Do I have to give my plants 24 hrs of darkness befor harvest?

[chilleddude]

Hi all,

I've been flowering for a month now. One of my plants is a different strain and looks like it will be ready a couple of weeks to a month befor the other 2. I dont have another space to move the plant into and I dont want to stress the others my putting them in 24 hrs of darkness as they're looking great.

So I was wondering, do I have to give them 24 hrs of darkness or is there any other methods that will stress the plant and help with the smoke? I heard the 24 hrs of darkness makes it smoother and is really important. I've also read that you can water the plant with cold plain water and this helps with the smoke also.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

 

[ClaytonBigsby]

You do not have to change its light cycle. Experiment with the others to see how they respond. Report back. Can you pull the one plant out (bucket and all) and move it some place where you can give it total darkness? I suppose you could also cover it with a good 6mil black contractor's trash bag if you want.

 

[Dr.blakedowns]

it would be more like 48 to 72 hours of darkeness, the theory, which has been proven true in SOME strains, is that thc% can be increased because the plant produces thc in anticipation of the sun rising, when it doesn't, more thc is produced. You would never see enough of a difference to know if it workes or not.

 

[plumber1]

It does work. I took 2 plants both of the same strain. I let one sit for only 12 hrs in the dark b4 chop. And the other one sat in the dark for more than 24 hrs. And the frosties were significantly different. The one 5hat stayed in the dark looked like it had been snowed on and had way more trics then the other.

 

[chilleddude]

Thanks for the quick responses guys.

I cant cover or move the plant as i trained all the plants and they're all interwoven into one another. The only way i can move it out is if i chop it down, and i cant cover it as it will also block the light to the other plants.

Does watering the plant with really cold water produce the same results as leaving it in total darkness for 36 hrs? Or is it for something completely different?

All help is appreciated,

Thanks

 

[monkeybones]

i almost always hear that it "appears to have helped"

i have yet to try it myself

most people do 48 hours though

 

[jofey]

i read some where about drowning the roots for 24 hrs in darkness before harvest really helps with thc production .. i haven't tried it,, but on this yin i will so fingers crossed

 

[cindysid]

I haven't ever tried it, would like to see a side by side comparison, but who can test the potency accurately? Mine are in the ground, so they will get around 11 hrs darkness when I harvest them...

 

[Cloudz2600]

i read some where about drowning the roots for 24 hrs in darkness before harvest really helps with thc production .. i haven't tried it,, but on this yin i will so fingers crossed

When you say drowning do you mean with water? If you just mean to go 24 hours of darkness that's fine, that actually does increases resin production. The plant thinks the end is near so in a last ditch effort to get insects to pollinate it it increases to amount of thc to "lure" them to the plant.

Potency is testing with a microscope and is based on the number of thc "heads" I think. More trichomes=more potent

 

[chilleddude]

Thanks for the responses again,

Interesting thoughts on the water. I may just put all my plants in 24 hrs of darkness, then contnue as normal with the other two. Is this idea feasible? Or will it do more harm than good to my other plants who will continue to flower upto a month after the dark period ?

Also, do you trim the leaves befor or after the 24 hrs of darkness?

All help is appreciated,

Thanks

 

[bullwinkle60]

In your case I'd skip the dark period. And in answer to your second question you would trim after the dark period but your not going to have one so it's a moot point.

 

[chilleddude]

Oh yeah haha. So when should i trim?

 

[plumber1]

Oh yeah haha. So when should i trim?

After hanging wait until the fan leaves have shriveled and dried. Then clip all the fan leaves at the stem and rehang until the sugar leaves are brittle and the stem bends easliy but doesn't break. About 1 more day.If you wait til the stem breaks, you will have dry ass weed. Try to trim your buds while they r on the stem, makes it easy. And then clip each bud into a mason jar until the jar is 3/4 full. For the first 2 weeks you will want open the jar about 3 to 4 times and air out the gasses. Swish the jar around a lil and reseal. After 2 weeks do this once or twice a day. Up until 1 month. After that I suggest u open the jargons as lil as possible.

 

[chilleddude]

Wow thanks for the help. So im guessing trimming the plant befor harvest without a dark period is a no go then?

 

[MajorCoco]

Wow thanks for the help. So im guessing trimming the plant befor harvest without a dark period is a no go then?

Why would you bother? In the dark, the buds may potentially need to pull stored goodness out of the leaves to make the alleged "increased" THC. As someone else has mentioned, the difference will never be enough to notice. The 1,700 hours you have just spent flowering the plant, and its genetics, will determine the basic THC level. 72hrs of darkness ain't going to make that big a difference outside of a lab mass spectrometer...

 

[skunkd0c]

miss troll, perhaps you are not as stupid as i first thought

 

[chilleddude]

Thanks alot,

Im not going to bother giving the one plant 72 hrs of darkness. It doesn't sound necessary and I can always do it with the other 2 plants I have left growing to see if it really does make a difference to the final smoke.

All the responses have been appreciated and have put my mind at ease.

Cheers