Interesting Observation.......

I grow inside and out and last year I had a massive plant outside that I got tired of harvesting from so I left a lot on the bush and just let it do its thing. The buds got a lot fatter over time and even survived a few frosty mornings before they turned to mush. The vast majority of the leaves died off leaving the flowers, which stayed healthy looking for a while. Not terribly unlike indoor, in my experience.

 

First question, what leads you to this hypothesis of a "massive production of THC" due to that threat? Perhaps its true, but I dont understand how that would be a necessarily beneficial evolutionary trait. It would be very interesting to see lab results of this experiment though.

As for the second part, I would assume some pure sativa would hold the record for longest time to maturity. Assuming nothing being done to artificially stunt the plants growth. Beyond that, the normal flower times listed for the plants is probably roughly the time in which you would start seeing vastly diminished returns of growth. Which would mean that genetics play a large role here.

 

if you have an electric timer would you consider lowering the light every few days in minute increments, I understand it's a great deal of work to keep it up, but has anyone tried to mimic the sun indoors like that?

 

I guess my question is, if the plant had some sort of indication or "knew" that it was nearing death, why would that spur THC production? What purpose does it serve?

I would think if this were true and the plant were capable of responding to it from some sort of evolutionary trait, why wouldnt it respond by becoming a hermaphrodite?

I tend to lean more towards the idea of nature in this aspect of "nature vs nurture". The genetics are the greatest determining factor of THC production, not environmental forces.

And there are ways to measure THC etc, you just need to send it to a lab.

 

The female cannabis plant uses its resin to reproduce. Female plants only want is to be pollinated and reproduce. So it comes to reason that if you stress the plant at a certain point during flowering it will force out more resin in a last effort to reproduce.

I do believe this is where he is getting his theory.


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Thats an interesting theory. Could be true, but I would say that is a bit of a narrow view. Female cannabis doesnt just produce resin in an effort to reproduce. Every aspect of its growth is done in an effort to reproduce. So it would also stand to reason that the plant would simply grow more overall not just increase resin production, wouldnt you think?

 

I would also be curious whether or not THC production takes place regardless of whether or not photosynthesis is occurring. Because if THC production only occurs while photosynthesis is taking place, this theory cannot be true.

 

The resin is how the female plant catches the male pollen. So if it hasn't been pollinated. It stands to reason that stressing it would shock the plant and cause a increase in the resin production.

Plus this shock is done is the 4th week of flowering or later. So the plant is no longer focusing on growing anything but the flower. Once again to reproduce.


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grains of pollen slide down female pistils to fertilize the ovule. I may be wrong but the pistils have no resin on it

 

Doing a little research I came across an interesting article.

"Drug Cannabis production requires 11-12 hours of continuous darkness to induce flowering and at least 10 hours of light for adequate THC production (Valle et al. 1978). In a greenhouse, supplemental lighting need be used only to extend daylength, while the sun supplies the energy needed for growth and THC biosynthesis. It is not known why at least 10 hours (and preferably 12 or 13 hours) of light are needed for high THC production. This is not dependent on accumulated solar energy since light responses can be activated and THC production increased with only a 40-watt bulb. A reasonable theory is that a light-sensitive pigment in the plant (possibly phytochrome) acts as a switch, causing the plant to follow the flowering cycle. THC production is probably associated with the induction of flowering resulting from the photoperiod change."

http://www.calgarycmmc.com/ebooks p...ke - Marijuana Botany - An Advanced Study.pdf

Important bolded and underlined.

Need to do more research on the topic but it would appear this information does not bode well for your theory.

 

Cannabis plants will develop male plant parts when they are stressed. Once it starts making seed there will be little to no thc production, it will put all of its energy into turning hermaphrodite.

 

As Skanzy mentioned above. I dont think thats how insemination of female cannabis takes place. Most of the articles Ive come across seem to say the resin is more a means of "protection" for the plant than anything else.

 

Im failing to understand how you can equate "my leaves are yellowing" to "my THC must be increasing".

 

I was wrong ...lol... most of the trichomes are located on the caylx but the pistil has resin too

 

But if the sole purpose for the resin was to catch pollen in order to pollinate, wouldnt it be more likely that it would produce resin only on the pistils? Pollen caught by resin on the leaves is worthless. Therefore I would assume it serves other purposes.

Still, I linked to an actual book on the topic that seems to show the opposite results of this hypothesis, if anything.

 

I don't see the stalk with the ball on top in this magnified picture of a cannabis plants pistil...