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Dark period before harvesting.... Is it a myth?

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Re: Dark period before harvesting.... Is it a myth?

Post by ohlordyeah_420 »

I kinda do this. I turn my lights off when the trichs look good and ready and then I harvest when I can. Sometimes 2 days layer. Sometimes 3 days. Sometimes next day. I javent really noticed a difference.

One thing I have noticed (off topic sorry!) Is the difference in strength the older the weed gets can be strain dependent to a degree. My crescendo which kicked my arse has weakened a little (little bit I have left is a year old) but the animal cookies is knocking my dick right in the dirt lately. Stronger than ever and it's about 9 months old.
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KD (Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:26 pm) • 2-Scoops (Fri Nov 19, 2021 2:08 pm)
diary link me do

"I fucking hate harvesting. I like planting the things and watering them, and looking after them, talking to them. I don't like fucking harvesting."

"You like smoking them, though."

"Oh, I like smoking them."
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

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Re: Dark period before harvesting.... Is it a myth?

Post by KD »

ohlordyeah_420 wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 10:37 am
I kinda do this. I turn my lights off when the trichs look good and ready and then I harvest when I can. Sometimes 2 days layer. Sometimes 3 days. Sometimes next day. I javent really noticed a difference.

One thing I have noticed (off topic sorry!) Is the difference in strength the older the weed gets can be strain dependent to a degree. My crescendo which kicked my arse has weakened a little (little bit I have left is a year old) but the animal cookies is knocking my dick right in the dirt lately. Stronger than ever and it's about 9 months old.
Nice! I just harvested a Tropical Cookies so hopefully it'll blow the misses tits off and I'll get some peace hahaha
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ohlordyeah_420 (Fri Nov 19, 2021 1:11 pm)

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Re: Dark period before harvesting.... Is it a myth?

Post by duke »

KD wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 1:02 am
duke wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 4:51 pm
KD wrote:
Mon Nov 15, 2021 10:22 am
The Theories


There's a few theories about the best way to harvest your buds, including keeping them in up to 72 hours of darkness before the actual chop. But is it all nonsense?

Image

Thrichomes containing THC, among all the other cannabinoids, are believed to be produced as the plants way to protect itself from the effects of harmful UV radiation from the sun and other mildly stressful environmental factors. Suddenly turning off the sun for a few days is said to increase THC due to a stress response.

Another theory is that it evolved from the plants need to pollinate before winter. As the nights grow shorter, the plants produce more and more trichome covered buds in the hope of being pollinated and producing seeds. This doesn't make sense as no one can switch off the sun for days at a time in order for this evolution to happen.

Finally, the theory that makes most sense to me, is that cannabinoid levels fluctuate over 24 hours. They peak just at the end of the dark period and are degraded during the day as they protect the plant from UV radiation. During the night, the plants replenish the degraded trichomes ready for the next day. By extending the dark period, the plants should be producing more cannabinoids than normal.

The Science


I can't actually find the scientific papers that prove any theory but the story goes that there were experiments carried out by the Stichting Institute of Medical Marijuana (SIMM). In the experiment they harvested half of their plants as normal, and kept the other half in darkness for 72 hours. When they later analyzed the final crop, the THC level in some of the strains was up as much as 30% compared to the buds harvested normally.

The same is also true for Terpines. During the day, these evaporate and are replenished during the night cycle. These are what make your plants smell amazing and also add to the entourage effect. After 48 hours in darkness, your plants REALLY begin to smell, and this is why.

How long is enough?


If you're in a rush, the best time to harvest is right before the lights are due to come on. This ensures no cannabinoids have been degraded yet.

You'll barely notice any difference after 24 hours darkness either as the process has only just started to elevate but you can do it for 48 - 72 hours and get good results. Some people claim they've done it for up to a week before, but I haven't tried this at all.

Just remember that the longer you leave it... The less solid your buds become.

Mould & Bud Rot


If you're going to try this... Make sure you don't water your plants so the soil or coco is dry before you do. Lower humidity = more THC and high levels of moisture in the air or ground can lead to Mould and the dreaded bud rot!

Discussion


Have you tried this? Do you swear by it? What were your results? I do it every time although I don't remember if it does make things better, it just makes a lot of sense to me to do it this way.
allright dave ,
i think its another one of those old wives tales,or old stoner tales as all the stuff about trichomes changing/replacing overnight is just nonsense whilst its true light degrades thc to cbn in theory you might save a tiny amount of thc from damage it in reality is so minimal as to be immaterial to the final potency,its simple enough to show just use your loupe or usb scope and photo the same trichome over a given period and you can see for yourelf how little and slow any change occurs,if nothing else i guess it might save a little electric but as to its effect on potency or thc levels theres so little to be gained id not bother myself,push them till chop as photosynthesis requires light.
nice looking buds you got hanging,good work :nice:
When you say it's nonsense, do you actually have any evidence to support that other than "look at a trichome"

We can't see what's happening inside them on a molecular level with a loupe.

Here's what I do know....

Tuesday I turned my flower tent off... The car in filter was struggling slightly. Today, I've chopped her and not only does my house smell like I don't have a filter, but opening the tent is the strongest smell I've had off her yet. You can't see the terps but you sure can smell em!
Ancient.Soul.Grown wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 6:03 pm
Great question....

I personally give them the 3 days dark prior to chop.

One final deep chill sleep before they go over rainbow bridge.

Again you need to make sure you have plenty of air movement and pots are fully dried out or at the 5 to 10% mark.

Just 1 step in many for creating bangin flower.

ASG
Airflow and dry pots are a must yeah!
Momma bear wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 6:38 pm
I've read about this but must admit I've not ever tried it. Very interesting read!
Try it and see if you think it helps. Can't hurt :)
JJ wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 7:43 pm
I do this too,,,,why,,?? So I believe in the dry pot theory tho
Dry pot theory? Is that the one where fluid in the plant returns to the pot due to osmotic pressure and the lack of photosynthesis drying moisture out of the pot?
Treetrunk wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 8:17 pm
I grow in bubblers and my usual method is drain the tank and give it 12 hours lights on and off then chop.
Drain the tank? Why do you do this? Does it help?
hi dave if you understand how a plant works ie difference between light on and light off then it all makes sense,plants have a mechanism for exchanging gases oxygen for co2 co2 for oxygen etc this is triggered by the light,when light is on the leaf pores open this allows waste gases to leave the plant cells this is why foliar feeding only works once the plants are lit as otherwise the pores are closed tight.
so in my head that says theres zero logic in a long dark period before the chop and if anything this could be detrimental to harvest quality rather than a benefit.
not saying what your going is wrong just that the mechanisn of it makes no sense in the biological world.
its all fun learning and testing as long as the smell does not get you in trouble! :naughty:
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link to diary viewtopic.php?f=26&t=7385

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Re: Dark period before harvesting.... Is it a myth?

Post by 2-Scoops »

Tried it more than once years back and then switched back to standard practices cus i thought it was a load of doo-dah, but no science to the doo-dah bit twas just my thoughts on jobby. Makes me wonder though is their any solid or science`Y` type evidence it actually does what it says on tin when leaving them in dark before chop or is it just here say ? Cus I've seen this slung about since i started growing and using weed forums, but i can`t recall seeing any facts, then again i may have but forgot cus my heads a shed these days on memory side of things.
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Re: Dark period before harvesting.... Is it a myth?

Post by KD »

duke wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 1:23 pm
KD wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 1:02 am
duke wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 4:51 pm

allright dave ,
i think its another one of those old wives tales,or old stoner tales as all the stuff about trichomes changing/replacing overnight is just nonsense whilst its true light degrades thc to cbn in theory you might save a tiny amount of thc from damage it in reality is so minimal as to be immaterial to the final potency,its simple enough to show just use your loupe or usb scope and photo the same trichome over a given period and you can see for yourelf how little and slow any change occurs,if nothing else i guess it might save a little electric but as to its effect on potency or thc levels theres so little to be gained id not bother myself,push them till chop as photosynthesis requires light.
nice looking buds you got hanging,good work :nice:
When you say it's nonsense, do you actually have any evidence to support that other than "look at a trichome"

We can't see what's happening inside them on a molecular level with a loupe.

Here's what I do know....

Tuesday I turned my flower tent off... The car in filter was struggling slightly. Today, I've chopped her and not only does my house smell like I don't have a filter, but opening the tent is the strongest smell I've had off her yet. You can't see the terps but you sure can smell em!
Ancient.Soul.Grown wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 6:03 pm
Great question....

I personally give them the 3 days dark prior to chop.

One final deep chill sleep before they go over rainbow bridge.

Again you need to make sure you have plenty of air movement and pots are fully dried out or at the 5 to 10% mark.

Just 1 step in many for creating bangin flower.

ASG
Airflow and dry pots are a must yeah!
Momma bear wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 6:38 pm
I've read about this but must admit I've not ever tried it. Very interesting read!
Try it and see if you think it helps. Can't hurt :)
JJ wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 7:43 pm
I do this too,,,,why,,?? So I believe in the dry pot theory tho
Dry pot theory? Is that the one where fluid in the plant returns to the pot due to osmotic pressure and the lack of photosynthesis drying moisture out of the pot?
Treetrunk wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 8:17 pm
I grow in bubblers and my usual method is drain the tank and give it 12 hours lights on and off then chop.
Drain the tank? Why do you do this? Does it help?
hi dave if you understand how a plant works ie difference between light on and light off then it all makes sense,plants have a mechanism for exchanging gases oxygen for co2 co2 for oxygen etc this is triggered by the light,when light is on the leaf pores open this allows waste gases to leave the plant cells this is why foliar feeding only works once the plants are lit as otherwise the pores are closed tight.
so in my head that says theres zero logic in a long dark period before the chop and if anything this could be detrimental to harvest quality rather than a benefit.
not saying what your going is wrong just that the mechanisn of it makes no sense in the biological world.
its all fun learning and testing as long as the smell does not get you in trouble! :naughty:
Well logically speaking... If Thrichomes are there to protect the plant from UV when it's light, and they replenish their supplies when it's dark, then logically... You'll be getting more THC by an extended dark period.

Were talking about THC synthesis in Thrichomes not photosynthesis. Your logical argument about the respiration of the plant during photosynthis is irrelevant here and I don't see how a few days darkness will make the plant suffer when you dry and store your buds in the dark either. Logically speaking of course. The whole point of darkness is to protect the levels of THC being depleted during the cure right?

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Re: Dark period before harvesting.... Is it a myth?

Post by KD »

EDIT: Posted twice by accident 😬
Last edited by KD on Fri Nov 19, 2021 1:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Dark period before harvesting.... Is it a myth?

Post by KD »

2-Scoops wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 1:40 pm
Tried it more than once years back and then switched back to standard practices cus i thought it was a load of doo-dah, but no science to the doo-dah bit twas just my thoughts on jobby. Makes me wonder though is their any solid or science`Y` type evidence it actually does what it says on tin when leaving them in dark before chop or is it just here say ? Cus I've seen this slung about since i started growing and using weed forums, but i can`t recall seeing any facts, then again i may have but forgot cus my heads a shed these days on memory side of things.
Nah I've looked. There's a story about SIMMs doing experiments that showed a 30% increase in their results but the actual experiment wasn't published.
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2-Scoops (Fri Nov 19, 2021 1:46 pm)

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Re: Dark period before harvesting.... Is it a myth?

Post by 2-Scoops »

ohlordyeah_420 wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 10:37 am
One thing I have noticed (off topic sorry!) Is the difference in strength the older the weed gets can be strain dependent to a degree. My crescendo which kicked my arse has weakened a little (little bit I have left is a year old) but the animal cookies is knocking my dick right in the dirt lately. Stronger than ever and it's about 9 months old.
I find that my shit which is kept in freezer for up to 12 months or more knocks my block of lots more than freshly made concoctions, but I'm talking things like weed butter, rso and such like, but not actual weed, I've not actually tried freezing weed yet, but it kinda ties in with what your saying a wee bit. Maybe its the slow thc degradation turning the stuff into a much heavier high ? feck knows tbh
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ohlordyeah_420 (Fri Nov 19, 2021 8:59 pm)

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Re: Dark period before harvesting.... Is it a myth?

Post by duke »

KD wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 1:42 pm
duke wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 1:23 pm
KD wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 1:02 am

When you say it's nonsense, do you actually have any evidence to support that other than "look at a trichome"

We can't see what's happening inside them on a molecular level with a loupe.

Here's what I do know....

Tuesday I turned my flower tent off... The car in filter was struggling slightly. Today, I've chopped her and not only does my house smell like I don't have a filter, but opening the tent is the strongest smell I've had off her yet. You can't see the terps but you sure can smell em!

Airflow and dry pots are a must yeah!


Try it and see if you think it helps. Can't hurt :)

Dry pot theory? Is that the one where fluid in the plant returns to the pot due to osmotic pressure and the lack of photosynthesis drying moisture out of the pot?



Drain the tank? Why do you do this? Does it help?
hi dave if you understand how a plant works ie difference between light on and light off then it all makes sense,plants have a mechanism for exchanging gases oxygen for co2 co2 for oxygen etc this is triggered by the light,when light is on the leaf pores open this allows waste gases to leave the plant cells this is why foliar feeding only works once the plants are lit as otherwise the pores are closed tight.
so in my head that says theres zero logic in a long dark period before the chop and if anything this could be detrimental to harvest quality rather than a benefit.
not saying what your going is wrong just that the mechanisn of it makes no sense in the biological world.
its all fun learning and testing as long as the smell does not get you in trouble! :naughty:
Well logically speaking... If Thrichomes are there to protect the plant from UV when it's light, and they replenish their supplies when it's dark, then logically... You'll be getting more THC by an extended dark period.

Were talking about THC synthesis in Thrichomes not photosynthesis. Your logical argument about the respiration of the plant during photosynthis is irrelevant here and I don't see how a few days darkness will make the plant suffer when you dry and store your buds in the dark either. Logically speaking of course. The whole point of darkness is to protect the levels of THC being depleted during the cure right?
hi i thought the primary purpose of trichomes was as an insect deterant secondary to any uv protection which is minimal as not all leaf surfaces carry abundant trichomes ,theres very little published science behind trichomes and there mechanism of action but its def interesting stuff,the more we learn the less we know! :rolf:
btw i dry my buds either in the dehydrator in under 24hrs or hung to dry above the lights in the drobes for a week and have also done so in darkness,both times of testing same tangie pheno thc levels are the same nearly so take that as you like but says to me short term exposure to light makes little to no difference in the end product and fast drying only affects smoke quality not potency ime,fun stuff.
edit to add
What do trichomes do?
Trichomes are arguably the “fun part” of the cannabis plant since they house all of the good stuff, but they do much more than that. Trichomes serve multiple purposes during the plant’s life cycle. Trichomes begin to form when a cannabis plant enters the flowering stage of growth. As the buds, or flowers develop, they become more susceptible to predators. The trichomes serve as a defense mechanism. Their bitter taste and strong aroma acts as a deterrent against most animals and insects since the trichomes have a strong aroma and bitter flavor. As the plant develops, as do the trichomes, which brings us to another important job. Trichomes are the site of cannabinoid synthesis, meaning it is where the cannabinoids and terpenes are actually made! CBG is the precursor to the most abundant cannabinoids including THC. Enzymes break down and modify CBG to create the other cannabinoids. Trichomes are also where the plant’s terpenes are created. When the plant is developing, the aromatics are mild, and a little bit bitter. The flavonoids become more developed and much sweeter near the end of the flower cycle. A fully mature pot plant will smell fruity, and floral as opposed to the traditional “weed” smell that is produced by the plant matter.

Trichomes also serve as a visual cue for growers to know if a plant is fully mature and if it is ready to be harvested. When the plant is in the early stages of the flowering cycle, the trichomes will be small and clear. As the plant reaches maturity, the resin inside the trichomes will turn opaque and will eventually turn pale yellow when examined with a microscope. It is easy to confuse trichomes for pistils since they can look similar to the untrained eye and both grow from the calyx of the plant. Trichomes are the sticky little crystals that cover the flower and smaller leaves of the plant. Pistils are small hairs that attract and collect pollen. The pistils are also a good indicator of a plant’s maturity. When a plant first starts to flower, the pistils will be white and stand tall to collect pollen as it blows in the wind. When a plant is ready to be harvested, the pistils will sometimes turn amber.

Final notes about trichomes

There are many misconceptions about modern marijuana and even more when it comes to the anatomy of the cannabis plant. Since the trichome is the powerhouse of cannabinoid production, it’s a logical conclusion that if a marijuana bud has a lot of trichomes, also known as being “frosty”, that it must have a lot of THC. This is actually not the case. The abundance of trichomes isn’t a good indicator of the cannabinoid content or flavor of a particular plant. Cannabinoid content will depend on a variety of factors such as genetics, environment, stressors, nutrition, and the overall skill of the grower. Trichomes are the reason for cultivating cannabis since the resin inside is the source of cannabinoids. Concentrates are the product of extracting that resin from the trichomes and separating it from the rest of the plant matter. These little guys are what started it all, so take a closer look at your cannabis next time you visit the dispensary. And as always, please consume responsibly.

Topics: trichomes

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Re: Dark period before harvesting.... Is it a myth?

Post by KD »

You've had your buds lab tested then?
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