Darkness before chop: In or out of water?

I've been flushing for about two weeks. Today I turned off the lights, intending to give my plant a couple of days of darkness before chopping her. I've found lots of info on doing this in soil (people stop watering at this point, of course), but what about DWC? Should it pull her out of the water and let her roots dry out in an empty bucket? If I keep her in water, should I turn off the pump? Not quite sure what to do. This is my first DWC grow.

Many thanks.

If you're going to put them in the dark and not give them water, why not chop them... keep it simple.

I know. That's why I'm confused. Some people say that a couple of days of darkness before the chop makes for a smoother smoke; I've never done it before. I guess it doesn't really matter, though.

if you turn off the pump you'll drown her... the darkness thing is an age old argument... personally I think 48 hours of darkness is not naturally occurring ANYWHERE, therefore why do it?

Cut half now and put the other in the dark and cut em later. Then see what ya think. Ain't no way to find out unless ya try.

i thought the darkness thing was draining ever little bit of energy from the plant, some thing to do with carbs and sugars?? To sweel the buds , i may be wrong??

24 hours of darkness before chop is the only way to fly. its a must do.

fuckcancer87 said:

Cut half now and put the other in the dark and cut em later. Then see what ya think. Ain't no way to find out unless ya try.

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You actually dont need a pump if your water level is down. (Aerating your water helps for heavy growth fo sho)

But i remember my very first grow ever was DWC. I only had one tub with 2 netpots and enough air stones for the tub. Ended up with 3 girls and literally a tiny haze plant in an orange 5 gallon bucket that stayed between 1/2 & 1/3 full!! Used only botanicare bloom from start to finish, lol.

Funny thing was, that plant stayed healthy as shit and actually had some decent smoke for a green pea!

Dunno how that thing never died from algae or root rot!

ChristinaC said:

I've been flushing for about two weeks. Today I turned off the lights, intending to give my plant a couple of days of darkness before chopping her. I've found lots of info on doing this in soil (people stop watering at this point, of course), but what about DWC? Should it pull her out of the water and let her roots dry out in an empty bucket? If I keep her in water, should I turn off the pump? Not quite sure what to do. This is my first DWC grow.

Many thanks.

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I have always liked the results from keeping my system running in the dark for 3-5 days. The smoke is less harsh pre cure and I think it helps with smell and flavor.

Chlorophyl (more like bore-a-fill) is what your burping out of your nugs to get that sweet smooth smoke. I would assume letting the plant grow without light means photosynthesis could not be completed and it would cut down in the levels of chlorophyl in your plant matter (pure assumption based on watching this plant grow for a while)

I had tried starting flower with a 72 hour dark period, and i noticed the plant still was growing, however new growth was almost albino. The plant still had stockpiles of the essentials to keep applying new growth, but i would assume that white growth would have less chlorophyl stored in the plant matter than that which had grown under light completing photosynth.

Im just applying this assumption to the last 3-5 days as well.



Your terpen profile appreciates some time on the plant without stress also

FrozenChozen said:

if you turn off the pump you'll drown her... the darkness thing is an age old argument... personally I think 48 hours of darkness is not naturally occurring ANYWHERE, therefore why do it?

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Does deep water culture happen in nature anywhere?


Not like it does in my garden.



Point being that every species has evolved to fit its environment... whos to say that there are not unnatural methods that better suite the plant when being used to smoke.



Dont rule it out til youve tried it!

hydroMD said:

Does deep water culture happen in nature anywhere?

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YES, it does. Except we call them AQUAFERS....

FrozenChozen said:

YES, it does. Except we call them AQUAFERS....

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That is not DWC

there is a medium the root mass is growing in

If it was all sand and gravel maybe it could be considered passive hydro... but where are the nutrients coming from?

Thats right, they arent... unless there is "SOIL"

hydroMD said:

but where are the nutrients coming from?

Thats right, they arent... unless there is "SOIL"

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That's deep.

Sativied said:

That's deep.

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Tis...tis...

so minerals in the water from decaying carbon based life forms don't count as nutrients?

hydroMD said:

That is not DWC

there is a medium the root mass is growing in

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and you just drop seeds in water and that's how they grow in dwc? with no medium right? no clay pebbles, no net pot?

FrozenChozen said:

so minerals in the water from decaying carbon based life forms don't count as nutrients?

and you just drop seeds in water and that's how they grow in dwc? with no medium right? no clay pebbles, no net pot?

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They start in clay pebbles yes, but no part of the plant in that medium is taking up nutrients. All root mass is suspended in water; that is being aerated heavily. Any root growth in the medium is more like a stem. Hard and wooden. every bit of root mass taking up nutrients is SUSPENDED in water! ZERO medium. If thats not the case i dont believe it falls under "deep water culture".

Question:
So are you saying that a hydro system modeled after your chart will out perform a human engineered model of deep water culture? And that your reasoning for this is that it is because my version does not occur naturally?

Only beating this horse because that was your arguement for not using a dark period. No actual data or experience was provided.

Because what im saying is that in nature, deep water culture does not occur (especially in the process it does in my garden). No where on your chart do I see the makins of a natural hydro system that will out perform my garden, thus proving my previous point that just because something doesnt occur naturally, doesnt mean it cant imorove quality in some aspect.



Decaying carbin based life forms, ok sure a plant could consume these. But now we are getting hypothetical. Give me an example of cannabis growing like this naturally. It doesnt.


But lets get off the DWC for a minute bexause thats a tangent in the argument i was trying to make.


Humans can manipulate conditions to extremes that would never occur naturally, to improve the smokability of cannabis.

Left over chlorophyl does not get pulled from buds naturally, and yet im guessing you cure your buds right? Probably in a natural mason jar.

Or re-vegging? This doesnt occur with cannabis in the wild does it? Yet its an effecient and widely used tactic to keep phenotyoes alive.


So given the fact that non of these things occur naturally, yet have been proven to increase quality, then perhaps a 72 hour dark period may do something to improve the process as well.

hydroMD said:

They start in clay pebbles yes, but no part of the plant in that medium is taking up nutrients. All root mass is suspended in water; that is being aerated heavily. Any root growth in the medium is more like a stem. Hard and wooden. every bit of root mass taking up nutrients is SUSPENDED in water! ZERO medium. If thats not the case i dont believe it falls under "deep water culture".

Question:
So are you saying that a hydro system modeled after your chart will out perform a human engineered model of deep water culture? And that your reasoning for this is that it is because my version does not occur naturally?

Only beating this horse because that was your arguement for not using a dark period. No actual data or experience was provided.

Because what im saying is that in nature, deep water culture does not occur (especially in the process it does in my garden). No where on your chart do I see the makins of a natural hydro system that will out perform my garden, thus proving my previous point that just because something doesnt occur naturally, doesnt mean it cant imorove quality in some aspect.



Decaying carbin based life forms, ok sure a plant could consume these. But now we are getting hypothetical. Give me an example of cannabis growing like this naturally. It doesnt.


But lets get off the DWC for a minute bexause thats a tangent in the argument i was trying to make.


Humans can manipulate conditions to extremes that would never occur naturally, to improve the smokability of cannabis.

Left over chlorophyl does not get pulled from buds naturally, and yet im guessing you cure your buds right? Probably in a natural mason jar.

Or re-vegging? This doesnt occur with cannabis in the wild does it? Yet its an effecient and widely used tactic to keep phenotyoes alive.


So given the fact that non of these things occur naturally, yet have been proven to increase quality, then perhaps a 72 hour dark period may do something to improve the process as well.

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Im not trying to piss you off by any means! I agree that the level of hydroponic cultivation going on in our gardens is no where near the basic ideal given to us by aquifers. I do have experience with a dark period before harvest... Just not my thing, like a 24 hour dark period between veg and flower... There are a lot of ideas that humans have come up with that are based off of things we see in nature. I was trying to point out that naturally there is no extended night given to any other plant species before harvest. Even in out door crops there is no long period of dark before harvest...

In short, I am not for an extended period of dark preceding harvest. I have tried different periods of dark over the years and have found that I like the extra development of trichromes the daylight provides right before harvest... If your strain grows in 59 days why wait 63 to harvest it? I usually cure for about 6 weeks, and by that time there is no chlorophyll taste at all...

To each their own....

FrozenChozen said:

Im not trying to piss you off by any means! I agree that the level of hydroponic cultivation going on in our gardens is no where near the basic ideal given to us by aquifers. I do have experience with a dark period before harvest... Just not my thing, like a 24 hour dark period between veg and flower... There are a lot of ideas that humans have come up with that are based off of things we see in nature. I was trying to point out that naturally there is no extended night given to any other plant species before harvest. Even in out door crops there is no long period of dark before harvest...

In short, I am not for an extended period of dark preceding harvest. I have tried different periods of dark over the years and have found that I like the extra development of trichromes the daylight provides right before harvest... If your strain grows in 59 days why wait 63 to harvest it? I usually cure for about 6 weeks, and by that time there is no chlorophyll taste at all...

To each their own....

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Dont worry brotha, no hard feelings here. I just like arguing

"Its not my thing. I like the extra trichome developement"

^ sufficient answere


Have you tried atleast riasing your light enough to drop canopy temps below 76 last 5-7 days?

I was told that any resinous plant will producestickier and more aeromatic flowers when this is done. A plant genetisist at a local university gave me the tip

I turn my fans up and raise my light a couple inches, once I added a small a/c at night to induce purpling... Worked nicely, temps reached 57F at "night" for 3 days and I got some DANK purple buds

hydroMD said:

Dont worry brotha, no hard feelings here. I just like arguing

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me too!

Plants grow more in the dark then when lights are on, so maybe the buds do get thicker by leaving them in and extra day or two in the dark?
My mentor always left them in an extra 24 hrs in dark .