# Chopping alternative perhaps...



## DCkush (Jun 17, 2011)

I was wondering what would happen if you just let your plant stay in soil and stop watering it when it was good and ready. Has anyone ever tried this or have an educated guess?


----------



## Locked (Jun 17, 2011)

DCkush said:
			
		

> I was wondering what would happen if you just let your plant stay in soil and stop watering it when it was good and ready. Has anyone ever tried this or have an educated guess?




Chopping and hanging is the quicker way to dry and cure your bud.  You want to remove the excess leaf and hang either the whole plant (since autos are small) or individual branches.  Jmo


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Jun 17, 2011)

DCkush said:
			
		

> I was wondering what would happen if you just let your plant stay in soil and stop watering it when it was good and ready. Has anyone ever tried this or have an educated guess?



It will die.


----------



## AlkaloidContent (Jun 17, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> It will die.


 
IDK I think this is a great thought. I mean think about it, letting plant just die naturally and dry out, all the while still growing till its last breath.

The thing is thought you will end up for sure with all amber trikes and it will be a very couchlock buzz, not that this is anything to fear. (Family Guy marathon?!?! NOOOOOOOOO)

If you think about it when we chop it down, it still dies, we always kill these plants, only physically not spiritually.

Granted letting it dry all the way to its doom will still cause the same principles to be, hanging upside down is quoted in cuasing all the THC to slowly make its way to the top of the plant, which is where the yea buddy is.

Curing just allows for residual moisture to make its way out of the buds, only leaving behind very very little to keep it fresh and not crispy.

So granted chopping and hanging then curing has been the thing to do for centuries.

However dont let anyone tell you what you can or cant do. Try it, post some pics, educate us with your findings. If you can take two identical plants, same strain, conditions, etc and do them each a different way and see what the final product if like for both.

The only issue I see with your idea is the plant rotting or getting some sort of illness like mold or someting before its smokable.

Also Hamster is deff correct on this. It will take longer but theres no way of knowing just how much.


----------



## lordhighlama (Jun 17, 2011)

it will make it a pain in the rear to trim.  
Get those leafs off of her while they are still perky.


----------



## AlkaloidContent (Jun 17, 2011)

lordhighlama said:
			
		

> it will make it a pain in the rear to trim.
> Get those leafs off of her while they are still perky.


 
This is true, it will also allow the plant to dry quicker since it will not have that moisture and once the leaves are gone there wont be much in the way of photosynthesis so it should go ahead and die off.


----------



## DCkush (Jun 17, 2011)

This will be a deff must do with some plants when I do my grow. Hopefully it will be commencing within the next month or so.

Are you stalking be hammy? I know with less plant material the faster the dry but I was just wondering if it might be of any flavor or potency. When you think about it you're squeezing everything out of well everything. 


Also, just a thought here, I'm planning an aero grow. Home made. Nothing extravagant. Say when the plants are almost ready to pull, you take em from the aero tub and throw them in some semi moist soil and let it go from there. Maybe help boost some flavor or something.


----------



## dman1234 (Jun 17, 2011)

A plant allowed to die may over ripen and lose potency big time.


----------



## Locked (Jun 17, 2011)

DCkush said:
			
		

> Are you stalking be hammy?




Um mm...huh? You just joined and hve posted 4 times....not sure how I am stalking you...lol


----------



## lordhighlama (Jun 17, 2011)

don't worry DC hammy stalks everyone, just feed him some cheese and he'll leave you alone for a bit.


----------



## Locked (Jun 17, 2011)

lordhighlama said:
			
		

> don't worry DC hammy stalks everyone, just feed him some cheese and he'll leave you alone for a bit.




Speaking of that where is mah cheese......


----------



## jesuse (Jun 17, 2011)

:48: hears some blue cheese sir hamster


----------



## AlkaloidContent (Jun 17, 2011)

dman1234 said:
			
		

> A plant allowed to die may over ripen and lose potency big time.


 
This is a beneficial claim, but can you provide any substantial evidence?

Not to be a ______, but this is something that could benefit the growing community if proven either beneficial or really bad.

Also Im not talking about, "Ive grown since the beginning of time and I never tried it, however I know what Im doing so dont do it." as a response.

THIS COMMENT IS NOT DIRECTED AT ANYBODY!

Just saying give some evidence or at least some logical thoughts.


----------



## Mutt (Jun 17, 2011)

AlkaloidContent said:
			
		

> Just saying give some evidence or at least some logical thoughts.



It's called the "harvest window". 
Read the stickies at the top of this section.

A plant "left to die" even after you quit feeding and want not. Just like when humans starve. The plant will turn on itself and deplete every last nutrient until...well...it dies. During this time it's going to finish it's life process the best it can. like everything trying to survive. 
When trichomes turn to brown...not amber mind you. dead brown, it has lost all of it's potency.
read "Marijuana Botany". Link somewhere in here.

If you "timed" the death date to the harvest window...you would in fact be limiting the plants potential as the last few weeks is critical. It's is best to treat it like all other cultivated plants like corn, beans, squash, and every known fruit. There is too early and too late. Keep em happy until you chop.


----------



## dman1234 (Jun 18, 2011)

AlkaloidContent said:
			
		

> This is a beneficial claim, but can you provide any substantial evidence?
> 
> Not to be a ______, but this is something that could benefit the growing community if proven either beneficial or really bad.
> 
> ...


 
See the post above this one.


----------



## Hick (Jun 18, 2011)

Mutt said:
			
		

> It's called the "harvest window".
> Read the stickies at the top of this section.
> 
> A plant "left to die" even after you quit feeding and want not. Just like when humans starve. The plant will turn on itself and deplete every last nutrient until...well...it dies. During this time it's going to finish it's life process the best it can. like everything trying to survive.
> ...



:aok:.......


----------



## AlkaloidContent (Jun 18, 2011)

Mutt said:
			
		

> It's called the "harvest window".
> Read the stickies at the top of this section.
> 
> A plant "left to die" even after you quit feeding and want not. Just like when humans starve. The plant will turn on itself and deplete every last nutrient until...well...it dies. During this time it's going to finish it's life process the best it can. like everything trying to survive.
> ...


 
Now we're talkin! My question is why did it come to this for it to be said. So where do the nutrients go, plants suck down nutrient sources 24/7. When they deplete itself wouldnt the plant use them for the buds anyway? Obviously at some point the plant will just be garbage. I mean yea dont grow some bud outside and then come back next year to pick up the remains. 

What if the dry till it dies was times perfectly with usual harvest time.

Say stop all watering after a week of flush and let it go the second week. Wouldnt it just get the plant even more into the winter mind frame? 

What if this technique when tuned could benefit?

IDK just throwing some things out there.


----------



## DCkush (Jun 19, 2011)

AlkaloidContent said:
			
		

> Now we're talkin! My question is why did it come to this for it to be said. So where do the nutrients go, plants suck down nutrient sources 24/7. When they deplete itself wouldnt the plant use them for the buds anyway? Obviously at some point the plant will just be garbage. I mean yea dont grow some bud outside and then come back next year to pick up the remains.
> 
> What if the dry till it dies was times perfectly with usual harvest time.
> 
> ...


 

I'm with mr. content. This was just for the sake of thought. Also, I didn't mean just let the plant go on and on. Obviously if you let any kind of plant sit there with no attention its die. Lets use the noodles peeps. I'm gonna try it. You can read just about anything but won't know unless you try it right. I feel that if left in soil the plant won't turn on itself. Its roots are still surrounded by nutrients in the mix so why would it. If just pulled and left chilling maybe. Bit what do I know, I'm a stoner!! Haha.


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Jun 19, 2011)

There are many reasons not to do this and no reasons that I can figure to justify doing it--there is no upside.  First of all, it is virtually impossible to predict your harvest window two weeks down the road.  Different phenos will ripen at different times and stress can slow down flowering.  Second, as lordhighlama mentioned, it is quite difficult to trim plants with wilted leaves.  Third, a plant left with no water will start to die quite quickly and, even left in soil will feed on itself.  This is part of the reason that the leaves turn yellow later in flowering.

I am sure that many of us have "tried" this, though inadvertently.  Sometimes real life interferes with growing life and plants get left "on hold".  If you have grown long enough, you have encountered almost every situation.  Many things that new growers see an an new idea are not.  Many things that we poopah HAVE been tried and discarded.  The way I see it is that there is no reason to try and reinvent the wheel.  If you have an idea, make sure that there is some kind of valid reason that it _might_ work.  Denying your plants food and/or water when they are at that last push to produce resin is like starving a marathon runner a couple of weeks before the big race.  You will almost certainly affect both quality and quantity in a negative way.


----------



## dman1234 (Jun 19, 2011)

Good luck you two, be sure and post lots of pics.

i look forward to seeing you deny it water but not have it die.


----------



## AlkaloidContent (Jun 19, 2011)

When do you plan to deplete DC? THG is right in that alot of plant are harvested at different points dependent upon strain, conditions, health of the plant, etc. 

However no one on this site knows when the plant is ready without checking for the same signs that you will have to. Trichromes. You will have to keep an eye on em and get em when you like the ratio of clear/milky/amber.

I would imagine as THG stated earlier that brown trikes are not a great sign, but wouldnt they have to go through the amber stage first?


----------



## bho_expertz (Jun 19, 2011)

what i think is that perhaps you guys are trying to re-invente the wheel. But square. JMO.


----------

