Effects of UVB radiation on THC and Trichrome Production

KaliKitsune

Well-Known Member
Marijuana THC

Indoor or outdoors, if you don't read this you will not be getting the best out of your buds.

Enjoy the biology lesson, kids :) If you have problems with any of the vocab I'm here to help. ;)
 

KaliKitsune

Well-Known Member
Proof they actually work?

The point of an indoor grow is to simulate an outdoor environment as closely as possible.

It's been proven to work since the 80's. First in 83, then again in 87. It was buried because at that time we had "The War on Drugs." (Fuck you, Nancy Reagan.)

If you're going to attempt to emulate the sun, you need to encompass all the spectra used by the plants. Trichromes are formed as a protective response against UV radiation so their seeds do not get harmed. The simple light analysis of the trichromes under a microscope proves quite a bit of that on that page - note how the trichromes are cloudy under incandescent bulbs but near-clear and highly refractive under natural sunlight.

The rest of the 'proof' is simple light physics and actually growing in a controlled test environment, which was again done back in 83 and 87. I think the university at Oxford, MS was one of the universities affiliated with that study.
 

anhedonia

Well-Known Member
dude, theres no extra "r" in the word TRICHOME. It means hair look it up. There are several functions of trichomes. not just limited to abiotic protection. but I have heard of rumors, none verified, that uvb does in fact cause more resin? Im still skeptic.
 

KaliKitsune

Well-Known Member
dude, theres no extra "r" in the word TRICHOME. It means hair look it up. There are several functions of trichomes. not just limited to abiotic protection. but I have heard of rumors, none verified, that uvb does in fact cause more resin? Im still skeptic.
Waaaaaah. Narc on me for spelling. :D

UV-B RADIATION EFFECT ON PHOTOSYNTHESIS, GROWTH AND CANNABINOID PRODUCTION OF TWO Cannabis stavic CHEMOTYPES: by John Lyndon, USDA-ARS, Southern Weed Science Laboratory, P. O. Box 350, Stoneville, MS, 38776, USA: Alan H. Teramura, Department of Botany, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA., & C. Benjamin Coffman, USDA-ARS, Weed Science Laboratory, AEQ, I, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA: Received August 29, 1986, accepted February 24, 1987: page 201 Although the mechanism is unknown, a relationship exists between cannabinoid content and the attitude altitude at which C. sativa is grown. Mobark et al., (1978) suggested that the high-altitude environment was responsible for an increased population of propyl cannabinoids in plants grown in 1300m. The average total cannabinoid content of wild, mature (flowering) Indian C. sativa from elevations between 250m and 1000m was 2.43% (by dry weight); between 1000 m and 2000m was 3.01%; and above 2000m Was 1.39% (Turner et al., 1979). The cannabinoid content in four out of five of these mature Indian C. sativa variants decreased when grown at sea level in Mississippi, USA. One likely factor which may be of significance to cannabinoid production in both high-altitude and tropical environments is ultraviolet radiation. page 202 Pate (1983) reported that C. sativa populations originating from high UV-B environment contained little or no cannabidiol (CBD) but high levels of delta 9 - tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9 - THC), while the opposite was true for population from low UV-B environments, and proposed that the two distinct C. sativa chemotypes (drug and fiber) evolved as a result of selective pressures brought about by UV-B radiation. Fairbairn and Liebmann (1974) reported that the delta 9 - THC content of leaf tissue from UV irradiated greenhouse-grown drug-type C. sativa was 23% greater than non- irradiated greenhouse-grown plants. However, neither the spectral distribution nor the daily dose of UV radiation . The objectives of this study were to test (a) The physiological and morphological insensitivity of both the drug and fiber types of C. sativa to UV-B radiation; and (b) to correlate this insensitivity with a change in production of delta 9 - THC or CBD in drug and fiber type plants, respectively. Material and Methods Page 203 Results....Only the delta 9 THC content in leaf and floral tissues of drug type plants increased significantly with UV-B radiation. page 204 Discussion page 205 The results presented here indicate that both types of vegetative C. sativa are physiologically and morphologically insensitive to UV-B radiation. The increased level of delta 9 - THC found in leaf tissues upon UV-B irritation may account for this insensitivity on the drug type plants. However, fiber-type plants showed no comparable change in the level of CBD which has similar UV-B absorption characteristics). Thus, the contribution of cannabinoids to the UV-B insensitivity in vegetative C. sativa is equivocal. Perhaps the background levels of CBD present in the fiber-type tissues were sufficient to protect the plant from UV-B radiation. Alternatively, other UV-B absorbing compounds such as flavonoids may account for this UV-B insensitivity. Flavonoids are the principle pigments associated with UV radiation greening in plants . Barrett et al (1985) reported the concentration of Cannflavin A (a flavonoid from C. sative) was similar in drug and fiber type leaf tissue, whereas Gellert et al (1974) reported relatively more flavonoids in drug than fiber type plants. Whether the quality and quantity of flavonoids in leaf tissues of the chemotypes in this study were sufficient to account for observed UV-B insensitivity was not determined. It should be pointed out, however that one should be cautions when extrapolating from greenhouse to field conditions in UV-B studies. In addition, when considering the distribution of C. sativa, one cannot overlook the fact that it is one of the oldest cultivated plants known to man. Thus, its present distribution may possibly be an artifact of man's cultural practices. In conclusion, the delta 9 THC content in leaf and floral tissues of greenhouse grown drug-type C. sativa increased linearly with UV-B dose. Other cannabinoids in drug and fiber-type plants were unaffected by UV-B radiation. Both drug and fiber chemotypes were physiologically and morphologically tolerant to UV-B radiation.

http://www.hempforus.com/reseaag4.htm - this here has copies of most of the full bodies of text of published studies that you'd normally need to pay to see. The sources are cited at the beginning of each paragraph, so you could likely contact these people (If they're still at these places) and verify the inforrmation.
 

curioushiker

Active Member
How come this thread died. This is some very interesting stuff.
Any new discoveries on the use of UV lights?
 

DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
How come this thread died. This is some very interesting stuff.
Any new discoveries on the use of UV lights?

I agree, this is some interesting stuff, this thread should be expanded on if it works.

Also I have a question, does anyone know how to artificially create the UV spectrum that's usefull, or is putting your plants in the sun the only way to expose it to this UV spectrum?
 

manlookingj

Active Member
I've ran across this thread several times, and would also like to see it stay active. Very intresting stuff, great read, but, I don't fully understand what the author is saying, in respect too, whether if over done with UVB it can actually decrease trich production?
Another thing and I shouldn't ask, but I have a sungrow MH 400w bulb that I drop after having a short time, and breaking the outside layer off. Now I've off course been very tempted to introduce the bulb during flowering period. My ballast will run either or mh or hps and I alternate weeks during flower with the bulbs to try to give an array of spectrum to the female plants, but I've never tried using that bulb. Has this ever been done?
If done in an enclosed area, where I'm not going to go into while the light is on. How unsafe would it be to my plants to expose them with the unprotected bulb, for like one day out of seven in the cycle?
 
I hope Manlookingj never tried that experiment of using a broken bulb. The amount of radiation emitted would not be user friendly!
 

Jogro

Well-Known Member
In conclusion, the delta 9 THC content in leaf and floral tissues of greenhouse grown drug-type C. sativa increased linearly with UV-B dose. Other cannabinoids in drug and fiber-type plants were unaffected by UV-B radiation. Both drug and fiber chemotypes were physiologically and morphologically tolerant to UV-B radiation.

http://www.hempforus.com/reseaag4.htm - this here has copies of most of the full bodies of text of published studies that you'd normally need to pay to see. The sources are cited at the beginning of each paragraph, so you could likely contact these people (If they're still at these places) and verify the inforrmation.
Thanks for that reference. Very good stuff.

A couple of points:

First of all, while I'd be surprised if some or all of the authors of that paper weren't still alive, the chance that the individuals from "Southern Weed Science Laboratory" are still down there and doing business as usual 25 years later is pretty small.

More important, even stipulating that THC production is stimulated by exposure to UVB radiation, and that these authors found a strong effect in their strains, that doesn't mean putting UVB in YOUR growroom is going to work nearly as well, if at all. If you're starting with a strain that's only 3 or 4% THC, as these authors were, then there is still a lot of room for improvement in THC content (and that's even stipulating that 4% THC in 1986 is equivalent to a 15% strain today).

If you're starting with one of these 20%+ "super" strains, the plant is already probably genetically programmed to put out as much THC as it can, as if the plant is already getting max UVB. Putting UVB onto a plant like this probably won't hurt it, but it also probably won't have the same kind of effect.
 

GanjaGod420000

Well-Known Member
MH lamps put out UV-B light, and I have always kept at least one in my mainly HPS lit gardens, to trigger trich production, as this is the plant's natural response and defense mechanism when it encounters UV-B rays... I believe having both types of HID lamps in a grow is the best way to go, not just because of the UVB, but also the additional blue and white spectrums help with internodal spacing, and flower production, and deeper canopy penetration as well.
 

GanjaGod420000

Well-Known Member
They will put out small amounts of UV-B withouot being broken, and if u r using a broken MH lamp, u r risking getting skin cancer yourself, and the amount of UV-B put out by a broken lamp is dangerous to u AND the plants... Not to mention u dont have the outer lamp glass to protect against an accidental rupture of the inner tube, which would cause serious burns, potential poisening, and possibly even cause a fire in the garden. Please remove any broken lamps, and replace with new MH lamps, as these provide more than adequate amounts of the spectrums which will increase resin production via trich's... This is a dangerous practice...
 
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