# Will trichomes turn amber during 72 hours dark period?



## growerboy (Oct 3, 2009)

Hello there!

My question is in the subject: will milky trichomes turn amber, and clear trichomes become milky, during the 72 hours of dark before harvesting?

Or the color change happens with lights on?

I want to know because of harvest planning, I don't want to end up after 72 hours of dark with too many amber trichs.

Anyone knows? Thank you


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## Highhunter (Oct 3, 2009)

Good question.....


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## growerboy (Oct 4, 2009)

Bum Bum Bum Bump


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## growerboy (Oct 5, 2009)

No one knows?


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## peu4000 (Oct 5, 2009)

growerboy said:


> No one knows?


You could test it out and post results.


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## growerboy (Oct 5, 2009)

peu4000 said:


> You could test it out and post results.


I will, but I was thinking that in a forum populated by experts, botanists and experienced marijuana growers, someone knew whether trichomes mature in light, in dark or both (simply by time).

Maybe they know but hadn't the occasion to read this thread (that is why i'm bumping daily), or simply they don't want to answer again to maybe a question asked 100s of times. Indeed I searched but came up with nothing useful.


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## probo24 (Oct 5, 2009)

I'm going to do 48-72 hrs dark too.
I want to know the answer in hopes they do turn amber during that dark period.
I've always harvested right before lights on, never more than the 12 hrs dark though.
I've been told light degrades trichomes
relative to the dark period, so i'd think 
they would repair/mature during dark.


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## growerboy (Oct 10, 2009)

Okay so far, in my plant and in the actual setup, I observed the following:

there HAS been some trich development, in term of existent trich maturation and a few new trichs developed.

Indeed the process isn't that fast; I observed a faster maturation in the previous 72 hours with the usual photoperiod.
Light starvation seemed to slow down trich production/development, but not stopped it.

I would say dark period isn't something that can really damage plants or that will make you miss the prime time harvest window, so why not try?


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## Twistedfunk (Oct 10, 2009)

I can't answer your question regarding maturity. At the 72 hour mark i start chopping and it never occurred to me to take a peak  I've learned to put her in the dark when she's just barely at the point that I want to harvest her. You don't want to worry about going over your harvest window so much as going under it.


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## 2stroke (Oct 10, 2009)

growerboy said:


> Hello there!
> 
> My question is in the subject: will milky trichomes turn amber, and clear trichomes become milky, during the 72 hours of dark before harvesting?
> 
> ...


From what i know as a noob the 72hrs of drakness just removes more cylbole or how ever you spell it, this helps out by saving time with the curing process. The tri's will keep going at a normal rate probably slower i guess. Mine seems to have gone more amber after 3 weeks of curing from the looks.


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## Highhunter (Oct 10, 2009)

Why don't any of the experts have a take on this...


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## allen bud (Oct 11, 2009)

you def dont want to harvest early,i seem to get more tric activity when lights out and cools off 5 degrees or so . I atill have 3 to 4 weeks left befor harvest so i dont want amber yet,but i dont know answer to you question lol


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## GREEN000 (Feb 23, 2010)

near the end of the flowering cycle, THC begins to break down and turns into another chemical compound called Cannabinol, or CBN (C21H26O2), in a process known as oxidization this is what makes them turn amber


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## daisydobey (Sep 20, 2010)

do they turn amber when you start flushing?? mine are 10% amber the rest blurry/milky, i started flush and i want at leats 50% amber, will the rest turn amber in the next 7-10 days?


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## gangagrower (Sep 20, 2010)

probably more like 2 weeks...but i like my trichs to be only like 10%-20% amber otherwise i am just wayy too lazy after i smoke bud thats like 50%-75%


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## bobbyhopefeild (Sep 20, 2010)

Highhunter said:


> Why don't any of the experts have a take on this...


because experts dont leave their plants in darkness for 72 hours before harvest !!!
All your doing is stalling growth. take that 72 hours of darkness and put them on a normal 12/12 cycle and they will undoubtedly produce more weight and resin then in a dark period, resin begins its life in the vegetative stage and continues growing and maturing until they are ready to smoke ( or eat) , they can't just pop up out of nowhere in magic dark cycle. 
but to answer your question, yes the plants trichs will turn amber in 72 hours of darkness but at a much slower rate depending on strain, generally sativas' trichs tend to turn amber slower than indica. The thc will still degrade in darkness but not as fast. but i can't pretend to be an expert, i don't have a huge maryjane farm with multiple experiments and expensive research and im sure the expert growers that do that definately know this question wouldn't risk anything by going on rollitup.
my two cents


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## shotnva777 (Apr 17, 2012)

2stroke said:


> From what i know as a noob the 72hrs of drakness just removes more cylbole or how ever you spell it, this helps out by saving time with the curing process. The tri's will keep going at a normal rate probably slower i guess. Mine seems to have gone more amber after 3 weeks of curing from the looks.


^^^ THAT IS COMPLETELY WRONG! You want an expert opinion?

The dark period does nothing but "shock" your plant into thinking its dying. Therefore it will pump every last bit its got in her to swell those cylaxes in hopes of reproducing/surviving! I even go as far as to put ice on top of the soil DURING the dark period... I don't THINK (tho not 100%) that it'll "mature" your triches at all... But IT DOES and WILL swell up those buds and produce more potentcy!


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## Nukebisket (Apr 17, 2012)

anyone else do a dark period and swear their buds get bigger?


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## Rumple (Apr 18, 2012)

Some one needs to tell all the outdoor growers out here in California about the 72 hour dark period before harvest. None of them I know are turning off the sun for three days.


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## Nukebisket (Apr 18, 2012)

Rumple said:


> Some one needs to tell all the outdoor growers out here in California about the 72 hour dark period before harvest. None of them I know are turning off the sun for three days.


I got a sun switch! I'll be using it this fall!!


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## CashCrops (Apr 18, 2012)

2 year old thread


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## Nukebisket (Apr 18, 2012)

CashCrops said:


> 2 year old thread


How very astute of you


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## VaporPuff (Sep 9, 2012)

Old thread rabble rabble, anyway from what I have noticed from my own meandering experiments and those of others when using dark periods be it 8 hours - 7 days of darkness is that it would appear the plant is somewhat "curing" while still alive. This is interesting as the plant continues to produce more cannabinoids (albeit at a slower rate of growth than if in light). As well because of the darkness the degradation of the cannabinoids is slowed (slightly). This is how I personally see the process in itself and when looked at in this light in does seem to carry positive adaptations to previous methods of curing. I will be interested to get my new room set up so that I can record the changes in an more lab like environment. ^.^

Another thing that seems to lead to the darkness being what I have dubbed a "Live Cure" period is that it is often suggested you wait until you would normally harvest or 24 hours before you would normally harvest before you place the plants in dark. When this is taken into account one must notice that the plant is still producing cannabinoids 2-3 days after it would have been chopped, and often times after the dark period it seems less time is needed to receive a decent cure (Although I would still recommend 2 weeks minimum as it is rather righteous with a good cure). In addition it should be noted that I cure my buds in a vacuum once they have reached their desired humidity on the hydrometer, this does seem to have an effect on the curing process so experience may very.

My conclusion on the matter? as I have always said growing is 80% genetics, 10% tools, 5% patience, and 5% curiosity. If you are in constant fear you may loose a plant to mold or some other problem if you leave them in dark, maybe it is not for you.Then there are some who may try to do it and notice little effects due to genetics responding less favorable than others. Sometimes it takes that tad of curiosity and a willingness to take a loss to find a new road to walk down, I can not tell you if your strain will react favorably or unfavorably to anything as I am not intimately familiar with the particular strain, pheno, grow area, grow style, handling of the plants, lighting and lighting style, nutrients, etc. Honestly there are so many variables that anything one can inform others on beyond the basics of growing (and even there to a degree) is simply opinion of style and current ability. 

As always I am open to any interpretation of the matter and will be delighted to experiment with new and innovative methods as they appear on the medical cannabis scene.


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