Three Small Tips To Help Cannabis Increase Cannabinoid Production
By Photonican
July 1st, 2022
Breeding techniques, temperature, nutrition, and genetic modification are generally considered commonly used methods to increase cannabinoid yield. What might be easily ignored is that exposing cannabis to specific kinds of light may help increase cannabinoid production. After reading this article, you will know several new methods that may help increase your cannabinoid production.
1、What is cannabinoid?
The cannabinoid is a very important chemical extracted from female cannabis. The studies have found that cannabinoids are mostly accumulated in the glandular hair cavity of female plants.
There are more than 150 cannabinoids have been found in cannabis. THC and CBD have the most abundant cannabinoids in cannabis.
THC is the psychoactive ingredient found in cannabis. Until now, THC is the most famous compound in marijuana. When heating marijuana, THC in cannabis will decompose, which will make people feel very high. What’s more, it can help release pain, increase appetite, and boost Your Immune System. However, the overuse of THC will lead to a variety of side effects, such as memory impairment, anxiety, dependence, and so on. Growers can grow cannabis indoors legally containing less than 0.3% THC.
CBD is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid. It is a well-known cannabinoid. Unlike THC， CBD can't get you "high". It can not only help relax the body and mind, protect the nerves and improve the self-healing ability of the skin, but also effectively eliminate the hallucinogenic effect of THC on the human body. Congress passed the 2018 Farm Bill and made hemp legal in all 50 states, and consequently, CBD derived from hemp is also legal. NOW， CBD products are everywhere such as oil, beauty and skincare products, and therapeutic agents.
2、How to increase cannabinoids in cannabis ?
Before knowing the measures to increase cannabinoids in cannabis, let’s know about the growth cycle of cannabis：
（1）Seed stage: Lasting for 1-7 days, the plant sprouts. Usually, there is only one left on the plant.
（2）Seedling stage: Lasting for 1 to 2 weeks, and there are about 4 to 7 leaves on the plant.
（3）Vegetative growth stage: Lasting for 3-6 weeks, the plant grows rapidly, and the roots and leaves are growing rapidly.
In these three stages, cannabis produces a little THC CBD.
（4）Pre-flowering stage： Lasting for 7 -14 days, the sex of the cannabis can be determined during this growth stage.
Female: there are two pistils on the buds.
Male/Bisexual: there are small green balls on the node areas.
Once the Pollen of male cannabis falls on the stigma of the pistil of female cannabis, the female cannabis will use all its nutrients to seed rather than produce cannabinoids (mainly THC, CBD), which will reduce the yield. So we should remove the male and bisexual cannabis before flowering. Female cannabis produces more and more cannabinoids in this stage. 
（5）Flowering period: Lasting for 6-10 weeks, white trichomes will grow in the pistils of the unpollinated and seedless female flowers. The trichomes produce cannabinoids such as THC and CBD terpenes.
（6）Harvest: when the color of the head of the trichomes turns from transparent to milky white, opaque, and finally to amber, the cannabis is ready to be harvested. Amber indicates that the amount of cannabinoids in its resin is high. But once the trichomes fall off, it means it is too late for harvest and most cannabinoids disappear.
In the growth cycle of cannabis, we can know that the synthesis of cannabinoids in cannabis is mainly in the flowering stage.
Therefore, it is important to take measures to help cannabis produce more cannabinoids （THC and CBD） during the flowering stage.
Three important measures may help cannabis increase the production of cannabinoids during the flowering stage.
1、UVA or UVB light exposed to cannabis 
Ultraviolet light includes UVA（320-400nm）, UVB （290-320nm）, and UVC（100-290nm.）.
UVA and UVB play an important role in flowering and auxin synthesis.
UVA doesn't damage the DNA of plants. It will stimulate the cannabis to produce more trichomes. UVA light can also increase the activity of secondary metabolites in many plants. For cannabis, the most important secondary metabolite is cannabinoids
UVB rays are more intense than UVA rays. It can improve the physique of plants, and promote plant flowering and producing fruits.
A lot of experiments have demonstrated that under conditions of high UV-B exposure, Cannabis produces significantly greater quantities of THC.
UVB also can stimulate cannabis to produce more trichomes, but it will damage the DNA of most plants when plants are exposed to UV-B during the stage of flowering, natural compounds are produced in the secretory sac of sessile glandular hair for sun protection. This is similar to human skin exposed to sunlight turning brown. For cannabis, these compounds are cannabinoids.
However, if you are planting cannabis for the cannabinoid of CBD, please don’t expose UV-B to the cannabis. Because the more THC produce, the less CBD they produce.
UVC Exposed to cannabis is not recommended, because it is so intense that it can burn and scorch the cannabis and even cause it to death.
In the last two weeks of the stage of flowering, exposing UVB or UVA lights to cannabis before turning off the led white light for 30-60 minutes probably increases the yield of cannabinoids.
2、Far infrared light exposed to cannabis.
Infrared light includes near infrared light(700~ 2,000nm), medium infrared light(3,000~ 5,000nm) and far infrared light(8,000~14,000nm).
Usually, the full spectrum grow light or the red-blue growth light contains both red light and a small amount of near-infrared light, because it is closest to the wavelength range of red light.
Although studies have shown that near-infrared light combined with red light can improve the seed germination of many horticultural plant species.
No research has shown that near-infrared light has a clear role in plant growth and development, and it is not known whether it is beneficial to flowering. Therefore, infrared light is generally not used to expose plants.
Likewise, no studies have shown that mid-infrared light affects plants
Based on past experiences, far-red light combined with red light exposed to cannabis can help stretch the width of flowers which leads to increasing the yield of cannabinoids in cannabis.
In the last two weeks of the stage of flowering, far-infrared light exposed to cannabis before turning off the white LED grow light for about 120 minutes may increase the yield of cannabinoids.
3、Higher red light exposed to cannabis
According to scientific experiments, red light can improve flower blooming and fruit growth for most plants.
Based on experience, higher red light exposed to cannabis can not only improve flower blooming but also can increase the number of flowers on each plant.
Cannabinoids are produced by trichomes on flower buds. More flower buds mean more trichomes, then more cannabinoids can be produced
So higher red light exposure to cannabis may increase the yield of cannabinoids.
Previous
All You Need To Know About The Full Spectrum LED Grow Lights
Read More
Next
The Role of LED Grow Lights in Germany's Medical Cannabis Market
Read More
