If trichomes exist on the cannabis plant and produce cannabinoids at least in part to protect it from the sun's harmful rays (which may very well be considering the UV absorption characteristics of THC), then what is the logic in producing more THC in response to an extended (unnatural) dark period; where so far as the plant is concerned there is perhaps no longer a sun it needs protection from?
During hours of daylight plants perform many tasks. Even under full direct sunlight their amount of energy to use is limited by how much sunlight they can take in so plants manage their energy, they allocate certain amounts to certain tasks in relation to priorities of hours of light and hours of darkness. That means some functions receive more energy to use than others.
Certain light rays will damage the delicate inner glands of the cannabinoid producing trichome heads. THC works somewhat like sunscreen and in the process some is lost during each period of light. For a plant to be able to produce enough THC to not only equal what is lost during the hours of light, but to also increase it during hours of light, some other function would have to be allocated less energy.
During hours of darkness plants work on stored energy, like a battery backup, and their energy allocation priorities change resulting in cannabinoid production receiving more energy to use for production during hours of darkness than during hours of light.
During flower the creation and accumulation of cannabinoids could somewhat be described as a scale that would look something like the blade/teeth of a saw held at an angle. It increases and then decreases, it goes up and down constantly between hours of light and hours of darkness.
What is lost during hours of light is replenished plus a small additional amount. That is why there is a slow gradual overall increase in THC during flower. To make up an easy to understand number based example .. say at first light a glandular trichome head has 10 particles of THC in it. By the end of the day when it becomes dark, loss to exposure to light has reduced that to 7 particles of THC. Overnight the 3 lost particles are replenished along with say 4 additional particles raising the morning number to 14 particles. Then say another 3 are lost that day, but replaced that night along with another additional 4 so the next morning you are up to 15 particles ... etc., etc., etc.
When left in total darkness for 72 hours, roughly the maximum amount of time a plant has backup/stored energy to rely on, being in darkness the entire time it only performs the hours of darkness functions, it's energy allocation is only that of the normal hours of darkness functions.
Lacking the loss of THC to light you do not lose the 3 particles of THC you would lose if under light, but you keep adding the additional amount.
Each strain will add a different amount so that is why some strains might only see an increase of say 2% or 5% or 12% or it might be as high as the 30%, which was the high percentage found during the scientific testing that has taken place. There is no guarantee of what percentage of actual increase any particular strain will see, but there will be an increase.
As I mentioned in a previous message, many years ago outside growers came to realize that harvesting before the sun came up, or as soon after the sun came up resulted in increased potency over harvesting later in the day, or just before dark, or early into the hours of darkness.
It is the same principle just multiplied and taken to it's limits.
Each day there is a loss, a decrease, and each night there is replenishment plus a small increase. What do you think the results would be if you remove the loss or decrease and only allow the increase to continue for as long as plans are capable of performing that task before running out of energy to perform that task?
Rather than the loss/increase loss/increase like the teeth of a saw held at an angle you instead have a steady uphill ramp without any downward drops/losses/decreases along the way, you only have continual increasing until there is no more energy left to provide more of an increase ... and it was all done without taking any of the losses that would otherwise occur.
The part about it only working with certain strains came from the fact that not all strains will give an equal increase, but all will give some increase, exactly like harvesting just before first light will or as soon as possible after first light will rather than harvesting at noon or at dusk, after THC has been lost during the hours of light.
Look at it this way. Growers will spend money on all sorts of things. Some spend hundreds of dollars on genetics and some will spend many thousands of dollars, overall for their entire setup. They will pay for the best highest wattage grow lights from the highest quality manufactures, that also have the highest price tags, and sometimes they will purchase more than just one of them, and possibly they may pay for light movers and they will pay for the very best highest dollar 'designer soils' and they will purchase top quality high dollar fertilizers and supplements and they will pay for ventilation systems to maintain proper temperature ranges and they will pay carbon filters or other types of odor control and they will pay for reflective material to attempt to make sure no light, or as little light as possible, is lost or wasted and some will pay for hydro or aero systems and some will pay for CO2 systems and some will pay for additional UV-B lighting to increase resin production and if in areas of high humidity they will pay for a dehumidifier, and the cost of running it, to keep humidity low to increase resin production .. and they will pay for any number of other things all in a quest to provide the most optimal growing conditions and environment possible and to provide their plants with every possible product and element sold to attempt to tickle or squeeze out every last possible bit of potency they possibly can get from the genetics they grow.
But for some reason or reasons, that remain totally inexplicable to me, when scientific research has proven that increases in THC can be found through a 72-hour period of darkness, increases that could be as high as 30%, and doing so is TOTALLY FREE, most growers will not do it.
If tomorrow someone came out with a supplement that is 90% water with 7% rattlesnake piss and 3% zit-juice and price it at $29.99 per quart, if they marketed it well enough claiming it will cause trichome heads to swell like a pregnant woman, everyone here, well other than Uncle Ben, myself and a small handful more, would eagerly spend their money on it in a split second and regardless of how ineffective it would be some would swear on a stack of Bibles that it is the greatest creation since sliced bread and tell everyone else that they just HAVE to use it too because it is FANTASTIC stuff.
But the very same people would pass up doing something that is TOTALLY FREE to do and that has been scientifically proven to give anywhere from a small increase in THC up to as much as a 30% increase in THC.
If someone will spend as much money as they do, including the costs of running their lights and ventilation/odor control systems etc., all in an attempt to get every last bit of THC they can, even if in the end it is only an additional percent or so, why would they turn their noses up at and refuse to do something that is TOTALLY FREE to do even if it only gains them 2% or 4% more THC, let alone the possibility of it being 13% or 19% or 23% or maybe even up to 30% more?
They do not understand plants and how they function and in their minds they decide it does not make any sense so therefore it cannot make any difference, so to them it is a waste of time .... even though it has been scientifically proven to work they chose to ignore proof and instead rely on only what they think, which is based on a complete and total lack of understanding plant functions.
How rational or logical is that when you consider to what lengths people will go to and what they will eagerly spend just trying to get just 1% more THC or 3% more THC or some percentage more THC out of what they grow than if they did not spend the money?
