Those fuzzy hairs you see are the trichomes!
This article will cover the newly found relationship between wild microbes around us, the terpenes your cannabis plant produces, and the trichomes your cannabis plant uses to house the two. Let’s take a deep dive into this beneficial relationship and explain how you can use this knowledge to your advantage in your cannabis homegrow.
What is a Microbe?
Microbes are comprised of single-cell microscopic organisms that can either live alone or in a colony. They can consist of Fungi, Bacteria, Virus, Protist, Algae, or Archaea. Most are beneficial like baker’s yeast or brewer’s yeast while a select few can cause disease such as the Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria that causes strep throat in humans.
This may all be coming back to you from those days in grade school.
Believe it or not, your cannabis plant at home is covered in microbes and they are in a delicate working relationship with one another.
What is a Terpene?
Terpenes are naturally occurring chemical compounds found in plants including your cannabis plant at home. They are responsible for the scents, flavors, and even colors associated with many kinds of foliage. Regarding cannabis, terpenes are what make certain strains smell or taste different from others. For example, your Super Lemon Haze strain has a higher concentration of the terpenes caryophyllene & limonene which gives it that lemon smell and flavor.
What is a Trichome?
Trichomes are found on most plants. They serve many purposes but when specifically talking about cannabis, they are the little hairs you can see on your flower. They house the cannabinoids, terpenes, and microbes. Think of trichomes being the super concentrated medicinal portion of the cannabis plant.
Fun Fact: Kief is the collection of all your cannabis plants trichomes.
The Beneficial Relationship:
It was just recently discovered that microbes like endophytic bacteria found in your cannabis plants trichomes use our plants terpenes to communicate with each other. Who knew!
How you can leverage this new knowledge:
So…. increasing the microbes in your cannabis plants trichomes would increase the terpene profiles in your homegrow.
Want to get more lemon terpene concentration out of your Super Lemon Haze plant at home? Introduce some biology via compost tea or microbial inoculant to your homegrow on a routine basis and experiment for yourself.
What’s Next?
Now that you have learned more about the Microbes & Terpenes in your cannabis plant, feel free to discover more from our weekly blog posts! Our website is full of educational material to help you stay up-to-date and become a successful home grower. Simply click on our Blog tab below and learn more about this ever-changing industry.