Letting plants die before harvest

[brumbuds]

I have followed (what I now believe) to be bad advice…

I gave the plants a full 8 week flower and flushed for 1 full week I was advised to not water for 2/3 days before harvest.. when I went back in to harvest the plants had all wilted and buds shrunk (guessing this is due to water content reducing) but the buds felt fairly dry.. I took a sample and it was still wet inside. 
 

I have just been to check them (chopped and hung) and some of the buds feel touch dry maybe a little wet inside on some bud really looks like it has been in there a week (usually dry for 2 weeks at low ish temps) 

 

have I completely messed this up? I don’t know why I attempted this as my harvest/dry/cure was all in hand previously, I was advised it would think it’s dying and have 1 last push but I actually think I let the plants die completely and left it too long before harvest 

 

anyone encountered similar before? 
 

help is much appreciated 

Edited February 13, 2023 by brumbuds

[Herbal Kint]

Not much you can do ,chop ,trim and remove branches IMO.

 

[brumbuds]

Thanks.. what damage would have been caused? Still smells the same and looks the same but I’m guessing it will have some kind of negative effect? 
 

I usually dry trim anyway so always dry on the branch they are currently hanging do you think I should get them out and trim ASAP? Or can I wait for middles to dry fully and then do full trim as normal.. 

 

gutted because a 2 week slow dry usually brings really good clean results, will I be able to pull any back through curing? 

[brumbuds]

Sorry I haven’t Been too clear here…

 

So I left them on 12/12 for final 3 days with no feed (mistake as I now realise should have been darkness) 

 

they are now chopped and hanging ready for dry trim… usually day 1 they are soggy as water content releasing maybe? But day 1 now the outer bud feels dry 

 

I have been advised by an educated guess that i should let them dry and put them in a bucket to cure with a humidity pack ? 

[Larry Badgeley]

@brumbuds

 

You still haven't been too clear. What do you mean "darkness" instead of feed? I assume then, you follow the leave in the dark for 3 days malarkey?

[OldFord]

Prob be some rather  couch lock effects if shes cooked til she keeled over         

 

A pic speaks volumes sir ,   can you get some decent pics up of the bud   &   a few close up's so we can see the trichs   

 

That would help lots mate.         

[Boojum]

If you left them for 3 days without watering then they will have got dehydrated so will have wilted (the water content in plant cells helps keep them rigid, when they dehydrate the cells kinda deflate which leads to wilting). I'd guess that the leaves have started to overdry partly because of heat in the tent and partly because the plants are keeping the moisture to their core and the most important bits (the flowers) in a last effort not to die. I'd dry them as normal, I think the worst you'll get is that if they've dried a bit quick the smoke may be a bit harsh and you won't get the full taste, but to be honest I doubt it would even affect it that much. But I wouldn't do it in future, sounds to me like a recipe for budrot (but I must admit I'm far from a good grower myself so I may be talking shite, as usual ).

[brumbuds]

Thankyou I will get a pic tonight.. 

 

and yeah I’ll explain, so I was advised to leave them to wilt so the plant thinks it’s dying and has a final push. 
 

i fed them for the final time on Thursday and then left them completely and went back in to harvest Sunday evening, when entering Sunday I realised something was wrong as they looked more than wilted they looked on their last legs (hadn’t fell over but I have 2 good nets in probably holding it up) 

 

I have looked for info online and looks like I should have done the final feed Thursday then left them to wilt over the next 2 days in darkness rather than keeping it on 12/12 like I did 

 

 

[Darknight420710]

I dont think you've fucked up. I actually read you can harvest a plant without actually cutting it down and you do exactly what you did but you don't cut it 

 

Not sure what the purpose behind it is but it still drys the same albeit a hell of a lot longer, maybe something to do with keeping the trichomes developing. 

 

Me personally I chop 10wk and regardless of a 8wk strain, i try and keep to indica dominant so thunk 10wk long enough for most.

[Boojum]

I've read stuff about letting the plant die and dry while still rooted, but I don't really see how it could be in any way beneficial, way I see it that just leads to dead matter on a still living plant which just seems to me to be an invitation to budrot

[brumbuds]

Thank you all for advice I can’t get back there until tomorrow now so I will post a pic 

[brumbuds]

Hi all,

 

Half seems to be snap dry now while half still needs a few days… Thinking of using a Bovita humidity pack in the bucket when I’m curing? Anyone used these 

 

[BushDoctoR]

I suppose in theory I guess you could let the plant die and dry while still rooted but I'd have the light off to stop the plant metabolising and treat it like normal drying bud. Personally i think its a waste or growing room space and could be an invitation for mold. Its certainly not the done thing in any case, in future just chop them normally and get the basics down to a tee before trying out experimental techniques (of which there a loads and many of them are total bro-science nonsense)

 

Avoid growing tips from mates at all costs! I can honestly say I've never had a single piece of good growing advice from my real life friends in 20 years of growing The beauty of forums is that if someone says something that's bollocks it can be called out, that doesn't happen in the real world

 

If half snap and half almost snap then it sounds about ready for curing to me. I prefer them before they're snapping myself. If the humidity creeps up then pop the lid open for another 24 hours and repeat until you're happy

 

Bovedas can be great for longer term storage particularly if like me your air is naturally very dry and you have trouble with buds continuing to lose moisture over time but again get the basics down first before messing with unnecessaries

[Wacky Wardrobe]

23 minutes ago, BushDoctoR said:

I'd have the light off to stop the plant metabolising

Defeats the object I reckon.

A mate of mine used to grow a lot of plants under HPS in small pots of perlite and vermiculite.

Daily watering essential and twice a day in hot weather.

One time a couple of plants must have missed getting watered a couple of days before harvest.

They went yellow and died quickly with the intense light, heat and low water holding capacity of the media.

We chopped those with the others and dried them as usual. The buds still contained almost as much moisture as the rest.

The main difference was the almost complete lack of chlorophyll.

This made for a really smooth tasty smoke.

We started doing it intentionally to a couple of plants each time after that for personal consumption.

We called it "Blonde".

I intend to try again some time.

I'm not sure how well it will work with LED but I reckon when I transition to hydro it should be quite easy to try by just turning the tap off on one of them right at the end.

Don't try this at home kids.

YMMV

:-)

 

[BushDoctoR]

@Wacky Wardrobe

 

Okay that's pretty interesting, I would've expected the complete opposite tbh