24hr/48hr/6 days of darkness before harvest? Whats your harvest ritual?

[greengreensmog]

All I can think is why would I want to

leave my new buds in a warm, dark, moist environment.. sounds like a nice place for mould 

[MindSoup]

That seems to be the maim concern people have, but those that do it tend to say its not an issue. In an outdoor environment canna definitely has more terps at night, they release them as a defence against bugs, and due to the lower temps and no light they don't degrade as quickly so night harvested weed will be tastier/smellier and potentially stronger than that same plant harvested at mid afternoon. I'd be pretty surprised if that didn't carry over to indoors. However if they're is any benefit in extending that period of darkness I've yet to really nail down. Any tests people have done have had too many variables to be accurate. If I had the space I'd  run 7 clones, On the day I chopped one id move others into darkness for 24 one for 48 and one for 6 and let the others run longer with 12/12 one for 24 one for 48 and one for 6 (6 days seems insane). Even then its only one strain. Anyway I'm starting again lol, I'll obsess over this again next chop. 

[Guest anarchycamp]

40 minutes ago, greengreensmog said:

All I can think is why would I want to

leave my new buds in a warm, dark, moist environment.. sounds like a nice place for mould 

You shouldn't have a warm environment really? 17/18s good. Turn off the light, down the extract a touch. Don't turn off the oscillating fans till you chop. 

 

[Firstimegrower_420]

I dony have a clue and like yourself seen plenty youtube videos. My last grow I filled the top of the pots with ice and once that melted I gave 72hr complete darkness. Haveny a clue if it made any difference but hey ho I got stoned  

[blackpoolbouncer]

Have you got anything scie toxic to back up the claims of stronger smells at night. 

Vast majority of plants release more terpenes during the day. 

 

Have you considered other factors as to why you think it smells more at night outdoors, like other plants not diluting the smell because they aren't realising at night because they attract pollinators that work during the day etc

[MindSoup]

Just anecdotal and again Youchube vids. swami was the first one I saw talk about it I think, he certainly has some whacky ideas, but the mendo boys and a lot of other really experienced and successful US growers also follow the same practice.

 

I've chopped some plants at night and then the others the next afternoon and the night time stuff all ended up tastier/smellier to me, this was before I heard anything about it, so I don't think its confirmation bias, but could have just been phenotype variation. 

Edited April 1, 2021 by MindSoup

[lildaveham]

@blackpoolbouncer @MindSoup

 

Could it be that our sense of smell is heightened in the dark and as a result it seems that the plants smell stronger? I know hearing is heightened in the dark to compensate for us not being able to see as well. 
 

Imo YouTube is great for music and how to diy vids, not so much for growing as there are so many vid makers with vested interests. 
 

[MindSoup]

36 minutes ago, lildaveham said:

@blackpoolbouncer @MindSoup

 

Could it be that our sense of smell is heightened in the dark and as a result it seems that the plants smell stronger? I know hearing is heightened in the dark to compensate for us not being able to see as well. 
 

Imo YouTube is great for music and how to diy vids, not so much for growing as there are so many vid makers with vested interests. 
 

Yeah maybe, I can see that people would have heightened senses in the dark. but to be clear my anecdote was referring to the dried cured buds, not the fresh plants. That time in particular the night time filled one drying box and the daytime the other, and then into seperate Tupperware boxes no plan to it, jist turned out that way, I couldn't take the whole plot home in one go. Everyone liked the night box better even though it was same strain, same plot, and a mix of a few plants in each tub. Who knows maybe I did a better cure on one box, I never really thought much of it back then, too busy being high as fuck and young, but when I saw other people talking about it it got me thinking.  

 

Yeah definitely plenty of nonsense on the chube about canna

Edited April 1, 2021 by MindSoup

[Guest]

I liken plant harvesting to a human athlete, its my background and helps me understand things. 

When an athlete trains, he/she is deliberately placing themselves under stress.  At the end of training they are fuct and performances will be at a real low point.  After a recovery (rest period) the athletes body has repaired any damage and strengthened where possible to combat that stress should it happen again.  The length of the rest period relates to the length of the training period.  Which is why Olympic athlete's do fuck all for a fortnight before finals, 4 yrs training = big rest needed. 

A plant spends all day working out in the light (stress).  After the recovery period (, lights out) the plant is at its optimum. Again, the rest period should directly relate to the stress period. 

For this reason I can see no point extending the dark period before harvest, as the plant will know when the stress period is coming and will be at optimum levels to cope with it. 

[McHazy]

I have chopped after a couple days dark a couple times an imo it makes absolutely fuck all difference

Just another one o they bullshit myths about weed growing that seems to surface every couple years or so 

[MindSoup]

That's a pretty solid point. light/heat actually degrades the terps and cannabinoids and the plant is also busy creating sugars (photosynthesis) so it would make senses that in the dark it would be using said sugars to create more resin and thus be a better crop, also I'm pretty sure the lower sugar levels would make for a cleaner smoke/easier cure. Aside from that point, alot of the reasoning behind the extended darkness (as apposed to just harvesting in the dark) is actually because it induces stress, which supposedly sends the plant into a panic/overdrive to use all its strength to produce more resin/terps

[McHazy]

Just now, MindSoup said:

 is actually because it induces stress, which supposedly sends the plant into a panic/overdrive to use all its strength to produce more resin/terps

Same kinda pish as sticking a rusty nail through the stem then

[MindSoup]

2 minutes ago, McHazy said:

Same kinda pish as sticking a rusty nail through the stem then

 

Yeah seems a bit sus really. I've heard all kinds of fantastical bullshit about growing, the best was to use a tiny bit of glyphosate(roundup) in you water cos its a "growth hormone" that makes them grow faster, while I can see why (a not very bright) someone might think that based of how it works as a weedkiller it's obviously a terrible idea, and whoever was saying it clearly wasn't speaking from experience. I think from now on I'll just do as before and harvest in the dark, but if that's ever inconvenient I'll leave them off until I have time to chop later that day rather than chopping lights on.

Edited April 1, 2021 by MindSoup

[DeltaMelter]

UV stimulates the growth of Trichomes as they work as a partial defence against UV - AFAIK that's not bro science. I have noticed a difference in trichome formation with the UV but I haven't seen it increase at night, although I can see how the plant would work on building them 24/7 so if they are degraded during the "day" then maybe they are at their peak just before lights on at the end of the "night" - which sounds like what most growers do. Not sure what giving them more "night" would do as I would bet they get into a 12 hour cycle and would just be waiting for lights. Trichomes take time to form and grow and mature too, I doubt it is something they can throw into overdrive just because its dark. If it only makes 1% difference though for me its not worth the risk of mould or rot.

 

My lights-on is 10pm so I've been thinking about this too, do I really want to start a harvest at 10 at night? OR for security purposes is harvesting at night a better idea anyway? Less likely to be anyone around to pick up any smells.

 

Security-wise I'm a bit worried as watering them and opening the tent is bad enough, harvest will have the pucker-factor up at 11. Will have to work something out as the smell in the room will get dragged out by the blowing extraction, last time I opened the tent I could smell it outside for a few minutes when I went down the garden. Harvest will take hours so its something I'm thinking about carefully.

[DeltaMelter]

Besides, after the chop the plants are not "dead" so they are about to get 7-14 days in the dark anyway for the trichs to develop as the plant dies/dries. You would think this would be the ultimate stress and trichome formation would increase for the first 24-72hrs if this theory is true. I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen though. I know its not a fair comparison but you see my point.

 

Need some testing, maybe by harvesting the same plant in stages (24/48/72hrs dark) and testing it (i.e with a lab THC test, not just the flame test lol) would be the only way to know for sure. So many variables though!