Marketing a bud

Accordingly, dispensaries prefer "dense" buds because they are easier to market. However, upon eyeball inspection (at a couple of shops), it looked to me that the dense buds didn't look as resinous compared to a not-so-dense bud, plus the not-so-dense (soil grown) bud was more aromatic. So, I chose the not-so-dense buds which did the trick, medicinally speaking.

So, how can one tell upon eyeball inspection how potent (or medically effective) the bud will be? Trial and error? Does it matter if it is dense or not? As you can see, I don't have a lot of experience in world of bud.:S1:

I'm on a mission to try them all at least once. :thumbsup: So far I've tried about 20 different kinds from the main dispensary that I frequent. Probably 20-30 left on my list. :jointsmile:

Look for stuff thats obviously sticky with resin.
Look for well trimmed buds. Buds with leaves on them are a sign of an amateur grower or a product that was rushed through the finishing process and came up light - so they left more leaves on the buds to make up for low weight issues.
ASK the vendor. Most dispensaries should be able to offer some description of the kind of pain relief each medicine will provide.
Keep personal records. I have an Excell spreadsheet. I keep notes on all the bud I buy and all the bud I'm given as samplers from friends and growers I meet. I write a description about the look, smell, taste, effects at 5 min - 15 min - 30 min - 45 min etc - also after taste, munchies, pain relief, high and endurance ( how long it lasts).
Smoke a lot of different stuff and keep records. Smoke it the same every time. My method is 2 hits out of my glass pipe. Then I record data and wait at least 1hr before another hit. I know that sounds boring to some people, but I'm seriously interested in pain relief that doesn't put me on the couch and doesn't cause me to eat the whole damn refrigerator. I'm doing my own rather unscientific research and keeping records. Maybe some day they will be of use.

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Originally Posted by flourchild

Accordingly, dispensaries prefer "dense" buds because they are easier to market. However, upon eyeball inspection (at a couple of shops), it looked to me that the dense buds didn't look as resinous compared to a not-so-dense bud, plus the not-so-dense (soil grown) bud was more aromatic. So, I chose the not-so-dense buds which did the trick, medicinally speaking.

So, how can one tell upon eyeball inspection how potent (or medically effective) the bud will be? Trial and error? Does it matter if it is dense or not? As you can see, I don't have a lot of experience in world of bud.:S1:

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It doesnt matter how dense it is. Iv seen fluffy weed that is way more dank(potent/good ass weed) then dense weed. But most people (especially despenseries) prefer dense weed, usually cause its garanteed dank. People like it cause its usually so potent and sticky that it clumps together like a lil rock. Hence the slang word (Hard Ball). But just cause its dense does not mean it the best or better the fluffy weed. In the end it all comes down to the quality of weed itself. They determine by how covered it is with trichomes(lil white crystals), how many hairs it has, the color, the smell, the stickyness. Most likley if your weed is covered with crystals, trimmed, dryed/cured right the clubs(Marjuana despenseries) will buy it. hope this helps.

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Originally Posted by esc420pot

It doesnt matter how dense it is. Iv seen fluffy weed that is way more dank(potent/good ass weed) then dense weed. But most people (especially despenseries) prefer dense weed, usually cause its garanteed dank. People like it cause its usually so potent and sticky that it clumps together like a lil rock. Hence the slang word (Hard Ball). But just cause its dense does not mean it the best or better the fluffy weed. In the end it all comes down to the quality of weed itself. They determine by how covered it is with trichomes(lil white crystals), how many hairs it has, the color, the smell, the stickyness. Most likley if your weed is covered with crystals, trimmed, dryed/cured right the clubs(Marjuana despenseries) will buy it. hope this helps.

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Thank you. I hadn't heard about the number of hairs before as being significant. I thought is was all about the trichomes. This one bud tender told me (regarding dense buds) that even though some don't look so trichomy on the outside of the bud, there are a lot of trichomes on the inside - that the resin glands are bigger on dense buds. I guess he knows what he is talking about?

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I'm on a mission to try them all at least once. So far I've tried about 20 different kinds from the main dispensary that I frequent. Probably 20-30 left on my list.

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A worthy goal; but, when you find a good strain, is it the same the second, or third, or forth, etc. time around? Or is it a bit different every time? It seems to me that this is not an exact science...

lighter fluffier buds are generally sativa traits. haze for example.depends on what your looking for.

meded so you can mededicate to mededitate

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Originally Posted by MEDEDCANNABIS

lighter fluffier buds are generally sativa traits. haze for example.depends on what your looking for.

meded so you can mededicate to mededitate

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Not sure what it was...maybe something in between. Alaskan Ice (which, btw, was very good). I am not sure the shop knew exactly what it was either - they said it was mostly indica.

Like previously stated, ask the person selling it.

I'd say that resin, trichomes, color, smell, etc. do not always contribute to the quality. Some of the most potent weed I have ever smoked, looked and smelled comparable to mid-grade...

Also cannabis affects different people in different ways, so while one strain might be a good pain-reliever for some, it may not be for others.

Even if you do find the perfect strain, it's also not a guarantee that the weed you are buying next time, although with the same strain name, is actually the same all the time. The cannabis industry is unfortunately very unregulated. There is always someone trying to make a buck, even if it means alienating other people's (breeders') hard work.

It's true the same strain will not finish the same with each new generation. For example, I really like this Perps one of my friends grows, but it's not the same each time. He clones the plants before he flips them to flowering stage. Grows those same clones - same genetics. But one time the stuff will be super dense and potent as hell. Next time, fluffy and a better taste. It's all soil grown with organic nutes and he tries to do it the same way every time. But in the end, it's just a plant and subject to the environmental conditions it was grown in.

I really like Sour Diesel for my back pain, but it leaves me standing in the kitchen with the refrigerator door open. :( I don't smoke it during the day anymore. I smoke it about 1/2 hr before bed so that I can actually get to sleep and not be in pain - and I skip the munchies because I'm sleeping. :thumbsup:

Maui is one of my favs of all time. I just love the high. It's a really light and heady high and it keeps me grinning from ear to ear. It's a nice, happy buzz. Doesn't put me on the couch, all zoned out and non-functional. Munchies aren't too bad.

Double Sour Diesel works REALLY good for my pain. But it's so potent that I can barely function. I can't even clean my fish tank when I'm high on double diesel. Last week I siphoned about 2g of water out of the tank and onto the dining room floor because I spaced out and forgot I was draining water into a bucket. The bucket overflowed and I was busy zoning out looking at my corals - until I suddenly realized the sound of water splashing on the floor was bad and stopped the flow. :stoned: 2g of salt water on the floor doesn't sound like a big deal. It IS. 2g of water spreads out to cover most of the dining room floor and some of the living room carpet pretty quick. Pisses the wife off.

But it's all different for each person. One of my friends hates the Maui. Says it makes his head feel thick and slow.

Puffer... great post, I thought I was getting feeb minded or such. There's some strains out there that work GREAT for pain relief but leave me incapicated mentally. And that's after but two or three hits. Sour diesel, some of the Kush types, and that last batch of Dutch treat I picked up at CAM absolutely kick my ass. I don't mind it in the evening when there's nothing on the schedule but for daytime use their too strong for me.

I'd been considering a vaporizer, worry about the crap I'm putting into my lungs, but if a vape makes for an even more intense high then I'll pass for now.

On the plus side I've been experimenting with tea. (I've tried many of the edibles out there and found little to no effect) I'm using a recipe I found here and it works great. First batch I used too much herb and was left semi conscious. Second batch was much better. Took about 45 minutes to onset and I was able to comfortably function outside the house. Biggest variable to be worked out is THC concentrations in herb.

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Originally Posted by bigtopsfinn

Like previously stated, ask the person selling it.

I'd say that resin, trichomes, color, smell, etc. do not always contribute to the quality. Some of the most potent weed I have ever smoked, looked and smelled comparable to mid-grade...

Also cannabis affects different people in different ways, so while one strain might be a good pain-reliever for some, it may not be for others.

Even if you do find the perfect strain, it's also not a guarantee that the weed you are buying next time, although with the same strain name, is actually the same all the time. The cannabis industry is unfortunately very unregulated. There is always someone trying to make a buck, even if it means alienating other people's (breeders') hard work.

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It's true the same strain will not finish the same with each new generation. For example, I really like this Perps one of my friends grows, but it's not the same each time. He clones the plants before he flips them to flowering stage. Grows those same clones - same genetics. But one time the stuff will be super dense and potent as hell. Next time, fluffy and a better taste. It's all soil grown with organic nutes and he tries to do it the same way every time. But in the end, it's just a plant and subject to the environmental conditions it was grown in.

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Well, there is the rub - it is indeed variable and subjective. My experience with diesel was more like a body slam, but I was feeling no pain. Unlike aspirin, for example, when you buy it, it always has the same effects. As far as pain relief and functionality goes, I am not sure how mm will effect me with each purchase -which can be costly when in this ongoing experimental mode. I suppose the pain relief mechanism is similar for all reasonably grown strains?

As far as the bud-tenders go, there seems to be variability there as well. For example, one week he recommended strain A and said Strain B was mid-grade or worse. The next week Strain B was best. Maybe he forgot what he said the first time, or was suffering from a bout of feeble- headedness? :stoned:

A lot of the "dense" buds that are trimmed to shit are from Cali and you know them when you see them. We only carry CO grown so it's more of the fluffier nugs in our shop.

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Originally Posted by TheReleafCenter

A lot of the "dense" buds that are trimmed to shit are from Cali and you know them when you see them. We only carry CO grown so it's more of the fluffier nugs in our shop.

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Not sure where they came from, but there is a dispensary locally (I know they do not grow as of yet but use vendors), that purchase buds that have been mechincally trimmed. The buds look odd and when I inspected them under my scope I saw all the outside trichomes had their little mushroom heads missing. This led me to believe that either the dispensary or grower(my money is on the grower) tumbled their buds prior to selling. Needless to say that was my last visit there.

This is why I posted about the positive experiences I had ad CCF and D9. I know there are a lot of wonderful people out their selling quality medicine, however there are many only interested in a quick buck and have little regard for the patients consuming their wares.

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Originally Posted by Reenster

Not sure where they came from, but there is a dispensary locally (I know they do not grow as of yet but use vendors), that purchase buds that have been mechincally trimmed. The buds look odd and when I inspected them under my scope I saw all the outside trichomes had their little mushroom heads missing. This led me to believe that either the dispensary or grower(my money is on the grower) tumbled their buds prior to selling. Needless to say that was my last visit there.

This is why I posted about the positive experiences I had ad CCF and D9. I know there are a lot of wonderful people out their selling quality medicine, however there are many only interested in a quick buck and have little regard for the patients consuming their wares.

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I noted this as well: the trichomes on these tight buds seemed not so noticeable, which, if the heads were missing would certainly account for it. This would also suggest that the source of many of the super tight buds are from the huge growers, like in Cali, who have to rely upon machines when trimming. Furthermore, users who come across these tight buds should take into consideration that the trichome content will be inherently less, and may not get the bang for your buck.