48hrs of darkness before harvest?

SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
one thing is for certain it makes sense not to cut them down right after their light cycle ends. sense of smell is subjective but it seems like the plant is danker just before the lights come on than it is at the end of its day.
 

shagalicious

Active Member
one thing is for certain it makes sense not to cut them down right after their light cycle ends. sense of smell is subjective but it seems like the plant is danker just before the lights come on than it is at the end of its day.
ive heard - no science just experience of a friend - that the cure is quicker if you cut the base before you crank up your lights - something about the sugars and where they are vs light/dark
 

mundaiis

Active Member
the sence behind the dark period would be to stop chlorophyll production as the chloroplasts convert light into the green color of the leaf.
nearing the end of harvest ppl tend to want to have a cleaner smoke and therefore flush plants to get rid of as much chlorophyll as they can and bring out a better smoke.

the answer is in the taste of the bud.

and i would assume that the increased venting to keep the heat down in the day time would make it smell less dank, and also the decrease in relative humidy as things heat up.
the smell is carried more so in a humid enviroment.
 

mundaiis

Active Member
as smell is carried by the drops from water condensing in an air conditioner. lol jorge.. hehe hehe.
 

shagalicious

Active Member
the sence behind the dark period would be to stop chlorophyll production as the chloroplasts convert light into the green color of the leaf.
nearing the end of harvest ppl tend to want to have a cleaner smoke and therefore flush plants to get rid of as much chlorophyll as they can and bring out a better smoke.

the answer is in the taste of the bud.

and i would assume that the increased venting to keep the heat down in the day time would make it smell less dank, and also the decrease in relative humidy as things heat up.
the smell is carried more so in a humid enviroment.
sounds like the same thing he was saying - something like the sugars are lower in the stalk and roots at night and drive through the plant in day...
not really sure
if this is info that you have clear info on, you coiuld put together a VERY informative thread
 

PeyoteReligion

Well-Known Member
"The Stichting Institute of Medical marijuana (SIMM), the first company to sell marijuana through the pharmacies of Holland, has been investigating the medical possibilities of cannabis, together with TNO laboratories and the University of Leiden.


One of their discoveries has been that to keep the ripe plants in the dark before harvesting could increase their potency.SIMM’s growers separated a crop of mature plants, harvested half of them and kept the other half in absolute darkness for 72 hours before cutting and drying. Analysis of the resulting dried buds showed that some varieties had seen an increase of THC of up to 30%, while CBD and CBN remained the same."

Its strain dependent. Even if you don't want to beleive, it's good to let the plant in darkness for about an hour to let the starches drop, as they are mobile.
 

PeyoteReligion

Well-Known Member
The reason thc production increases in the dark period is because that's when the plants produce it simply put. Thc is used by the plant like sunscreen, since the thc head is similar to a drop of water in appearance, it refracts sunlight (mainly uv rays) away from the plant.

Then during the day the thc degrades in the sunlight due to uv-b mainly. So the theory is that if you extend the dark period at the end with no light to damage the thc, the plant will produce more.
 

Clown Baby

Well-Known Member
putting a plant into darkness for two or three days stresses it out, the plant thinks she is going to die and makes more resin to catch any pollen she can before she dies... It works... i use a 48h dark period. the greasy feeling is the natural oils that build up on the plant... thats it really
seeds take time to develop. catching pollen right before it dies isn't really going to accomplish anything.. And isn't it pistils that catch pollen?

there's a lot of misinformation on this thread.. I'm not saying that darkness before harvest isn't a good thing, but god damn.. people will just make up anything
 

PeyoteReligion

Well-Known Member
seeds take time to develop. catching pollen right before it does doesnt really do anything..
And isn't it pistils that catch pollen?

theres a lot of misinformation on this thread..
RESIN IS NOT FOR COLLECTING POLLEN, IT IS THE PLANTS SUNSCREEN. Thank you. Yes much misinformation.
 

Luke123

Member
I heard its because the THC fairies only come out at night so if you give the plant 72 hours of darkness then they have more time to work. However, if you leave it for more thn 72 hours the fairies get pretty narked off and will start to undo the work they have done.

Also, hanging the plant up-side down when drying allows the fairies better access to the buds.

Its all about the fairies :eyesmoke:
 

althor

Well-Known Member
"The Stichting Institute of Medical marijuana (SIMM), the first company to sell marijuana through the pharmacies of Holland, has been investigating the medical possibilities of cannabis, together with TNO laboratories and the University of Leiden.


One of their discoveries has been that to keep the ripe plants in the dark before harvesting could increase their potency.SIMM’s growers separated a crop of mature plants, harvested half of them and kept the other half in absolute darkness for 72 hours before cutting and drying. Analysis of the resulting dried buds showed that some varieties had seen an increase of THC of up to 30%, while CBD and CBN remained the same."

Its strain dependent. Even if you don't want to beleive, it's good to let the plant in darkness for about an hour to let the starches drop, as they are mobile.
The problem with that test is they gave half the plants 3 more days of life. They should have cut them at the same time to see what 3 days of additional "sun" would have done in comparison.
 

Jogro

Well-Known Member
For what its worth DJ Short (who knows a little something about growing, I'd say) gives his plants 3 days dark time before harvest.

He believes it helps potency.

He may not be right, but he probably has more experience than everyone else in this thread put together, and if he buys into this, there might be something there.
 

cannawizard

Well-Known Member
DJS does use 36hrs darkness prior to harvest (he stated it helps with potency, or THC+ production)..

Best bet would be just to experiment of different strains & pheno-types :)

I've tried the whole darkness thing before harvest (on several strains) and never saw any solid results, so i guess this method is "still in the dark" :P
 

ddimebag

Active Member
i think it depends on the strain...from what i understand, Indicas benefit from the darkness, while Sativas don't...
 

el throttle

Well-Known Member
from what i was told and NO it wasn't a biologist, but the closet person to being one that i know.. basically the plant tripps out for whatever reason and thats its only defense is its shield of trichrome's which builds up as needed... 72 hours of darkness at the end tripps it out harder than anything else in the good way "supposedly" and the colder the better too.. i tested it on my first grow and have been doing it ever since. when i harvested my grow i left one in the tent for three days of darkness and temps were around mid to high 60's... when i took her out there was really no difference at all. it wasnt till a month or two later that i busted that jar out and was smoking on it when i noticed a difference .. these are the only two shitty cell phone pics i have of it....made a difference on bag appeal

the piece on the right got the darkness same plant same everything just three days of darkness.. this has done more for me then any nute claiming to increase trich production..
IMG_1344.jpgIMG_1345.jpg
 

thafoot

Well-Known Member
i do it. its the final frontier. all the time spent waiting and waiting on these fruits. do it. it will do something, even if it just makes you a more patient human being.
 

beenthere

New Member
from what i was told and NO it wasn't a biologist, but the closet person to being one that i know.. basically the plant tripps out for whatever reason and thats its only defense is its shield of trichrome's which builds up as needed... 72 hours of darkness at the end tripps it out harder than anything else in the good way "supposedly" and the colder the better too.. i tested it on my first grow and have been doing it ever since. when i harvested my grow i left one in the tent for three days of darkness and temps were around mid to high 60's... when i took her out there was really no difference at all. it wasnt till a month or two later that i busted that jar out and was smoking on it when i noticed a difference .. these are the only two shitty cell phone pics i have of it....made a difference on bag appeal

the piece on the right got the darkness same plant same everything just three days of darkness.. this has done more for me then any nute claiming to increase trich production..
View attachment 2407754View attachment 2407755
Your pics are typical of most of the buds I produce, more trichrome development underneath the buds than on the tops.
This was one of the reasons I moved the plants a bit further away from intense lights during finish. I noticed that later weeks in flower, the trichromes on my buds closest to the lights were degrading and not as predominant as were the buds further away from the light. It also affected the intensity of the smell.

Take a look under a microscope or high powered loupe, you'll see more trich development at the back of the buds than you do on the tops.
 
Hey guys just wanted to pipe in, I have done this before. I gave my last grow..between 48-72 hrs..I did notice a huge difference from how they looked before lights out..they looked literally dipped in sugar..trichomes galore. I have pics but who knows where..I take so many pics of my ladies it would take me days to look. Its lights out soon and I will be doing the 48-72hrs of darkness..I'd say it may be strain dependent, but I do believe it works, I've seen a difference with my own eyes, and my bud was unbelievably potent from last time I did it. Its all in opinion, so just try it for yourself instead of asking around
 
heres a pic of some SSSDH before..hopefully I can remember to stop back with some pics after darkness..u know how it goes when you blaze up..remember weeks from now

DSCF6738.jpg
 
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