Harvest & Curing How important is the dark?

How important is the dark?
A lot more important than it was when I had a 20 y.o. body.... ;)
 
I have always placed my plants in the dark a few days before harvest. How important is this? The reason I ask is I have a girl that got to big on me and I have no place to put it the dark.

it isn't the dark as much as the time

the longer you wait the more it will produce and increase potency even in dark from stored energy
the real idea overall is if you pull the plants in question three days early that frees up the lights for production if you do five harvests a year you would be cutting off around 2 weeks of light time if this makes since?? so this would auto matically increase yearly averages
the total dark will tell the plant to overdrive yes but it was still overdriving
the one major thing i would add to that is that the roots are to sit in water to "brew" to be short and this will slightly increase overall potency as well
thing is you can finish flush during this which reduces light time as well
Food for thought
 
it isn't the dark as much as the time


the one major thing i would add to that is that the roots are to sit in water to "brew" to be short and this will slightly increase overall potency as well
thing is you can finish flush during this which reduces light time as well
Food for thought

ive heard more about the flooding the roots than long darkness. its supposed to make the plant feed on itself because the roots cant breath, pretty interesting
 
I have often wondered if seriously dropping the temps before chop would be beneficial. Here at home we harvest persimmons after a frost because the cold has caused the tree to pull the bitter water back up into the stems leaving the sugars in the fruit. We prune our fruit trees in the cold because the water has been pulled back into the trunk and roots due to the cold. We dig up our horseradish as close to freezing as we can to get fatter juicer roots. So how could doing the same with mj plants not be beneficial for the drying process? I'm not saying throw your plants in the freezer but if your like me and live in a area where you can put you plant outside for a few hours before chop then why not?
 
it will produce more resin glands and thats all i have realy seen.. I always put them in total darkness for 48 hours for this reason!! stickier buds !!!!!! always a plus.
 
I just don't have a way to put them in total darkness if they are to tall. Just have the one tent. But I have a enclosed porch that is not heated. Could easily get one cold before chop. Just wouldn't want the soil getting very cold. Hmmm. Don't know but I think I'll try om the next one. Could use my hydrometer to compare the moisture harvested this way compared to just chopped, no darkness no temp drop.
 
I just don't have a way to put them in total darkness if they are to tall. Just have the one tent. But I have a enclosed porch that is not heated. Could easily get one cold before chop. Just wouldn't want the soil getting very cold. Hmmm. Don't know but I think I'll try om the next one. Could use my hydrometer to compare the moisture harvested this way compared to just chopped, no darkness no temp drop.

the totall darkness is also just alittle "push" it doesn't even have to be total dark especially w/an auto even in a photo period strain the couple of days mentioned would barely be enough time to stress hermmie but coulld easily be monitored
anywhere you put the plant and give it more time to mature is the real benefit
the "snap" from light change is very negligable that late in the cycle to really play havok
sometimes some strains respond well to a big dark cycle to really snap into full bloom this has been known to take a week sometimes even two of "lingering" preflower depending on the variety but this can also cause stress release of hermmies depending on the proneness of the variety to do so

the cold situation would be fine if only at the very end
cold conditions will reduce nutrient uptake (ie.forced purpleing as one example that some desire,but this reduces P uptake)
freezing temps will damage the roots themself so depending on the hardness of the freeze will depend on the damage but if only last day or 36hours possibly would give time to reduce moisture content like you mentioned but you are getting into a grey area of exacts of the enviornment and the specific dtrain to determine how well it will react to the change in conditions
No matter the situation the longer it is on the plant usually the better until the point where more is degrading than being produced then final abmering of higher ratio
then where the bud is actually degrading instead of maturing hope this helps alittle
if i have left anything fuzzy or unclear please ask:)
 
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