Second Grow - Aero - AlphaKronik F2

4/19/2020 - The decision has been made. These girls will see their final lights out at 09:00 today. They look great and are retaining a bunch of terps at around 70F for harvest. Lights out before harvest? Some claim that 12-72 hours of darkness before harvesting increases quality. Should we be doing it as a practice? I've done some reading on this topic, and there are a lot of great attempts to think through the logic of being a plant; and countless anecdotal experiences claiming one way or another. Above all of it, one comment set my mindset for my decision: a user pointed out the finite energy reserves of a plant without light. It immediately reminded me of a Coco for Cannabis podcast when he talks about the ebb and flow of these energy reserves. I recall he says that during a typical 24 hour cycle, a plant will have spent the vast majority of its energy reserves by the time lights come back on. He even says that plants "survive" the dark; important language. This point about energy usage from finite rules that a plant won't be able to do/produce much without light during an extended dark period, and that any improvement will likely be marginal. Cannabis will constantly produce cannabinoids during flowering, but these molecules degrade when exposed to light. Additionally, terpenes volitalize rapidly above about 68F, so daytime temps work to lower final aroma. Harvesting after a dark period seems to be the most basic best practice for the best quality. This is balanced by some point where energy hits a low threshold and cannabinoid synthesis halts as a result. With this in mind, I've landed on 24 hours of dark before beginning harvest. I figure that doubling the dark period should be sufficient time to pass the point for any additional outputs from the plant. To let it run out whatever energy stores, but past that point is likely non-beneficial in terms of any type of output from the plant.