whats up with 24 hours of dark before harvest?

[tallslim]

i saw in another post that someone said "don't forget about 24 hours of dark the day before harvest". Why is this?

[THE BROTHER'S GRUNT]

It's so the plants can pack on some extra trichomes.

[GreenDayGirl]

Ok, I was going to ask also, after 8 weeks does it really make a noticeable difference?

[ReaferCheifer26]

naw man its notnoticeable IMO.. think it would make the plant change its trichs to liek a 50/50 ratio of amber and cloudy or sumthin of that matter... the 24 hours of darkness tells the plant its die to die.. so hopefully it will pack on sum more THC, but i think it would take longer than a day to make mroe trichs .. and anything longer than a day might turn the bitch hermie... soo its kinda pointless but it wont hurt

[bejohnst]

I don't think it will hurt anything, not enough time for it to turn hermie... plus you don't turn the lights back on so the dark period i guess isn't really interupted.

Another reason i heard this is because light damages the trichs and at night they regenerate so 24 hours of dark before you harvest will allow the trichs enough time to fully recover.

[GreenDayGirl]

ok now that makes sense

[LdyLunatic]

the hubby and i just threw one C99 lady in a closet last night for 24 hours of darkness ...we haven't done this before and thought we try ourselves to test this theory by using only one test subject and compare her to the other ladies

i will let you all know how it turned out ;)

[GreenDayGirl]

Please post your results!!

[kackarot]

i'd read that 24 hours of darkness forces the plant to flower

[cratos]

I thought 24hrs of darkness was to force the plant to use some of the extra chlorophyl and therefore make the smoke smoother and better tasting.

[GreenDayGirl]

Ok Mutt...what's the answer?

[GanjaGuru]

It's b.s.

Soon after I started to grow indoors I tried 1, 2, & 3 days of darkness after the plants were ready.
No difference in potency or yield.
A waste of time, imo.

After 2 months of flowering an extra 12 hrs./darkness ain't gonna do ****.

[rasta]

as always guru is correct,,,no dif ........p.l.r.

[Mutt]

Ok Mutt...what's the answer?

Well this ended up being a debate so a report is in order.


During the dark hours the plant replenishes the THC eroded by the previous days light. When you magnify glands and look at the resin it starts out clear then turns cloudy and finally it turns amber. Amber means that the chemical properties of the gland have changed and the THC has been converted into CBN. I think it would be fair to say even if the extended light hours during the final days of flowering did increase the overall yield there would also be an acceleration in the conversion of CBN cannabinoids. If one was to use an extended light period in hopes of increasing yield I would leave the plants in total darkness for the final couple of days. By doing this it will help in the replenishing of the THC in the resin.



taken from:
Stability of Cannabis sativa L. samples and their extracts, on prolonged storage in Delhi

http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/bulletin/bulletin_1978-01-01_4_page007.html

Now the question is:
does it impact a noticable amount?
They debate: Ganja says no. I will not disagree with that. but I do it anyway. Anything that is written that may improve the THC content I'll do escp. if it saves on my power bill. :D

[GreenDayGirl]

Once again both sides have great points, now that I'm actually getting that close, I'm trying to form some sort of plan to make this process as smooth as possible with the best finished product I can produce.( except for the one I plan to "cook" asap after harvest.)

[LdyLunatic]

Please post your results!!

will be trimming her tonight...she has had over 48 hours dark now...so then five to seven day dry...then i will give you a report

[GreenDayGirl]

Mmmm! Can't wait LdyLunatic..happy harvest!

[Hick]

I have, under extended long dark conditions,(14-16 hours of darkness for several weeks) noticed what seemed to be an increased trichome production. BUT under those same conditions the yeild seem to suffer. I am "presumeing" from less photosynthesis time.

I have never "seen" any noticable increase from even 72 hours of total darkness. But I do feel there may be some fact thc is at it's peak for harvesting, immeadiatlly from the dark, before any degredation from light.

[LdyLunatic]

Mmmm! Can't wait LdyLunatic..happy harvest!

we cut her down last night and we didn't see any noticable difference from her sisters it was a C99 that we did this with

[truthxpride]

none the less though, still a good looking plant.

[Zarnon]

There's appear to be some myths that get endlessly recirculated. I think this would just confuse the plant. The trichs and thc accumulate over a long time. You are better off maximizing your environment.

[mountain]

Someone get ahold of "Mythbusters". You know those guys consume.