"Fluffy" herb less potent?

[Tweak]

Fluffy herb is not necessarily less potent. A much better indicator of potency is a plants trichome coverage, (take a loupe with you next time your looking at herb and you'll also get a sense of how you like your trichomes at harvest time too).

^^^^This.

I also wonder how much of the "vapor" we see is not only vaped THC oil but also the moisture that is left in the flower?

 

[weedemon]

totally dependant on the amount of active present in the herb. are you suggesting that less dense herb has less of the drugs present? I'm not so sure, but I do like a bud with solid density too!

 

[bluesurfboy]

ive gotten a strain one time that looked soo good, like kyptonite in structure but white from a distance, it produced so little vapor and did not even get new smokers stoned, i was so befuzzled... but other than that one instance, id usually agree denser buds usually means better quality or more actives.

 

[djonkoman]

^^^^This.

I also wonder how much of the "vapor" we see is not only vaped THC oil but also the moisture that is left in the flower?

not much I think, I have vaped wet weed a few times(wanted to get a first taste while trimming, and luckily for me a vaporizer can handle wet/fresh weed too), in that case you first get multiple hits with no visible vapor, but with taste, and only when the weed has become as dry as it usually is after drying it starts giving visible vapor. so water doesn't give more visible vapor

 

[Liberty]

You know how some herb is "fluffy" (not dense), is it just me but it seems that fluffy herb is much less potent. For example from dense herb I may be able to get 5-6 good Volcano bags, but fluffy herb will give barely 2 or 3 bags.

Is it just me? Should I automatically avoid herb if it's fluffy?

Thanks

I have been thinking the same thing. I have some homegrown (from a friend) that is good genetic stock but was grown under fluorescent, and so, is less dense than commercial flowers. I can grind up an amount that would normally be 3 elbow packs (V-Tower), but ends up equating to one and a half or two with the homegrown. I think some of this is because the flowers may be too wet. But, maybe it is something inherent in "fluffy" herbs.

Also, it may be that you need to increase the temp with the "fluffy" material. I just noticed that my normal routine with high grade is woefully inadequate to fully extract mids. If I do my normal routine with mids, the flowers are only light green when I'm done (220 C with high grade). If I take the temperature up to 240 C, then the mids get about the same amount of hits and the ABV is the normal light/medium brown color.

 

[Blue Dream]

I'm hitting off of S.A.G.E. which is fluffy but has about 25% THC content.

 

[kingofnull]

I'm hitting off of S.A.G.E. which is fluffy but has about 25% THC content.

SAGE is a great strain. Enjoy

 

[Vicki]

I have some herb right now that is very fluffy, and actually feels soft to the touch when I'm loading it into my trench. I have noticed that this particular bud doesn't last me long at all. For example, I have two other kinds of herb, and this fluffy/soft herb. I am using OVER 2 grams a week of the fluffy/soft herb in comparison to only using 1 gram per week of the other two kinds of herb.

 

[kingofnull]

I have some herb right now that is very fluffy, and actually feels soft to the touch when I'm loading it into my trench. I have noticed that this particular bud doesn't last me long at all. For example, I have two other kinds of herb, and this fluffy/soft herb. I am using OVER 2 grams a week of the fluffy/soft herb in comparison to only using 1 gram per week of the other two kinds of herb.

This was the same experience I had with the last batch of Juicy Fruit I picked up.

 

[Massiv710]

It's kind of hard to judge a bud's potency based on it's density alone.Taste, smell, color and especially trichome amount are the key things I look for but usually I don't discriminate since it's all going to BHO production and popcorn buds make some pretty good caramel wax.

 

[Zookeeper]

I'm almost certain the whole 'denser is better' idea stems from the concept that denser buds means more weight per plant for the grower. Someone heard that was a good thing, and made assumption. You know how an idea can build. Your not getting free weed, your getting less weed, with more content per bud. Its not a big deciding factor on potency from my experience. Brickweed can be EXTREMLEY dense, and you can get a good high off a bowl, but if you weighed it beforehand, you'd realize why; your using more herb than you think when you grind a dense bud into powdery form dense buds usually end up in. To me, the good stuff is herb tha rolls down itself like molasses, when you empty your grinder. and that can come from all types of flowers. I know my insight is worthless to most,but I do weigh my bowls for honest comparisons and minimize bias. You cant get a new strain and pack twice as much weight into it than you have been using and call it good shit.

 

[HyDroid]

Brickweed can be EXTREMLEY dense, and you can get a good high off a bowl, but if you weighed it beforehand, you'd realize why; your using more herb than you think when you grind a dense bud into powdery form dense buds usually end up in.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. Moisture content is similar; I've heard that 20-30% of wet weight is a good place to dry the herb. But this is a wide margin; a bowl of 20% contains 1.5 as much non-water matter as a bowl of 30% of the same weight, and is presumably proportionally potent. This has implications for brick and bud alike.

 

[mscm888]

I'm almost certain the whole 'denser is better' idea stems from the concept that denser buds means more weight per plant for the grower. Someone heard that was a good thing, and made assumption. You know how an idea can build. Your not getting free weed, your getting less weed, with more content per bud. Its not a big deciding factor on potency from my experience. Brickweed can be EXTREMLEY dense, and you can get a good high off a bowl, but if you weighed it beforehand, you'd realize why; your using more herb than you think when you grind a dense bud into powdery form dense buds usually end up in. To me, the good stuff is herb tha rolls down itself like molasses, when you empty your grinder. and that can come from all types of flowers. I know my insight is worthless to most,but I do weigh my bowls for honest comparisons and minimize bias. You cant get a new strain and pack twice as much weight into it than you have been using and call it good shit.

Living in the Bay allows me to pick exactly what I want and choose from the absolutely best flowers available to the public.

Having said that, I continue to come home with dense flowers. Someone probably mentioned it already but it is nearly always because the strains I am after are dense flowers by breeding or by nature. It surely isn't because I remeber my friend from junior high inparting the wisdom of "its dense brick weed bro, so you know it's good!"

 

[Jeppy]

When I think of the word 'fluffy', I think immediately of cotton candy. Hey, cotton candy happens to be a medical strain. I read thru the thread and I think I can visualize most peoples idea of fluffy. So, with that in mind I will ask those that were around, 'back in the o day' to think back to Thai. Mainly Thai weed itself. Some of the 'fluffiest' weed there was but POTENT as hell. I lived to find Thai weed!!!!!!

 

[ilovebOObs]

"fluffy" is just leafy bud right? true those can be potent but i just prefer nuggey looking bud. breaks up into little balls. could be from my smoking days, nuggey bud makes better blunts and joints. thats why i love anything OG.

 

[djonkoman]

fluffy is open/airy, not dense. could be leafy, but doesn''t have to be so.
fluffy resulting from sub-optimal growing conditions is usually leafy, but some that are wellgrown but stil fluffy don't have to be leafy

 

[BaMbAaAChA]

I'm hitting off of S.A.G.E. which is fluffy but has about 25% THC content.

I so damn want to try that one!!

 

[Blue Dream]

I so damn want to try that one!!

The SAGE is very fluffy, brittle and breaks up easily. But it's more like a Sativa that results in a clean and soaring cerebral high.

 

[Greenscreen]

SAGE has gotta be up there with my fav strains for me.. Only had it once over here and once in the Dam but both times it was remarkable!!

 

[Massiv710]

I agree. Sage is pretty cosmic.