Trying to expand my knowledge and finally having found a bunch of serious growers - here my question: is it better to dry the herbs in total darkness or not ?
What difference does it make - if any…?
thnx for your inputs 
14 Likes
I recently read that it looses its original colour and looks dark, maybe others can help you better on this … 
5 Likes
Light degrades the trichcomes I believe
13 Likes
That is what I read about the trichomes.
4 Likes
From my understanding, if the plant is still moist, light will cause photosynthesis. A byproduct of photosynthesis is glucose. Glucose(sugar) can make your smoke harsh, that is why many growers harvest early morning. The glucose migrates into the soil at night and returns during lit hours. A hanging plant can’t release the glucose into soil so it accumulates and makes the buds harsh. So, yes, darkness is important.
27 Likes
A low level of light probably wont make a noticable difference. Light and oxygen will degrade THC into CBN. On the other hand, Acapulco Gold was traditionally field dried, leading to its golden colors.
It’s likely part personal preference and part stoner myth.
32 Likes
this makes sense… thnx a lot !
1 Like
WTF 20 characters and more characters
1 Like
I think the intensity of the light is what matters, with some being acceptable & a LOT being undesireable. They won’t re-grow or anything but will degrade a bit. In very humid climates & past times (like @ReikoX said) weed has to be dried in the sun or won’t dry… 
Tobacco drying & curing is probably done with some light…(?)
I defer to others experience here.
2 Likes
100% correct. 
6 Likes
It’s to stop photosynthesis and actually kill the chlorophyll so it don’t have the yuk yuk green taste.
5 Likes
Just curious, does this mean you dispute what I wrote or you don’t understand it?
2 Likes
Ha ha! Mostly don’t understand how and even more importantly why the sugars within a plant would “migrate” back out to the soil and then be reabsorbed on a daily basis? By migrate, do you mean in a passive manner, as if leaking, or actively transported? And again, by what means? I don’t doubt that there are less sugars within plant cells when they haven’t been photosynthesizing for a while, but to then have those sugars go all the way back down to the roots and then out to the soil and then be brought back up again is ridiculous. It takes a lot of energy for plants to move sugars, so there’s just no way they would do this.
If there is any scientific reference to this, I would absolutely love to see it.
We can’t just take old wives tales or bro-science and pass them off as fact.
It makes it very difficult for people to learn and take an already stigmatized community seriously.
8 Likes
It’s a well known fact that plants actively exude carbohydrates during the dark cycle to attract specific microbes. You can read all about this process in Jeff Lowenfels Teeming with Microbes book.
12 Likes
In the root zone I get it, but we’re talking about whether the bud will be harsher. I don’t smoke roots, so I don’t know what difference that would make. As far as harvest goes, I’m sure there may be less sugars/carbohydrates present after a dark period, but they don’t yo-yo up and down in the plant every day.
4 Likes
And thats why that dispensary weed has no potency. They light up most of there stock with flo’s and track lighting. Think about it. lol
I’m pretty sure it’s mostly because darkness cuts the chlorophyll which is what makes the bud harsh. From what I recall, certain UV rays turn THC into other medicinally useless compounds once the plant is dead, but this would probably be with long term storage in light. A couple of days in the light drying won’t degrade your bud, unless it’s heating up your bud to like 90 degrees, then you’re burning off terpenes which will degrade the flavor and smell. I personally wouldn’t leave them in direct sunlight or grow room lights to dry or cure or you’ll probably get some pretty harsh, flavorless bud, but will still be as potent. Turning on a light in a drying room every now and then or filtered sun isn’t gonna hurt a darn thing.
Edit: Oh, and too much heat on wet drying bud promotes mold
6 Likes
OP: don’t worry too much about it. Seriously. People overthink things. It’s what we do! But don’t worry. Don’t shine a light directly on them, and don’t store them where direct sunlight hits them.
I’m pretty sure that the reason it’s a thing is simply because light degrades cannabinoids. Nothing more.
5 Likes
I believe what was trying to be said with the sugars feeding the microbes things was that the plant exudes exudates from its roots that feeds the microbes in turn the microbes feed the plant back minerals and all the other macro and micro nutrients it’s not a so called sugar what is returning but yes I believe there’s less carbohydrates in plants during the dark period hope I didn’t make it more confusing.
8 Likes
mold needs light to complete its life cycle, if you take away the light, less chance buds that you worked on all season will get moldy at the last stage, harvesting in the early am saves all the terps that evaporate throughout the day, some evaporate at 70*!
2 Likes