when cultivating pot, there is a certain stage near the end of the budding stage wherein you expose the plant to immense heat. In order to protect the leaves from heat, the cannabis emits little white "crystal looking" tricomes that contain enormous portions of THC. This is the definitive step to producing great cannabis. Tricomes are sometimes mistaken for sprinkled crack by uninformed potheads.
by Kat November 21, 2004