does darkness before harvest ACTUALLY do anything??
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bongmarley2009
Well-Known Member
I chop whenever I have free time as well. People claim that resin production increases or something when you give it some darkness, but I haven't seen any clear-cut evidence.
Yes. During darkness the plant stores starches in its roots, during the day when light is on, they are drawn up into the plant. Harvesting just before lights on (after flushing thoroughly of course) minimizes the amount of starches in the plant at the time of harvest. This means less starches to cure out, and a less harsh final product.
ganjaluvr
Well-Known Member
It does do something buddy... good question too.
I'll try and explain this.. as simple as possible.. but from the question you asked, I'm thinking your an intelligent person so you shouldn't have any problems understanding what I'm about to explain to you.. and everyone else that cares to read this. Let's get started..
Darkness before harvesting your buds.. (I give my plants 36 hours of darkness personally) which is what I suggest to anyone that asks me.. but lets stay on the subject here... Darkness before harvesting your plant(s).. gives the plant(s) time to use up and nutrients/water that might be in the soil.. and in its root system (its roots). Not giving your plant(s) plenty of a darkness time.. will and can result in having buds that will taste funny and possibly even smell funny.
Why you might ask?
Well its simple, during the dark period of growing or what I call (sleep time)... your plant's roots thrive & grow. This is also where Photosynthesis comes into play.. which is where the plant uses up all that energy from trapping light into its leafs.. and uses this energy to sustain its life. It's how the plant lives..
But to sum this up for you.. in a short summary:
You should give your harvest ready plants.. 36 hours of complete darkness (to avoid THC breakdown as also). Why? because not doing this can cause your precious buds to smell and taste funny (smelling & tasting like nutrients.. or just not good at all) Why? Because, again, when you don't give your plant(s) that 36 hours of darkness.. your not giving the plant a chance to dispose and use up how ever much nutrients and water that the plant may still have in its stems, leafs, and of course.. its roots. And so when you just decide to harvest your plant(s) without doing this.. and just decide to harvest the plant... and dry your buds.. you will have buds (that you spent alot of time and energy on) that will smell/taste like crap.
So therefore.. giving your plants this 36 hour dark period before harvesting them will really help in aiding in the quality and taste of your buds. I know from experience.. My first grow taste like crap, but then again.. I didn't know about giving the plants the dark period before harvesting her. lols...
Live and learn.
Flushing your plants helps too... this will also help rid of any nutrients that may still be lurking inside the soil some where.
Hope this helped you some.
If not, my bad. Peace.
I'll try and explain this.. as simple as possible.. but from the question you asked, I'm thinking your an intelligent person so you shouldn't have any problems understanding what I'm about to explain to you.. and everyone else that cares to read this. Let's get started..
Darkness before harvesting your buds.. (I give my plants 36 hours of darkness personally) which is what I suggest to anyone that asks me.. but lets stay on the subject here... Darkness before harvesting your plant(s).. gives the plant(s) time to use up and nutrients/water that might be in the soil.. and in its root system (its roots). Not giving your plant(s) plenty of a darkness time.. will and can result in having buds that will taste funny and possibly even smell funny.
Why you might ask?
Well its simple, during the dark period of growing or what I call (sleep time)... your plant's roots thrive & grow. This is also where Photosynthesis comes into play.. which is where the plant uses up all that energy from trapping light into its leafs.. and uses this energy to sustain its life. It's how the plant lives..
But to sum this up for you.. in a short summary:
You should give your harvest ready plants.. 36 hours of complete darkness (to avoid THC breakdown as also). Why? because not doing this can cause your precious buds to smell and taste funny (smelling & tasting like nutrients.. or just not good at all) Why? Because, again, when you don't give your plant(s) that 36 hours of darkness.. your not giving the plant a chance to dispose and use up how ever much nutrients and water that the plant may still have in its stems, leafs, and of course.. its roots. And so when you just decide to harvest your plant(s) without doing this.. and just decide to harvest the plant... and dry your buds.. you will have buds (that you spent alot of time and energy on) that will smell/taste like crap.
So therefore.. giving your plants this 36 hour dark period before harvesting them will really help in aiding in the quality and taste of your buds. I know from experience.. My first grow taste like crap, but then again.. I didn't know about giving the plants the dark period before harvesting her. lols...
Live and learn.
Flushing your plants helps too... this will also help rid of any nutrients that may still be lurking inside the soil some where.
Hope this helped you some.
If not, my bad. Peace.
Thrashgasm
Active Member
YES ^^ two posts above me are right, but they both failed to mention this is when the SUGARS retreat back into the roots as well because the plants are not photosynthesizing. I give them 24 hours dark because Im inpatient!
But however, I disagree with the nutrient taste thing. If you are flushing your plants for a week with strait water or some store bought product (ie Final Flush) for 3-7 days you wont get the nutrient taste. The bad taste will come from the sugars and starches that havent receded (thats spelled wrong I know) back into the roots not because of nutrient build up.
+rep I know. Thanks.
But however, I disagree with the nutrient taste thing. If you are flushing your plants for a week with strait water or some store bought product (ie Final Flush) for 3-7 days you wont get the nutrient taste. The bad taste will come from the sugars and starches that havent receded (thats spelled wrong I know) back into the roots not because of nutrient build up.
+rep I know. Thanks.
acidbox420
Active Member
THANK YOU FDD iv tried bolth on the same strain and they taste and smell and look EXACLTY THE SAME so its all about growing your buds right, not what things we can do to them at the last minute. casue i mean; realy, it took how LONG to grow your buds? I dont think that 36 hours will do mutch besides make it wonder what happend to lights
Anjinsan
Well-Known Member
99% of the herb that the average d00d has smoked in his/her life was not given long periods of dark before harvest. That of course includes 100% of outdoor crops. (kinda hard to turn off the sun)
Harvesting at the right time...flushing is key...properly drying and harvesting...pretty key as well. You do those things properly your herb will be far better than the VAST majority of herb out there.
Buy great genetics...grow properly...finish properly.
Harvesting at the right time...flushing is key...properly drying and harvesting...pretty key as well. You do those things properly your herb will be far better than the VAST majority of herb out there.
Buy great genetics...grow properly...finish properly.
HookdOnChronics
Well-Known Member
Can't be said much better than that!
vh13
Well-Known Member
My last harvest took me a day and a half to chop/trim, I had to take a sleep break. I noticed the same, absolutely no difference between buds chopped at different times.when i have pounds in my yard to harvest i harvest all day and all night long. i cut off a 5 gallon buckets worth of branches at a time. sometimes at 5 am, sometimes at 11 pm. it makes NO difference in the final product.
I completely agree, 2+ months of growth, 6 weeks of noticeable flower development, 4 weeks of bluking up and ripening, 2 weeks of heavy trich development... 36 hours is tiny compared to the time spent doing all this.
I don't see new trichs form in the last few days before I harvest, just normal ripening, it's how I know when it's time to harvest. The only direct correlation I've seen between increased trich development and light is with MORE light of the right spectrum, not less!
clasonde
Active Member
i always chop when its most convienent, which is usually 5 or so hours after the light turned on. a lot of people will say that light degrades thc, but i agree with the others: i havent noticed a difference in potency/yield/quality. as for 3 days of dark, i tried it and noticed zero difference in resin production. only thing it did for me was make my plants finish faster. but to each it's own i guess.
bongmarley2009
Well-Known Member
I forgot to mention that I gave 1/6 plants 2 days of darkness and didn't notice any difference.
meowmix
Active Member
I was just about to say this would make sense, especially with MH (more uv right?) since THC is produced (so i hear) to protect the plant against UV. It'd make sense that if the season was changing and the plant is expecting more blue spectrum that it'd resin up. There was a big thread on this, and people ended up using black lights in their grows. Not sure if that made a huge diff, but damn. Wish I had 2 flower rooms so I could try the switch to 18/6. Maybe like a week of that?