Droughting and its medicinal effects in cannabis

[Renaissance Man]

Wow. Just caught up. I missed a lot in a few days. So.. I have some questions/comments:

1.) um, call me stupid, but fertigate means water AND nutrients, correct?

2.) Measuring angles? Do they still protractors? I haven't used one of those since 8th grade...

3.) How do I figure out 11 days from my harvest date? or even 12 days? The information I have on my three strains are harvest between 8-9 or 8-10 weeks. I'm always counting by days, so I'm assuming week 7, that means day 43?

4.) I figured that trichome development has many variables, so I guess this isn't so easy as saying "put in soil when tail is 1/2" long" or "flip to flower when you see a pistil"

5.) I'm enjoying this thread, of course from the perspective of a brand new grower, and can appreciate all the civility. I'm quick to remove myself from a thread that gets petty as there is way too much good stuff to read and I value that.

6.) I have to agree with who said it earlier that if I was just made aware of a new growing technique, I would not have the patience to sift through everything to find the technique. I'm a more, let's talk about the process and then lets see the questions opposed to let's learn the science and anatomy as a prerequisite to the lecture. Someone said something about how everyone learns differently. Some would rather risk creating bad habits by learning details later while others will analyze, sometimes over-analyze, that can paralyze one's actions.

With that being said, I am enjoying this thread and feel honored to be in a thread that will probably end up with 200+ pages

I'm on day 24, so I'd imagine I'm about 19 days out?

I feel like I need to know more about this soon. Is there another article related to this? I'm going to go through Rexer's but I don't think he's in soil?

Anyways, sorry for the long post.

deuces

 

[iffey]

I've been doing this 'hobby' for a good number of years and first I'm hearing about 'droughting'.
Thank you Krissy for bringing it to my attention. I'm not a young college educated individual and have grown up seeing and improving on 'my' experiences but most experiences have come from information taken from threads like this and mother natures antics.

I follow the idea by which first, thinking this is an imitation of mother natures rules, first, made to be improved on
and second, mother nature doesnt get high or need that medicine.
So I do believe that 'improvements' to yield, potency or flavor is my goal. If this is it, I'm in.
I'm also a jump in and try it kinda person. The science escapes me (in its words) my interpretations come from, again, my experiences. I do bottom line most information, sorry.

I've read the good majority of this thread and do also have a few questions.
Maybe I didn't attain the answers that may have already been answered.

Here are my questions of your writings.
BTW, I will try this droughting but after some simple questions.

Cut off nutes/water 11 days at 7 weeks and then resume water. Is this saying week 7 for 11 days regardless of the recommended harvest days of any particular strain? If I have a sativa with a 100 day harvest target am I doing this at week 7 for 11 days or at the 88th day for 11 days or until leaves wilt 50% and then continue to water normally until cut (in this example 1 more day). I'd be wary of doing this at some point mid bloom for 11 days because of hermi possibilities. In this example week 7 = day 49, stop watering and day 60ish, 11 days later resume watering. Haven't had a hermi in years didnt like the first time don't want it to happen again.

Will reduced watering by say 75% gain the similar results?
I noticed in pics RH% at 25%ish. I've run 50-70% RH thru to the cut for years, is the RH% a factor?

I run PPKs and would have to eliminate the lower rez for those 11 days to halt bottom feeding if I were to go no water.
The possibilities of a clogged 'wick' by roots looking for water in that lower rez for 11 days also concerns me at week 7 Bloom for 11 days with about 50 days left in a 100 day to bloom plant..

Again, thank you for putting his adaptation to my attention..

 

[PlanetJ]

Cut off nutes/water 11 days at 7 weeks and then resume water.

Couldnt easily find where this was said originally, so quoted you with it.

I'm not sure how that would work without also specifying a pot size and medium composition? Different mediums retain moisture better and 11 days is a loooong time for the pot sizes I used to have. By that time I would be able to just smoke them without further drying.

 

[Azimuth]

Post in thread 'Come on folks let's see some eye candy! Here's some for ya' Come on folks let's see some eye candy! Here's some for ya

Nice! Like a big bowl of candy.

we are all so very grateful for your interest and again, I apologize that it was not set out in a manner in which you would have liked. We are in the midst of working to accommodate the needs of all growers as was the thought initially when creating this thread

No worries. As I said, I'm happy to learn the science behind it as well.

 

[Azimuth]

3.) How do I figure out 11 days from my harvest date? or even 12 days? The information I have on my three strains are harvest between 8-9 or 8-10 weeks.

That reminds me of the joke about a guy who was traveling by train in a city he was unfamiliar with, so he asked a fellow passenger how he would know what stop to get off to get to his destination.

The fellow traveler responded "Oh, that's easy. Just watch me and get off one stop before I do."

 

[ppm Charlie]

Right on. Strong gened plant, the BB....I think under her time constraints she would still do just fine with a little tweak. It is a controlled drought, you know, no need to fret. You can fertigate at any time you feel uncomfortable even with the LWA measurements. Absolutely the medicinal and aesthetic results are phenomenal.

Any reason why? I have a soft spot for them lol

I received some Bruce Banner seeds recently. Also, a friend had some BB flower and rolled one and I shared a puff or two (he shared his wife's COOKIES TOO @Krissi1982 nah...nah, nah...nah). I was interested that the BB I puffed had more of an uplifting "get things done" high then a laid back buzz. I enjoyed it much. Still have a pinch he left me.
Hopefully, I can get some BB seeds in the ground one day soon. I have to work through the overload of vegs I have now.

Idea: Maybe next X-mas Santa will bring me a second small flowering tent for specialty 420 grows - "fing-ghees" crossed and on my best behavior!

 

[MackMcMacMac]

Thank you for this thread! I've been away for a bit (moved across country, quit growing until I got settled), but I have a plant (Dope Seeds' Kalashnikov -- a seed I won from a 420mag contest!) that's about 6ish weeks into flower now. The breeder's website says she'll probably finish at 8/9 weeks, so I'm getting very close to what I understand to be "ideal" drought timing. I'm growing her in hempy, though, so I'm afraid to go the full 11 days. Any guidance on that? Maybe 7 or 8? Or should I judge the timing by the wilt factor?

 

[Azimuth]

Thank you for this thread! I've been away for a bit (moved across country, quit growing until I got settled), but I have a plant (Dope Seeds' Kalashnikov -- a seed I won from a 420mag contest!) that's about 6ish weeks into flower now. The breeder's website says she'll probably finish at 8/9 weeks, so I'm getting very close to what I understand to be "ideal" drought timing. I'm growing her in hempy, though, so I'm afraid to go the full 11 days. Any guidance on that? Maybe 7 or 8? Or should I judge the timing by the wilt factor?

We'll, you're in luck, sorta.

@Rexer did his in a Hydroton Hempy and gave this link a few posts back:

Rexer's Draughting Experiments

I'm going to guess your's was in perlite or coco but should be similar enough.

 

[MackMcMacMac]

Terrific! Thanks much for that link!

 

[nivek]

I'm growing her in hempy, though, so I'm afraid to go the full 11 days. Any guidance on that? Maybe 7 or 8? Or should I judge the timing by the wilt factor?

my opinion as a hempy grower as well

the length of time of the drought is very important,, stop watering a hempy plant and the plant will wilt in two or three days,, obviously not long enuf, imo

a way must be figured out to prolong the drying period to closer to the eleven day length of time

either by careful watering over the length of time or by careful watering over the length of time.

i dunno,, but i will not have plants to put to flower for a while now so i have some time to think about this

length of time is key tho,,

and, folks asking about fertigating after the drought,, the study states that the plant is watered after the drought and returns to the same moisture content level as the un droughted plant near right away,, then harvested

 

[kahoona]

Any reason why? I have a soft spot for them lol

iv been growing hybrids and indicas and just never had a chance yet. its on my bucket list. lol.

 

[Rexer]

We'll, you're in luck, sorta.

@Rexer did his in a Hydroton Hempy and give this link a few posts back:

Rexer's Draughting Experiments

I'm going to guess your's was in perlite or coco but should be similar enough.

Thanks Azi! I'll have a proper how to in the next couple days, in here.

But just for the sake of clarity, it was 100% hydroton, rdwc. Though once the plant was isolated, and fertigation stopped, a small amount was left at the bottom (due to bucket design) making it almost a hempy.

LWA (Leaf Wilt Angle) was (and I recommend) used to determine how far the drought has progressed. It's an indicator of the plant health that is easily markable, and trackable when using the method I did, as guided by Maritimer.

 

[Azimuth]

my opinion as a hempy grower as well

the length of time of the drought is very important,, stop watering a hempy plant and the plant will wilt in two or three days,, obviously not long enuf, imo

a way must be figured out to prolong the drying period to closer to the eleven day length of time

either by careful watering over the length of time or by careful watering over the length of time.

i dunno,, but i will not have plants to put to flower for a while now so i have some time to think about this

length of time is key tho,,

and, folks asking about fertigating after the drought,, the study states that the plant is watered after the drought and returns to the same moisture content level as the un droughted plant near right away,, then harvested

If it is true that it is the time, and that's what the study says, then in hempy I would think one would have to not totally skip the watering but rather give it some small and controlled amount to keep it from dying. Maybe even multiple times per day.

 

[Azimuth]

either by careful watering over the length of time or by careful watering over the length of time.

. That sounds like the same choice.

 

[Rexer]

The only way I can think of achieving the delayed response that Nivek suggests, would be to do a gradual reduction of fertigation, followed by a complete stop. I'd still recommend tracking LWA to ensure the 50% wilt is not surpassed.

 

[Azimuth]

But just for the sake of clarity, it was 100% hydroton, rdwc. Though once the plant was isolated, and fertigation stopped, a small amount was left at the bottom (due to bucket design) making it almost a hempy.

That just goes to show how we read stuff through the lense of our experience. That whole time I thought it was hempy. But now that you say that I'm transported back to the beginning of your grow and do remember your setup.

 

[Azimuth]

The only way I can think of achieving the delayed response that Nivek suggests, would be to do a gradual reduction of fertigation, followed by a complete stop. I'd still recommend tracking LWA to ensure the 50% wilt is not surpassed.

But don't you think in hempy some, just not enough, water would be needed? The idea is to stress the plant gradually and in hempy no water would happen too quickly.

In soil, there's always some residual water hiding in minute places, at least longer than you'd be able to detect. That prolongs the stress period giving the reaction time to play out.

 

[Azimuth]

That just goes to show how we read stuff through the lense of our experience. That whole time I thought it was hempy. But now that you say that I'm transported back to the beginning of your grow and do remember your setup.

Good thing, too, or maybe I wouldn't have followed your grow.

 

[Azimuth]

If it is true that it is the time, and that's what the study says

But maybe the time factor of 11 days was only because that's what it took to get the soil dry enough to get the targeted LWA.

Maybe the plant response happens quite quickly once you get to some threshold moisture level, and if so, maybe hempy gets there in a couple of days.

I'll confess to having only skimmed the study, so maybe that variable was addressed and I missed it.

Assuming it is actually both time and moisture, i.e. low moisture level over time to allow more days of plant reaction, then in hempy it would seem no water early to start the process, then limited and low amounts just to keep the plant going would be needed, and then followed by full fertigation.

In other words, the way I read it is that nothing much different happens for 9 days until the moisture level hits some magic number. Then, two more days are needed for the effect.

If it takes 3 or 15 days to get to that moisture level, nothing discernable is happening. And then, magic!

 

[nivek]

another key piece of info from the study,, least for me,, about the importance of the length of time for the drought


''no observable differences in plant appearance between control and drought groups until the drought treatment was without fertigation for ≈9 d.

From 9 d without fertigation to harvest, plants under drought treatment showed signs of veinal chlorosis on older leaves and, to a lesser extent, newly formed leaves on the entire plant. Wilting was observed after 11 d''

it's like an exponential curve,, first thirty percent of the curve near nothing happens,, mid third of the curve shite begins to happen,, and the last third the curve is pointing near straight up,, rapid changes

right now , with my hempy, i am thinking some kind of heavy hands on reduced watering for the drought,, somehow

i have near about one hundred days to think about it tho,, thats when i will have two near identical plants to play with, ready to drought

length of time is key,, imo