Length of Darkness Period Before Harvest Date

Hello all,
I was wondering if its necessary to have the full darkness period before you harvest? And if so how long should the darkness period be? And what is the purpose of it? And how does it effect the plants overall potency? I know its alot of questions but im looking to do any last minute things that can help my plant.
Thanx

GB

Not necessary at all, but IMO the only way to harvest.
The plant produces THC as a defense mechanism. It produces it most vigorously during the night time, plants harvested right before dawn are more potent than plants harvested right before sunset.
Personally going with a minimum of 48 hours of dark this year, going to try and take some to at least 10+ days.

I chop right before the lights come on on harvest day. I've not tried extending the dark cycle beforehand. I would suggest that if you enable an extended dark period (>48h) you keep the area well ventilated to avoid any nasty surprises.

yes, 24 hours of darkness is mandatory for super dank buds. a lot of farmers believe myself included, that the dark period makes buds more resinous.

The leaves store exactly 1 nights worth of starch, which it estimates based on the previous night's length.

After 12 hours of dark, the leaves theoretically have used 95% of the starch stored in the chloroplasts. This ultimately leads to a better smoke and a more potent product, since it has less starch per total mass..

Also, sap rises from the roots to the leaves when the lights come on, so it's best to cut right before this.

^^^ Amazing how they do this, but it's absolutely true.

churchhaze said:

The leaves store exactly 1 nights worth of starch, which it estimates based on the previous night's length.

After 12 hours of dark, the leaves theoretically have used 95% of the starch stored in the chloroplasts. This ultimately leads to a better smoke and a more potent product, since it has less starch per total mass..

Also, sap rises from the roots to the leaves when the lights come on, so it's best to cut right before this.

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It was suggested to me to let them see enough light to raise the nightime droop. ...For easier cutting. Not a good idea?

Maybe easier, but you would think it's better in terms of smoke quality, I think it's probably better to cut before the lights come on.

Maybe it's just superstitious nonsense, but it's not like it really hurts anything or wastes time to cut after the normal 12 hours of dark.

The hay small and crunchyness of a bad cure is a result of too much starch left after the cure. Low starch bud, when dry, breaks up into powder with a gentle squeeze. No matter how much you dry high starch weed (mids), it will never break up like that. The better the cure, the less starch.

bravedave said:

It was suggested to me to let them see enough light to raise the nightime droop. ...For easier cutting. Not a good idea?

Click to expand...

I did three days lights out, not sure if it helped or not the, well, it certainly did not hurt so give it a try. And yea keep your fans and filter fan running to prevent mold.