Drought Stress? Lowering water levels to increase THC?

Hi all, Been Reading about lowering the water level in the late stages of flower to induce drought stress.

Does this really increase trichome production?

I understand the logic behind it but would love to hear from people who may be using this method or have tried it?

Did it work or did it just harm the plant?

neckpod said:

Hi all, Been Reading about lowering the water level in the late stages of flower to induce drought stress.

Does this really increase trichome production?

I understand the logic behind it but would love to hear from people who may be using this method or have tried it?

Did it work or did it just harm the plant?

Click to expand...

I have always wondered this. And I already grow with a good wet/ dry cycle in potting mix. But recently I accidentally let a plant go too dry. She was a week away from ripe and went 2 days past ideal time to water. And she wilted all her leaves on that 2nd day. That's how I found out. She was left off the chart and in the back corner. I never did this before. I was devastated.

Well I watered and lightly fed her and she half came back and discarded all her lower fans. And made big really extra frosty buds. The stress seemed to give her trichomes a boost.

However. The smoke was not as potent and full as it usually is. Unfortunately for all these making trichomes methods. You may see a lot of stress and frost. But that does not mean the canabanoids inside them has matured as well as a healthy plant would have had.

No matter what myth or method I have tried. I end up growing happy medium green plants to the end for best results.

MichiganMedGrower said:

I have always wondered this. And I already grow with a good wet/ dry cycle in potting mix. But recently I accidentally let a plant go too dry. She was a week away from ripe and went 2 days past ideal time to water. And she wilted all her leaves on that 2nd day. That's how I found out. She was left off the chart and in the back corner. I never did this before. I was devastated.

Well I watered and lightly fed her and she half came back and discarded all her lower fans. And made big really extra frosty buds. The stress seemed to give her trichomes a boost.

However. The smoke was not as potent and full as it usually is. Unfortunately for all these making trichomes methods. You may see a lot of stress and frost. But that does not mean the canabanoids inside them has matured as well as a healthy plant would have had.

No matter what myth or method I have tried. I end up growing happy medium green plants to the end for best results.

Click to expand...

This Being my first go at RDWC i will not be trying it, i like to research and understand whats happening before i try something new.

At the end of the day you are stressing the plant and i do not know what other negative effects this may have, what else does the plant produce when stressed like this other than increased trichome production?

Like you said taste may be effected and that's a big issue for me.

Maybe more uva and uvb in the late states to increase thc may be the better method?

MichiganMedGrower said:

I have always wondered this. And I already grow with a good wet/ dry cycle in potting mix. But recently I accidentally let a plant go too dry. She was a week away from ripe and went 2 days past ideal time to water. And she wilted all her leaves on that 2nd day. That's how I found out. She was left off the chart and in the back corner. I never did this before. I was devastated.

Well I watered and lightly fed her and she half came back and discarded all her lower fans. And made big really extra frosty buds. The stress seemed to give her trichomes a boost.

However. The smoke was not as potent and full as it usually is. Unfortunately for all these making trichomes methods. You may see a lot of stress and frost. But that does not mean the canabanoids inside them has matured as well as a healthy plant would have had.

No matter what myth or method I have tried. I end up growing happy medium green plants to the end for best results.

Click to expand...

thats the skinny here too, everything is trickless golden until someone convinces me to try some other "trick". always another issue arising whenever I'm looking to do anything more than provide every resource my plant needs for its full expressions.

neckpod said:

This Being my first go at RDWC i will not be trying it, i like to research and understand whats happening before i try something new.

At the end of the day you are stressing the plant and i do not know what other negative effects this may have, what else does the plant produce when stressed like this other than increased trichome production?

Like you said taste may be effected and that's a big issue for me.

Maybe more uva and uvb in the late states to increase thc may be the better method?

Click to expand...

Yes. I use a 315 LEC for ripening the last week or two and to help make more compact plants through transition and to add some uv.

It also mixes in with my hps lamps and plants seem happier overall.

I have done some experimenting for quality.

Here is left to right.

Hortilux 600w Blue MH, Hortilux 600w Super HPS, Phillips 315w CMH.

chemphlegm said:

thats the skinny here too, everything is trickless golden until someone convinces me to try some other "trick". always another issue arising whenever I'm looking to do anything more than provide every resource my plant needs for its full expressions.

Click to expand...

Yup.

MichiganMedGrower said:

Yes. I use a 315 LEC for ripening the last week or two and to help make more compact plants through transition and to add some uv.

It also mixes in with my hps lamps and plants seem happier overall.

I have done some experimenting for quality.

Here is left to right.

Hortilux 600w Blue MH, Hortilux 600w Super HPS, Phillips 315w CMH.

View attachment 3937369

Click to expand...

Nice mate looks real good, I'm in the UK so stealth is a must. Running 2x 600w in a tent has some real issues with heat.

I have a little leaf curl think it was a bit to hot one day while I was out of the house, 3 weeks in flower.

Also lowering my ppm as they are very dark at the min and want to avoid nute burn if possible.

Had to turn off the hps to get the pics or they just look shit.

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neckpod said:

Nice mate looks real good, I'm in the UK so stealth is a must. Running 2x 600w in a tent has some real issues with heat.

I have a little leaf curl think it was a bit to hot one day while I was out of the house, 3 weeks in flower.

Also lowering my ppm as they are very dark at the min and want to avoid nute burn if possible.

Had to turn off the hps to get the pics or they just look shit.

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Click to expand...

I agree they could use a bit less nutes. But they look pretty great.

You can use a flash to get a pic under hps. I use the iPhone camera and flash.

It's not needed under the 315.

MichiganMedGrower said:

I agree they could use a bit less nutes. But they look pretty great.

You can use a flash to get a pic under hps. I use the iPhone camera and flash.

It's not needed under the 315.

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Yeah I have watched the ppm go from 1100 to 1300 in 2 days. It's now down to 1000ppm as obviously 1100 was too high and I may drop it more but for the time being I will just monitor it.

Not got an IPhone! Not a fan.
Samsung galaxy s8 is my new toy ha.

So the 315 is a cmh?

Do you think 2 of these instead of the hps and mh would be a better option heat wise?

Are these full spectrum or do you require bulb changes for veg and flower?

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neckpod said:

Yeah I have watched the ppm go from 1100 to 1300 in 2 days. It's now down to 1000ppm as obviously 1100 was too high and I may drop it more but for the time being I will just monitor it.

Not got an IPhone! Not a fan.
Samsung galaxy s8 is my new toy ha.

So the 315 is a cmh?

Do you think 2 of these instead of the hps and mh would be a better option heat wise?

Are these full spectrum or do you require bulb changes for veg and flower?

Sent from my SM-G950F using Rollitup mobile app

Click to expand...

They are full spectrum but come on 2 temps. Look me up. They are everywhere now. The best tested bulbs are Phillips.

I like the 315 as a supplemental light. I would need more of them for the same results.

neckpod said:

Yeah I have watched the ppm go from 1100 to 1300 in 2 days. It's now down to 1000ppm as obviously 1100 was too high and I may drop it more but for the time being I will just monitor it.

Not got an IPhone! Not a fan.
Samsung galaxy s8 is my new toy ha.

So the 315 is a cmh?

Do you think 2 of these instead of the hps and mh would be a better option heat wise?

Are these full spectrum or do you require bulb changes for veg and flower?

Sent from my SM-G950F using Rollitup mobile app

Click to expand...

Hey mate UK too, im using my CMH 315w just go to eBay and type in maxibright 315w cmh or something similar. I went for the supernova reflector but any will do, paid around 220 quid each. Won't look back from the HPS, my plants much prefer them. Go for the daylight bulbs for both veg and flower. They run cooler as is than my 600w HPS with a cool tube, wish Id never wasted my money on the cool tube set up.

Im gonna try and use the HPS as a supplemental light which is different to most, probably around week 7-8 for a few hours at the "midday".

JDMase said:

Hey mate UK too, im using my CMH 315w just go to eBay and type in maxibright 315w cmh or something similar. I went for the supernova reflector but any will do, paid around 220 quid each. Won't look back from the HPS, my plants much prefer them. Go for the daylight bulbs for both veg and flower. They run cooler as is than my 600w HPS with a cool tube, wish Id never wasted my money on the cool tube set up.

Im gonna try and use the HPS as a supplemental light which is different to most, probably around week 7-8 for a few hours at the "midday".

Click to expand...

Alright mate good to hear from someone a little more local lol, I think that's the way to go for me, it seems closer to what I'm used to with hps and mh.
The other option of going over to led cobs just seems too expensive for a good setup.

What is bulb life like?
I usually change to new bulbs every grow and as they are not expensive for what you get from harvest.

Are you in a tent?

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neckpod said:

Alright mate good to hear from someone a little more local lol, I think that's the way to go for me, it seems closer to what I'm used to with hps and mh.
The other option of going over to led cobs just seems too expensive for a good setup.

What is bulb life like?
I usually change to new bulbs every grow and as they are not expensive for what you get from harvest.

Are you in a tent?

Sent from my SM-G950F using Rollitup mobile app

Click to expand...

Yeah I'll probably go COB or QB next but for now im satisfied. And to be fair that's only because I want to chase higher yields vertically.

Bulbs apparently last for ages, can't remmeber the exact figure but it's certainly not as fast to degrade as HPS and MH. Bulbs are 100 pound for Philips and I wouldn't use anything else.

My tent is 1metre by 1 metre and 2 metres tall, with my rhino 5" thermostatic I can hit around 28c max temps (at the top of my tent not canopy level)

Anything else you wanna ask let me know!

The Phillips bulbs are supposed to last 2 years.

JDMase said:

Yeah I'll probably go COB or QB next but for now im satisfied. And to be fair that's only because I want to chase higher yields vertically.

Bulbs apparently last for ages, can't remmeber the exact figure but it's certainly not as fast to degrade as HPS and MH. Bulbs are 100 pound for Philips and I wouldn't use anything else.

My tent is 1metre by 1 metre and 2 metres tall, with my rhino 5" thermostatic I can hit around 28c max temps (at the top of my tent not canopy level)

Anything else you wanna ask let me know!

Click to expand...

The temps in the top of my tent are the same as the bottom, running a 20" fan indirectly moves the air my 1.2m x 2.4m x 2m tent very very well without being to much, can't point it at them as it moves too much air.

With extraction running it hit 82f max
Sorry in English 27.7c, don't think that's too bad?
How many more weeks I can keep up running both lights is anyone's guess. Hence the interest in changing over to cmh.

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@neckpod i forgot to say that the temp under my air cooled 600w hps is about 1 degree farenheight warmer than my open reflector 315 LEC With a fan blowing between it and the canopy.

They are cooler than an open 600 of course but not much cooler than my air cooled one.

I'd say no, genetics is more important, I grow loads of bag seed. And given the same conditions high temps and soil, I would say it is day and night difference between some and this just down to the ancestors. You'd probably do better finding the ceiling of Magnesium your plant can handle for more THC.

MichiganMedGrower said:

@neckpod i forgot to say that the temp under my air cooled 600w hps is about 1 degree farenheight warmer than my open reflector 315 LEC With a fan blowing between it and the canopy.

They are cooler than an open 600 of course but not much cooler than my air cooled one.

Click to expand...

But I think the main thing with these cmh lights is surely a better quality of light being emitted?
And lower power consumption.

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ANC said:

I'd say no, genetics is more important, I grow loads of bag seed. And given the same conditions high temps and soil, I would say it is day and night difference between some and this just down to the ancestors. You'd probably do better finding the ceiling of Magnesium your plant can handle for more THC.

Click to expand...

I know genetics is a big thing and probably the most important factor but surely conditions can also be manipulated to a certain extent to get the most out of our plants.

I don't know how magnesium effects the production of thc so will have to do some more reading on this??

Anybody actually lowered nutrient levels in rdwc and what did you find by stressing the plant this way late in flower?

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neckpod said:

But I think the main thing with these cmh lights is surely a better quality of light being emitted?
And lower power consumption.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Rollitup mobile app

Click to expand...

I like mine and the light has added quality and more cannabanoids to my garden. But I sure would not replace my 600 Hortilux Super Hps with one after using it for the last 5 months.

Like I said I would want 3 to replace 2 600's and think it still might be better with the hps mixed in.

There are air cooled versions out there if you really want them and lower temps.