White Widow - Three Days Dark to produce extra frost?

i can't argue with the results, if ppl are doing it and it work then great i might need to try it, however,....

we should at least consider the purpose of THC/Resin to the plant. at first TCH was considered a defense mechanism against animals that would eat the plant but recently there seems to be more support the idea that THC acts as a sun block for the plant absorbing UV-B rays from the sun protecting the plant from damage. I won't go into the details of it here but it is discussed on this forum.

at any rate like i said i cant argue with proof but it does seem to contradict the accepted reasoning behind THC production.

I read that if you starve your plants of neuts or light near the end of flowering, it will boose resin production.

The plant considers resin a defensive shield and when the neuts or light stops, it starts making more to protect itself. (its not a highly intelligent lifeform)

riddleme has a great informative post about this somewhere.... *off to try to find it*

Please do.

When you guys are doing the 72 hours of dark, do you also quit feeding in a hydro system, or do you lower the number of times you feed.

I thought it was established already that 3 days is a bad idea? Does anyone think it is? I dont even think the author thinks its a good idea to put plants in darkness for three days. I understand the incentives if optimal thc production at night would help your opinion, But just like humans revive their bodies during the night time. It doesnt mean living in a cave for three would be healthy? you need the day cycle to make the night cycle what it is

hoagtech said:

I thought it was established already that 3 days is a bad idea? Does anyone think it is? I dont even think the author thinks its a good idea to put plants in darkness for three days. I understand the incentives if optimal thc production at night would help your opinion, But just like humans revive their bodies during the night time. It doesnt mean living in a cave for three would be healthy? you need the day cycle to make the night cycle what it is

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I don't think it's a bad idea necessarily but on the strains I tried it on years ago, there was never a discernible difference, so I stopped wasting my time.

hey hoagie,

While you are guessing what might work based on how humans operate as opposed to plants, I just listen to experienced growers who have tried it all before...

Starving plants (light and/or neuts) during the flowering phase will generate more resin... fact

Depending on your grow style and strain, the benifits vary dramatically, so it may or may not be worth the effort...

Plebscrubber said:

Starving plants (light and/or neuts) during the flowering phase will generate more resin... fact

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Um, not a fact at all actually.

OK, so I've been harvesting & I have results. Out of the 3 strains that were in this grow, Cheese, The Purps, & Green Crackle. The Cheese & the Green Crackle showed no discernable differences between plants that were kept in 72 of total darkness & others that were left on 12 & 12. The Purps, however, was noticibly frostier. When I look at the buds under magnification the heads of the trichomes appear larger on the plants/Purps that were kept in total darkness for 72 hours. No, I don't have any scientific proof...all I have is 22 years of experience. Which is enough for me.

Jack Larson said:

OK, so I've been harvesting & I have results. Out of the 3 strains that were in this grow, Cheese, The Purps, & Green Crackle. The Cheese & the Green Crackle showed no discernable differences between plants that were kept in 72 of total darkness & others that were left on 12 & 12. The Purps, however, was noticibly frostier. When I look at the buds under magnification the heads of the trichomes appear larger on the plants/Purps that were kept in total darkness for 72 hours. No, I don't have any scientific proof...all I have is 22 years of experience. Which is enough for me.

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Did you take any pictures?

homebrewer said:

Did you take any pictures?

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My digital camera drowned last summer & $$ has been tight. I'll try to post cell phone pics if I can figure it out. Not a cop out...just a reality.

Jack Larson said:

My digital camera drowned last summer & $$ has been tight. I'll try to post cell phone pics if I can figure it out. Not a cop out...just a reality.

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I was only curious as to if you had before and after pics, or same cloned strain where one was in the dark and one wasn't. My litmus test for any of these practices is a blind test to people who have no idea what I'm testing. I'll just tell them that they've got two samples of the same strain and ask if they notice anything.

(alittleofftopicI dont like litmus paper I test ph with these and it always gives me that 6.0 orangy color when my hanna tells me its 7.2.
@jacklarson Would you suggest people do this instead of finishing with your light cycle?

homebrewer said:

I was only curious as to if you had before and after pics, or same cloned strain where one was in the dark and one wasn't. My litmus test for any of these practices is a blind test to people who have no idea what I'm testing. I'll just tell them that they've got two samples of the same strain and ask if they notice anything.

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Good Idea. I haven't tested any for taste or potency yet. (now...if I can just find some testers...lol! )

hoagtech said:

(alittleofftopicI dont like litmus paper I test ph with these and it always gives me that 6.0 orangy color when my hanna tells me its 7.2.
@jacklarson Would you suggest people do this instead of finishing with your light cycle?

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I would not do it as a general rule. As it seems to be strain specific. But if you're going to try this, try it with an Indica dominant strain first. I don't know if it will work with Sativas. My suspicions are that, whether it works or not, it has to do with the geographical origins of the genetics, ie short low light days during flowering. I encourage you to experiment & post results

I'd love to see some pics thad be awesome. I agree that it's definately NOT fact. I would love it if whomever posted that it was did have some scientific proof on the subject. That being said, many eperienced growers do talk about leaving their crops in the dark for 72 hours at the end of the flower cycle and right before chop. It could definately be strain specific and I don't think that there is any way that it could cause any damage to the plants. Regarding the nutrient question, I have seen people feed only PH'd water to their plants, and I have also seen that some people just stop feeding anything to their plants, no water (I wouldn't suggest feeding your plants nutrients that close to chop, but that is just IMO). I believe that the thinking behind this is that the plant may realize that it is not going to have as much nutrients or water in the upcoming days, and may produce as much resin as it can and as quickly as it can because it knows that it will not be able to do so without water. Which it is not getting.

Although now that I think about this a little more, it could also be possible that without water the plant might "shut down" and try to save all of the water and nutrients that it still has. I dunno.

Something else that came to mind: Also during periods of darkness (night time) plants discard, or i guess you could say release, some of the salt build up that is in the root zone and then up the stem and throughout the plant into your medium. Im not sure how much of these salts (chemically taste) are released. IMO this is why I flush with only water towards the end of the plant's life. Do you ever realize when smoking a bowl that after you remove the flame of the lighter the bowl still stays lit on fire (and by on fire I mean a little flame coming off the top of the bowl, not just cherrying), this is due to the presence of chemicals, or non organic material in your buds. Again, IMO, flush your babies. Others will disagree with me though so once again, this is all IMO.

I've been looking for some real science on this, and I found a little. If you're interested, read.

"In the 1970s, Dr Carleton Turner at the University of Mississippi found that there was a variation in the amount of THC in a sample, depending upon the time that the plant was taken. The most potent point was just before dawn after nighttime darkness.

Then, in 2000, Dr Paul Mahlberg of Indiana University showed that THC was produced extracellularly, on the inside of the glandular membrane, which would allow for its daily recycling.

The idea of using a dark period to increase THC before harvest warrants some investigation. An extended dark period right before harvest might very well increase THC content."

-Ed Rosenthal in the current issue of Cannabis Cullture. <(8/12/02)



Also,


"I want to thank everyone who is involved in this discussion.....

To Quote Robert Clark ...

THC production requires the proper quantity and quality of light. It seems that none of the biosynthetic processes operate efficiently when low light conditions prevent proper photosynthesis. Research has shown (Valle et al. 197 that twice as much THC is produced under a 12-hour photoperiod than under a 10-hour photoperiod.

I was wondering if one increased the photoperiod by 1 or 2 hrs durring the last week or so of flowering (when using 12/12 regiment) would positively affect THC production ?

Perhaps then to implement the extended "Dark Period"....

I also appreciated the info :

In Colombia, farmers girdle the stalk of the main stem, which cuts off the flow of water and nutrients between the roots and the shoots. This technique may not raise the final THC level, but it does cause rapid maturation and yellow gold coloration in the floral cluster (Partridge 1973)"


And if youre really interested...
Read what mindphuk has to say, post 34. It's long tho I'm warning you.
https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/225463-dark-period-before-harvest-4.html

The recycling of THC daily, I did not know that, but very vey interesting. Maybe a 16hr or so period of light on the last day that your plants see light, and then a prolonged period of darkness would work well.

Great Info! But it seems the more I learn about this process, the more questions I have. Now I'm wondering if you do 72 hours dark, is it necessary to flush first? 3 days with no nute uptake may be enough. The 16 hour day before extended dark period add more stress which seems to trigger this effect. That last ditch effort to reproduce. I've even heard of Sativa females producing seeds without pollination. So we already know that the plant is capable of change for the purposes of reproduction. Now my question isn't whether or not it works, but why doesn't it work on all strains?