The only method I've read about that had any scientific studies done in controlled labs was with UV B radiation. They have noticed an increase in trich. and resin development. I don't think I even trust this study since numbers can lie and its a bit old. UV B won't kill the plant, but some don't respond well at all to UV light. The plant defends against UV, and this defense might be what attributes to extra resin production. Any tips about stress, light, etc. to improve THC is all based on other conditions of the growroom and will vary from grower to grower depending on the strain you are growing, what lights you use, style of grow, what you water with, etc. Some guy might think his FIM technique increased his THC levels, but then he neglected the fact that he changed nute schedules also. Right there the experiment is flawed since he changed two variables. This is why I don't trust growers' observations. Not because they are lying, but because usually something else is overlooked and led to what they were seeing. Photoperiod is a good example. The guy with a 250 Watt bulb needs 20 hours of light minimum or he gets slow growth rates. But the guy with a 1000 Watt bulb says he is full of crap and he gets the same growth rates at 18 hour and 20 hour schedules. But what they don't know is that the plant don't care how long you leave the light on for, it only cares about the amount of photons it receives in a given day. Since the 250 Watt bulb outputs way less photons, it must be used longer to achieve same rate of growth. Kind of off topic, but a scenario that would illustrate my point of misinformed observations. Stressing a plant in flower is a waste of development IMO. They need to then heal from whatever stress you caused them which slows down the overall production. Cutting a plant in bud doesn't magically make it produce more THC, it bleeds for a bit, then repairs itself to double the size it originally was. Meanwhile taking energy away from producing buds. Too bad there is way too much misinformation out there from the past that people keep reiterating and passing along as proven fact. There is no holy grail method of increasing THC that we know of. Too many other factors come into play in our personal gardens that will also affect the THC output. So in the end I think its best to just provide the best conditions you can or you might be hurting the overall product. I just let em grow and use a training method. No cutting, trimming, UV, or other fairy tale methods. Another issue I have is: Would it even matter if it did increase THC by a little bit? What % change in THC is noticeable when you smoke it? I don't even know if there is a study on this, but I bet 18% THC content gets you just as high as 20% THC content with the same nug size. I would have to assume we would want at least a 5% increase to notice a stronger high. Who knows though, this is all speculation. Would the THC increase be worth a possible lower yield or bud denseness? Sorry for the winded response, but I thought about this before and thought I would share my opinions. Maybe someone can steer me to an article or thread that proves some of this stuff actually does work 100% of the time. In the end you should trust yourself and common sense, not message boards.
I dont agree with this. The word 'future' is extremely vague. I mean the only reason NASA has done trials with LED is because a) there is no natural sun to grow in space b) obviously on a ship/space station you cant have a bunch of HPS lights operating How can you confidently say that LEDs will be the reason for "THC ratios higher than we've ever seen" ??
I can site the actual trial data from NASA archives if you would like. If there ever is a future like the one you describe it will be long after us. So for now the best way to increase THC production is the good old fashion way...Experience.
well, I know some people experimenting with that stuff, and they arent bullshitting around to be honest. it has to do with hormones being triggered by different light spectrums. its why plant morphology changes throughout the seasons. different ratios and lengths of spectrums of light. its why columbian and thai weed is so fondly spoken of.
MJ has a higher THC rating after a dark period. So taking some advice from a grower in High Times I tried putting plants into darkness for usually 18-24hrs before I take em out and trim. A noticeable difference in the widow I grow
there was a magazine article recently called "hash tips" on the cover of Skunk Magazine. Most resin you have ever seen. freakish. it was manipulated by a certain spectrum of LED, where they removed one spectrum actually. never seen anything like it. so it came down to spectrum and temperature. THC actually begins to degrade slightly above 85 F.. that's a fact and can be read in many growers handbooks. I read a very interesting table in one of those books once. same thing.....temps at the canopy. lowest temps, best bud. i found something. but you need to see the pics for real. The spectrum to look for is NANOMETER RED at least 40% of the light must be 660nm red. 680nm red must NOT be included. The importance of of 660nm red, in the absence of 680nm red is absorption peaks around 660nm for red and flowering is inhibited at around 680nm red. HPS bulbs, which can be considered the industry standard for flowering, have a less-targeted spectrum. Many lumens are wasted, but that is not the key issue: the HPS spectrum contains 680nm red. This inhibits flowering just enough so that resin concentrations are standardized. Metal halides are also sometimes used during flowering to promote resin production. This effect is from UVB light that exists in halides. Halides also contain 680nm red and will not achieve the concentration we're looking for. Only in high concentrations of 660nm red - without the 680nm red - can the cannabis buds reach a point closer to genetic perfection. Quoted from Skunk magazine.
again, you have to see the magazine and look at the pics to appreciate the scope of the resin. you wouldn't believe your eyes.
Yeah quality genetics and a green thumb are your best bet. Just look at your signature. Vote no? Why? Because there will be less profits for you and your buddies? Sorry run game somewhere else. People like you give the opposition, ammunition.
the only people pushing prop 19 are the people who want to commercialize it. i'm not going to debate politics with you on this forum, all i can say is if the big companies do legalize it, it will cost you alot more to grow it, and buy your equipment than it would to just buy it. look at all the millions of people who smoked cigarettes for the last 50 years. how many of them do you know that were growing it. and once it's legal....just like gas and cigarettes and everything else....tax after tax. if you let them pass prop 19, the first year an ounce will be a set price, then the next a little more, then more and more til its like it is right now with everything. how much was a pack of cigarettes 20 years ago. what about gas? and what about now? does it cost more to grow tobacco on the same fields? i aint runnin game. the opposition? who? the millionaires who want to exploit the rest of the country to become billionaires? are you trying to tell me they really want to legalize it becuase they care about you and I? that's funny bro. i like weed the way it is, fun. fun to grow, fun to smoke. i don't want to see this hobby taken away from everyone. it's part of our culture. but if it's going to cost me more to buy lights, and pay for electric and months of time, then i probably won't do it anymore. and neither will anyone. then they won. the real ammunition is misinformed people. we're killing ourselves instead of sticking together. history offers lessons. when has there been a good thing that is now a great thing? and just wait til you're paying 60% taxes to get high. remember how you voted and WHY you voted for it.
I will agree with you on some of your points, definitely. You spoke of the 'future' earlier, right? Well to have a future without raids, patients getting arrested and BS law enforcement involvement, marijuana has to become legalized federally. And how does that start to happen? For the states to start legalizing it individually. The feds will never legalize it before the states do. Just wont happen
I mean yeah it sucks for the smaller guy/dispensaries out there, but at this point the flood of them and all the BS marketing is getting ridiculous. Thats how shit works in a free market/capitalist society. A bunch of firms enter a market when the going is good, then only the strong survive and continue in the market Way of the world bud
Well, I have been using Kessil Bloom boosters 70% 660, 30% 635nm. I have also been using their pure blue, and the magentas. No doubt they increase trichomes production. Oddly, the magenta lights had a more dramatic effect than the pure red. I have also experimented with UV light, and it too increased quality and trichome density (not that those factors are related). I haven't played much with the pure blue. My flowering rooms are now all set up with Sun Pulse 3K bulbs with a 50/50 mix of pure red and magenta boosters. They just released the 15000K led lights. I may choose to use these in place of the 10000K Sun Pulse lights I've been using. I'm not interested in artificial darkness. I like to grow my plants with a regular 12/12. If UVB has no impact on potency, why are the most potent strains from equatorial regions and high elevation areas? These areas are where UVB is most intense on the earth's surface. I know it is just a correlation, but a suggestive one.
Gotta bunch of geniuses I guess on GC. Go apply to here but you will have a hard time changing their minds about your light theories. UV Radiation
Who was this directed at? The link you provide says some plants respond poorly to UVB, some don't respond, and others actually respond with increased vigor. They also note major variability to UV sensitivity within a species. What light theories are you talking about? please don't assume I'm coming at you with any ill will. I'm just wanting to know for my own clarification. Thanks!
I did a little expariment with producing more THC. I took 2 of my WW girls that had 2 wks left until done. Placed one in a grow tent with an MH lite for the final 2 wks and then 3 days total darkness before harvest. The other I left in the closet where it had been under the HPS lite and then no darkness at the end. (600 watt on both bulbs)At the end of the 2 weeks there was in my opinion a major differance in the thc on the MH plant. After some investigating I found that there was more radiation in the MH causing the plant to create more trichromes to protect it's leaves. Just thought Id chime in with that, thanks and Happy Growing All.
Are we talking plants native to that region or a strictly indoor bred strain that was brought down there and planted? Things evolve and chances are the cannabis strains near the equator evolved to protect themselves from the UV radiation. Why are Africans black? We are both similar life forms no? Why are we not the same color? Hmm, adaptation to climate changes perhaps? Clones often times grow better than the mothers did. After so long in your room, it adapts to the surroundings and can thrive better. I'm still sticking with the fact that UV is harmful to all cannabis, its just that some strains can handle certain amounts of it with higher trich development due to adaptation and evolution. Maybe someone can take a strain that does not like UV-B and keep hitting it with small doses of UVb each day. Increasing the dose length every week or month. If you have a control clone to compare, then you can see if the plant adapts to UVb over time or if its genetic makeup only. Also, some of the UVb studies showed the best increase of THC when the UV was used during veg. It definitely has an effect on cannabis, but it seems to never be consistent through all the different strains. Might make a comprehensive study kind of difficult.
So I have Ed Rosenthal's Marijuana Grower's Handbook and there a part in here that states this: " The amount of UVB light a plant recieves affects THC and terpene prduction. Plants grown under higher UV levels are more potent. The amount of UV light that an area recieves is determined by latitude, season, climate, and weather. Light reaches the equator most directly, and is the most intense. As the latitude increases light reaches Earth at a more oblique angle so it becomes less intense. Throughout the northern hemisphere, which includes North America and Europe, UV light is at its lowest levels in December and January. After these months, the levels start rising. The further from the equator, the longer it takes to peak, the shorter the peak period and weaker the light. For instance, in San Francisco ( latitude 37.75 ), UVB reaches its peak with a UVB index between 9-11 around May 15th. It stays there until around August 15th. By Sept. 1 it drops to 8 and by Oct. down to 6. If you can ripen plants during the peak UV period the plants will be most potent. As the season wears on and the UVB levels decline the marijuana does not attain the same potentcy. Using this information, no matter where you live, even in the far north you can grow potent plants using light deprivation, so that plants ripen at the peak period rather than late in the season.This Chart can help determine a planting strategy." This Pic is a bit crappy but it is the chart showing UV indexs of 2008 in Honolulu, HI lat N 21(red bar at top and I'm going down), Jacksonville,FL 30 N lat(pink), Raleigh, NC 35 N lat(yellow), Omaha, NE 41 N lat (purple), Seattle, WA 47 N lat(green), Anchorage, AK 61 N lat(blue the last bar). Now the chart on the x-axis(the one going sideways) shows months and y-axis is UV index rating 1-15. Also says you can go to www.weather.gov and get UV info there.