceptible plants? Does purpling add anything beyond appearance?

[BII]

I have an Auto Purple Punch/Barney's Farm plant that is about 10-14 days from harvest (next to a LSD-25/Fast Buds plant same age, same feed, etc. that is deep purple). Everything is going fine (good solid buds), except it is not showing purple. Can I induce purpling of the buds (presuming this plant retained the needed genes)? How; such as put plant in <65˚F environment, for how long, how many times, etc.? Or it is too late for this plant?

Is inducing purpling in a plant presumed capable of this worthwhile, such as get increased potency or unique terpene profiles? Or does purpling in susceptible plants mostly come from added stress, decreasing buds' potency and quality?

 

[Son of Hobbes]

Short answer:​

Yes, the expression of genes related to anthocyanin synthesis significantly increases in low-temperature environments (it's an oxidative stress response to the cold, which improves plant tolerance to those colder temps.) Anything above freezing that slows or degrades chlorophyll production helps promote anthocyanin production.

Longer answer:​

Even by doing this, you will likely never see the deep hued colors from plants that genetically express those colors naturally (some cannabis plants are simply colorful without having to do ANYTHING.)

Food for thought answer:​

This is quoted from "Anthocyanin Production from Plant Cell and Organ Cultures In Vitro", taken from the National Center of Biotechnology Information website.

Anthocyanin Production from Plant Cell and Organ Cultures In Vitro - PMC

Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigments found in plants. They exist in various colors, including red, purple, and blue, and are utilized as natural colorants in the food and cosmetics industries. The pharmaceutical industry uses anthocyanins as ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Optimization of medium, especially with respect to carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous, has shown a significant impact on the growth of cultured cells and anthocyanin synthesis.

It was demonstrated with grape cell cultures that simple sugars, such as glucose, galactose, and sucrose, or metabolizable sugars support the growth of the cells and accumulation of biomass, whereas non-metabolizable sugars, such as mannitol, are responsible for osmotic stress, which triggers the accumulation of anthocyanins

Plant cell culture medium consists of both nitrate and ammonium forms of nitrogen, and the concentration of these two types of nitrogen has been shown to have profound influence on the growth of biomass and anthocyanin synthesis. It has been shown that the reduction of the ammonium form of nitrogen in the medium and enhancement of nitrate nitrogen favored cell growth and anthocyanin accumulation in many types of cell cultures

So it's not just genetics, it's not just the cold, but the medium itself, the types of nitrogen the plants are using, the types of sugars they are using, etc, seem to all have a relatively significant impact on anthocyanin synthesis. Even lighting (red and far-red) can have an impact in the production of.

If your goal was to grow the absolute most colorful cannabis plants possible, there are a lot of variables that could likely be dialed in to make them "pop" to the extreme.

As far as any added "benefits" desirable in terms of consumption, I'm not sure if there is any published (or relatively credible) information that would support much in that department other than the normal benefits of consuming anthocyanins for antioxidant purposes and the like. In my professional experience, most purple colored cannabis is actually "weaker" than most status quo green counterparts in terms of THC production, but potency is course quite subjective once we talk about other cannabinoids, terpenes, synergies, and how our endocannabinoid systems vary between person to person on how things effect us, etc.

 

[KingRatt]

I have an Auto Purple Punch/Barney's Farm plant that is about 10-14 days from harvest (next to a LSD-25/Fast Buds plant same age, same feed, etc. that is deep purple). Everything is going fine (good solid buds), except it is not showing purple. Can I induce purpling of the buds (presuming this plant retained the needed genes)? How; such as put plant in <65˚F environment, for how long, how many times, etc.? Or it is too late for this plant?

Is inducing purpling in a plant presumed capable of this worthwhile, such as get increased potency or unique terpene profiles? Or does purpling in susceptible plants mostly come from added stress, decreasing buds' potency and quality?

Cold weather can induce purpling in some plants due to stress. You dont want to purposely stress your plants out. Real purple strains will turn purple without any outside stressors. There will always be some phenotypical variation when starting from seed, sometimes purole strai s just dont turn purple, but you dont want to stress them out just for color, the yield and potency will suffer. It is pretty much aesthetic. However, purple buds do lack the high levels of chlorophyll that green buds have, and so do taste different. So its not purely aesthetic i guess. But in no way are purple buds superior to green buds. Just a matter of preference, genetics, and a roll of the dice.

 

[BII]

...... In my professional experience, most purple colored cannabis is actually "weaker" than most status quo green counterparts in terms of THC production.....

Growing LSD-25/Fast Buds many times, buds almost always come out purple, a few times even black, and are usually very potent, sometimes even somewhat psychedelic (which is what the strain is known for or claims). So again it's a matter of strain differences.

 

[Son of Hobbes]

So again it's a matter of strain differences.

It's a matter of cannabinoids and terpenes and your endocannabinoid system

And again will defer to potency as subjective (meaning it's not up to me to tell you what gets you high, when what gets you high gets you high.)

Commercially, in my experience most colored/purple cultivars generally test lower in THC (but if THC is your measuring stick, you're probably doing it wrong. But it's measurable. And markets are built around those percentages, sadly.)

 

[Mossy]

I have an Auto Purple Punch/Barney's Farm plant that is about 10-14 days from harvest (next to a LSD-25/Fast Buds plant same age, same feed, etc. that is deep purple). Everything is going fine (good solid buds), except it is not showing purple. Can I induce purpling of the buds (presuming this plant retained the needed genes)? How; such as put plant in <65˚F environment, for how long, how many times, etc.? Or it is too late for this plant?

Is inducing purpling in a plant presumed capable of this worthwhile, such as get increased potency or unique terpene profiles? Or does purpling in susceptible plants mostly come from added stress, decreasing buds' potency and quality?

If you are in soil...Try ice cube watering overnight....stick them on the soil surface and let them drip cold overnight.

In susceptible genetics...a 0.5...to 1ph point drop in the soil pH...flushes most bud and leaf colour.......just my observations.