Best time to chop

Jules1976

Jules1976

Well-Known Member
I'm gonna be harvesting in about 3 weeks and was wondering is there a.best way to do it I've read so many things like 36 hours darkness before chopping , chop just when you would normally turn lights on in a morning, water the day before you chop so takes longer to dry product is any of this true ? How do you guys like to harvest thanks for input everyone
 
Jules1976

Jules1976

Well-Known Member
Jules1976 said:
I'm gonna be harvesting in about 3 weeks and was wondering is there a.best way to do it I've read so many things like 36 hours darkness before chopping , chop just when you would normally turn lights on in a morning, water the day before you chop so takes longer to dry product is any of this true ? How do you guys like to harvest thanks for input everyone
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Anyone have any tips please
 
bigunyun

bigunyun

Well-Known Member
From what I've read around RIU, most think putting your plants in the dark or changing your watering schedule is bro science.
Many say they chop right after lights on but not sure if that's legit science or not.
I'd say keep doing what you're doing until they're ready and then chop and hang when you have the time
 
Jules1976

Jules1976

Well-Known Member
bigunyun said:
From what I've read around RIU, most think putting your plants in the dark or changing your watering schedule is bro science.
Many say they chop right after lights on but not sure if that's legit science or not.
I'd say keep doing what you're doing until they're ready and then chop and hang when you have the time
Thanks for the input
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jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
Jules1976 said:
I'm gonna be harvesting in about 3 weeks and was wondering is there a.best way to do it I've read so many things like 36 hours darkness before chopping , chop just when you would normally turn lights on in a morning, water the day before you chop so takes longer to dry product is any of this true ? How do you guys like to harvest thanks for input everyone
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I harvest my plants when they are ready. Regardless of what the lights or watering are doing on that day.

even the same strain of seeds can grow 2 plants that vary when they ripen.

so you can never guarantee everything is going to be ready at the same time!

So how could you do a 3 day dark cycle etc with plants still needing light?

On the other side of it the “science” part and I use that term loosely, is that THC content is at its highest during the dark cycle.

is this true?

most likely yes.

is it going to make much difference to your end result?

unless you’re interested in getting that 0.001% difference in THC then it’s pretty pointless.
 
Wizzlebiz

Wizzlebiz

Well-Known Member
bigunyun said:
From what I've read around RIU, most think putting your plants in the dark or changing your watering schedule is bro science.
Many say they chop right after lights on but not sure if that's legit science or not.
I'd say keep doing what you're doing until they're ready and then chop and hang when you have the time
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Allow me to explain why it is actually bro science.

When we cut a plant down and hang it in the dark the exact same functions take place. The point is to stop photo synthesis.

When we chop the plant does not die immediately. In fact it still tries to go thru the same processes as before chop simply because its still alive.

Putting the plant in the dark for any time before chop is a actual waste of time due to the fact that we dry in the dark.

Same thing just one is timed correctly while the other is not.
 
L

Lowkeygardener

Well-Known Member
I think I know what’s going on here. Some people will turn the lights off and stop watering for 3-4 days before chopping. What this does is slow down the drying process while also ending photosynthesis. A nice long drying process will result in higher quality, smoother tasting buds. So they leave the plants alone in the dark for 3-4 days, then they will normal chop the plant at the stalk and hang the whole plant upside down. The more vegetation that you keep on the plant while drying, the longer the process takes which is what you want. You don’t want a speedy dry/cure. Hope this clears it up for you.
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
Lowkeygardener said:
I think I know what’s going on here. Some people will turn the lights off and stop watering for 3-4 days before chopping. What this does is slow down the drying process while also ending photosynthesis. A nice long drying process will result in higher quality, smoother tasting buds. So they leave the plants alone in the dark for 3-4 days, then they will normal chop the plant at the stalk and hang the whole plant upside down. The more vegetation that you keep on the plant while drying, the longer the process takes which is what you want. You don’t want a speedy dry/cure. Hope this clears it up for you.
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You could also do that by watering the day before you chop and then hang the entire plant lol.

that way it has Max Moisture content before being hung up.
 
Jules1976

Jules1976

Well-Known Member
Lowkeygardener said:
I think I know what’s going on here. Some people will turn the lights off and stop watering for 3-4 days before chopping. What this does is slow down the drying process while also ending photosynthesis. A nice long drying process will result in higher quality, smoother tasting buds. So they leave the plants alone in the dark for 3-4 days, then they will normal chop the plant at the stalk and hang the whole plant upside down. The more vegetation that you keep on the plant while drying, the longer the process takes which is what you want. You don’t want a speedy dry/cure. Hope this clears it up for you.
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So you would hang the whole plant as one I was going to dry each individual branch and leave everything on until after dry then trim and cure
 
L

Lowkeygardener

Well-Known Member
jondamon said:
You could also do that by watering the day before you chop and then hang the entire plant lol.

that way it has Max Moisture content before being hung up.
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Yeah for sure there are a ton of different ways to increase the drying period. Was just trying to provide info on this dark period the original post was on. This isn’t how I dry/cure. I use water only the last week of flower to allow the plant to use it’s stored energy, clear off any deadening leafs then just hang the whole plant up for 6-7 days, then do a trim of larger vegetation and let it hang up for another 5-7 days. I like to make some dry ice hash before the dry ends which is why I do it like this. Not saying it’s the best way or only way.
 
L

Lowkeygardener

Well-Known Member
Jules1976 said:
So you would hang the whole plant as one I was going to dry each individual branch and leave everything on until after dry then trim and cure
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Leaving all the vegetation will slow down the drying process. So keeping the plant as one is the best way to maximize that. Cutting each branch individually will make them dry a lot faster which isn’t necessarily good. I’m not saying it’s wrong or you can’t do it, just up to you. I will say a proper longer dry and cure will produce you better tasting buds is all.
 
Jules1976

Jules1976

Well-Known Member
Lowkeygardener said:
Yeah for sure there are a ton of different ways to increase the drying period. Was just trying to provide info on this dark period the original post was on. This isn’t how I dry/cure. I use water only the last week of flower to allow the plant to use it’s stored energy, clear off any deadening leafs then just hang the whole plant up for 6-7 days, then do a trim of larger vegetation and let it hang up for another 5-7 days. I like to make some dry ice hash before the dry ends which is why I do it like this. Not saying it’s the best way or only way.
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I'm new to growing and don't smoke tobacco anymore so I'm gonna not looking to make any hash I just want a nice product that takes around 10-14 days to dry as I'm told this is best I was.just worried that hanging the whole plant would be too much but a few people have mentioned hanging the whole thing
 
L

Lowkeygardener

Well-Known Member
Jules1976 said:
I'm new to growing and don't smoke tobacco anymore so I'm gonna not looking to make any hash I just want a nice product that takes around 10-14 days to dry as I'm told this is best I was.just worried that hanging the whole plant would be too much but a few people have mentioned hanging the whole thing
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I think it’s one of the more natural ways to dry it. Some people also run humidifiers to keep the dry area at 60% humidity which is where you want your buds. Once you jar them they need to be between 55-65% humidity in the curing jars. That’s the cure zone, anythjng above can result in mold, anythjng below and the buds won’t cure properly
 
euphoria526

euphoria526

Well-Known Member
Last run I hung 2 small-ish plants whole for about 7 days. I kept them in dark for 48 hrs, I was in soil and flushed with plain ok’d water for 14 days, and I did a lot of defoliation on that one, so no HUGE fan leaves, but a lot of water leaves. Smooooooooth smoke.

I’ve also heard of people not shopping to dry and leaving the plant whole. But I don’t think that’s a good idea
 
Wizzlebiz

Wizzlebiz

Well-Known Member
Alter Jean said:
Many people don't want to wait for that whole plant to dry but I think it's good.

@Jules1976 Lowkey got you some good pointers. Exercise your patience it will be tough :blsmoke:
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Unfortunately that thought pattern by many people really messes up the quality of the bud. Much like chopping early it breaks down to a lack of patience.
 
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