Stress your plant, increase terpenes & thc

Farmer's Hat

Farmer's Hat

Well-Known Member
This was enlightening. The right stressors in a controlled fashion will improve the quality of bud. Genetics is still the most important factor.

In what ways have you deliberately stressed your plant? What stage? Im going to experiment with ice water, for my indoor plants. My plants in the greenhouse are naturally experiencing cold temps on and off. I wonder which bud will taste better... :eyesmoke:
 
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Unga Bunga

Unga Bunga

Well-Known Member
I've never purposely stressed a plant but out of the literal 1000's of plants I saw over the decades of guerilla growing I'll always remember one in particular . It was a single "Hindu Kush" plant on the bank of a stream .

It was always right on the verge of being over watered , all through the growing season . It got lots of sunlight and was a bright lime green when all the others were dark . That plant was one of the best I've ever smoked . Taste and buzz was incredible , sticky like a fly trap . Every time I went to check it I was ready to find it dead .
 
conor c

conor c

Well-Known Member
Nutty sKunK said:
Maybe start eating the plant? Take a big bite out some leaves and the plant will be like oh shit, I’m getting eaten! Time to produce some more thc to make you forget where I am!
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I think light defoliation and topping etc mimics that and triggers the plants responses cos it thinks it's under attack
Farmer's Hat said:
This was enlightening. The right stressors in a controlled fashion will improve the quality of bud. Genetics is still the most important factor.

In what ways have you deliberately stressed your plant? What stage? Im going to experiment with ice water, for my indoor plants. My plants in the greenhouse are naturally experiencing cold temps on and off. I wonder which bud will taste better... :eyesmoke:
Click to expand...
Most just stress em a little and flower em with lower temps some withhold water a bit so it's kinda more like dry farming they do say your best letting em dry out a bit at certain points to let more air get to the roots next time you water as well and the thing is with cold temps is there's a point of diminishing returns cos if it's too cold your plant won't bud out very much it will just produce more leaves and resin Vs flower mass Ime so if you make hash not so much of a issue but for flower to smoke it's not what you want if you wanna learn more about it Google crop steering as well
 
Wastei

Wastei

Well-Known Member
High intensity artificial lights, airflow and temperatures are all stressors and genetic triggers for the plant. By following recommendations and optimizing all the markers for potency and yield there's no need to re-invent the wheel with single stressors that might do more harm than good.

I don't believe in stressing the plant with overly drying out the medium, that may only benefit in a very controlled environment and brings more negatives than positives in most situations. Root development, quality and yield will suffer.

Genetics do more than any single stressors and genetic response does. You can't force something that's not already there.
 
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Nutty sKunK

Nutty sKunK

Well-Known Member
conor c said:
I think light defoliation and topping etc mimics that and triggers the plants responses cos it thinks it's under attack
Most just stress em a little and flower em with lower temps some withhold water a bit so it's kinda more like dry farming they do say your best letting em dry out a bit at certain points to let more air get to the roots next time you water as well and the thing is with cold temps is there's a point of diminishing returns cos if it's too cold your plant won't bud out very much it will just produce more leaves and resin Vs flower mass Ime so if you make hash not so much of a issue but for flower to smoke it's not what you want if you wanna learn more about it Google crop steering as well
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See I was wondering if the plant can distinguish between something eating it or leaves simply being picked off. Can it detect our saliva? I know trees produce bitter compounds when being eaten by deer, would they produce the same compounds when pruned?

All I know in my experience is when a slug started to eat my seedling outdoors it got covered in little trichomes.
 
Farmer's Hat

Farmer's Hat

Well-Known Member
conor c said:
Google crop steering as well
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Really cool stuff. There are many things to manipulate. I imagine each plant or strain will have a different threshold for stress. Getting good at noticing where that sweet spot is will certainly require some time and experience.
Sending flower to a lab to have it tested will be imperative, unless there is a way to do those tests at home in a budget friendly manner. :shock:
 
Farmer's Hat

Farmer's Hat

Well-Known Member
Nutty sKunK said:
See I was wondering if the plant can distinguish between something eating it or leaves simply being picked off. Can it detect our saliva? I know trees produce bitter compounds when being eaten by deer, would they produce the same compounds when pruned?

All I know in my experience is when a slug started to eat my seedling outdoors it got covered in little trichomes.
Click to expand...
I imagine that our saliva would be noticable to a plant, since it full of hundreds of millions of bacteria per millimeter!

I freaking hate slugs. They are abundant where I live.
 
conor c

conor c

Well-Known Member
Nutty sKunK said:
See I was wondering if the plant can distinguish between something eating it or leaves simply being picked off. Can it detect our saliva? I know trees produce bitter compounds when being eaten by deer, would they produce the same compounds when pruned?

All I know in my experience is when a slug started to eat my seedling outdoors it got covered in little trichomes.
Click to expand...
Yeah well that makes sense those thrichomes probably aren't the get you high kind there the defensive ones idk about detecting our saliva I do think they will start producing anthocyanins and some other stuff in response to being eaten or pruned etc
 
MissinThe90’sStrains

MissinThe90’sStrains

Well-Known Member
I use crab shell meal and/or insect frass in my soil mix - both are high in chitin (just like funguses). Chitin helps stimulate the plants natural defenses, because the plant basically thinks it’s being eaten by fungus. I also use worm castings, which contain enzymes called chitinases - which help break down chitin for the plant to be able to recognize.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2634388/ (here’s some totally unnecessary and over-complicated “smart-reading” about this, that I didn’t bother to finish reading, but someone else might be interested)
 
Drop That Sound

Drop That Sound

Well-Known Member
journals.plos.org

Aboveground mechanical stimuli affect belowground plant-plant communication

Plants can detect the presence of their neighbours and modify their growth behaviour accordingly. But the extent to which this neighbour detection is mediated by abiotic stressors is not well known. In this study we tested the acclimation response of Zea mays L. seedlings through belowground...
journals.plos.org journals.plos.org

www.nature.com

Synthetic microbe-to-plant communication channels - Nature Communications

The soil microbiome communicates with plant roots using a chemical language. Here, using p-coumaroyl-homoserine lactone as the synthetic communication signal, the authors demonstrate programmable microbe-to-plant communication from the sender in the soil bacteria to a receiver in the plant.
www.nature.com www.nature.com
.

link.springer.com

Communication between plant roots and the soil microbiome; involvement in plant growth and development - Symbiosis

Root-associated microbial communities have strong influences on the health and development of plants. Through the secretion of root exudates, the soil microbiome is impacted by plants, thereby steering plant-soil reactions. Considering the importance of root exudates in the establishment of...
link.springer.com link.springer.com
 
compassionateExotic

compassionateExotic

Well-Known Member
Ageeed on chitin , don’t but bud factor x or any extract , it’s crab/shrimp or lobster shells or insect frass.

top dress it in, I even brew insect frass tea’s for 8-12 hr’s for foliar and drenches and u can def tell the ISR and promotion def works and there .
 
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Farmer's Hat

Farmer's Hat

Well-Known Member
I wonder if simply shaking the plant once a day would be enough to stress it? Ive been doing that to the plants in the greenhouse, after I spray them down with baking soda water as a mildew preventative.
IMG_20241014_092646495_HDR.jpg
IMG_20241014_092257977.jpg
 
conor c

conor c

Well-Known Member
compassionateExotic said:
Ageeed on chitin , don’t but bud factor x or any extract , it’s crab/shrimp or lobster shells or insect frass.

top dress it in, I even brew insect frass tea’s for 8-12 hr’s for foliar and drenches and u can def tell the ISR and promotion def works and there .


good priced insect frass, 35lb big bag, free shipping ! shoot most of companies are selling their insect frass 25 lb for 125+ bucks where it’s under 60! I bought 6 bags and quality is amazing
growgreenmi.com

Summer Sizzle Gaia Green Super Fly Insect Frass 34.7 lb BIG Bag

GAIA GREEN Super Fly Insect Frass is a fertilizer derived from the excreta of black soldier fly larvae. It is a renewable resource produced from pre-consumer food waste fed to fly larvae. Though new to growers, this digested material has played a significant role in plant nutrition for millions...
growgreenmi.com growgreenmi.com
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Id stick to insect where possible id think that would have less heavy metals than crab or lobster chitin but I have heard it triggers the plants responses either way
Hollatchaboy said:
Perhaps, but i believe they communicate via roots, through the soil.
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I think to a point they will but being a annual it will be less so than say the way trees do there is many other ways they can communicate too they definitely aren't just sitting there growing away doing nothing mate I agree with you there
 
compassionateExotic

compassionateExotic

Well-Known Member
conor c said:
Id stick to insect where possible id think that would have less heavy metals than crab or lobster chitin but I have heard it triggers the plants responses either way
I think to a point they will but being a annual it will be less so than say the way trees do there is many other ways they can communicate too they definitely aren't just sitting there growing away doing nothing mate I agree with you there
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Crab has some amazing trace elements and also calcium, i do both
 
Farmer's Hat

Farmer's Hat

Well-Known Member
MissinThe90’sStrains said:
I use crab shell meal and/or insect frass in my soil mix - both are high in chitin (just like funguses). Chitin helps stimulate the plants natural defenses, because the plant basically thinks it’s being eaten by fungus. I also use worm castings, which contain enzymes called chitinases - which help break down chitin for the plant to be able to recognize.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2634388/ (here’s some totally unnecessary and over-complicated “smart-reading” about this, that I didn’t bother to finish reading, but someone else might be interested)
Click to expand...
That was a dense read but very informative. Thanks for sharing. Chitin will cause the plant to produce chitin degrading enzymes to digest fungal cell walls, thus becoming more resistant to fungal infections.

Is there any data suggesting that chitin helps prevent powder mildew? Technically, it is a fungus.
I will mix it into my beds next year and see how that goes.
 
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