24-72 hour dark period

Eikes1390

Member
So I usually cut my lights 1-3 days before harvest because it's reported that this enhances the trichomes ( I'm assuming because light degrades thc). Does anyone notice a huge difference with this method?
 

robert 14617

Well-Known Member
So I usually cut my lights 1-3 days before harvest because it's reported that this enhances the trichomes ( I'm assuming because light degrades thc). Does anyone notice a huge difference with this method?
have you noticed a difference, you say usually , how have they been
 

Eikes1390

Member
They seem pretty good at first but after a while the trichs seem to recede and disappear. I just don't know if it's backed by science or is just a myth
 

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
Giving it 24-72 hours of dark is supposed to have it burn up as much food as possible before chopping.

I don't think it causes the plant to have more or better trichromes, but assuming a less sugar/starch content, the plant should be more potent just from having less of the bad stuff.

I doubt 72 hours would work any better than 24 hours though. Theoretically, all the starch stored in the leaves during the day is supposed to get burned in exactly one night.
 

tobinates559

Well-Known Member
So I usually cut my lights 1-3 days before harvest because it's reported that this enhances the trichomes ( I'm assuming because light degrades thc). Does anyone notice a huge difference with this method?
i am a firm believer that light degrades THC and you should at the least harvest right before the light or lights turn on, i do 24 hrs
 

SilvaDuss

Member
before this period You need wash roots (20-30 minutes ) if You use some nutrients our chemically because it's take it out,and give smoke more + delicious.Only then put it in night period, 48h it's inaf. 24 h it's good for autos because if You put autos in 48h night You lost more...
 

OGkushNC

Well-Known Member
Anything over 24 hr is overkill IMHO. I see a good amount of resin production in just 24-28 hrs depending on when lights go out
 

qwizoking

Well-Known Member
I started doing it..slight difference but its there
Yea you should at least chop before lights come on
 

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
Prove that it's a myth. Have you ever done iodine tests?

I haven't done the tests personally, but it's been done on just about every other plant. In order to prove or disprove 24-72 hour dark periods before harvest, have iodine tests been done?

Here's an iodine test for the starch content of apples. Black means starch. (they sometimes use that to test ripeness).

starch_index_red_delicious.jpg

Pot. Forum. Myth.
 

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
Here's another good example that there's a lot of truth to this "myth". This wasn't the article I was looking for, but it works just the same (this experiment has been done MANY times before, and I'm convinced leaves work like this for MOST plants including weed.)

http://hazell11bio.blogspot.com/2013/03/photosynthesis.html

"The plant we studied was the geranium, which stores the products of photosynthesis as starch. Plants were placed under a lamp overnight or left in a dark cupboard for a few days.Typical results we obtained are shown below.



The result for the leaf on the left is similar to what we obtained to the plant under the lamp, while the one on the right were similar to the one in the cupboard. In the absence of light, the leaf draws on any reserves it has in storage and consumes the stach. Hence it does not stain with iodine. The plant on the left not only carried out photosynthesis during the day, but continued on doing so in the night under the lamp. As a result, starch levels were high and easily stained with iodine after treatment."
 

1grower

New Member
Damn people on her go so many diff.. ways!!..i could get real tecnical..but cut your lights hour before harvest..thats all..
 

tobinates559

Well-Known Member
i want to see a thc sample and terpene profile of the same plant just one nug cut right before the lights turn off and a sample bud that has gone through the dark period
 

SnapsProvolone

Well-Known Member
This all started back in the 90's when it was shown that potency is peaked just before sun up / lights on (since light degrades THC). It was postulated that more time in dark before harvest might allow for a touch more THC production right before harvest. Effect never clinically proven. I just harvest plants just before lights turn on.
 

SpicySativa

Well-Known Member
I don't put much stock in changing potency with an extended dark period, but I do believe that flavor and aroma are enhanced by harvesting at the end of the dark period (whether "extended" or not).

All theories/myths/legends aside, this is my reasoning based on my own experiences:

- Terpenes are volatile compounds. Our noses pick up and detect terpene molecules that have evaporated and wafted into the air.

- Volatile terpene compounds are produced rather consistently by the buds, but they evaporate more quickly when the temperature is elevated and the humidity is lowered (this is just a scientific fact about volatile compounds). These compounds tend to build up overnight, and then get evaporated to some degree when the lights come on (it gets warmer and drier, not to mention the UV light factor). This is why the garden always smells strongest right as the lights come on; the terpenes which built up overnight are volatilized by the higher temp and lower RH when the lights come on.

- By harvesting BEFORE the lights come on, you essentially prevent some of the volatilization from occurring, and hold more terpenes on your buds.

That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it.
 

qwizoking

Well-Known Member
I think that if you believe one terp to increase you have to believe them all to do so....(thc and all cannabinoids)

Yea you prevent them from evaporating but you should remember that you are also not degrading the already cloudy trichs and letting the less mature ones to catch up..I think that is just as important..many people try to harvest with whatever % amber they think will give them the most cloudy trichs(if not.. that's what you should do imo)
So the idea is having less degraded terps and other smelly stuffs and the most cloudy trichs possible......but that's just me
 
Top