harvesting tips/tricks?

Fenda

Member
Hey guys im just wondering if there is anything special i can do to create for thc before i harvest? I have heard that starving the plant of water for the last day or two has this effect but im wondering if u compromise weight by doing so? I am currently into my 8th day of flush, and advice is much appreciated cheers!
 

mcpurple

Well-Known Member
i try to harvest when the soi is dry cuz this means leass water in the stems meaning less drying time, not much tips or tricks to it though, most of the stuff like 1-3 days of dark before harvest and stuff like that is BS when it is ready to chop then chop it,trim it, dry it and then jar it or smoke
 

Brick Top

New Member
"The Stichting Institute of Medical marijuana (SIMM), the first company to sell marijuana through the pharmacies of Holland, has been investigating the medical possibilities of cannabis, together with TNO laboratories and the University of Leiden. One of their discoveries has been that to keep the ripe plants in the dark before harvesting could increase their potency.

SIMM’s growers separated a crop of mature plants, harvested half of them and kept the other half in absolute darkness for 72 hours before cutting and drying. Analysis of the resulting dried buds showed that some varieties had seen an increase of THC of up to 30%, while CBD and CBN remained the same."

Some people claim if the crop that was harvested first had been allowed to grow for the same additional 72 hours that the other crop that was kept in total darkness the THC levels would equal out but I do not believe that would be true, not given the fact that THC works as sunscreen in trichome heads and a small amount is lost each day, then replenished at night plus a small amount more. There should be some net increase with an extended period of darkness. Possibly not the full 30% that was found the way the test was performed, but there should be some increase.
 

mcpurple

Well-Known Member
it showed that SOME and not all and by some they could really mean only ONE. i dont buy into that BS
 

darkdestruction420

Well-Known Member
"The Stichting Institute of Medical marijuana (SIMM), the first company to sell marijuana through the pharmacies of Holland, has been investigating the medical possibilities of cannabis, together with TNO laboratories and the University of Leiden. One of their discoveries has been that to keep the ripe plants in the dark before harvesting could increase their potency.

SIMM’s growers separated a crop of mature plants, harvested half of them and kept the other half in absolute darkness for 72 hours before cutting and drying. Analysis of the resulting dried buds showed that some varieties had seen an increase of THC of up to 30%, while CBD and CBN remained the same."

Some people claim if the crop that was harvested first had been allowed to grow for the same additional 72 hours that the other crop that was kept in total darkness the THC levels would equal out but I do not believe that would be true, not given the fact that THC works as sunscreen in trichome heads and a small amount is lost each day, then replenished at night plus a small amount more. There should be some net increase with an extended period of darkness. Possibly not the full 30% that was found the way the test was performed, but there should be some increase.
thanks bricktop, i was looking for where i saw you say this before and wasnt having any luck just like trying to find the one about fan leaves only absorbing about 15% of the light that hits them. your a big asset to the site-Keep up the good work bro. i'd +rep this post too if i could but since i did rep you yesterday i cant right now.
 

mcpurple

Well-Known Member
no i havent, so i guess i cant diss on it to much, i have only seen people do it and the smoke is no different or potent to me. i dont see a plant in nature going for 3 days of dark and the weed is still very very potent
 

darkdestruction420

Well-Known Member
we are not growing outside though and we are growing for different reasons than nature somewhat. out in the natural way of things the plants whole goal/purpose is to make flowers and then have those flowers interact with pollen making as many seeds as possible to continue the species. we didnt say your bud would not be potent(or any outside grown bud), we said that it can help out the thc levels reach their absolute max possible.
 

mcpurple

Well-Known Member
we are not growing outside though and we are growing for different reasons than nature somewhat. out in the natural way of things the plants whole goal/purpose is to make flowers and then have those flowers interact with pollen making as many seeds as possible to continue the species. we didnt say your bud would not be potent(or any outside grown bud), we said that it can help out the thc levels reach their absolute max possible.
you are right, but like i said ive smoked bud that has been through this test and it was no more stonger then what wasnt in the dark. i guess i should have not called it BS, i just think it really makes no NOTICEABLE difference
 

Brick Top

New Member
it showed that SOME and not all and by some they could really mean only ONE. i dont buy into that BS
It's totally cool and the gang with me if you don't want to "buy into that BS" if you don't want to. But consider this. Since it is possible that you could achieve up to a 30% increase in THC levels, as was found when tested, wouldn't it be worth finishing plants in a 72-hour period of darkness? Maybe not to you, huh? What if you only ended up with a meager 5% or 10% increase in THC levels? I guess that wouldn't be worth letting your plants finish in 72 hours of darkness either, would it?
 

Brick Top

New Member
you are right, but like i said ive smoked bud that has been through this test and it was no more stonger then what wasnt in the dark. i guess i should have not called it BS, i just think it really makes no NOTICEABLE difference
You have "smoked bud" that has been given an extended period of darkness and you say it was not stronger than the same strain grown at the same time in the same conditions, right? I mean you were not comparing different crops of the same strain grown at different times, right? Did you have an equally high tech laboratory as The Stichting Institute of Medical marijuana used to test the bud you "smoked" so you knew the actual THC levels of each crop or did you only smoke each and then just decide if you thought there was a difference or not?
 

Don Gin and Ton

Well-Known Member
sup brick!?

to be honest the difference is marginal id say ive tried it both ways, little difference when your weed is high end to begin with. the best little tip ive found for swelling the crystal is to run a dehumidifier in the last week of flower/flush likewie it will help with the drying time.
 

darkdestruction420

Well-Known Member
sup brick!?

to be honest the difference is marginal id say ive tried it both ways, little difference when your weed is high end to begin with. the best little tip ive found for swelling the crystal is to run a dehumidifier in the last week of flower/flush likewie it will help with the drying time.
what kind of dehumidifier do you use? I've spent like 6 hrs today looking for a good one that not too expensive and i couldnt find one that didnt have bad reviews that said they didnt actually work or something like that.
 

Juicy Fruit

Active Member
Of course it helps keeping em in dark for the last little bit as the plant is slowly dieing, and THC degrades in lite to CBD.

EDIT:Hey dark I love the pic of the cat as your avatar looks like my cat peach, yours male or female? mines female heard there rare to have female orenge.
 

Don Gin and Ton

Well-Known Member
what kind of dehumidifier do you use? I've spent like 6 hrs today looking for a good one that not too expensive and i couldnt find one that didnt have bad reviews that said they didnt actually work or something like that.
mine was fairly cheap in the range at about 80 quid i think. dont get a tinyb one i think its about 70ltr. hasnt got a thermostat on it those are the pricey ones, mine simply has cosmo air written on it but googling that didnt get me far sorry! aree you uk?
 

Brick Top

New Member
sup brick!?

to be honest the difference is marginal id say ive tried it both ways, little difference when your weed is high end to begin with. the best little tip ive found for swelling the crystal is to run a dehumidifier in the last week of flower/flush likewie it will help with the drying time.
The problems I have with people saying an extended period of darkness doesn't work or doesn't make much difference based on their own experience is with over 2,300 known strains out there and unknown numbers of mystery strains I doubt if anyone has grown enough strains and tried it enough times in the best of growing conditions always maintained at the very same level to really be able to say an extended period of darkness does not work or does not make enough difference to be worth it.

It is possible that what few strains they have grown and tried it on did not respond much to an extended period of darkness so they declare what scientific testing to work nothing more than a myth. Sometimes the people who say it is a myth do not do side by side comparisons where both crops are grown in the exact same conditions and given the exact same care and the plants may have been grown from seed rather than from clones and the seeds may have come from other bean runs and in some cases even different knockoff strains that were not really close genetically were grown so there is a total lack of control in what they consider to be 'accurate testing.' Others listen to them and think ' well, they tried it and it did not work so I won't waste my time. The person who thinks that after reading where someone else said it did not work for them and then does not give their plants an extended period of time finishing them in total darkness might be growing one of the strains where a big difference might occur and they might lose out on a 20% or 25% or 30% increase, all because someone else said it didn't seem to work or did not seem to do much at all.

I knew people back in the 70's who had already figured out, by accident and not through scientific testing, that harvesting their plants before sunrise resulted in higher potency smoke. Since then it was discovered that THC works as 'sunscreen' in trichomes heads. It protects the delicate inner glands from damaging sun rays. In doing so some THC is lost each day, it breaks down as it protects the inner glands. Each night what was lost is replenished and a small additional amount is produced so there is a slow gradual increase, so because of how light does break down THC when someone harvests before daylight, or if they unplug their lights or turn off their timers after their final light cycle before harvest their plants do not receive any light before they are harvested so there is no loss of THC that would not be replaced due to there not being another period of darkness to replace it in.

Since that is a known fact, or at least known to anyone who knows the inner workings of trichome heads and what the plants reason(s) are for producing THC in the first place are, it would only make sense that an extended period of darkness before harvesting would result in higher potency pot. Yes the percentage of increase will vary from strain to strain but since people will pay, and in some cases overpay, for other things that in some cases are only claimed to work and in some cases known to work but again only to a varying degree, to increase potency, things like using high dollar soils and additives and nutrients and various supplements and different types of grow light bulbs and UVB bulbs etc., why in the wide, wide world of sports would anyone ever pass on doing something that has been scientifically proven to work to some degree or another that will not cost them a single penny to do? Doing so would be illogical.

Something else I really never understand is how anyone could believe growing in their basement or in a closet or in a growbox or in a grow tent or in a greenhouse gives them a controlled enough environment to be able to accurately compare their perceived results to that of cannabis grown in closely monitored well maintained conditions that is then scientifically tested in high tech labs. It just does not make any sense to me that anyone can actually believe that their perception of and belief in some growing technique is more accurate than the results of actual scientific tests.

Another is, of the people I have seen or heard say they did not believe it worked or did not make much difference is all so far have only talked of potency as in how high or stoned they felt, but none so far have said they thought to pay any attention to the duration of high or stone. Someone might grow strains where the high or stone does not seem more powerful to them but their high or stone might still be longer lasting.

Keeping humidity in the proper range is more important than many people know it is. There are some very potent equatorial strains that grow in high humidity areas but when you look at 'numbers' most high-test landrace strains have evolved in drier areas, like Afghanistan. The aridity of the areas of Afghanistan where Indica strains have evolved is more than just apparent by the trait of large dense flower clusters thickly covered in large trichomes. This would only be an advantage in an area of low humidity, as flowers will mold in anything more. Hence the airy sativa flowers due to their evolving mainly in areas of higher humidity and the dense flowers of indicas that evolved in areas with much lower humidity.

There are many examples of non-cannabis plants producing resins in order to protect themselves from drying out. The waxy coating on cacti and other succulent plants is a prime example. Marijuana flowered in humid conditions will often have a longer stalk on the glandular trichome than the same strain grown in drier conditions. That will give the appearance of being very crystallized but it will likely contain less THC than the same plant grown in a drier environment. Shorter trichome stalks are preferable because the gland heads of longer trichome stalks are more likely to break off during handling.

So yes, humidity is important but it is not only in the last week of flowering. For some reason people seem to think that things like proper humidity are only important during the final stage of growth and that is only when they will do their 'magic' when it actually is important throughout the entire life of plants. Someone will try something like increasing humidity in the final week of flowering and they very well might see positive changes, but their error is to assume that means they increased humidity at the very best time, when they would receive the most from doing so. But they fail to pause to consider the greater gains they would have had if they had maintained the proper humidity range all throughout their grow. They do not realize that the positive differences would have been greater than what they achieved by only increasing their humidity for the final week of flower.
 

Don Gin and Ton

Well-Known Member
awesome post man i do love a good educated debate or rather conversation as i generally agree with your points. i conce3de the point that i have not tried the darkness pre chop in the exact same conditions twice changing only 1 variable as as you sday this is near impossible to aCHIEVE SOMETHING SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE IS GOING TO FOUL UP THE PLAN. oOps caps sorry.

being honest my test was carried out with the same strain from the same bag of seeds which is pretty likely they could be totally dfifferent pheno's (althought they actually werent that different(that i could telll by the usual obvious signs stature taste harvest time etc)) and without the use of the gas spectrometer i shall never truly know, those things are damned pricey.

really what were both driving at is that to ensure the highest possible thc you have to get it right from the get go no screw ups, which again is near impossible. i settle for knowing that to the best of my ability my pot is the best i can produce excepot for the unforseen...

interesting you mention uvb that as i understand is crucial to the cevelopment of trichs i was looking into getting a bulb a while ago im sure youve seen the thread already about the study on uvb bulbs if not ill try n find it. the jist was basically the small bulbs made very little difference depending on distance from the plants but the larger bulbs which would do the job nicely wo9uld need to be on short times. i really wanted to set up a bulb to run like nature intended hahah ish first 3 weeks of flower uvb on first 3 hours second 3 weeks move uvb to middle 3 hours. and obv last 3 last 3 hours. just to see how much more i could boost the production of trichs as i dont believe this would have any bearing on yeild.

anyway backl to the topic sorry i tangent a fair bit when im baked. humidity throughout is imperative from the humidity in the prop being 99% to your last few weeks re3ducing it avoiding bud rot/mould is no easy feat to achieve as i simply dont work 1 strain long enough to ascertain.

long story short getting everything right from start to scratch is near impossible but well worth putting the effort into striving for. once you get to the top end of growing where your anal about ph ec ppm etc adding \co2 and stuff is where this thread could come into its own as aside from marginal increases from nutrients and additives the only things to put your bud up that tiny % is how much effort you put in.

have you heard of products called shooting powder? air pots and auto pots? those 3 things were the last 3 that made a noticeable difference for me
 

Brick Top

New Member
have you heard of products called shooting powder? air pots and auto pots? those 3 things were the last 3 that made a noticeable difference for me
I have heard of Shooting Powder but I have never tried it or even researched it so I cannot say anything positive or negative about it. About the only thing I know about it is they call it a "bud expander." After that I really don't know anything about it.
 

Don Gin and Ton

Well-Known Member
well i looked into it a bit and its not exactly a bud expander but more a hormone to force the plant to produce more growth at budsites, works well. i havent done a side by side though ;) airpots are genius inventions roots grow as nature intended outwards not roundwards those i have done side by sides on and hobbes is currently trying to make a DIY version
 
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