harvest time

[kat]

It's nearly that time here...I've been reading some other threads about harvest, and i noticed that some people here say they leave their plants in darkness for two days before harvest. I usually pick at about 4 in the afternoon and dont turn the lights off beforehand...I was wondering what are the advantages or reasonings for the darkness before picking?

Is having the lights out for a couple of days first what most people do or is it just a few who choose this?

 

also i dont usually flush my plants before the pick but after reading the forums alot I am going to this time...hopefully i will be tasting the difference!

[F420]

Yes I give my plants 24 hours of dark before harvest,

it apparently makes the weed stronger, and smoothes it out.

 

Also the longer the dark period the faster the plant will finish, but anymore than 24 hours and your starving the plant.

 

Flushing is also important as it releases any stored nutrients and you dont end up smoking them.

Unflushed weed tastes yuk, and smokes bad.

[WantDaChronic]

if u wondered why ur crop was really chemical tasting, the not flushing will have done it

 

some growers i know for the last week only give the plants 6-8 hours of light...they believe it increases the resin production and makes the plant fight to finish :: sounds good in theory but i never really noticed any major difference

[Chev]

Depends on strain also, the widow varieties do well in a week of darkness or more. It helps bring out that yummy resin, smoothes the harshness and uses up more chlorophyl! I also don't water for 24-48hrs. You so gotta flush man, for the very least 5-7 days. Most ppl go for 2 weeks. Curing can make the big difference, the longer you cure for the more the nasty tasting chems and chlorophyl get used up.

[kat]

thanks for the help guys, I'll derfinitely be flushing now, and I will try the darkness theory too...I'll let you know how it turns out!

[Luke Skywalker]

Yeah, it's debateable though. The idea is that the extended darkness allows the resin to fully finish development without damaging light to harm it in the growing period. It's debateable, but I would say there could be something to it. You'd have to compare two grows of identical clones, systems, etc, and just have one with the extra day or week of total darkness to compare to the other.

 

But yeah, flushing is muchos importante for a good finish to the smoke. I usually go for two weeks, with a pot flush at the start, (as per the normal nutrient flush each week) and then just feeding ph adjusted fresh water through the watering system. This is then done for a week, dumped, flush out the pots again, and continue feeding with more ph adjusted water in the res. Last day I don't let the lights come on at night, and harvest on the following day.

 

Hope that helps.

[jaikai]

Depends on strain also, the widow varieties do well in a week of darkness or more. It helps bring out that yummy resin, smoothes the harshness and uses up more chlorophyl

 

true, WW seem to enjoy more dark time. i bring the light down(time) gradually in the last week to 8hrs and it works. gotta flush them clean and the longer nights pull some of the green out of them. curing is essential in my eyes. beyond that, you either wear that green taste or dry it out for ages and hope it dont deteriorate too much.

 

good flushing,

3-4 days drying,

manicure/cure,

final dry.

 

done right, could take a few weeks.

enjoy your harvest kat, good onya

 

JAIKAI