Query to all the wise: does lower humidity during last phase increase resin?

[Light Addict]

Ive done quite a bit of research on the subject and have found many different sources that say to frost your buds up lowering humidity during final flower phase helps.

Also ive been told to stress your baby 10 days before harvest to shock her into protecting herself and giving more resin.

Can we have a final discussion to resolve if this is viable or waste of time, many thanks to all who want to way in with facts

 

[donpaul.p]

ive not come across the humidity argument and cant see why it would help produce more trich at all to be honest,

the only ways ive come across and not actually tried is the uv method and the 24 to 48 hours of dark before harvest, im not sure stress would increase trich production either.

as the plant gets closer to harvest its not actually producing more trich as they dont have chance to mature and go cloudy, early in flower the trichs are clear so you dont notice them as much on the plant, towards the end of flower they turn milky, so this is when you notice the plant getting really frosty, then if you want more of a couch lock affect then harvest when the trichs are around 10 to 20% amber.

the uv method involves giving the plant a short period of uv light through flower, so something like a uv bulb or small tanning lamp would work for this, but uv can damage the plant so its only to be done in small doses like say an hour a day but dont quote me on this time as ive not tried the uv method.
the reasons its suppose to product more trich using uv method is the trichs are thought to protect the plant from the sun the the middle of summer, so it products trichs to protect the plant so it can continue to flower and reproduce, im not sure how much truth is in this as ive not researched it much but i have read about this method a few times.

the other method i have read about is the 24 to 48 hours of light off before harvest, so when the plant is ready to harvest you just put it somewhere totally dark for 24 to 48 hours then harvest strait after this, again ive not tried or tested this method, but what i think is that it takes time for the trichs to turn from clear to cloudy, clear trichs are not much use as they are imature and contain low levels of thc, when they turn cloudy this is when thc is at its highest and this is telling is the plant is ready to harvest, but if you want more of a couch lock affect then its best to let the trichs turn amber, so around 10 to 20% amber then harvest, how ever some indica strains wont go amber, not many but some just never turn amber so it would need checking often to keep an eye on the plant,

a plant left in flower to long can go hermie so thats something to pay attention to, but giving the plant 24 to 48 hours of dark is a method many growers use, im not sure if it works or not, some say it makes no difference and some say it helps produce more trichs, but to be fair its takes weeks for the trichs to turn from clear to cloudy so if the plant produces more trichs in that 24 to 48 hour period then their is not enough time for them to turn from clear to cloudy, so the benefits would not be huge to say the least,

but im sure you will get more comments and growers saying that method works well, like i said ive not tried it but i cant see the plant producing cloudy trichs just by giving it a dark period at the end of harvest, it just dont have time to produce clear trichs then turn them cloudy and then possibly amber if you want a really stoned affect bud, it dont have time to do this in the 24 to 48 hours dark period.

but it might make more of the trichs turn cloudy or it might make more turn amber due to the dark period, without running some side by side test it would not be fair to say either way,

but humidity id have to say dont make much difference, ive not come across this before, i know we try and keep humidity lower in flower due to the high risk of powdery mildew or bud rot, if the humidity is high then its possible to get bud rot so you would need fan running if the humidity was to high to stop the pm starting and spreading, as long as the air supply is good then their should be no issues, but even outdoor growers suffer with pm, it all depends on climate, but having fans running should prevent on pm issues, it mainly happens when buds are touching each other as moisture gets trapped and bud rot begins

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

I've heard of the low humidity but never seen any real hard evidence to prove that it does cause greater frosty buds or even more resin production & some what difficult to prove with out a lab & lots of time on hand to monitor results over many grows !


If you want frosty buds i would be inclined to look around for a suitable strain which produces all the good stuff

 

[donpaul.p]

couldnt agree more fuzzy, a good strain will produce the trichs your after, all the methods that are suppose to increase trich are just a bit of guess work really, ive seen a study that worked with 3 clones plants, one was harvested when it was ready, one was given 24 hours of dark and the other 48 hours of dark, i actually think the study was on this site but i could be wrong,

anyways they did run test and found no difference between any of the plants harvested, so that suggests that their was no improvent at all, but some growers still swear by the dark period, i dont do it and dont think i will, but go with what you think best,

the only real good idea i came across was the uv method as the trichs help protect the plant from the sun, so the more uv it gets the more trich it produces to ensure the plant survives and reproduces, again not real testing has been done and you dont need much uv to cause problems with a plant so the only real option would be to check out some strains and try some that produce good trichs,

but its not just about the strain, its about grow setup, nutrients, over or under watering, their are lots of things that can cause problems and stunt growth, so it all depends on how well your setup is working and many other possible problems,

if everything is ok then most strains should produce well, some more than others,

 

[GigaGrew]

i also have done a bit of research on the humidity aspect.

to be honest its my belief that during the last few weeks of flowering it would be a combination of diminishing temprature, diminishing light, uv treatments and diminishing humidity that produces the maximum effect.

the low humidity is mean to force an unfertilized flower to produce more resin to protect its procreation tackle from drying out. uv light also causes resin production to protect it in another way. the same with temps, a physical protection and the diminishing light is a psychological one, i.e it makes the flower worry that its chance to breed is running out and to work harder on flower production.

edit: i also propose that your asking more than enough questions to warrant a grow journal, if for no other reason than to keep your mental doings all in one place, people will come and join in.

does my box in when i see 20 help threads all by the same person =p

 

[donpaul.p]

i agree, but thats a lot of tests to run, but we got years to grow, it would mean side by side grows as well,

the part i was interested in was the stress part with that certan type of bush, you stress one plant and it sends a hormone to other plants nearby that its under attack so these plants then produce more trich, the test i was reading was done by a university using tobaco plants, the plants near to the plant that was stressed had 30 to 50% higher trich level if i read it right, but the plants not near the stressed plant didnt produce the same amount, so it released some hormone when the plant was finally chopped as if bugs was eating it, but it gets complicated and im no scientist, but humidity and uv are something i can work with, i got a knee high tanning light with 5 uv tubes in it, not sure why its only knee high but it is, about 1ft wide with 5 uv strip bulbs in it, its called a tanning light so think it would be ok to use, i could possible use that one one of the plants ive cloned and only use it on one plant then compare it with the plant that never had a tanning session,

uv is something i talked about in my first journal, just never got round to trying it, their so many different theories but without trying them out i dont think you will ever actually find out, plus im sure if their was a sure fire method of producing high levels of trichs then im sure it would be in all the grow books and we would all using it or consider using it,

i think the main part has to be down to the strain,

 

[GigaGrew]

i think more observations are needed with one strain, coming to the end of flower, in several outdoor locations around the globe but using the same soil and feeds so we can get a much clearer picture on what different types of autumn do to our plants. im convinced that its all to do with telling the plant it needs to hurry up and flower and to protect those flowers.

we know that the frequecncy of light from the sun, the temps and humidity are all different, not to mention such things like your hormone bush don, maybe most plants emit hormones that are related to end of flowering. there could almost be a mass murmer of plants sending messages that winter is coming and that has an effect too.

 

[donpaul.p]

your not wrong GiGa, just to many variables.