shut off lights completely in the last week of flowering??
- Thread starter beeznutz
- Start date
Jimdamick
Well-Known Member
A lot of seed companies recommend increasing the dark period during the last week or so to increase resin production. What I do is at about 2 weeks before harvest, I reduce the on time by 1 hour, then every 2nd day reduce by 1 hour, ending up with 1 hour on time during the final 2 or 3 days. This mimics the reduction of sunlight that occurs in the fall, making the plant do its most to create more resin before the end of it's life cycle. It makes sense to me, but It is hard to tell if it really makes a difference.
sloppyseconds
Member
Well heres an update,1st day 0f second week i started seeing a little mold so conclusion keep the humidity low so i did one week in darkness and changed back to 12 hours i did a through manicure to get mold off and it seems to be going fine now!!!So watch humidity!!!Not really seeing a major difference its probly better to switch to uv the last week rather than darkness! I dont know, try it and draw your own conclusion.
...........i should change my name to sloppyharvest lol!
...........i should change my name to sloppyharvest lol!
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hyroot
Well-Known Member
this is so stupid. Does the sun turn off for a week. No. The sun schedule gradually drops to 14/10 over fall and late summer. On south America its 12/12 year round and eventually drops to 11/13. Same for Hawaii. If you want to play with schedules. Add 730nm infrared for 5 min at lights out. To more mimic sunset / nature. Use some common sense. Educate yourself before fucking up your grow. Gradually dropping light just makes the plants finish faster, stretch more and makes yield suffer.
Topo
Well-Known Member
Solid points right there folks!
BDOGKush
Well-Known Member
"One question I have been
asked repeatedly by medical marijuana growers is when to harvest in relation to the light cycle. Many growers want to know if harvesting during the light cycle versus the dark cycle makes any difference in the potency of the cannabinoids. There have been many opinions on this subject and also many perpetuated myths. I decided to experiment with harvesting at different periods throughout the light cycle to see if there was a noticeable (measurable) difference in cannabinoid potency.
I decided to harvest three identical plants, all grown in the same room, at different times throughout the room’s light cycle. The first plant was harvested right before the light cycle occurred. The second was harvested right after the light cycle finished. The final plant was moved to a completely dark, temperature and humidity controlled room where it sat for 48 hours and was then harvested.
There was no noticeable difference in cannabinoid potency. We tested three samples from each plant and averaged the results of each plant to compare to one another. The results were virtually identical. There was no difference in potency in relation to the time at which the plants were harvested. Since machines are not always accurate, we also provided a few patients with blind samples to see if they noticed any differences in the samples. No differences were noted.
It is true that resin production on a medical marijuana plant peaks during the dark cycle. Because of this fact, there has been a myth perpetuated that cannabis harvested right before the light cycle begins — or cannabis given 24-72 hours of dark before harvesting — will produce a higher potency medicine than medical cannabis harvested during the light cycle. The problem with this theory is that a typical medical marijuana plant has a blooming period of about 50-60 days. When the overall time of the blooming cycle is taken into consideration, an additional day or two is pretty insignificant. The essential oils and resins are not produced overnight but instead are steadily built up over the entire blooming process. The number of cannabinoids degraded in one light cycle is completely negligible when comparing potency of the final product.
I tend to harvest my medical marijuana plants right before the light cycle begins, but this has always been a matter of convenience over anything else. It allows me to harvest and remove one crop and then bring in the next crop right at the beginning of the light cycle. This gives my next crop twelve hours under the blooming lights to better establish themselves before their flowering period begins (12 hours of darkness). My plants seem to transition better from vegetative to blooming if I start with the light cycle instead of immediately placing them in the dark cycle.
Harvesting during the light or dark cycle should be determined by personal preference and convenience. Growers should not get hung up on harvesting at a particular time in the light cycle. Plants harvested when they are ripe will be potent regardless of the time of day they are cut down."
http://bigbudsmag.com/grow/how/article/marijuana-harvest-myth-debunked-may-2012
asked repeatedly by medical marijuana growers is when to harvest in relation to the light cycle. Many growers want to know if harvesting during the light cycle versus the dark cycle makes any difference in the potency of the cannabinoids. There have been many opinions on this subject and also many perpetuated myths. I decided to experiment with harvesting at different periods throughout the light cycle to see if there was a noticeable (measurable) difference in cannabinoid potency.
I decided to harvest three identical plants, all grown in the same room, at different times throughout the room’s light cycle. The first plant was harvested right before the light cycle occurred. The second was harvested right after the light cycle finished. The final plant was moved to a completely dark, temperature and humidity controlled room where it sat for 48 hours and was then harvested.
There was no noticeable difference in cannabinoid potency. We tested three samples from each plant and averaged the results of each plant to compare to one another. The results were virtually identical. There was no difference in potency in relation to the time at which the plants were harvested. Since machines are not always accurate, we also provided a few patients with blind samples to see if they noticed any differences in the samples. No differences were noted.
It is true that resin production on a medical marijuana plant peaks during the dark cycle. Because of this fact, there has been a myth perpetuated that cannabis harvested right before the light cycle begins — or cannabis given 24-72 hours of dark before harvesting — will produce a higher potency medicine than medical cannabis harvested during the light cycle. The problem with this theory is that a typical medical marijuana plant has a blooming period of about 50-60 days. When the overall time of the blooming cycle is taken into consideration, an additional day or two is pretty insignificant. The essential oils and resins are not produced overnight but instead are steadily built up over the entire blooming process. The number of cannabinoids degraded in one light cycle is completely negligible when comparing potency of the final product.
I tend to harvest my medical marijuana plants right before the light cycle begins, but this has always been a matter of convenience over anything else. It allows me to harvest and remove one crop and then bring in the next crop right at the beginning of the light cycle. This gives my next crop twelve hours under the blooming lights to better establish themselves before their flowering period begins (12 hours of darkness). My plants seem to transition better from vegetative to blooming if I start with the light cycle instead of immediately placing them in the dark cycle.
Harvesting during the light or dark cycle should be determined by personal preference and convenience. Growers should not get hung up on harvesting at a particular time in the light cycle. Plants harvested when they are ripe will be potent regardless of the time of day they are cut down."
http://bigbudsmag.com/grow/how/article/marijuana-harvest-myth-debunked-may-2012
hyroot
Well-Known Member
light degrades trichomes. Whens its dark. Trichs replenish sort of speak. The calyx swell when the light doesn't come back on. It knows its life is over. Oils increase too anyway the plant is trying to push out seeds to live on its lineage. No pollination happens so the calyx swell. Oils increase. Imo no more than 24 hours of darkness. The plant will die and start drying after that. Then its a bitch to trim. in perpetual gardens. This is more difficult. harvesting qt peak ripeness is important.
sloppyseconds
Member
Next im gonna try 12 on a day, off next, on next day, off next day and so on and so on starting from first day of flower!!!Might save power, might just double my flowering time!!..... or maybe become another SloppyHarvest LMAO!!!!
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churchhaze
Well-Known Member
The main reason to leave the lights out for a long period is to allow the plant to burn off all the starch stored in the leaves during the night. Also, the plants "sap" is stored in the roots at night, so it's best to cut before the sap rises.
Leaves in general (for all plants except for starch-excess mutants) store just enough starch in the chloroplasts to last for one night's growth.
The plant knows how long the night will be, and converts starch to sugars for immediate growth at a constant rate throughout the night. This means that after 12 hours of darkness, the leaves' chloroplasts are almost entirely depleted of starch, and growth stops.
Iodine starch tests prove this. After a period of light, leaves will stain black with iodine, but after a period of dark, they will not stain black with iodine.
Less starch in the leaves when harvesting should theoretically mean a more effective cure.
However... after 12 hours of darkness, the leaves have already converted all the starch to sugars and burned, and growth is stopped, so you may as well cut at this point.
Leaves in general (for all plants except for starch-excess mutants) store just enough starch in the chloroplasts to last for one night's growth.
The plant knows how long the night will be, and converts starch to sugars for immediate growth at a constant rate throughout the night. This means that after 12 hours of darkness, the leaves' chloroplasts are almost entirely depleted of starch, and growth stops.
Iodine starch tests prove this. After a period of light, leaves will stain black with iodine, but after a period of dark, they will not stain black with iodine.
Less starch in the leaves when harvesting should theoretically mean a more effective cure.
However... after 12 hours of darkness, the leaves have already converted all the starch to sugars and burned, and growth is stopped, so you may as well cut at this point.