Getting a little bit more out of it?

[The Alchemist]

Okay i have a few quick questions.I'm about threee weeks away from harvest so i've only two weeks of feeding my plants any type of nutes left. So iwas wondering just to get a little bit more out of the plant would any of these help.

1.) Adding Root Juice to my feeds for the next two weeks. Seeming as my plant has gone past its growing stage it can take these micro nutrients and put them to use in ither areas of the plant. Now i am already useing Top Max so i am aware that i don't want to overdose my plants on the nutes but if i take that into consideration think it coulod help.

2.) Add mollasses into my water nowfor the next few weeks. What exactly will this help with by the way if at all? I don't want to buy molasses if there gonna do nothing.

3.) Adding molasses up untill three days before the harvest, thus giving the plant extra time to take the necesssary sugars and even if there not completely flushed out of the plant by harvest the molasses shouldn't leave a bad taste. Should they?I'm using soil and organics all the way through so 3 days should be fine if its only the molasses i'm leaving that long.

4.) Drop the temps down to 16c or so for the last three or four days aswell as giving them 48 hours darkness. It is reported that the low temperature forces the plant to create more trichomes.

5)Also it is reported that trichomes are produced to stop the plant from drying out so i was think of skewering the bottom of the main stem to stop transportation. I know this has been discussed before and someone said they had done it sucessfully.



I'm not saying i'm going to do all of these things to my plant but i plan to try out a few in the last few days. The way i see it is that none of them could do any major harm and it will be interesting to see if they do any good. If any one can see a flaw with any of my plans tell me cos thats what i need to hear. Don't wanna do something if its definitely a waste of time.

Also if anyone has any other ideas that can give you that little extra bit let me know. I'm not asking for miracles just curious as to what can work and want to give it a try and see.

 

[ezbake]

Why do people always want to fuck with mother nature? Just let the plant grow naturally man...

If you think about the temperature drop, and 48 hours darkness... wouldn't both of these cause Stress for the plant? And isn't stress bad? Especially during flowering

As for the root juice and mollasses... if you want to do it... do it... it won't hurt your plant, right? It will only help it, or do nothing at all. Just don't do too much and it won't burn them.

Mollasses i heard is supposed to be a sweetener, a bunch of people say that Botanicare's Sweet product is just fancy mollases, so check what that product does to give you an idea

 

[jojajico]

im not saying the things u mentioned above wont work only if this is your first or second grow why not just do the basics b4 u start experimenting. and if you want to do things like that you should do a side by side clone comparisson, one control one experiment that way you kno if there is any benefit. otherwise you may think that what you are doing is helping your yeild when it really may be hurting it...

 

[Guest]

I do 24-48 hours darkness all the time,as a matter of necessity always it does nothing to improve the outcome.Lowering temps can bring out colors in some strains,but again I doubt its really going to accomplish anything but that and some strains may not appreciate it at all.Here's something that is concrete and its a matter of choice as to how you want to handle it.I like to water thoroughly several hours or the night before I cut and hang the plant because when you hydrate the plant like that,it will take longer to dry and cure out and I like the results I get from that process.Even if the plant has to sit in the dark for a day or two,I'll still hydrate before harvesting.On the other hand,you might want the erb to dry as quickly as possible for any number of reasons so in that case you'd want to harvest with the soil bone dry and the branches near wilting.Dont let it get too dry of course I'm just trying to point out the two options that really have a consequence as opposed to all this 48 hour dark,cold temps,drive a drywall screw into the base of the stalk to stress and create resin type of bullshit lol.

 

[The Alchemist]

The 48hrs darkness makes perfect sense as to how it works so i don't know why people are against it. But the other ones are what i was wondering about.I'm not definitely going to do any of these but i'm thinking about it.
The skewer in the stem is just really curiosity. I don't think i could actually skewer my plant while she's still alive but again it makes sense as to how it could work.

 

[Guest]

In what way does the 48 hours dark or the shishkabobbing of the stalk make any sense?I'm not trying to start a conflict bro,I hate that shit personally I just dont know what you're basing your conclusions on.The 48 hours dark thing I've done so many times I know for a fact it doesnt increase trich production,if thats what its supposed to do I never really figured that one out lol.A plant is going to spend half of its flowering life producing trichromes and then magically towards the end a spell of darkness is going to do anything?Its just not true in my experience,the plants would be better served with those extra 2 days under the light I believe,the only reason I do it is out of necessity,or I wouldnt bother at all.Nobody really knows why plants produce trichromes although there are several theories,ranging from protection from UV rays to a pest control reaction,who really knows?I know the 48 hours doesnt do anything to increase trichs or potency in any way from too much experience with it,timing can be a bitch sometimes lol.I have noticed however on some strins the pistils may appear to "turn" a bit more,but other than that not a thing.In reality the pistils would p[robably redden under the light even better

 

[The Alchemist]

I wrote the whole explanation out in my post earlier but them my comp froze and i didn't want to have to write it again, but here it is in synopsis.
According to studies(can't remeber where i read this but i came across it on a sciencey site about weed) THC is more potent in a plant in the morning and declines throughout the day. This is due to the light degrading it. So if you give it 48hrs darkness its last two days growth will have no light degradtaion and it can be cut down at the highest thc concentration.
I can't remember where i read that and if people don't agree its fine. But it makes sense to me, THC does degrade under light so to give it its last two days growth in darkness can't do anything but good.

The skewer thing i remember coming across a thread(think it could have been on this site) where a fella did it and he said it was to stop the transportation of water to the plant. He said for the plant to prevent itself from drying out it produces more thrichs to coat the bud and leaves and retain moisture.He only did it on the last day before harvest i think! Don't know is it true but he thought so.And he had nice buds. And like you said no one really knows why thrichomes occur so its as plausible a reason as any.Seeming as marijuana originated in hot climates.
Like i said i've never tried this so i don't know all i'm saying is that they make sense to me. If anyone can prove me wrong then i'd liketo know cos i'd rather not waste my time doing something pointless to my plant.

 

[bartender187]

The 48hrs darkness makes perfect sense as to how it works so i don't know why people are against it.

I have put plants in darkens rangin from 12hrs-72hrs and have never noticed any additional trich development. That is my experience.

 

[The Alchemist]

The plant doesn't develop more thrichs but its supposed to increase the potency of THC.

Light degrades THC

No Light = No THC degradation = Stronger THC = Better Bud

 

[Guest]

No,you have to do it for yourself man,no one could or should try to prove yopu wrong,only give you their experiences with it.Another one I heard was to literally starve the plant of water the last week or so,a guy used to swear he could see the difference in trich production when he did this.The only thing I would add to the thread is that dehydrating the plants towards the end doesnt sound like something I even want to try lol,but to each his own.Thats why you have to try things for yourself people will flat out be dishonest sometimes for one reason or another,Our dear Capt Kirk/fonzie was a good example of that lol.The thing about hydrating or not hydrating the plant before chopping is something that has visable results and you can go either way with it depending on your desired outcome,this I know to be true from experience

 

[Dan42nepa]

I read about the stake through the stalk many years ago and think its suppose to cause trauma to the plant and perhaps do something. But I dont see a bunch of new trichs popping up the day after doing it. Maybe it does something to the colors or status? I never tried it. When i read about it years ago it said in indonesia or something they would stick a sharpened stick smeared with opium. I dont see what that would really do. The other thing is girding and there was a thread on here somewhere about the colombian harvest method where they would gird the stalk of the plant and it would basically start to die while in the ground. The thread said thats how you get that gold color in colombian gold...

 

[jojajico]

im not saying that this is wrong but i biology and science there are soo many factors that one has to take into account. for example this may not work because of some other enzymatic reaction which destroys THC because it is without light for long periods or whatever. so im not discounting your proposal at all i just reccomend you do a side by side experiment inwhich you flower and harvest one set of plants on way and another set in the way you described. this way you can compare the two. make sure to do it with clones in the exact same enviornment ie. CO2, humididty, temp. if it works great! you have just contributed something to the forum, if not then you will know for certain. i think its a good experiment and your logic is correct but logic does not always indicate fact. if you cant setup the experiment then i would advise that you simply grow and harvest in the tried and true methods until such time where you can experiment otherwise you may end up with worse results and not even know it!

 

[The Alchemist]

Ya i don't like the idea of starving my plant for a week. But with the skewer thing its only for a day, but like i said i don't think i could do it to my plants, might try it in a later grow if i get clones s i can do a side by side but unless i'm sure about it, i won't hurt them.

I might do the water before harvest thing with one of my plants, i know i'll want one of them to be ready as soon as possible while still drying and curing for a while. My other plant won't be smoked till i go through the first one though so i might try that. Thanks for the advice.There the kind of things i was looking for. Not necessarily tricks for a bigger yield but just a sweeter smoke one way or another.

 

[The Alchemist]

Chances are i'll never be able to do a side by side controlled experiment cos of circumstances but if i ever do i'll post the results. I hear what your saying though about when the lights go off there can be other factors that will degrade THC but a lot of people swear by the method so i'm gonna give it a try. I'll probably only do 36hrs though so i can harvest in the morning and spend the day pruning and getting stuff ready.
Can't wait, cos i hope to be harvesting in about three weeks or so and if that happens it will just be in time for when my older bro is calling down to me for a few days to go see Preston Reed play. He doesn't know i'm growing so he'll be surprised and happy and if its good smoke it will make for a good few days Whenever we go out we always have a good night that ends with one of those deep drunken/stoned conversations at half four or five in the morning Cant wait!!!

 

[milo_xxx]

I tend to let me plants go longer than suggested. usually about 2wks past when other people would harvest. I also like to give them a 48 or more hrs of darkness before harvest. rarely have a had a strain that has not responded noticeably to this. You can actually see a difference.

for instance, I grew out a couple of RM's Blueberry sativa's. let them go for just under 14wks they looked amazing. then after the dark period you could see about a 1/4" of very light green growth under every one of the purple buds. So light green it almost looked neon. there was no noticable harm to the trichs and the high was just as good as ever (best I have ever had).

but this is just my personal experience........ so take it with a grain of salt.

I just saw all this people not giving you the answers you were looking for, just questioning your logic.

I also use molasses in the flush..... Up until the last 2 waterings.

I have also tryed a variation on the "skewer" thing you are refering to when I was just starting with some bagseed. I went to the base of the stem with a pair of plairs and sqeezed until it broke, then I turned the plairs 1/4 turn around the stem and did it again. so the stem had four really nice cracks. left them in darkness for 72hrs. They looked as healthy as ever, and when I chopped them they had a nice 1/4" hollow in the middle of the stem. Have not tried this method again.

just my 2 cents. hope it helps.

 

[jojajico]

Chances are i'll never be able to do a side by side controlled experiment cos of circumstances but if i ever do i'll post the results. I hear what your saying though about when the lights go off there can be other factors that will degrade THC but a lot of people swear by the method so i'm gonna give it a try. I'll probably only do 36hrs though so i can harvest in the morning and spend the day pruning and getting stuff ready.
Can't wait, cos i hope to be harvesting in about three weeks or so and if that happens it will just be in time for when my older bro is calling down to me for a few days to go see Preston Reed play. He doesn't know i'm growing so he'll be surprised and happy and if its good smoke it will make for a good few days Whenever we go out we always have a good night that ends with one of those deep drunken/stoned conversations at half four or five in the morning Cant wait!!!

the thing is though if u do give it a try u will have no idea if it works or not or if it even makes things worse.

 

[Dan42nepa]

Would you want new growth on your buds the day you are going to harvest? Or would you rather them think they have peaked and are ready to die? I dont know. I cant do the 48 hour thing anyway because my closet had new plants added on 2 week intervals. I harvest 2 at a time.

 

[The Alchemist]

Thanks Milo i was thinking about the molasses thing cos a lot of people say that Northern Lights lacks a strong taste(don't really know cos i can;t remeber how it tasted when i tried it last year) so having a bit of a sweetness to it would be nice and especially helpful for those few buds i will end up quick drying or smoking before i get a chance to cure.

I was also thinkin of curing a couple of buds a different way. I was going to let them get very dry then start the curing process but while i'm curing i'll put some orange zest into a jar with a few buds and lemon peel into another jar with a few more. I'm gonna make sure the peel doesn't touch the weed. After a day i'll take it out and throw it away and put more in in a couple of days time.The dry weed should soak in a bit of the mositure from the orange/lemon and over time even the dry weed shouldtaste and smell of it.
Think it could be interesting to see what lemon and orange falvoured NL tastes like.
Anyone tried anythin like this?

 

[The Alchemist]

the thing is though if u do give it a try u will have no idea if it works or not or if it even makes things worse.

I can't see why it would make anything worse, any people who praise it say they see a noticble difference and those who oppose it say they noticed nothing and that it was a waste of time. I'm yet to hear a person say that they found it to do harm. So the way i see it is that if no one has experienced negative effects and some have experienced positive, i've got nothing to lose.

 

[jojajico]

I can't see why it would make anything worse, any people who praise it say they see a noticble difference and those who oppose it say they noticed nothing and that it was a waste of time. I'm yet to hear a person say that they found it to do harm. So the way i see it is that if no one has experienced negative effects and some have experienced positive, i've got nothing to lose.

you have to ask yourself did those people who did it do it in a scientific manner. meanining did they do a side by side comparision and a side by side smoke comaprison. im not discounting you in anyway hell i want it to work too but unless you test you wont really know.