Should you - Harvest before light?

[BadBradBlu]

I am in the process of harvesting at the moment and I was told that you should do it before the lights come on / sunlight touches the plant directly to get best yeild of psychoactives in the trichomes. This would mean that the plant (and therefore the produce) will be stronger (if chopped) in the morning than in the evening due to the fact that light degrades THC? or perhaps resin production is higher in the dark? Any idea if this is true?

 

[BadBradBlu]

Hey mods - what do you think? Any help would be much appreciated...

 

[Smokin Moose]

Hey Brad, I'm not a mod but I will jump in and help.
Mate, as you might have guessed there is a lot of conjecture on this. My opinion is that it does not really matter when you harvest. My preference however is to harvest at the end of a light cycle, simply to maximise the time under a lamp before harvest.
I don't think there is much if any noticeable difference to potency, yield or taste. My only comment is that some terpenes that are highly volatile may be lost under the light cycle, but any loss is infinitesimal. I think it is in the post harvest stage that you are susceptible to quality,aroma loss, by poor drying technique, or improper curing.
Hope that helps mate.

 

[BadBradBlu]

Yes thanks mate - that helps a lot. I am a little bit of a perfectionist actually and this whole thing was doing my head in - I feel more relieved now that it does'nt really make too much of a difference and will just keep an eye on the trichs to see when they are ripe. Cheers Mark!

 

[Damagoman]

I be damned
if I want to do it in broad daylight.

No way they could miss me carryin' a couple 6 footers
over my shoulder through the field in the daylight.

Best about 4-5am, cops are layin' down about ready for shift change.
At 6-7am shift change, you are safe to transport, the oncoming shift ain't wake yet.
Just don't stop at donut shops or convenient stores on the way.

 

[BadBradBlu]

I be damned
if I want to do it in broad daylight.

No way they could miss me carryin' a couple 6 footers
over my shoulder through the field in the daylight.

Best about 4-5am, cops are layin' down about ready for shift change.
At 6-7am shift change, you are safe to transport, the oncoming shift ain't wake yet.
Just don't stop at donut shops or convenient stores on the way.

True DaMa -good point- I did'nt consider the visibility factor in this which is critical - at 6 in the morning the coast is pretty clear round my ends so I feel a lot more relaxed carrying them trees around at that time - another reason I harvest before light. In the evening there are WAY too many inquisitive onlookers lurking behind windows and on porches for my liking - better get it done early!

 

[Doobie]

Since I do indoor hydro, it doesn't really matter all that much. I do all of my gardening chores, including harvesting, first thing in the morning just because it starts my day out on a really nice note.

 

[StonerGrower]

When it comes to harvesting outdoors I would say at night is always best. When it comes to harvesting indoors I always harvest directly after lights go out. As Moose said just to get optimal light use.

 

[Racefan]

I harvest right before lights on. It's when THC levels are at the highest with the least amount of starch to cure out. The minute the light hits the plant starch levels start to rise and potency starts to diminish a hair. 12 hours of light on the last day will not make any difference with yield and like i said...can make for a harsher smoke.

 

[BadBradBlu]

I harvest right before lights on. It's when THC levels are at the highest with the least amount of starch to cure out. The minute the light hits the plant starch levels start to rise and potency starts to diminish a hair. 12 hours of light on the last day will not make any difference with yield and like i said...can make for a harsher smoke.

Thanks Race! I love educated grower / toker (s) who can back up their statement with useful info! This is the kind of info I start threads for! I knew there was more to it and you have just given me another reason why - respect!

 

[carnauth]

Well I understand that you are chopping a outdoor girlie, I have known plenty of ppl to give a extended dark prior to chop, which sorta lines in with racefan's statement. The logic i hear behind it is that the extended(2-3 day) darkness causes a bit of a surge of resin/tric development. Its the plant making a last ditch effort propogate itself.
Not to mention,isn't that just the wierdest expression its always used when persons are gonna mention the topic anyway..... rambling sorry... anyhow when its nighttime the plant dosent just stop. Its still "working" growing(slightly) and making root's and such. This "Workign" requires energy so at this point the plants essentially running on batteries, So the plant will try to use the food that is inside of it to fuel itself. Looking in that light it would seem that it would not diminish its potency as it doesent "reverse manfacture" the THC it would take nutrients from leaves and such first. So I would assume, that it would also naturally lower cloryphyll levels as well as it eats the "food" it has stored. So less food in the final product......
I have heard of ppl's sexing outdoors with bags and such. If you could cover it and possibly make it live out the next day or two in darkness it should boost resin, I would make sure to support the cover you would not want to wipe off your ooey gooies.


Bit harder to accomplish outdoor, inside just unplug the timer and dont open the door for a coulple days.

I am not trying to mislead you, so as with everything you hear take it with a grain of salt, I could mislead you. To the best of my understanding though it could be benificial...........

Ready to have someone tell me I am wrong, hopefully someone can back me up here.


And those girls are goregeous also....


Peese

-Me​

 

[Damagoman]

Not me Buba,
I done tested it out and know for fact,
it don't hurt, thats for sure

 

[carnauth]

Ready to have someone tell me I am wrong, hopefully someone can back me up here.

Not me Buba

So you backing me up daMago? Lovely how fast peeps ansewer here at times. I would just think it a lil' tuff to pull off outside. Just need to make sure to make it dark inside.

Cant make any scientific comp's myself but I do enjoy my produkt.



Peese

-Me​

 

[Damagoman]

I hang out alot in the mornin'
since it's been so cool, I haven't had to water.
Lots of Net time, Till I gota' start winter/cole crop planting

I do enjoy my produkt.

Whole point

 

[stonedpony32]

i was planning on harversting right before the next light cycle get some good resin

 

[Doctor Dread]

Leave the lights off for a day or two before you harvest. This will make the plant use up any residual nutes not washed out from the flush... Your finished product will taste much better and be alot less harsh!
It doesn't matter if you harvest b4 the light or dark.

 

[Racefan]

Leave the lights off for a day or two before you harvest. This will make the plant use up any residual nutes not washed out from the flush... Your finished product will taste much better and be alot less harsh!
It doesn't matter if you harvest b4 the light or dark.

Your plant will use up the extra nutes over the week or two that you don't feed them. 2 or 3 days of darkness won't matter at all when it comes to this.
And yes it does matter what time of day you harvest and I explained in a post above your why? If you think I'm wrong you better tell Rosenthal and Frank they are wrong as well because they say the same thing. I don't mind being corrected when I'm wrong but at least make sure what you correct me with is close to being truthful!

 

[Doctor Dread]

My bad RaceFan!!!!

I didn't mean to challenge your authority, or anyone else's I might have as well...

Sorry everyone
I wont be giving advice anymore.

 

[BadBradBlu]

No worries DD - that is how we learn! I am glad we have Racefan to guide us in our mission - I have learned a thing or two from him myself!

 

[rome420]

i am getting ready to harvest my jilly bean ( orange velvetX space queen) from subcool tga seed bank. i was considering blacking her out for a day or two before. im sure that the levels are higher during the dark because the plant collects energy during the day and uses it during the night. but my question is, would two days be to long. i assume there is a window of the peak trich porduction where it wont rise any more but then also probaly begins to deminish. i am probably going to only leave the light off for 24 hours, then start cuttin. it is about a week out from being perfectly done. as soon as i see a hint of brown tips on the thrics im gunna black her out for a day and i hope that shoul be sufficent and produce some sexy product. wish me luck