Cold shock!

[highonmt]

Well Happy newyears all, its -15f outside right now and I got to thinking, of all things, cold shocking plants before harvest. My basement grow is getting chopped tonight and I've been doing a cold treatment to get rid of chlorophyll and increase trichome swelling. During my 10day flush I've been letting the dark period temps fall into the 40's daytime temps are normal 75-77.. thats it. In my room during the winter this means turning the thermostat down to 40 which is simple and actually saves me some money. I'm not recommending this as a high yeild technique but the quality of the smoke is top drawer. There is literally no green left on any leaves save for a very pale green on the widow and a bit on the popcorn. They are In the dark room so the photos are flash hopefully you can see the color. The first is Bubba Kush vegged 15 days in hempy. The third photo is White Widow showing some color.

Just curious does anyone else cold condition their plants or use other cold shocking techniques? Thanks,
HM

 

[kannubis]

My planter gals got a bit of a cold shock this morning, naturally. Tops were coated with frost when I got out of bed. The thermometer said 33.2° in freakin' so-cal. Probably time to cut them for hashing soon.

 

[chadbudsicle]

that first picture is now one of my favorite ones to date. the violet coloring is from the cold removing chlorophyll? id have never thought of that.... gonna look into it. thanks for sharing! lets us know how it smokes after the cure

kannubis, 33 degrees in socal!? thats funny cuz when i got up..... it was 48, in michigan hahah

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Cold shock might be good for pre harvest but frost is never good. I've seen frost as warm as 38*f, not sure if it's humidity, dew point or both.

nice plants and pics, best wishes in 2011

 

[Pointswest]

I live in the mountains and grow outside and in cold frames. The weather is always cold at harvest time and the buds always turn shades of purple from the cold. The harvest is reduced somewhat due to the cold, but if you have grown a vigorous and healthy plant the colas will be plenty large. The cold does not reduce the flavor of the flower and a good cure brings it out even more. The flower in my sig finished the last two weeks of flowering at night temps between 30F-45F.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Did your plant(s) frost or freeze? Or did the cold frames keep this from happening?

 

[highonmt]

Cold shock might be good for pre harvest but frost is never good. I've seen frost as warm as 38*f, not sure if it's humidity, dew point or both.

nice plants and pics, best wishes in 2011

True,Frosted plants are nearly worthless; you might as well finish the job and make bubble hash. The only frost I want to see is a thick forest of fat trichomes.


Chad, The colors are actually anthrocyanin and carotenoid pigments. The former accounts for the purples the latter for the oranges and reds. They were there all along but chlorophyll's dark green masks their colors. The same reason that maple trees turns purple and red in the fall. And fall is what I'm trying to emulate. Warm days cool nights signal the annual cannabis plant to focus all it's energy on finishing off it's seeds and protecting them with psychoactive terpenes ...yum.

 

[Pointswest]

I grow my plants hard and not over-fertilized, so they can tolerate some cold temps if exposed gradually to the cold. Another helpful factor is the humidity here is very low. The cold frame offers protection from the frosts, so the leaves do not freeze in the lower temps or get coated with ice crystals, a hard frost will indeed kill your plants. I still have a small plant that has been in the cold frame all fall season and is still alive after temps of 28F twice.

I am not advocating growing plants like this, it is just my environment and I don't want to pay to heat my greenhouse. Flower initation ceases at temps between 50F-55F so the flowers will not gain in size in these temps, they have to be close to harvest time and already sized up when the temps drop this low.

Temperatures lower than 50 can lock out P and also speed in this purple coloring you witness as the chlorophyll degrades and the anthocyanin pigments start to show the purple colors.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Thanks for the info guys!

Pointswest, I like your setup from what I can see. BTW, the thumb links to the editor in case you didn't know.

 

[Pointswest]

Thanks, fixed the link now.

 

[!!!]

The cold temps will significantly slow down trichome degration, so letting the plants sit in the cold the last few days even AFTER your intended chop date should be OK I would assume.

I don't use an AC, but the weather outside at night is in the 20-30s so I'm going to duct that into my tent come chop day.

 

[highonmt]

The cold temps will significantly slow down trichome degration, so letting the plants sit in the cold the last few days even AFTER your intended chop date should be OK I would assume.

I don't use an AC, but the weather outside at night is in the 20-30s so I'm going to duct that into my tent come chop day.

Well if you're only doing cold shock after your intended chop date I'd just stick with icing down the root zone with ice or cold water in hydro. DMT mentioned using cold shocking during a light deprivation period before the chop.
I do 10 days of cold At Night while flushing as it makes them look crazy colorful and with very potent and super smooth smoke due to cannabinoid content and lack of chlorophyll. . Right now they are in the dark at 65f awaiting the pruners...at midnight tonight. I just smoked one of the buds I pulled off by accident a few days back...super smooth and tasty this is my personal stash so quality over yeild; In my med grows we've just been cold treating the roots 3 days before the chop.
HM

 

[DHF]

Killer thread....

Killer thread....

Tortured my plants last 10-14 days of every run I did for over 15 yrs inside HM........

Hot as they could stand it while cutting the feed way down lights on to make em pump more resin as a defense mechanism , and as cold as the active intakes , exhausts , and a/c`s fightin the dehuey`s could take em ta kill chlorophyll lights off , and ALWAYS got rid of at least 75% of the green shit before chop.........but......

Live and learn tho , as I`ve never heard of the ice shock to the roots thingy DMT made reference to till the other day......many paths to Nirvana as proved on a regular basis when someone else reveals what`s worked for them .......

Killer pics HM......Thanks fer tha show.....

Peace...DHF........

 

[razor ridge]

I had a heater failure and got low temps overnight down to 28F. No frost just cold, browned and killed a lot of leaves but no plants died. This is in a perpetual grow container 6X6, outside. Plants in all stages of flower, we will see what the outcome will be.

 

[highonmt]

I had a heater failure and got low temps overnight down to 28F. No frost just cold, browned and killed a lot of leaves but no plants died. This is in a perpetual grow container 6X6, outside. Plants in all stages of flower, we will see what the outcome will be.

Ouch Being a grower in the north I know your pain..1 day they are perfect the next brown...They will come back from a light frost but 28 seems pretty low. Hope they make it.
HM

 

[highonmt]

Here a few pics of trimming last night I love all the colors...

The plant in the foreground is BK in the back is WW looking way to colorful for WW.

 

[highonmt]

Just smoked a few hit of the new bubba crop this morning and It is great medicine. Extremely stinky even for BK and smooth as silk with awesome bag apeal and a super powerful high. I'm sold on cold stressing my plants it just adds that extra quality I'm looking for in my herb. I'm currently setting up a cold "booth" in one of the warehouses and we are going to give some cold love to some big trees in flush. We'll be keeping them at night in the lil room at 40f for the last week or so then into the warm dark room with ice on the roots for 4 days before chopping...que the technicolor...que the sparkle...Heres a few pics of bubba and Widow on a sticker I got on my last trip to boz-angeles...

Cheers,
HM

 

[xeasyx]

looking very nice indeed if it smokes as good as it looks i think your on to a winner with the cold treatment idea well worth more investergating thanks for sharing the info and pics with us keep it up and stay lucky cheers EASY

 

[highonmt]

looking very nice indeed if it smokes as good as it looks i think your on to a winner with the cold treatment idea well worth more investergating thanks for sharing the info and pics with us keep it up and stay lucky cheers EASY

The plants lose all the chlorophyll which is one of the reasons for the harsh tastes in plant smoke. Chlorophyll is comprised of a porphyrin ring which has this structure or one very similar,This is chlorophyll a

You can see here why mg is such an essential nutrient to rapid plant growth. Removing leaf chlorophyll is used in the production of quality tobacco so why not quality cannabis as well. Notice all the nitrogen atoms in the 5-membered rings? those are pyroles which are know for their bitter amine taste; what happens when you burn chlorophyll HMMMM...

This technique is not going to make you more herb, just better herb. I just smoked a bowl of Widow and it is seriously smooth but huge hits..no coughs. thanks for stopping by HM