Just a quick watering question - low priority

[User420111]

When do you all STOP watering your plants? Mine are as of today seven weeks into flowering. A quick peep at them under the microscope revealed the trichomes are about 70% cloudy, so they are in the home stretch. Another week, maybe two.


At this stage in the flowering, I'm watering them nothing but straight water (PH amended down to 6.5 because my tap water is alkaline at 8.0+). I give them about a half-gallon every three days or so.


So, when do you think I should stop altogether and let them suck up what they can out of the soil right before I give them the coup-de-gras?


I've read a bunch of things from different sites, but I know there's lots of old timers here that can give their opinions, so I'd like to hear them. Be as long winded and explanatory as you'd like!


tia

[9fingerleafs]

I would even water the day it gets chopped. If the plant is already drying when you harvest the flowers will dry up faster. You want the drying process to take as long as posible to allow bacteria to break down chlorophyll and other molecules. Otherwise you'll end up with a nasty grass hay smell and harsh smoke

[User420111]

That makes sense. I have seen this paraphrased a variety of times in different ways: "Stop Watering 1-3 Days Before Harvest – After flushing, in the final days of harvest, you can further stress your plants by stopping watering. You want to allow the plant to start to wilt just a small amount, because then the plant “thinks” it is dying and as a last-ditch effort, it will increase resin development."

I don't know how much stock I put in that statement. But it is something I think about as the harvest window comes to a close. I like to hear different opinions on the subject. Thanks!

[9fingerleafs]

That could be true but I don't think a couple of days is enough to actually produce more cannabinoids. Either way I think is much more important to ensure the quality of the final product (because I sell it) so a slow proper drying and curing is top priority for me

[Orggrwr]

I've always watered regularly right up until harvest. If they are dry I will only withhold water if I am harvesting that day or the next.

[crucialbunny]

I have always felt that withholding water before harvest was just fuzzy bro science but I did some research I found legitimate scientific studies that conclude it does increase THCA levels significantly. Here's a link to one of the studies I found if you're interested. https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/vi...ticle-p964.xml

[User420111]

Nice research! Thanks for sharing.

"Drought stress timing is also essential to minimize dry weight losses and maximize essential oil yield and the concentration of secondary metabolites"

More science to it than I originally conceived. Definitely something I'm going to consider in these next few weeks of flowering.

[9fingerleafs]

That's a very significant improvent in thca content. Thank you for sharing 🙏

[crucialbunny]

9fingerleafs I've been looking into THCA as an alternative to CBD as a therapeutic treatment and discovered it has a myriad of health benefits. I've been taking 1 gram of raw ground flower a day for the past 10 days and I'm beginning to notice some positive effects. Here's a link to an article I found that explains it pretty well. https://www.crescolabs.com/cannabinoids/thca/

[9fingerleafs]

Yeah that's very interesting, people have been consuming raw cannabis for thousand of years. Maybe just because you can't really "feel" something killing cancerous cells it hasn't been a focus on therapeutic uses but now that there's research and clinicals trials there's a lot of benefits to be discovered. And on the recreative side of things thca turns into THC when smoked so it's directly related to perceived potency of the high, a very desirable trait when buying and selling.

[SoOrbudgal]

I don't let my plants dry up till they look dead i just let them stay in the pot till the pot dries out. It makes it easier for me to remove the root wad which i bang against the inside of my old potting soil tub so i can rejenerate it or toss into a garden be. But yes i hold off watering in the last week of harvest. I don't think it harms the quality and feel the hang time and cure more importaint.

[User420111]

Interesting because I too began holding off on the watering for the same reason, to make it easier to harvest and start recycling the pots. Little did I know that there was other stuff going on there by causing induced "drought" towards the end of the flowering stage.

[Allenpro]

Interesting, that would be easy enough to do in hyrdo

[Smallgrow]

Excellent info thanks.
I will harvest in he next few days. I think I’ll go shut down the irrigation now.
won’t be 11 days but better late than never. I’ll happily take a 12-15% increase in the good stuff

[No3odiesShad0w]

Since I grow in living soil, it stays wet. If I let it dry it then it effects the microbes and biology on the soil. The plant will draw up what it needs and the soil is never fully saturated because of the slow action of bottom wicking. Haven't had any over/under watering problems.

[Smallgrow]

I agree your right to keep your living soil damp always, and the microbes happy.
However I think the idea of pre harvest drought stress is to deprive the plant of what it wants forcing a reaction, which is hopefully and increase in cannabinoid production

[No3odiesShad0w]

Oh yeah towards the very end absolutely you could do it. Doesn't matter if the microbes go dormant at that point. You already gained your mass. Now you're just increasing trichomes

[Smallgrow]

Well the girls ended up going 5 full days before harvest with no water. I don’t have a control so I can really judge by comparison. They were definitely dry and floppy. But looking pretty nice.

Its always hard for me to work around my life’s schedule as well as the plants for things like harvest, so I think I would have chopped a day or two earlier in a perfect world.

One thing I noticed and would caution anyone trying this is that it seemed to speed up the ripening. It seems to me the trics went to amber faster so make sure your checking everyday

[User420111]

Nice. I held off on watering for the last five days as well and so far, have not noticed any real difference in the drying time. My trichomes were definitely right in the sweet spot with about 90% cloudy and 10% amber. I'd say withholding water the last stage is not going to affect the cure, and I agree it is best to continue to check under the microscope to make sure you don't overshoot your harvest window.

[No3odiesShad0w]

I've been curious to try 2 different techniques
1. Give them 48hrs of light then 12hrs off before harvest
2. Get some pollen and 5 days before harvest, pollinate the buds. It should make the buds absolutely SWELL TF OUT it won't have time to make any seeds but it should start prepping for it. Apparently it makes an 8th look like a half ounce. I only know 2 ppl that have done it successfully.

[User420111]

Intriguing. Have not heard that before, but it does make some sense.

[Allenpro]

So I am thinking about giving this a try with the grow I have going in a Ebb & Flow table. The plants are in coco coir and I can unplug the pump for a couple of days. I dont know, what do you folks think