48 - 72 hours of darkness before harvest

So when the flowers are finally done does anyone use this technique that I've heard of.
Apparently it makes the resin sphere's stronger with a better taste or is this just BS...cheers for any input..Stash

Ofcourse people use it! Some times even longer then 72 hours. Zitokinine level in plants rises at night, so making the last days of your flowers as dark as possible is a good idea. It will make your budds stronger!
Peace bro!

-hs

I have done it and noticed NO difference. if anything, as crazy as it sounds, they seemed a little less frosty. regardless, I will never do it again, as just no reason to deprive it that light, just hasnt proven to be true to me.

just my .02

Yeah I'm always pleased with the results I get without using this method. But I'm always up for experimenting to try and get better result's. So with two contradictory answers I'm just a little confused..umm..oh well. But thanks for your views..Stash

stashman said:

Yeah I'm always pleased with the results I get without using this method. But I'm always up for experimenting to try and get better result's. So with two contradictory answers I'm just a little confused..umm..oh well. But thanks for your views..Stash

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i tried it last run personally i didnt notice but again that was 1st run on this strain sugar shack but this strain from 3wks flower on was like frosty mountain tops.

best maybe try this place 1 in darkness 48-72 hr and keep rest in light and chop when lights come on @chop day

LoL if anything I think they would benefit more from 1-3 days EXTRA light..

Exactly,those dark hours could better be spent in the light.I've done it dozens of times,never because I was trying to just too busy half the time.If anything,the pistils may turn a little more.Does nothing for potency

No noticeable difference.....

I do wonder, however........is it better to let a plant go for a few days without water
right before the chop or should you just water right up until the time of the chop.....
Perhaps a drought-stress reaction would cause the trichomes to enlarge.....

But that's probably just another rumour like boiling roots or hanging upside down to
let resins somehow "flow" to the tips......all just rumors most likely......

guineapiggin' can you dig it?

That depends on how long you want to cure or how big a hurry you're in lol.I thoroughly water my plants several hours or the night before harvest because I want the plant fully hydrated,this will make for a long slow drying period.If you want your erb to dry fast then yea you want to let your plant go really dry,either way isnt going to do squat to the trichromes.A long slow cure normally makes for a smoother smoke though

i notice a difference.. i cut down 1/4 of my bubble gums without 24 hours of darkenss (i dont know about 72).. the ones cut down early were harsh.. the others were less harsh.. tasted better.. it lets all the nutes go to the roots and outa the plant.. i dont about them being frostier, but yeah..

? thats what flushing is for man.

Screw the exteneded dark period stuff - doesn't do anything. I ran that experiement a few years back with 10 clones of White Slut (WWxC99) from a fellow Overgrower. I took 5 clones at day 65 12/12 and placed them in a spare grow cab with no light for 48 hours prior to harvest, while the other 5 remained under the lights. Both day and nighttime temps were the same in both cabs, as well as RH. There was absolutely no difference in flavor, potency, color, smell, etc after the chop, a 1 week slow dry and a 3 week cure in glass jars.

Now...

If you wanna do something that really works...try this.

Stop feeding your plants halfway through flower. I use FloraNova series nutes cause they simply kick ass, are one part and balance out my 150ppm tap water's pH real well. I also use SWEET from Botanicare, which dramatically increases yor plants' carbohydrate production. Your plants turn out, well, sweet!

Anyway, at 4 weeks 12/12 for my 8 week strains, I let the soil (Ocean Forest cut with 30% perlite) dry out completely over 4 days or so for 1 gal pots. Then I flush the soil with 2-3gal of tap water. After a few days to dry out again, I begin watering again as normal, minus the nutes - only tap water with Sweet, pH adjusted. Within a week, fan leaves begin to yellow from lack of N in teh soil, but that is good IMO - I get much better tasting buds upon harvest doing this. Plus, I don't need to flush before harvest as no ferts are used after the initial flush at 4 weeks.

My buds are sticky, stinky and sweet as hell upon smelling them but more importantly upon tasting them!!! They rock in a vaporizer as well as a joint, bubbler or bong. I personally don't like dry pipes but my bud tastes great and isn't rough at al in one...

You know it's good bud when it all burns to a pure white ash that will fly away in teh air if blown at...not grey or black.

Here are some buds at 4 weeks 12/12 that I just flushed today and will begin watering with only Sweet after they dry out. Strain is Northern Lights from Female Seeds. Grown in 1gal pots, Ocean Forest Soil with Perlite under a 400W HPS (MH for veg).

hey bud, its my first grow and i have ocean forest and florva nova, so who better to ask then you?

when you start flowering how much of the bloom do you give them?

do you start giving the bloom right at 12/12 or do you give them some grow for the stretch period?

do you lose out on bud weight by starting flushing so early? i think ill do 2 weeks flush if its some sort of connoisseur thing. id rather get stoned for a few more days then have it taste better. ;P

Where'sMyBud? said:

Now...

If you wanna do something that really works...try this.

Stop feeding your plants halfway through flower. I use FloraNova series nutes cause they simply kick ass, are one part and balance out my 150ppm tap water's pH real well. I also use SWEET from Botanicare, which dramatically increases yor plants' carbohydrate production. Your plants turn out, well, sweet!

Anyway, at 4 weeks 12/12 for my 8 week strains, I let the soil (Ocean Forest cut with 30% perlite) dry out completely over 4 days or so for 1 gal pots. Then I flush the soil with 2-3gal of tap water. After a few days to dry out again, I begin watering again as normal, minus the nutes - only tap water with Sweet, pH adjusted. Within a week, fan leaves begin to yellow from lack of N in teh soil, but that is good IMO - I get much better tasting buds upon harvest doing this. Plus, I don't need to flush before harvest as no ferts are used after the initial flush at 4 weeks.

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did you notice any lack of yield cutting down on the N 4 weeks into flower?

thats what im talking about, maaan

Hey St0n3r -

This round, I vegged for 4 weeks from seed. If I am doing my usual grow, I grow SOG from clone and do 3 days 18/6 under my 400W MH. This round is also different for me bc I am growing this in 1 gallon pots to keep em real small.

With that, feed only water during the transition week from 18/6 to 12/12 then start adding in the Bloom, starting at about 900ppm for the first two feedings (2nd week of 12/12) then increase to 1200ppm for the next 2 weeks of 12/12

I have had great success with Ocean Forest and FloraNova nutes together, so you will do just fine , bro.



Cult -

When I do clones in SOG, in 2L soda bottles, I grow "budsicles" or "buds on sticks." I have never done a side by side grow of the same clones, some being flushed at week 4 12/12 and the other continuing on their feeding program. Maybe this next SOG round I will do that to compare. Honestly, for clones in SOG, I don't think I'll notice a difference in final yield. I grow about 15 clones at a time and have yielded between 14 - 21g off each clone. I might push that up a few grams per clone if I continued feeding, but I know the final product is just more valuable the way I am doing it. Connessuer bud takes time and patience but more importantly, IMO, a proper flush with no ferts added thereafter.

his plants were pretty small, so i guess the yield cuts down significantly after flushing from week 4..how about week 6 to week 8 flush? 1 month of flush? wow, longest I have ever heard of, but that's how you do...

Hey Blue -

My plants are real small cause I topped them and did heavy duty Bonsai & LST training on them for fun. I do not grow for yield, only quality as I am a hobby grower. These are also in 1 gallon pots, hence the bonsai approach.

Many growers stop feeding halfway through flower, as there is plenty residual nutrients in the soil as well as the plant itself. I wanna say I got the idea form Soma but I don't remember.

This encourages the plant to finish earlier and use up everything in it's medium and its personal sugar storage. This plus the use of SWEET has dramatically increased the bag appeal of my buds, both in Trich development, taste, smell and smoke quality.

You guys got me thinkin' though...

Next round of clones I do SOG, I will do half my usual way and continue feeding the other half for an extra 2-3 weeks and give them a flush at week 6-7 12/12 - for experiemt sake.

Ciao Guys

Frozenguy said:

i notice a difference.. i cut down 1/4 of my bubble gums without 24 hours of darkenss (i dont know about 72).. the ones cut down early were harsh.. the others were less harsh.. tasted better.. it lets all the nutes go to the roots and outa the plant.. i dont about them being frostier, but yeah..

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Personally i did it a few times and never noticed a bit of difference. However, responding to this quote, you will have more sugar content in your plants during the dark period and that may explain a better taste. Sugar content is also measured on the brix index.

The real principle behind the process is twofold.
First it forces the plant to transpire far beyond it's normal resources.Much like a marathon runner hitting the wall of endurance,and then burning their own body up to continue.
The second factor is one last immense stress on the plant when it is at it's ripest,fullest cycle.
What these two principles accomplish,is to transpire out any remaining water,and push all of the remaining energy,sugars etc into the flowers.
So less weight loss when dried,and a generally frostier looking bud.
The biggest problem with converting this system to a pure hydro like bubbler's,is that unlike soil,once you stop putting water into your system,there is no source for your roots to continue to draw on.
With soil, an approx 30% normal watering is done the day before the dark cycle,the plants start drawing water from the pots,and will continue the process until the soil,is bone dry...and right to the point of sucking all of the moisture from the stalks,so they are hollow.
Beyond the method...not much other help i can offer bud.