Wow i just finished a ten week grow of greenhouse seeds white widow.I used houseand garden nutes and grow in coco coir. I did as was suggested as in turning of all the lights the last two weeks of flowering.But istill left the light on 8hours aday the tricomes were absolutely everywhere i lost count under my 30x. This method really works. I am a little leary of total darkness has any one have any experience with complete darkness like they reccomend
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darkness to increase resin
- Thread starter tdennis
- Start date
Excuse me, but who 'suggested' that you turn light hours down to 8 hours, and why?
Less light can in no whatsoever way produce more resin (trichomes), since the resin is produced by the photosynthetic process, which is more or less performant depending on light hours and light intensity. You get the following formula:
less light hours = less photosynthesis = less resin.
Research has shown (Valle et al. 1978) that twice as much THC is produced under a 12 hour photoperiod than under a 10 hour photoperiod. It indicates that you've conciderably lowered the potency of your plants by running them on 8 hour photoperiods.
What you can do by decreasing photoperiod hours is to speed up maturity of certain genetics that refuses to mature (within a desired time frame). This is not the case with White Widow though, I've run it many times and it never caused me any problems.
Less light can in no whatsoever way produce more resin (trichomes), since the resin is produced by the photosynthetic process, which is more or less performant depending on light hours and light intensity. You get the following formula:
less light hours = less photosynthesis = less resin.
Research has shown (Valle et al. 1978) that twice as much THC is produced under a 12 hour photoperiod than under a 10 hour photoperiod. It indicates that you've conciderably lowered the potency of your plants by running them on 8 hour photoperiods.
What you can do by decreasing photoperiod hours is to speed up maturity of certain genetics that refuses to mature (within a desired time frame). This is not the case with White Widow though, I've run it many times and it never caused me any problems.
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Waste 'em All
New member
I'd rep if I could Rosy, this doesn't make any sense.
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tdennis said:
no offence... but you somehow thought that was worthy of a subission for publication in ICmagazine?!?
I suppose you havent grown that exact selection (via clone) under a normal light schedule, for an accurate comparison?!
try it some time.. Im shure youll be agreeing with Rosy
btw, yer thread blongs in the growers forums...
Peace, bub.
barber boy
New member
Rosy Cheeks said:
i must concur with Rosy Cheeks. & also... why is this in the Submissions forum?
Tactical Farmer
Member
BOG did a 3 day / 72 hour dark period right before harvest to stress the plant to produce more resin.
He does it - I do it & alot of others do it too, I swear it works..
He does it - I do it & alot of others do it too, I swear it works..
Tactical Farmer said:
According to this CC article from 2006, Dr. Atomic does the 72 hour darkness thing also.
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4762.html
Tactical Farmer
Member
It sure seems to me that way too - 3 days of dark makes for better dank...
devilsharvest
Member
I beleive Shanti also used to do this with his "White" strains...
JKD said:
Ive tried it.. back when it was the rage on OG.. I even did it with clones so I could get an accurate read..
diddnt work for me.. and heres why ime/imo: plants need light to grow.
If I remember correctly, I ran a C99 F2 from the GN03, a LUI, and something from BGS.. either Kasparov or BlueKiev....
but if it works for ya, have at it. just my lil .02
peace, bub.
devilsharvest
Member
I also tried it a few times and couldnt really tell the difference...Shanti posted that up Many years ago and dont know if he still does it or not...
one drawback is that when you have 3 days with no lights, you get a humidity spike, and if you have big heavy buds an increase in bud mold, also if you have even a hint of pm it realy takes off during those three days. its only three days, but alot can happen. if you do go for it make sure that you dont water right before. 
StinkingRoger
Member
After its over 48hrs pure dark im told makes them shine
Tactical Farmer said:
Yes, BOG (used to) do that. He also gave his plants superthrive in flower, and said it worked for him. Whatever.
luciano28 said:
JKD said:
Well, I've tried it. I gave some Original Mistys a 48h dark period before the chop once, when the "dark before harvest" debate at Overgrow raged at full force. It gave a particular lustre to the trichs, if I don't remember it wrong. Apart from that, no change or inprovement.
I remember that PeterUK (an old and weathered mod at OG) gave his girls a whole week of dark before harvest once, and saw nothing positive from it.
The whole reasoning around dying plants putting out a last 'panic attack' of resin production sounds fun, but there is no scientific basis for it.
Or is there? Then post it.
What you must understand is that resin production is intimately related to light. We don't know exactly why the Cannabis plant produces resin, but it is thought to be – at least partially – a protection against heat, drought and harmful radiation (UV-B), which is why experts on the subject, such as Robert Connell Clarke (Marijuana Botany) or Michael Starks (Marijuana Chemistry) believes it possible to force resin production in hot, arid climates and on high altitudes, where radiation is intense.
Bill Drake (The Cultivators Handbook of Marijuana) says studies show the resin production in the Cannabis plant is the most intense during the hottest hour of the day, usually early afternoon outdoors.
So, if the resin is there to protect against light radiation, heat and dehydration of the buds, why would the plant start putting out buckets of resin once the lights are out?
Even more important, resin production isn’t the same thing as THC production. A very resinous plant can actually have low THC content, and plants with little resin production (such as the G-13) can be very potent. There exist no proven way to increase THC production (even though certain studies from the early 80’s states that high altitude growing raises THC levels, and believes it to be related to UV-B radiation), but there are ways to impair the THC production. The biosynthetic process of THC production (phenols and turpenes are progressively biosynthesized into cannabinoids: first to CBG, then CBG > CBC AND CBG > CBD, and finally, CBD > THC.) depends on sufficient nutrient and mineral uptake as well as photosynthesis. Dr. Paul Hornby has been able to show that by cutting out nutrients for your plants a certain number of days before harvesting considerably affects THC production, and lowers the overall THC content in the buds. Equally, J.R. Valle has shown that shorter photoperiods considerably diminish the THC production in the plant (in “Influence on photoperiodism on cannabinoid content in Cannabis Sativa” he concludes that a 12h photoperiod produces twice as much THC as a 10h photoperiod).
So to bring it together, light seems to be essential to both resin and THC production, you can probably not increase resin production by cutting out the light, and definitely not increase THC production without light, only lower it.
What you can do by cutting out the light close to end cycle of the plant’s life is to speed up the maturation process of the bud itself. You probably – as bodhiseeds mentioned – increase the water content of the bud since temps drop and the dehydrating effect of the lights are gone, so buds swell and trichs sparkle.
But what’s the point of swollen big buds and glittery resin if there’s no extra THC in it, rather the contrary?
Rosy Cheeks - I notice in my grow the buds that have some shading look a lot more resinous, and mature slightly earlier. Why might this be? I certainly don't know. The buds in direct light still get bigger though. (Sorry for the tangent, I can't PM yet.) I use four vertical 600HPS in an 8.5'x3'x6' room hanging between 3 plants. TIA for any insight.
hey Rosy Cheeks...That all sound more logical than all of it...Bodhi is right bout bud rots n mold but Its not a issue if the plants already dehydrating which is a good practice before this dark phase..Plus Im not gana put a finishing/dying plant in a dark cold/wet room either..heh...
I did try 10 day dark phase at the end of a 10 day flush and it was interestin in results..The strain was 3lbs Blowfish and the resins were more black than amber?..I'll say like coffee black and it was a bit more sedative than the one left to finish normally in the lights..It retained more green as it didnt leech like the one under the lights but was similar in the smell/flav of the smoke..thats bout the only test Ive done and results so far,..
Had some old bro's back in the day that used to dip the roots of the plants in hot water to kill them off well before the hang...then heard quite a few ppl used to do this in cali and all over..only other weird thing Ive done is once I over dried a full 1.5'ft bush with rootball n all in a water heater closet over night..inner bud was just moist still so i let it rehydrate fir a few hours n then for shits n giggles..stuck it in a lg freezer bag and 2hrs in the freezer..pulled it and let it dry..the buds turned purp/black from the green freezing but the stone was powerful...smoked damn well to..
FOE20
I did try 10 day dark phase at the end of a 10 day flush and it was interestin in results..The strain was 3lbs Blowfish and the resins were more black than amber?..I'll say like coffee black and it was a bit more sedative than the one left to finish normally in the lights..It retained more green as it didnt leech like the one under the lights but was similar in the smell/flav of the smoke..thats bout the only test Ive done and results so far,..
Had some old bro's back in the day that used to dip the roots of the plants in hot water to kill them off well before the hang...then heard quite a few ppl used to do this in cali and all over..only other weird thing Ive done is once I over dried a full 1.5'ft bush with rootball n all in a water heater closet over night..inner bud was just moist still so i let it rehydrate fir a few hours n then for shits n giggles..stuck it in a lg freezer bag and 2hrs in the freezer..pulled it and let it dry..the buds turned purp/black from the green freezing but the stone was powerful...smoked damn well to..
FOE20
