gunnaknow

Hi there, I am new here. One of my friends started growing recently and I told him about a theory I had come up with after seeing something in a biology lesson years ago. I have never grown myself so I have never been able to test the theory unfortunately.

During a biology lesson my teacher demonstrated what happens to a plant in constant darkness. She put the Giranium (spelling?) in the closet and closed the door, telling us that we would take a look at the plant a few days later to see what had happened. I'm not sure but I think it was about 3 or so days later. It might have been more. The next lesson she opened the closet for the first time since putting the Giranium in and brought out an extremely yellow plant which still seemed very much alive.

She explained that the plant had transformed the chloraphil (spelling?) and the starches into simple sugars for food because of the lack of light for fuel. Some time later I hypothesised that if the same thing was done to cannabis plants before they were finally harvested, all of the nasty tasting chloraphil would have disapeared, the weed would taste sweet because of the simple sugar content and it would also look very well cured because of it's bright yellow colour.

I have heard of people trying to cause such characteristics once the plant has been chopped, by putting it in plastic bags for the first 24-48 hours. This can be risky because of mold infection.

Wouldn't this new method speed up and lesson the complication of curing? Once the freshly yellowed plants had been harvested, they could be dried nice and quickly without having to worry about the harsh taste that comes from quickly dried weed. Perhaps most of the benefits of curing would already be taken care of by this method?

Would the plants loose any bulk or potency in this 3+ days of darkness? I would like to think that it is too little time to have any noticable difference in bulk or potency.

Please let me know what you all think. I think it is definately worth a shot. Maybe some of you who use lots of little flowering babies could put one asside for an experiment that might be of benefit to you if it works out well. You certainly won't lose out much if it doesn't work well because it's only one baby and you would still get a decent harvest from it even if it doesn't turn out to be of any benefit. Just remember to still water it and let some fresh air in every night, whilst it is dark, by leaving the door open for a few minutes.

I would really like to hear back with your opinions. It might just be another logical theory that amounts to nothing.

Regards

Kinslayer

sounds like a good idea. If no one tries it before me, I'll give it a shot.

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gunnaknow

Kinslayer, nobody else has responded so far, so do you reckon you can let us know how it goes? Maybe you could tell us how long you had to wait before the plant became yellow and tell us if the yield or potency was any different to your other harvested plants. Also, what your overall opinion is on how it smells, burns, looks and tastes once dried. Compared to the the other plants you harvested and dried that is. When is your next harvest due?

J&R

I'm not sure if it really makes a difference. I don't think mold is too common when your drying your buds as long as the room is ventilated.

Try it though and let us know how it goes =)

GL

Kinslayer

will do... hoping to get my grow off the ground soon.... will be about 2 or 3 weeks till I get my lighting, and then I'm gonna be growing... so I'll let you know in about 2/2.5 months.... that should be when things are ready.

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Man made beer, God made pot.
Who do you trust?

gunnaknow

J&R, to my knowledge, this yellowing and sweetening of a harvest can only be done so effectively one other way. That is by not allowing the moisture to evaporate for a couple of days by sweating the harvest in plastic bags or some other method of sweating. So that is the oposite of good ventilation and therefore mold is a possibility. If the plant is kept alive during this yellowing and sweetening, the plant is able to fight of molds better and doesn't need to be kept in plastic bags either, unlike harvested plants, so mold isn't an issue.

Other methods of curing take a long time because you have to let the moisture out very slowly and gradually. Hopefully this curing process can be sped up without resorting to methods which risk mold infestation. This is hopefully where my method will help. Yellowing and sweetening the plants for 3+ days before harvesting and then fully drying the plants in one go, as quickly as you like. Atleast, that is the theory. It's a reasonably thought out theory I think but results are what really matter.

Kinslayer, I'm glad you are willing to give it a go. Please remember to post your results. I wish someone else would give it a try sooner but I can't blame people for being particular about what they will and won't try with their "precious" bud.

jamesgang

...3 to 5 days before harvest in a hydro flush. As to say it is smoother, I have to say yes. The fast dried non lights out flushed plants are very harsh...

JG

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The JamesGang

SGTQUICK420

My flower chamber work on the plants revolving around lights. My veg cab is around 5500 lumens per sqft. My idea is kinda like nature. My main strains i grow are Blue Berry and white widow. My flower chamber work on 3 stages of placement.
1st/ entry lumens are are 6500 for 2 -4 weeks
2nd/ 7000 for middle stage of flower (needs most engery to pump out yield)
3rd/ finishing area is around 5000 ( needs less energy as plant is using up its energy reserves in final ripening of bud . I find no difference in yield with this aproach as to say 7000 straight through , But crystle formations seem to be heavier. Sgt quick

gunnaknow

JamesGang, can you explain what you mean by harsh? Harsh flavour or burns too fast or unevenly?

I am not sure but I think the main thing that causes harsh taste is the chlorophil and other nutrients. 3+ days of darkness, whilst on a flush, would get rid of both the chlorophil and nutrients. Then the plants could be dried quickly without making the smoke harsh. Unless harshness is down to something other than chlorophil and nutrients.

If you dried quickly after only having flushed, the chlorophil would still be present and would make it a harsh smoke. That's why either 3+ days of darkness, risky sweating or weeks of curing are needed. To get rid of that nasty chlorophil. In theory that is.

afewpotsapot

Innovative stuff guys! Most pictures of bud (pretty much ready to be chopped) you see, have alot of yellowing on the bottom leaves of the plant. Is this due to flushing and the plant using up nutrients from the leaves? If so when should u flush in soil? I was thinking the sooner the better (2 weeks+) and maybe doing it once a week. As for the 3 days of darkness, I'm looking forward to giving it a try but far 2 scared for my 1st harvest.