Drying With Light.. Drying in the DARK

[AlterEgo860]

ok I have accidentally left a bud in the flower room after harvesting.. and 5 days later it was DRY and YELLOW and crystally as a motherfucker.. smoked AMAZING.. all taste no chlorophyll..

so what im wondering is . can someone who has access to LAB TESTS do a side by side.. 1 room dry in the dark.. 1 dry with a few small CFLS placed around the buds far enough away were they don't speed up the process at all.. trying to have both dry slow as you can...

then trimup. cure. or not.. whatever u want to do .. and send to the lab to test.. see how if any of the thc was degraded.. and how much..

I think this could help the community .. because if u think about it . the old timers used to dry outside in the sun.. and the shit going around in the 70-80s was gold .. and great smoke..

so im thinking as long as u don't use TOO MUCH Light.. and u keep the drying process slow.. u could have GOLD buds with amazing TASTE and still have the potency..

anyone with suggestions or what? I cant try this because I have already completed my harvest and drying is already begun .too late......... next harvest ill try it. but I have no access to labs here yet.. so I can only go on that it tastes great being that nice GOLD COLOR instead of Green.

 

[Bongstar420]

ok I have accidentally left a bud in the flower room after harvesting.. and 5 days later it was DRY and YELLOW and crystally as a motherfucker.. smoked AMAZING.. all taste no chlorophyll..

so what im wondering is . can someone who has access to LAB TESTS do a side by side.. 1 room dry in the dark.. 1 dry with a few small CFLS placed around the buds far enough away were they don't speed up the process at all.. trying to have both dry slow as you can...

then trimup. cure. or not.. whatever u want to do .. and send to the lab to test.. see how if any of the thc was degraded.. and how much..

I think this could help the community .. because if u think about it . the old timers used to dry outside in the sun.. and the shit going around in the 70-80s was gold .. and great smoke..

so im thinking as long as u don't use TOO MUCH Light.. and u keep the drying process slow.. u could have GOLD buds with amazing TASTE and still have the potency..

anyone with suggestions or what? I cant try this because I have already completed my harvest and drying is already begun .too late......... next harvest ill try it. but I have no access to labs here yet.. so I can only go on that it tastes great being that nice GOLD COLOR instead of Green.[/

Its highly unlikely you will see THC degraded by CFL's over a period of a week. I do believe the maximum controlling factor would be genetics vs growing environment. Ive seen week 9 Bright Moments with white crystals and a week 7 no-namer with brown crystals. UVB light is what the research papers say THC is most sensitive to being degraded by (it absorbs it heavily). The BM was grown in mid-summer with average UV index of 7 with the no-namer being in the fall with an average UV index of 1-5 but rainy.

If you really wanted the degradation product of THC in a straight forward, and easily proudced fashion, spray %1 Hydrogen peroxide on the plant daily a week before harvest. The THC will be oxidized to CBN but you essential oils will go out the window (most oxidation processes destroys them). I always saw more browning trichs when I was spraying Hydrogen peroxide for Powdery Mildew control.

If you were to make a resin extract in pure ethanol and bubble air through the solution for a few days in the presence of UV light, you would probably retain more of your oil profile (though mostly the heavier parts) while oxidizing the THC to CBN. I'd imagine you'd probably want to decarboxylate your material prior to solvation.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6643

The "aging" of resins over floral maturation is likely enzyme mediated.

 

[drknockbootz]

I have to agree with the OP
I have seen plenty of nugs that dried in the flower room with the lights still 12 12 and they come out much frostier and changed the tint of the nug vs lights completely darked out.
I have no idea why, Im glad im not the only one whos witness this.
Thought I was making it up in my head.

 

[siftedunity]

same here actually, I had a plant which had a small branch break a couple of weeks before the end of flowering. as I didn't notice the small bud on it dried through and by the time I harvested I found it, the smell was better than the rest which I dried normally, had a lighter colour due to being under the hps and looked really resinous. im tempted to try it again but I have no way of getting it lab tested..

 

[mack 10]

True, this can happen, definatly strain dependant, I have done a few tests in the past, drying in the dark does give you a smoother smoke, but I also believe that some extra light helps to make the resin ripen slightly longer, giving a better effect and even look of the buds.

 

[unregistered190]

Interesting...never would have thought?

 

[blastfrompast]

Here are my comparisons...

Blind taste tests among friends...they said it was cleaner...kinda like smoking a Ultra-filtered ciggie.

Here is the differences....the blonde one was dried under the HPS...

As first hoot of the day...it seemed to work just as well as the stuff that was dried in the dark.

 

[BredForMeds]

I believe drying under HIDS might degrade your flowers.. but smoking bud with less chlorophyll might be a smoother smoke for sure.. just not sure if its worth it .. lab tests would definitely help prove this .. anyone with access and willing to do the tests could potentially help the community..

 

[vince514]

i had some outdoor that i sun dryed while i was staying in the patch and it was golden color and smoked amazing

 

[StoneyK]

lol its colombian gold!
im interested to see what comes of this ive always heard light degrades the thc during the drying/curing process.

 

[JimmyHoffa]

INTERESTING !
I have a dry going on now. I'm gonna go pull a few buds out and put them near the veg light. Will let you know how it goes.
4 strains too.

JH

 

[JimmyHoffa]

Oh and I was around for the Columbia gold and the Panama Red as well.

Good stuff !

 

[DHF]

The ONLY 3 enemies of dope plants are Heat , air , and LIGHT.....I was around for every color Colombian and Mexican colored pot back in the 70`s as well JH , and the reason the shit was bleached of chlorophyll was as stated , the women and children harvested that shit and piled it up in the sun , turning it over daily with pitchforks to prevent fermentation/getting hot and bursting into flame , all the while killing all manners of residual chlorophyll left in the branches/limbs before final trim and packaging......that said....

Plants CAN not produce ANY more resin once chopped and hung , just don`t work like that , but guaranteed the nugs will taste waaay differently from slowly and steadily dried and cured nugs in the dark and appear to be more crystal laden due to the lack of green background from the inherent leftover chlorophyll....and lastly....

Guaranteed quality and potency will be affected and lessened with the "light dried" nugs due to THC degradation and CBD conversion , and all that other scientific jargon .....but...

Who`s not to say that the result would or would NOT be more favorable in the individual smoker`s eyes ?......Far be it from me to say what`s preferred taste and affect wise with any and all dope cultivars regardless if they`re green or gold as the end result...

Let us know what your thoughts end up being Jimmy Hoffa......and BTW....Glad we know what happened to your ass after all these yrs......

I figured they ground yas up into hamburger and served yas as meatloaf to the teamster union annual picnic , but whoulda thunk yas ended up a dope smoking ICmag`er...........

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

 

[drknockbootz]

Guys from my experience I found that you dont want to dry it in direct lighting, its to extreme. Let it dry in direct light.

 

[siftedunity]

I know light degrades most things but if its degraded by light wouldn't that happen while growing aswell? I would imagine that the resin glands have a degree of resistance to strong light.

 

[DHF]

I know light degrades most things but if its degraded by light wouldn't that happen while growing aswell? I would imagine that the resin glands have a degree of resistance to strong light.

The plant`s response to strong light "while it`s alive" is to pump resin to protect itself from dehydration and said "strong light"......

Once the plant`s "dead" and hanging , the ONLY 3 things that degrade THC and converts shit to other cbd`s/cbn`s and all the other shit I`m not privy to or care to be , is heat , air , and light..but ....

As also stated above , who`s to say that the end result`s not gonna be favorable to the end user "after" such different drying technique`s employed , and the reason I say that`s cuz ALL the old school dope I smoked that was every color from blue thai sticks to gold or red Colombian , and even panama red and guererro gold Mexican dope was AWESOME , strong as fuck , and hashy tastin as a mofo.....anyways....

Things that make yas go hmmm....

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

 

[St3ve]

it does degrade while growing.. the trichs start off clear, then cloudy, then milky, then ambery, then brown... because of the light

 

[DHF]

it does degrade while growing.. the trichs start off clear, then cloudy, then milky, then ambery, then brown... because of the light

Duly noted St3ve , and yes as the trichomes develop AND degrade in late bloomage , the "high" or rather "effect" is definitely influenced by "when" the plant`s taken and chopped , but....

I wonder what drying in light compared to the golden rule of a "slow dry and proper dark cure" produces comparatively across the board....

St3ve....Respect....and...

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

 

[TheArchitect]

When young and dumb we used to think "albino weed" was the coolest.

Nowadays I recognize it immediately as flowers that were either dried under light or stored in light long term.

I have trim that sat under an hps for a while after it was dry and it eventually turned white.

 

[Baked Alaskan]

I think a lot of misinformation started with the Mel and Ed books back in the day. I remember they put wet buds in a jar to dry the put the jar in direct sunlight for a few days, didn't turn out good if I remember. Maybe this has morphed into the "drying in light is bad" myth.