Purple cannabis turns heads. Most people expect cannabis to have a green color, so they’re shocked—and in awe—when they witness purple cannabis. Some sellers suggest purple cannabis is stronger and better than green strains. Here’s the truth: that’s not the case. 

Still, growing purple buds is an excellent option. In this article, we’ll discuss how to grow purple cannabis and why it happens:

The Difference Between Green and Purple Buds

In most cannabis plants, chlorophyll is the dominant pigment. Chlorophyll is highly efficient at capturing light energy because it absorbs almost all visible light spectrums. The only wavelength it doesn’t absorb is the green spectrum, which is why most plants look green to the human eye. 

However, the majority of plants have more functional pigments than chlorophyll. And, in the absence of chlorophyll, some plants use carotenoids and anthocyanin to capture sunlight energy. Anthocyanin can absorb all wavelengths apart from the indigo spectrum, which makes it appear a purple color to the human eye. 

Are Purple Buds Stronger?

Sure, you may have heard people say purple buds are stronger than green buds; it’s a clever selling point. Unfortunately, it’s not true. There’s no way to gauge whether purple weed is more potent than green weed. 

The most important part of your cannabis is genetics. These can determine the potency, taste, and overall quality of cannabis. The color, however, is unlikely to change anything.

Which Parts of the Cannabis Plant Turn Purple?

There are four parts of the cannabis plant that turn purple:

• Leaves: Your cannabis plant’s leaves may turn purple, but they won’t have a considerable effect on the final color of your buds. You’ll probably trim many purple leaves during your post-harvest work anyway. 
• Trichomes: These are tiny crystals on the surface of your buds. Initially, they start clear but can turn purple over time. 
• Calyxes: These are small pods that make up your buds. Hundreds of calyxes make up your cannabis flowers. 
• Pistils: Pistils are small hairs that pop out of your plant and let you know they’re female. They can start as a white color before turning pink, purple, or orange. These colors will remain after your harvest. If you want your plants to remain purple, you need to ensure the pistils change color. 

How To Make Your Buds Turn Purple 

There are various ways to make your buds turn purple. Let’s look at how these can impact the color of your buds:

1. Have the Right Genetics

Many plants have been genetically selected to produce anthocyanin rather than chlorophyll. As a result, they will grow purple themselves. Popular purple strains include Grape Ape, Grandaddy Purple, Purple Urkle, Sour Grape, and Obama Kush. 

2. Use Cold Temperature 

The temperature of your growing conditions can have a significant impact on your cannabis color. For example, having a cooler night may encourage cannabis plants to display red, pink, or purple colors. 

However, this doesn’t work with all strains; in fact, you may shock the plants if you change the temperature with specific strains. It’s possible to go below 55 Fahrenheit with most cannabis strains. However, you may cause damage if you have cold-sensitive strains. 

3. Use Bright Lighting 

In some cases, strong lights can bring out different colors on cannabis plants. That’s because strong lights can destroy the chlorophyll cells, which promote purple, pink, and red tones. Nevertheless, the tones are more visible in the areas where the bright light hits the cannabis. So some parts of the plant may appear green. 

4. Adjust the Ph 

Some cannabis species may exhibit various colors based on the Ph. Although it’s not confirmed, some growers have witnessed different colored buds depending on the Ph levels. For example, purple strains often present stronger purple colors if they have higher Ph levels. 

In most cases, if the substrate’s Ph is under 6.0, the blue, red, and purple colors can become even deeper. However, it’s most likely that the leaves have deficiencies. If you alter the substrates Ph, ensure it’s close to harvest so you can harvest the plant if anything goes wrong. 

The Wrong Way to Make Your Buds Turn Purple

Many cannabis growers make this mistake: they deprive their plants of oxygen to turn them purple. However, this is a complete myth. Depriving your plants of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and gas doesn’t increase the chances of them turning purple. Instead, it potentially harms your entire plant. 

Other growers may use food coloring to dye their plants. Although it can change the color of your cannabis plants, we wouldn’t recommend it. In addition, some growers will change the light cycle, water schedule, and growing medium to turn their buds purple. In all three cases, it doesn’t work. 

Choose the right genetics, use bright lighting, adjust the Ph, and use cooler temperatures if you want to change the color of your buds. If you use these methods properly, they should work without damaging your plans. 

Final Thoughts 

Purple cannabis has an excellent reputation. Some people wrongly believe it’s stronger than green cannabis; others believe it looks beautiful. Either way, purple cannabis is extremely popular, so it’s always an excellent idea to grow some purple cannabis. 

However, make sure you do it the right way. There’s no point stressing your plant to make it appear purple because it won’t change the quality of the cannabis. 

Instead, follow the tips in this article, be patient, and closely watch your plants to see if there’s any damage.