72 hours light pre harvest

[AEquilibrium]

Hi, what are your thoughts on 72 hours of uninterrupted light followed by 48 hours of complete darkness before harvest? I know light exposure increases yields and prolonged periods of darkness reduce chlorophyll levels, slightly increase potency and a increase the the amount of terpenes. But could 72 hours of full light prior to this do any good? Let me know your thoughts.

 

[flashmp3]

Hi, what are your thoughts on 72 hours of uninterrupted light followed by 48 hours of complete darkness before harvest? I know light exposure increases yields and prolonged periods of darkness reduce chlorophyll levels, slightly increase potency and a increase the the amount of terpenes. But could 72 hours of full light prior to this do any good? Let me know your thoughts.

I had never heard of it! Would like to know how it goes though

 

[AEquilibrium]

I had never heard of it! Would like to know how it goes though

I'm going to give it a go. I know that it might induce veg state but 3 days is not enough. The other concern is that, that much light could dehydrate the trichomes. But then again it could create one last burst of bud growth. Who knows.

 

[Planter420]

I doubt it will be beneficial, the light could degrade the thc more than you can recoup in three days, and if it's the chlorophyll you're worried about, stick to the conventional way of ridding it and flush your plants before harvest and give the buds a good cure. The trich evaporation is legit with intense light/heat. I would recommend using the 72 hours to keep her in the dark and then dismember her and use fire on her!

 

[flashmp3]

I doubt it will be beneficial, the light could degrade the thc more than you can recoup in three days, and if it's the chlorophyll you're worried about, stick to the conventional way of ridding it and flush your plants before harvest and give the buds a good cure. The trich evaporation is legit with intense light/heat. I would recommend using the 72 hours to keep her in the dark and then dismember her and use fire on her!

I would be scared of hermie. At the mean time I don't think much development would happen during 3 days of lights. I have more confidence in thc increasing a bit thanks to the 48 hours to 72 hours dark period where light won't burn trichomes for 3 days and then maybe increase thc. Some articles mention increasing of 30% on some buds. But not many reviews can be found unfortunately! I think when the plant is ready to harvest, buds stop getting bigger so an interesting try may be to to everything possible to stress the plant a last time making her think winter is coming and maybe she s dying. That s why I plan 72 hours darkness when there will remain something around 20 percent of clear trichomes, lower the overall temps but especially the nights temps and maybe try to damage the base of the plant a little bit with a little hole to make her think she's under attack and has to protect even more than if she was only stressed by fear of winter coming

 

[AEquilibrium]

Thanks guys, those are some good points. What would happen if I were to poke a hole on her before harvest? I've always wondered how stress increases potency. Hmm. Maybe she's trying to give her buds the best chance of fertilization before she dies?

 

[Jackalope]

As mentioned it will probably just cause it to hermie. Also every time lights are adjusted it takes a bit for the plant to adjust to it. With all that light changing you will probably decrease your production. Just let the plant do what it does naturally. Total darkness for 3 days before harvest might help and won't hurt. Any increase in light time or intensity at that point in flower is too risky for any noticeable results.

 

[Calvados]

You are stressing the plant at an awkward time, which in pretty much all instances causes problems. Other than boredom or scientific curiosity, why would you do that?

 

[flashmp3]

You are stressing the plant at an awkward time, which in pretty much all instances causes problems. Other than boredom or scientific curiosity, why would you do that?

Some people reported increase resin and thc with the 72 hours dark post harvest. I don't see why it would be worst for the yields than harvesting straight. Harvest means cutting the hole plant....

 

[Planter420]

The idea is that thc levels increase at night and degrade slightly during the day, and consequently rising again the next night past the point it was last. In theory, if you give it the 72 hour dark period, you are harvesting the plant at it's peak thc levels, whereas if you chop after a day cycle, it is slightly lower. The three days light is basically doing more damage than you're going to gain in 36 hours or 48 whichever you said. Biologically speaking, people aren't doing it for a reason .

 

[Planter420]

Thanks guys, those are some good points. What would happen if I were to poke a hole on her before harvest? I've always wondered how stress increases potency. Hmm. Maybe she's trying to give her buds the best chance of fertilization before she dies?

I've heard of stem splitting before and some people swear by it. It's supposed to interrupt the flow of nutrients to the plant and they say do it no longer than three days before harvest. It basically hurts the plant so mother nature says the plants only function is to reproduce. This last stand stress will supposedly cause the plant to push out extra resin. I tried it once and didn't notice much of a change, but the plant was already frosty as a snowman so pick your battles. Advanced techniques are meant to be used after you max out your potential as a grower and are trying to get your plants to come out even better. This is when you begin to employ these advanced techniques you hear about. No matter how many new techniques I have learned and tried, I continue to try to learn everything I can. As far as stem splitting goes, I saw no noticeable change.

 

[flashmp3]

The idea is that thc levels increase at night and degrade slightly during the day, and consequently rising again the next night past the point it was last. In theory, if you give it the 72 hour dark period, you are harvesting the plant at it's peak thc levels, whereas if you chop after a day cycle, it is slightly lower. The three days light is basically doing more damage than you're going to gain in 36 hours or 48 whichever you said. Biologically speaking, people aren't doing it for a reason .

Which damage? Can you explain?

 

[Planter420]

Not actual damage, but degradation of thc levels due to exposure to high intensity lighting. Three straight days straight of light can "do more damage" than it's worth, so to speak.

 

[flashmp3]

Not actual damage, but degradation of thc levels due to exposure to high intensity lighting. Three straight days straight of light can "do more damage" than it's worth, so to speak.

Oh sorry I had misunderstood. I thought you re talking bout the 3 days no lights. Why this would damage? When we harvest and let the plant dry it s without lights and in dark place. It s when the good stuffs start to happen! So why 3 days darkness before chopping would be harmful?

 

[Planter420]

Oh sorry I had misunderstood. I thought you re talking bout the 3 days no lights. Why this would damage? When we harvest and let the plant dry it s without lights and in dark place. It s when the good stuffs start to happen! So why 3 days darkness before chopping would be harmful?

It wouldn't be.

Three days with lights on will be detrimental. I'm simply explaining why you would give it three days of darkness as opposed to three days with the light on and why. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Three days lights off before harvest = good idea

Three days lights on (as stated in the title) = bad idea

 

[Mike Wright]

I usually do 36 hours dark, I like it.

 

[Planter420]

We did 36 and 48, will be doing 72 this round. Could use all the thc we can get lol we selfed her for fem seeds

 

[Jackalope]

Best option is to just grow strong strains. What you do in the first 3/4's of her life has more to do with it then the last few days. With a healthy life and good light most strains will pump out plenty of crystal. Expert growers might be able to add THC percent with grow technics. For most of us genetics decide how strong a strain will be.

 

[Planter420]

Absolutely right, you will never exceed past a plant’s GENETIC potential, no matter what ya do. Best is to keep plants as healthy and environment as perfect as possible and you’ll have great results. Master growers have come up with these little advanced techniques that help them squeeze out every drop of potential they can from the genetics available to them. So step one is to perfect your nutrition and environment. This is really when these advanced techniques make a difference, albeit a small one

 

[Jackalope]

Another thing that has been helpful to me with the dark periods. They say it is best to harvest when the soil has dried. When harvest time is down to day to day sometimes its hard to tell 3 days in advance. I have found that using the dark period to let the plant soak in all the moister left. While also getting any advantage to the dark period. Don't know if the dark helps but it doesn't hurt. So I always use that method if the soil is moist when the plant is ready to harvest. The darkness helps finish the plant up without further degrading the trichomes with light.