August 06, 2020
For some medicinal plants growers, growing beautiful purple medicinal plants in their own is simply an enjoyable thing to do but its appearance matters less than the flavour. However, sometimes it’s nice to try something new or take on a challenge. People often grow purple medicinal plants to show their breeding skills to their medicinal plants friends, and some believe the colour positively affects the quality of the medicinal plants. medicinal plants with an appealing colour never fails to attract attention in your grow room/indoor grow tent.
Want to know how to grow purple medicinal plants and which steps to take? Keep on reading!
You’ll notice that most medicinal plants are green. Like the majority of other plants, medicinal plants uses a pigment called chlorophyll to convert light into energy, which it uses to grow. It so happens that plants don’t have a use for the light spectrum’s green wavelength. Chlorophyll seems to have a green color because it absorbs all colors but reflects green back. This is why the majority of vegetation is green.
However, plants use an assortment of other pigments to turn sunlight into energy. These include anthocyanins which absorb all wavelengths from the sun except colors in the indigo spectrum. This is what gives plants a purple tint. Therefore, purple plants have anthocyanins as the dominant pigment instead of chlorophyll.
Colorful Pistils / Hairs
Most growers want the buds themselves to appear colorful, so the color stays even after the buds are dried and cured.
There are two parts of the buds that can turn color. One part is the pistils/hairs that stick out. There are several strains where the pistils turn pink or purple.
Colorful Calyxes (Buds Themselves)
Calyxes are what make the buds themselves. medicinal plants “buds” are actually made of hundreds of calyxes stacked on top of each other, and some or all of them may become colors other than green.
Colorful Leaves
With some strains, the leaves may turn purple while the buds stay mostly green. This can make for absolutely gorgeous plants, but since leaves mostly get trimmed off after harvest, usually, a lot of the purple will no longer be visible on the buds after the trimming process.
For some strains, the leaves may turn purple while the buds stay green. This often happens after the plant gets exposed to chilly night temperatures (but not always). The leaves exposed to direct light are most likely to turn purple, while leaves in the shade often stay green.
Colorful Trichomes
In general, medicinal plants trichomes go from clear (not ready) to white (highest THC) to amber/yellow (more of a mellow effect) before they eventually wither and die. These color changes are often used to determine the best time to harvest medicinal plants.
However, sometimes, trichomes can turn purple or pink, making it difficult to know when to harvest. In that case, you want to also look at the pistils to determine the best harvest time!
1 – Start with the right genetics
Genetics are going to have the biggest impact on the final colour of your plants. So, if you’re set on growing purple medicinal plants, shop around for purple strains, as they’ll have been specifically bred for their unique colour. Remember that your buds are going to lose some colour after trimming, so opt for strains with the most vibrant purple pigmentation you can find.
2 –Mimic Fall Temperatures
Just as trees leaves turn yellow and red in fall, so do medicinal plants turn purple as a reaction to the change in seasons. So, even if you’ve purchased and planted seeds of custom-bred purple medicinal plants, you likely won’t see the desired shades of purple until at least mid-flowering, when temperatures outside get colder, especially at night. The exact reason behind the change in color is that colder temperatures cause molecules of chlorophyll to break down, exposing the purple and blue anthocyanin. One simple trick that’s going to help you reveal as many molecules of anthocyanin as possible.
If you grow indoors in a tent, it is possible to grow strains in the autumn photoperiod. You will then be able to control the vegetative and flowering phase of your plants by changing the light cycle. If you plan the grow schedule, then the night temperatures will hopefully be low enough to colour your medicinal plants purple. If it doesn’t get sufficiently cold in your grow room at night, you could try and lower the temperature with air conditioning/inline duct fan.
3 – Use Powerful Lighting/ Full Spectrum Led Grow Lights
Certain purple strains produce a more vivid color after exposure to intense, direct lighting on the leaves and buds. This is a method you need to experiment with to see if a specific strain reacts. Keep a close eye on your medicinal plants to ensure it doesn’t suffer from light burn. This is a risky proposition and isn’t necessary if you pick strains with the right genetics, to begin with.
Purple medicinal plants can be a great decoration for any medicinal plants garden, and eventually the ultimate addition to bag appeal of the final product. No wonder such a novelty creates an aura of mystery and provokes many myths to appear. Hopefully, this article has helped you realize the truth behind the purple color of medicinal plants and the methods of achieving growing this yourself.