48 Hours of Darkness?

[The Prof]

I've read from a few different growers about ending the grow cycle with 48 hours of darkness before cutting the plants. Can someone explain why people do this ?? thanks alot

[Hightide805]

to increase resin gland size... they are produced at night, they do this to fatten them up, for the last day or two before harvest, thats what i've been told.

[HazeSeeker]

You can do it , but you dont have to !
wHats 2 days after 3 months?
I will always rather leave them in pitch black for 30-40h .

[fuuji0019]

Anyone else tried this?
Im almost ready to harvest, within a week or so, wondering if i should do this too? Any risk involved? ..or just gain?!

[Racefan]

Resin is produced day and night. (autoflowering plants grown totally under 24 hours of light still have resin) This 48 darkness theory is a myth. I've even tried the old white widow 2 week darkness and saw nothing but yellowing plants due to non photo sysnthesis.
Now I will tell you that the best time to harvest is right before lights on. The plant is at it's most potent point with the least amount of starch in it. The more light it sees before harvest the more starch in the system.

[fuuji0019]

Thanks RaceFan, makes perfect sense. So there is some sort of thruth behind it.. i will research it a bit more, and probably just stick to harvesting before lights on.

[Hightide805]

I would always clip right before the lights turn on like racefan suggests, but i tryed 36 hours dark at the end and the one with more dark at the end was better... it looked like someone sprinkeled glitter on it, it was just shinning off the sun.. the other was not as much. i'm with stikky i'll be doing it all the time now.

[erockhardass]

How do you know when exactly to turn the lights off for 48 hours? I have some ladies that are nearing their 50-50 ratio, but the smaller buds at the bottom still have some clear on them and I was going to clip the tops and then wait a couple days, but wont leaving the lights off for 48 hours have a negative effect on the buds towards the bottom? or will they all catch up and be done during that 48 hours?

[Ms.Fox]

The 24-48hrs of darkness is a myth. ;-)

Originally Posted by Racefan

Resin is produced day and night. (autoflowering plants grown totally under 24 hours of light still have resin) This 48 darkness theory is a myth. I've even tried the old white widow 2 week darkness and saw nothing but yellowing plants due to non photo sysnthesis.
Now I will tell you that the best time to harvest is right before lights on. The plant is at it's most potent point with the least amount of starch in it. The more light it sees before harvest the more starch in the system.

[HazeSeeker]

Your bottom buds will not catch up in those 48 h ....
Harvest your ready buds and leave small ones till they are mature....

[erockhardass]

Is that a fact? They will indeed catch up? People all over the internet have been raving about leaving the lights off for 48 hours.

[HazeSeeker]

Yea I know ... you should get more resin in that 48 h period (not bigger or more mature buds)... but I would harvest ready ones and leave small ones for week or two till they are ready to ...
Like Ms. Fox said ...its a myth ....some say that it works but its not 100%sure...
Try , experiment and report !
We allso wanna know the end result !
Good luck with your Plant/s

Can you be a Myth buster ??

[Dr FrankenKush]

The first reference to this blackout at harvest was in cannabis culture july aug 06. They were at Dr Atomics garden His speciality is NL. He claims that the absents of light sends plants into a panic that frost/death imminent, and pump out a lot of resin in last grasp effort to attract pollen. I've tried it w/ similar strain and I don't know, it did not hurt the plants, I'll say this his S... looked excellent and he seems to have a vast experience in the ART.

[pugmug420]

so it is okay to harvest the big top buds (according to trich color) & let the lower ones keep maturing? Do you really get that much more out of them, i have just been throwing those in my butter. Thanks for the help...

[Dr FrankenKush]

Yes It's about 48 hrs of darkness, then harvest. you can cover the plant or remove to another place of darkness and at the end of 48 hrs in darkness you harvest. As I stated earlier this could be strain related and if so might not be advantages to all strains, but it's not going to adversely affect your plant. Good luck and let us know how it goes!!!