The Magical Potential of Cannabis: What Leaves Can Tell You

As a result of this age-old tradition, there are many myths and legends surrounding its use. One of these is that you can tell how potent it is by looking at its leaves! If this sounds interesting to you, keep reading because we're going to take a closer look into what cannabis leaves can tell us about potency.

Types of Weed Leaves

There are two types of cannabis leaves: fan and sugar.

Weed Fan Leaves

Fan leaves show more normal growth with a thicker blade. They have a flat, thin blade with a triangular appearance when viewed from the top or bottom side. Cannabis plants will produce a single leaf at a time until they enter the flowering stage, where their focus will be big, fat colas. At this point, the cannabis plant will usually stop producing any new leaves altogether. It may keep a single leaf at the top of each branch for extra energy, but it won't make anything else.

Sugar Leaves

When cannabis plants are stressed out or receive too little light and air, they undergo the "stretching" effect. When this occurs, the cannabis plants will begin to produce many new leaves to gather as much energy as possible. These sugar leaves are a lot smaller and have a very narrow blade that is extremely pointed at its tip compared to regular fan leaves.

Cannabis Leaf Functions

As mentioned, cannabis leaves are used for photosynthesis, foliar feeding and respiratory purposes. They're also excellent indicators of growing conditions.

Humidity-related Issues
Brown or burnt leaf tips are often caused by too much direct exposure to the lights, which is common when growing weed indoors. However, other issues can cause the same effect. Cannabis plants that are suffering from humidity-related problems will display the same symptoms. They may have droopy leaves, which create a "stew" effect in their cups when grown hydroponically. This can be caused by too much heat or heat combined with high humidity levels.

Sugar leaf tips are narrow and sharp. Under stress conditions, they are formed to reduce transpiration.

Water Issues

A cannabis plant that is being overwatered will display symptoms such as drooping leaves, discoloration and wilting. Cannabis plants are very sensitive to chlorine levels so if tap water is used for watering, the water should be left out overnight before it is given to them or a water conditioner should be used.

In addition to this, a plant that is being overwatered will also perform something known as the "dunk" effect, where it has been placed in a dark growing environment and been given too much water at once because it absorbs all of the water in the container which forces the roots to stretch into their surroundings to find nourishment.Overwatering can cause root rot or other issues in a cannabis plant.

Nutrient Issues

There is a difference between overfeeding and nutrient toxicity. Nutrient toxicity occurs when there is too much fertilizer for the roots to intake at one time. It's often diagnosed from things such as light burn, wilting and fat leaves that are stiff and crinkled. It's also common in plants that haven't been given any air or light since it causes the roots to become very dense which restricts their ability to uptake nutrients. If allowed to continue, the plant will eventually die from starvation even though it is regularly watered.

Overwatering can cause root rot or other issues in a cannabis plant.

Overfeeding is often diagnosed when the leaves are dark green and healthy, but they start to wilt soon after being exposed to light which can cause them to turn yellow. This usually occurs when plants have been given too much fertilizer that wasn't broken down properly by beneficial bacteria or when plants have been placed in water with too much fertiliser.

What Leaf Color Indicates About CBD And THC Levels?

When growing cannabis indoors, it's often difficult to determine the sex of your plants until they reach at least week six of their flowering stage. Both CBD-dominant and THC-dominant strains will display slightly different colors on their fan leaves. Here are some common traits you'll notice between both types:

CBD-Dominant Cannabis Strains

A CBD-dominant Lava Cake Strain will display wide, dark green leaves. However, these plants will not grow to be very tall or branch out at all. The leaves will also be extremely thin and sticky, making them ideal for juicing since they can be broken down easily in a blender.

THC-Dominant Cannabis Strains

THC-dominant cannabis strains will grow much taller and display wider leaves than a CBD strain. They tend to branch out more and remain greener for longer than their CBD counterparts.