# 24 to 48 hours of darkness before harvest?



## SwellBo

Hey all, I'm about to harvest 4 UK Cheese and 1 white russian. I gave them 24 hrs of darkness before flowering on March 13 to kick start the little girls. Now im on the 52nd day of flower and im thinking of chopping them down tomorrow when the lights go on. technically it'll be the start of day 53 when the lights go on(tonight). should i give them 24 hours of darkness before chopping them down? let me know what you think. or would it be ok to chop tonight?


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## v35b

Just one question....How do you know there ready to chop?


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## SwellBo

all trichs are cloudy. i've had two runs of each and the trichs always took forever to go amber. at least 9 weeks. but it seemed like the bud wanted to go hermie at that point so thats why i was thinking of chopping them a little earlier. the batch before that was chopped on the 54th day and was the best ive grown. these are all grown from feminized seed. i heard that feminized seeds go hermie when stressed.


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## SwellBo

but all in all, im still a newb so theres a chance i might have had a bad batch of seeds, and im judging my grow off a bad batch...who knows...


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## v35b

SwellBo said:
			
		

> all trichs are cloudy. i've had two runs of each and the trichs always took forever to go amber. at least 9 weeks. but it seemed like the bud wanted to go hermie at that point so thats why i was thinking of chopping them a little earlier. the batch before that was chopped on the 54th day and was the best ive grown. these are all grown from feminized seed. i heard that feminized seeds go hermie when stressed.



Sounds good to me...Chop away!


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## The Hemp Goddess

I have never understood the justification for darkness before flowering and before harvest??????

Fem seeds go hermie without being stressed.  I would never keep genetics that hermied on me.....


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## Mutt

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> Fem seeds go hermie without being stressed.  I would never keep genetics that hermied on me.....



Like an online grower friend of mine once said. "if it has both boy and girl parts on one plant doesn't matter if it was natural, stressed, or planned hormone treatment....how is it NOT a hermi"

I guess feminized is more politically correct :rofl:


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## Hushpuppy

I have heard that putting them in the dark for 24hr b4 harvesting causes the buds to plump up more but I have never done a side by side comparison to prove it out. If yu have the opportunity and ability to try it both ways, it would be interesting to see what (if any) results would be


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## OGKushman

Hushpuppy said:
			
		

> I have heard that putting them in the dark for 24hr b4 harvesting causes the buds to plump up more but I have never done a side by side comparison to prove it out. If yu have the opportunity and ability to try it qboth ways, it would be interesting to see what (if any) results would be


Where is the logic in this? A botanist might not quite agree . What about darkness could possible cause photosynthetic plant growth? 

*Light* + CO2/H2O (Photosysthesis) = Carbohydrates!!! (sugars/plant growth)



My botany teacher once told me a plant needs light to make sugars. just poking fun.


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## dman1234

Hushpuppy said:
			
		

> I have heard that putting them in the dark for 24hr b4 harvesting causes the buds to plump up more but I have never done a side by side comparison to prove it out. If yu have the opportunity and ability to try it both ways, it would be interesting to see what (if any) results would be


 
Ive done it, not because i thought it would improove my buds but just to proove to myself that it wouldnt, left one in the dark for about 3 days, nothing happened good or bad.


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## Hushpuppy

I will have to try it myself when the opportunity comes around again and see if I get any differing results. I understand that light is used to make sugars in plants but I also have read that plants need some dark time in order to burn carbs to produce energy for growth. HOWEVER, having grown MANY plants in 24 hours of light for several weeks and seen fantastic growth, I can't see the logic of having a dark time at all other than for inducing flowering. Back to the other side of the arguement...If 12 hrs of dark on a regular schedule induces budding, then would it not be logical that a short extended dark period just b4 harvest would affect the growth of the buds? After all, if the key is light then why do we not switch back to 18/6 or 24/0 light once budding has been induced and is underway.


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## dman1234

because it will reveg.


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## Hushpuppy

exactly...I'm no expert by a long shot, but I do find that there is a lot to be learned from a good honest debate, and I like to analyze both sides of an arguement to find good information.


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## Hushpuppy

OGKushman said:
			
		

> Where is the logic in this? A botanist might not quite agree . What about darkness could possible cause photosynthetic plant growth?
> 
> *Light* + CO2/H2O (Photosysthesis) = Carbohydrates!!! (sugars/plant growth)
> 
> 
> 
> My botany teacher once told me a plant needs light to make sugars. just poking fun.


My point is that we use an adjustment (addition) of dark hours to induce a desirable reaction from a plant (flowering). I have read that Poinsetta plants are placed in total darkness for about 36 hours to induce the red top leaves and flowering for selling them at Christmas. I'm no expert, but I can see where placing MJ in total dark for 24-48hrs just b4 harvest could affect bud growth by causing a reaction in the plant that moves fluids to the buds. :doh: Hell, for all I know this actually could be detrimental to the buds in some way...But I do think it is worth investigating and debating


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## Roddy

My thought, once the cycle starts, it doesn't need further stimulation...think of a starter on a car, once the key is turned and the engine starts, the starter is no longer used until next start-up.


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## The Hemp Goddess

And immature trichs have no "punch".  I do not know what kinds of "fluids" could flow into the buds that would affect them in a positive way?

IMO, the comparison with the poinsettia is more like those that subject their plants to cold temps just to induce color.  This is not beneficial to the plant--it just gives it more "bag appeal".


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## Hushpuppy

Has anyone tried that to see if it holds true? I know that there is a point where the plant will reveg if the light cycle is increased enough. This kind of proves my point that dark period does have an effect on the growth of the plant, and that will vary with different strains. I know from my own experience (limited as it is) that doing 24-36hrs dark at the switch to 12/12 has shown quicker switch to flowering.


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## Hushpuppy

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> And immature trichs have no "punch".  I do not know what kinds of "fluids" could flow into the buds that would affect them in a positive way?
> 
> IMO, the comparison with the poinsettia is more like those that subject their plants to cold temps just to induce color.  This is not beneficial to the plant--it just gives it more "bag appeal".



All true...:doh: But improvements to methods are found through experimentation. I am not saying that these methods are tried and true, but some are worth proving out. The "fluids" that I am talking about are the fluids (sap):hubba:  that carry water and nutrients to every part of the plant. I have heard that some fruit bearing trees will produce better fruit after having the tree bark slightly damaged by beating with a hose, which causes the tree to respond by sending more sap (fluids)  up to repair the damage. I am not endorsing beating our plants to produce more buds, but I have some flowers that I pinch off the buds when they die to keep the plant from concentrating its energy on producing seeds, and that causes it to continue to flower all summer. I doubt *that* would work for MJ:doh: But experimenting is learning IMHO.


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## Bleek187

i tryed it one time.. did a 48 hour dark and only water for a flush.. maybe its just me but i felt like it did swell my buds up a little bit more.. hard to tell but if it does work.. its not like some huge differance.. if you do this MAKE SURE you have a dehumidifyer in the room or lots of air exchange.. that 48 hour dark period makes it pretty easy for mold to grow in those buds if your not carefull.. peace


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## TicTac

I'm in that group us who has "heard" that a dark period before harvest helps somehow. I heard 3 days of darkness makes the buds cure smoother, or something like that. I haven't seen any science on the matter though.


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