24 - 48 Dark period before harvest

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Little_Hobo

Active Member
Newbie here, think im going to go into final darkness today after my light period. My question is, do i do a final water? or do i let it dry out now for the full two days in the dark?

I think ive done pretty well over all for a beginner. Big healthy 4ft something plant. Buds arent as big as id hoped but they are better than expected also... full on organic grow for my first time as i think its important to have a baseline to go off.

But yeah, to water? or not to water? that is the question.
 
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Little_Hobo

Active Member
Yungtune said:
I’m new also so take my advice as a pinch of salt but I think you can water but it’ll just take longer for your buds to dry .. I’ve been told that but I’m not 100% sure
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Ah, that makes sense... i wonder if there are benefits to a final water, i might just let it dry out... How are you getting on with yours? Its so cool learning about all this and putting it into practice. So many different stages and smells, and worry lol ill be glad to get this one done and under my belt. I just pulled a nug off to dry and my fingers are so sticky and smell like straight gas. Fingers crossed this smell comes out more when i dry and cure it, if it does its going to be tasty as hell
 
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Yungtune

Well-Known Member
Little_Hobo said:
Ah, that makes sense... i wonder if there are benefits to a final water, i might just let it dry out... How are you getting on with yours? Its so cool learning about all this and putting it into practice. So many different stages and smells, and worry lol ill be glad to get this one done and under my belt. I just pulled a nug off to dry and my fingers are so sticky and smell like straight gas. Fingers crossed this smell comes out more when i dry and cure it, if it does its going to be tasty as hell
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The smell will be good aslong as you don’t harvest early last time I harvested early asf maybe 2 weeks too early and it smelled so good but only in the jar after I take it out the jar it just smelled like grass mixed with some mid weed but aye it’s a learning process I’m on my second grow made many mistakes in my first made some in my 2nd buds are t to big but me I’m growing in a space tote until I move then I’ll Be in the closet wit it, but only mistake I made is not lst long enough plants branches are all bunched up making it hard for light to penetrate the lower canopy …. Here
 

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Little_Hobo

Active Member
Some really lovely looking bud there :) I have been so worried about cutting down too early too. In theory i should have cut down already but they just werent ready. Im way over my allotted time now and i still think i could push a week but i dont want to go over either.

I think im going to start three smaller auto plants next time. This turned out to be a surprise photo and ended up a complete beast. I might invest in a proper tent too as i made a DIY one for my first go. While it worked a treat it would be nice to get a better hold on light leaks. I could use my diy one then to start plants off
 
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Little_Hobo

Active Member
Yungtune said:
That’s a good idea! Yu have any pics and mine are also autos my breeder gave me some free Tahoe bam and sherbet to try for mh first photo so I’ll be growing that next.
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I went in to take some current pics (sorry not great quality, im not one for tech lol) i will get a good pic with a good camera before i harvest. But the more i took pics the more im realising they still arent ready...... i feel like they could bulk up more but they are so hairy and the hairs are mostly amber.. but not enough calyx action for my liking..

The last pic is of the weird growth that happened. I think because the light came on in dark period and it started to reveg at the start of flower, so the two main colas shot up and i had to break them over as i had no more space to grow upwards. I think it worked in my favour as i got a load of nice size mini cola nugs at the top of the main colas.. they can connect like an archway of greenery. Maybe this slight reveg set me back a few weeks...

I definitely should be pruning more but i want to do as little as possible on my first run to get an idea of what a baseline grow is.... i did actually defoliate it loads, youd not think it to look at it. Its one plant in a 3 gal pot. Big thicc girl, like her ma
 

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Little_Hobo

Active Member
I should definitely keep this going longer shouldnt i? i wonder is it going to shoot out a third round of white hairs.... its more hair than calyx at the minute, in certain places. Some of them are thick enough
 
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Little_Hobo

Active Member
Why is this so stressful lol, im bad enough at making decisions at the best of times but this one has me huffing and puffing. Yeah Autodoctor, i will keep them running another week or maybe two... it is taking FOREVER. Way longer than predicted. I am so keen to get it finished too but i need to remember i have put in so much work so far, i cant fuck it up now
 
Autodoctor

Autodoctor

Well-Known Member
Make sure not growing to close to the lights and heat at around 79-80 hit high. Don’t wanna get confused and have Fox tails going on
 
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testtime

Well-Known Member
Little_Hobo said:
Newbie here, think im going to go into final darkness today after my light period. My question is, do i do a final water? or do i let it dry out now for the full two days in the dark?

I think ive done pretty well over all for a beginner. Big healthy 4ft something plant. Buds arent as big as id hoped but they are better than expected also... full on organic grow for my first time as i think its important to have a baseline to go off.

But yeah, to water? or not to water? that is the question.
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Water.

You want the stems full of water so it doesn't dry too fast so when it's hanging the chlorophyll actually gets a chance to break down rather than the plants just go crisp.

My reading says 72 hours is the magic number for dark period. Just my reading, not telling you what to do.
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
testtime said:
Water.

You want the stems full of water so it doesn't dry too fast so when it's hanging the chlorophyll actually gets a chance to break down rather than the plants just go crisp.

My reading says 72 hours is the magic number for dark period. Just my reading, not telling you what to do.
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A dark period before harvest doesn't do anything for the plants. They'll be in darkness once they are chopped and hanging.

Once my plants are done I chop them down at my convenience. The time of day or whatever part of the light/dark cycle they are in doesn't matter. They are cut and hung whole in a closet I use for drying.
 
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Little_Hobo

Active Member
Just went and gave her a big feed. She wasnt taking up as much water this past week which is why i was thinking she was finishing up too. Im happy i came on here today again as if i hadnt of taken those pics i could have started the harvest process today :/ Thanks guys!

I really do appreciate all the input. I have researched since the start of the year and read through so many forums and articles and watched and read about every grow ever done on the internet, ever :') I got a bit hooked. So i really dont want to fuck this up.

Good thing is she is starting to smell so tangy and gassy. Wish i could fast forward a few weeks.

I totally get that there are so many differing views on what to do and what not to do, i'll take it all in and apply it to my own style of doing things. IMO from my research i think a dark period is a good thing, any longer than 24 hours im not sure does much but a dark period before chopping seems to leave the terpenes at a higher level as when the light comes on they start to evaporate. throughout the day. I plan on running my own experiments once i get basic growing down
 
Autodoctor

Autodoctor

Well-Known Member
twentyeight.threefive said:
A dark period before harvest doesn't do anything for the plants. They'll be in darkness once they are chopped and hanging.

Once my plants are done I chop them down at my convenience. The time of day or whatever part of the light/dark cycle they are in doesn't matter. They are cut and hung whole in a closet I use for drying.
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I always was curious if that complete darkness actually really does anything. I had an ole timer that grew back in the 60,70,80’s tell me to snap a lot of the stems about three or 4 days before harvesting them and it would cause the thc to be higher since the plant is trying to heal itself. Something like that
 
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Yungtune

Well-Known Member
Autodoctor said:
I always was curious if that complete darkness actually really does anything. I had an ole timer that grew back in the 60,70,80’s tell me to snap a lot of the stems about three or 4 days before harvesting them and it would cause the thc to be higher since the plant is trying to heal itself. Something like that
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I heard it increases Trichomes also I heard if you water with ice the last week it puts them in shock and boost potency and trichs
 
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