working with Haze hybrids, a lack of trichomes were observed even many weeks (even months) past the point of 80-90% of pistils being brown (5+ months of total flowering time). it was then noticed that under 24/0, superfat trichomes would develop within days, and the quality increased several-fold (despite being moderately strong without trichomes). the question is: is the enhancement from terminating flowering with 24/0 mostly a variety thing, a low-lighting problem, a common effect on most varieties, or is it just cheating and being impatient with a variety that will surely develop in its own time? (but 6 months seems long enough to call it quits with any variety). 400W/8sqft.
Hmmm... I've never heard of that before. I've heard of letting the plants go through 24-48 hours of darkness at the in of flowering to trick the plants into producing more trichomes (risen) because they think it's winter due to no more light. So theoretically, they make a last ditch effort to catch more pollen by doing this. Which is why they produce more trichs. Hope this makes sense and helps.
hmmm. i haven't seen much material on the changes in buds and resins/cannabinoids when plants are returned to 24on/0off in mid/late maturity, but if anyone ever returns flowing plants back into vegetative growth, i think they have noticed extra large trichomes on the buds they left behind on the plant. it's been many years since i have done that, but i seem to remember that phenomena in the past. it seems that there is a extra spurt of resin production and cannabinoid profile maturity (meaning the harvesting window is halved, and the changes in the cannabinoid profile take place 2x faster; there is a quick maturation toward the "ripe" high THC profile, and then a quick decay from a toward low THC/high CBD profile that occurs with over-ripe flowers). i never saw any scientific data on the topic. but i wonder if it might be a technique that could be used to end a harvest whenever you desire, and how negative the effects might be in doing so. or if it may be a technique that can be used to increase total resin production. or if it may be used to generate low THC/high CBD across from ordinarily high THC low CBD varieties, if such an oil is so desired.
OH!!! Your original message was kinda confusing. My bad. Putting a plant back into veg after flowering basically just allows it to grow quicker because the root system is already developed. As far as buds getting bigger, the amount of time you veg (allowing the plants to grow long enough to have more area for bud growth) will ultimately be the step that allows for 'bigger/more buds'. What gives you the maximum amount of buds size is the lighting you're using during flowering. Remember that the Lumen output is what is going to allow you to have a larger harvest. I hope I was finally able to answer your question, or get closer. Sorry about not understanding your original question.
I would put the technique of giving 24/0 of light at the end of flowering in the category of "unproven theories." I'm not discounting what you observed, but what you did is not a scientific test. Don't worry, there are many unproven theories when it comes to growing MJ, including the exact opposite of the one you mention (which is to say extended dark at the end). The idea behind 24/0 light at the very end of flowering is that the plant is too far developed to hermie, and you won't be doing it long enough to revert to veg, so instead you provide as much light energy as possible to the plant to use for bud formation. Not one of the theories I subscribe to, but follow what makes sense to you or what you have seen results with. But it shouldn't impact trichome maturity, just bud and trich development. That's the theory, anyway.
i never heard of doing that. without light, they don't have much energy to do anything. lighting periods just tell the plants what "hormones" to produce for staging development, but i think light provides the energy to create resins and cannabinoids. i need to experiment more to present more factual data, but it seems to me that the plants try very hard to finish flowers and excrete resins before returning to vegetative growth under 24/0. they don't just give-up the development of the flowers that have already been created. my feeling is that this technique may be better suited toward mostly-sativa varieties with longer flowering periods, where one may want to terminate the flowering process, and create a more uniform harvest, especially if you are breeding, and have non-uniform ripening periods.