Think of the tree leaves in fall. As temperatures drop, they change from green to red, orange, yellow, or gold. Cannabis doesn’t produce the colors until the latter half of the flowering stage, with a few exceptions. Once the green fades, they can come forth and shine.

Temperature plays a vital role, as cooler temperatures inhibit chlorophyll production. Chlorophyll, you might remember from 6th-grade science, is the plant component vital to photosynthesis.

For cannabis, depending on the lineage of the strain, certain other colors will appear when you drop the temp and the light cycle shortens, mimicking the change in season.

The ideal range to grow cannabis is a pH of 5.5-6.5. But during flowering, you can lean one way or another to enhance or minimize certain anthocyanins, bringing out certain colors.