Darkness before harvest

Reeny

Reeny

Well-Known Member
I have read that giving your plants 24 hours or so of darkness before harvest is benefical and have a question or two.

I checked my plants Trichomes this morning right after she woke up. Since I desire more of an energetic high I thought a 75%-25% cloudy/amber was what I wanted to see prior to harvest. It seems that I had some pretty drastic changes over the last 48 hours and it looks real close to the ratio I am looking for. Now for the questions :clap:

Can I put my girls into darkness today since the lights have already gone on?

What is the rule of thumb regarding watering and harvesting? She is pretty dry but I am unsure if I should water or not if I plan on cutting her down.

How fast will the trichomes turn? I did not check them yesterday and it looks like I have double the ambers I did 2 days ago.

Thanks for any suggestions. I could not have come this far without RUI.
 
J

jimboy227

Active Member
In my experience, its best to water right up to till there cut, otherwise the leaves start to wilt causing a nightmare when trimming, cause they all stick to the bud. People may disagree, but thats what i do. Also if your gonna cut them in the next day or two, putting them in complete darkness aint gonna do anything majorly negative. Thats my opinion
 
Doctor Cannabis

Doctor Cannabis

Well-Known Member
In my experience, these three methods produce the exact same effect, more bud production:
1. Total light 1 day before harvest. More light -> more bud production.
2. Total darkness 1-2 days before harvest. Less light -> plant thinks it's the end of the life cycle, produces more buds
3. Within 1-2 weeks, changing from 12/12 to 11/13 and eventually to 10/14. Same as above.
 
techtoker

techtoker

Well-Known Member
I am planning a 24 hour darkness period before I harvest. I heard it allows the plant to drain all the water from the stalks/stem making a faster dry. I could be wrong
 
Jeffdogg

Jeffdogg

Well-Known Member
Doctor Cannabis said:
In my experience, these three methods produce the exact same effect, more bud production:
1. Total light 1 day before harvest. More light -> more bud production.
2. Total darkness 1-2 days before harvest. Less light -> plant thinks it's the end of the life cycle, produces more buds
3. Within 1-2 weeks, changing from 12/12 to 11/13 and eventually to 10/14. Same as above.
Click to expand...
I've heard about #1 before. On a video by THC seeds I think it was a dude on there was saying the last couple weeks to increase the light. Even mentioned some strains can have up to 14 hours of light. I was thinking about giving it a shot, maybe starting out 12:30/11:30 for the first week then the last adjust 13/11. Does that sound ok? I'm using 400w HPS atm. He also mentions it gives "kickin" THC.
 
Doctor Cannabis

Doctor Cannabis

Well-Known Member
Don't raise the lightcycle gradually, you could accidentally reveg your plant. Just ONCE, ONCE and no more than ONCE during the flowering period, give her a day of 24/0. It's best to administer this high dosage of light when you notice that bud production has gotten really slow (usually at the end (for sativas) or in the middle (for indicas) of the flowering period depending on strain). This method works perfectly for ScrOG and micro grows, where almost all buds would receive the extra light. I personally improved my PC case ScrOG yeald with 40% doing this. Still, this method will be useful for normal grows or SOGs.

I also leave all my indicas in the dark in their last 24h after a gradual decrease from 12/12 to 10/14. This fattens up the buds nicely.
 
techtoker

techtoker

Well-Known Member
As I posted before, I planned on a 24 hour darkness period. It def. wasn't interrupted. I had to look at it a few times. I tried looking for changes and if anything, the plant developed more trichomes. It just looked more suggary when it was hanging than when it was still alive. Does anyone know if this possible. Here are some alive and dead pics taken the same day
 
Doctor Cannabis

Doctor Cannabis

Well-Known Member
Trichomes are developed and repaired during the night in order to protect the plant from the UV light of the day. That's why keeping it in the dark 24h will maximize trichome production and thus potency.
 
jsgrwn

jsgrwn

Well-Known Member
Doctor Cannabis said:
Trichomes are developed and repaired during the night in order to protect the plant from the UV light of the day. That's why keeping it in the dark 24h will maximize trichome production and thus potency.
Click to expand...
FYI everyone, this is an assumption not a fact. late
 
llLOU

llLOU

Well-Known Member
Doctor Cannabis said:
Trichomes are developed and repaired during the night in order to protect the plant from the UV light of the day. That's why keeping it in the dark 24h will maximize trichome production and thus potency.
Click to expand...
CAN YOU TELL US WHERE YOU GET THIS INFORMATION FROM ? I WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE.:weed:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top