White tips: light damage or extra trichs?

[bushbob]

So I posted an update in my grow journal where I said that one of the CBD Dragons appears to be light sensitive due to white tips developing. The other large CBD pheno have many colas at the same distance that are unaffected, but I raised the light anyway and it is well and truly at a safe distance from all the plants.
Today, I noticed that the white tips are spreading/growing and being concerned that there could be some other issue causing the white, jumped online to do some research.

Most articles pointed to light/heat stress but there were a couple of articles that talked about a growing phenomenon where with LED lighting some strains are developing white tips that are white due to a large number of trichomes.
They all talk about a particular case where a veteran grower had white tips and consulted with a couple of other well regarded people in the cannabis industry and research who all concluded the same thing: that the white areas had much higher levels of phytochemicals.

The plant seems totally fine and healthy other than the tips and close up pics do look like there are alot of trichs packs in. Any opinions on if its damage or extra trichs? Has anyone else had this happen to their plants? How reliable do you guys think the info in the articles is?
Would be good to have lucked into extra potent CBD genetics. I have 3 cuttings from that plant (labelled "E").

 

[Sticky67]

@bushbob I have no idea to what's the cause is sorry but it looks a bit deformed, like it's doubling or tripling up in the bud formation which I sometimes see in veg ie extra leaf tips, tri leaf seedlings, I could be dead wrong and I'm thinking it's nothing your doing or the environment, I think it's genetics. In any case it'll be fun to see what comes from her..and great pics and lovely buds mate .

 

[Sticky67]

It's a fluffy looking top hey looks pretty cute ..

 

[Madmick]

Yeah , nah I forget what it's actually called but it's certainly not trichs , those ppl you researched maybe don't know as much as they or others think

It's more a wax like substance, from memory this is a mutation possibly caused by the light, not just LEDs, think last time was on OSA and they had a hps lights

The others have just taken a little longer to develop

It's not desirable, don't think it's even smoke able

 

[bushbob]

@bushbob I have no idea to what's the cause is sorry but it looks a bit deformed, like it's doubling or tripling up in the bud formation which I sometimes see in veg ie extra leaf tips, tri leaf seedlings, I could be dead wrong and I'm thinking it's nothing your doing or the environment, I think it's genetics. In any case it'll be fun to see what comes from her..and great pics and lovely buds mate .

Yeah I'm thinking genetics too but I'm a curious sort and would love to know the root cause.
Environment should be fine. Temps: 19min/28max/22avg, RH: 47%min/65%max/57%avg. Light DLI was like 35-37, I think, according to the phone app.
There were heaps of tiny broken up roots in the res, so I nuked it with Canazym and Microbial and for a while I was concerned about pathogens and root issues. But that would affect all the plants and not just the one. Related issues would probably present in a different manner.
Just gonna roll with it and hopefully its a good thing.

It's a fluffy looking top hey looks pretty cute ..

Some of the closeups have a slight pinkish hue I thought. It is a nice variation so far.

 

[bushbob]

Yeah , nah I forget what it's actually called but it's certainly not trichs , those ppl you researched maybe don't know as much as they or others think

It's more a wax like substance, from memory this is a mutation possibly caused by the light, not just LEDs, think last time was on OSA and they had a hps lights

The others have just taken a little longer to develop

It's not desirable, don't think it's even smoke able

Damn, thats the sort of thing I was hoping not to hear.
I'll do some more reading and look out for mention of wax

 

[Bigfoot (aka Lil’ Wristy)]

Itsn ot heat stress, some genetics can't handle the light intensity.

 

[bushbob]

@Madmick Is the substance you are talking about possibly guttation or xylem sap?

Heres another article with research done by Philips which calls them "true white tips" and say its is a type of mutation triggered by excessive red spectrum light.

we are inclined to think that true white tips are a sort of mutation at the tip of the plant branches (meristem)

Red-light threshold

Our research has proven that true white tips occur after crossing a threshold in absolute amount of red light at the top of the plant in the crucial weeks for flowering. Do not confuse red light only with PAR light, this is specific for red light only. It will happen under any type of grow light (LED, HPS or combinations) and under any light intensity, as soon as the absolute amount of red light exceeds the triggering value in µmol/m2.

The people in the other articles are Susan Gress, who runs Vashon Velvet grow op, and Dr Ethan Russo, neurologist and cannabis expert. They aren't just some random reddit grower.

Then theres also this old hippy dude who just says to chop off the white stuff but doesn't really explain what it is and why it is bad.

Not gonna stop researching yet but good to get some opinions

 

[Madmick]

Yeah I think that's it , wasn't sure about red spectrum but makes sense I guess

Either way it's not good , don't won't to make that a regular thing

 

[bushbob]

I don't think the white tips have anything to do with Xylem sap after doing some reading.
Xylem sap is caused by high RH and root pressure (which is interesting because RH and pressure diff were things I was curious about when covering the trays with plastic). I agree that Xylem isn't something to smoke.

Cannot find info on any other cannabis secretions, waxes or substances that could be the cause. The all of the articles I've read say that if its not light damage its probably a desirable trait. The Philips one says:

True white tips and their chemistry

When selling cannabis flower tips, we know that white color lowers the bag appeal and its market value in many regions. However, the THC and/or CBD levels in true white tips are very often higher than in the equivalent green tips buds of the same plant. Therefore, a true white tip could (or should) be sold as a highly valued specialty product.

Royal Queen Seeds:

The odd aesthetics seemed to be a result of sky-high trichome production. These findings motivated Gress to bring a sample of the buds to a testing facility. The results showed significant concentrations of phytochemicals such as THC and terpenes, further evidence that trichomes were the cause.

I think I'll just stick it out and let it run its course unless someone who knows is able to tell me what it is. It's only the one plant and it'll be and interesting experiment. Would still be good to know more about it though.

 

[Kee Mao]

Seems to be a 7east trait. Went from white fluff,to a little crown on top of bud. Super lemon dragon x tuna breath.

 

[bushbob]

Seems to be a 7east trait. Went from white fluff,to a little crown on top of bud. Super lemon dragon x tuna breath.View attachment 37526View attachment 37527
View attachment 37525

Good to know I'm not the only one. I'm guessing thats the SLDxTB that you have drying now? Did you trim the white off or leave it intact?

 

[Kee Mao]

Good to know I'm not the only one. I'm guessing thats the SLDxTB that you have drying now? Did you trim the white off or leave it intact?

I left them intact. It’s solid underneath the white.. The buds all slowly lost the white and developed little crowns. Never seen this before. I would let it ride.

 

[Sedge]

Light bleaching?

 

[Kee Mao]

 

[bushbob]

Light bleaching?

That was my first thought which is why I raised the light but the white patches are still getting larger. Theres no signs of light damage to the leaves and hairs aren't dying off. And its just the one plant.
I'm inclined to think its the genetics not environmental but I'm not gonna keep raising the light to please the one plant. Gonna ride it out and keep a close eye on things.

 

[Sticky67]

Wow so now we have 2 different people and plants doing very similar wierd growth patterns. Maybe in the breeding process some have become more sensitive to normal light!! It's got me stumped but now I'm hoping to hear an answer. . Maybe 7 east can chime in and give us an idea. They'd more than likely know or have seen this before.

 

[Kee Mao]

Dragon seems to be the common denominator.

 

[Harry bootlace]

It’s quite pretty

 

[bushbob]

Found another, similar thread posted some time ago on the ILGM.
They narrowed it down to light bleaching, albinoism or the same mutation mentioned in the previous articles I've posted. Only one or two plants showing white tips, lights at what they consider a safe distance and healthy appearing other than the white tips.
This is gonna bug me