When I was a kid they used to say the outdoor crops were cut after the first frost. They said the first frost made the trichs stronger. That said, what if I take my indoor plants outside to freeze the night before I cut them? Would that make them stronger?
i dont know where that information you got came from, but im gunna have to say nooo... dont do that..... i think the reasoning, and bare with me on this, it might be a little hard to grasp... is that ice and cold tempatures are BAD for fruits/flowers.... i.e. that blizzard rollin thru east/southeast USA, and florida seeing snow/ice and orange croppers losing like 10-20% of their harvests??... growers cut before or on first frost as they dont want the plants to suffer thru another frost and completey get wiped out.
maybe an increasing cold could cause some sort of last rush in THC production.I have only heard of this, but I don't know about the freezing part.That would halt any growth or circulation.
The reason farmers cut SOME crops (cabbages, squashes, are a couple) after the first frost is that cold causes the plant to produce sugars and push them into the fruit. Brussel Sprouts, for example, are bitter if harvested in warm weather, but become sweet if they are harvested after two frosts. (This is why brussel sprouts you get in the store taste so awful, they are not harvested at their prime.) But notice that it is after the first one or two FROSTS, *not* the first freeze. Freezing makes fruits, and most vegetables, mushy and inedible. A frost is a low between 31 and 34 degrees F. You get to 30 degrees F and below, it is a freeze, and bad for fruits and veggies. How this might apply to MJ, I do not know. I have not tried it. Peace, Bak Alchisk
Do it! No but set them in a window or something if you can, something that will drastically drop the temperature but will not freeze them and ruin them. Unless its around 40 degrees outside I'd keep them inside. Why risk ruining a good thing trying to make it great? I say set it near a window though.
From what I know the most you'll get is maybe some purpling on the plant.The window idea is a good one,just to be safe.I wouldn't want to put my ready-to-harvest plants outside for ANY reason
I was about to click to another thread,when I felt the Green Goddess herself compel me tocome back and say this again...Don't do it!!!A x% chance that you could ruin your plants/animals,thieves v. the y% chance that you could gain an extra z% of trichs is not worth it.I'm beggin you,and post some xxx pics of her once you deflower the young women,would ya?
well... a point i've been reading quite frequently in several books and threads is that if during the last 1-2 weeks the night-time-temp is significantly lower than in the time before (nowhere near frost though, mind ya (12-14C (53-57F) at most)) it tricks the plants into assuming winter (and thereby death) is right around the corner, so any unpollinated plant will therefor push flower production to its limits in order to get some pollen and to live on by producing offspring... so colder (not freezing) nights before harvest -> more trichs... (in theory at least ) colder nights do also tend to influence the colouring a bit towards purple as for freezing unharvested weed i'd say that's a NONO
Well man think about this.How long has your plant been in perfect conditions indoors?Taking them from a warm closet straight to the freezing cold could have ill effects on your plant big time.When I first started,which hasn't been long,me and a friend took an indoor plant in the summer time to the woods to do an outdoor grow...died.Apparently it had been inside for so long it just didn't know what to do with itself.It wasn't getting special attention anymore and totally fucked it up.But,if you want to gradually set it outside maybe for a few hrs a night til it hardens off meaning it can withstand the bitter cold then you should be ok.Buds are a fruit.If frost has a good effect on fruit then it should have the same effect on MJ right?You'll never know til ya try...If all goes well you need to post that info man cuz honestly the more I smoke and think the more logical it sounds...good luck man!
Here's a better idea and will actually work to accomplish the same thing with a soil grow... when you are getting near harvest ( a few days before ) make sure you let the medium dry out fairly good. Then water it with straight Ph adjusted ICE WATER, and leave it in the dark for 48 hours. no light . When you come back your plant will look amazing, and an increase in potency will be noticed as well. good luck
The ice water doesn't torture the roots?!?! I'd like to see some other opinions on this, because I can't possibly see watering it with ice water EVER being a good thing.
Freezing plant matter makes their cells explode, which is why fruits are mushy after thawed from freezing. (Think frozen water pipe that busts)
cutting weed plants after a frost means they are likely to go purple, bringing to what i would say is a better taste. frost will not make the trichromes bigger but will actually cause them to be damaged and be less potent. it will stunt the plants last few days of living. also a plant must be picked based on trichrome color when %80 of the plant shows yellow trichromes and 20% white trichromes. do what smokacola suggests with the icewater for purple buds, be careful though, over doing it will destroy your plants.
That is an opinionated response though. You cut based on trich color, but it's doesn't HAVE to be an 80/20. If you wanted more of a head high, you'd cut when the trichs are primarily cloudy...if you wanted more of a couch lock high, you'd cut when they're primarily amber (as you suggested). Allot of people just wait for 50% amber, 50% cloudy. That's what I prefer.
I wonder though if it would shock the plant though... Being use to inside temperatures then finding yourself outside might not be too comfortable.
Placing your plant outside in a frosty condition WILL speed up flowering, but it also causes stress. If you want the best results, nothing beats patience and love.
Hey drummersince99, How confident are you in this "technique"? Because I am considering doing this, I would LOVE purple buds! But I do not want to take ANY risk in ruining my harvest. That being said, what would you suggest is a safe way to go about doing this, and at what time during flower?