absimiliard

So what do people think. I've read some people swearing by 24 X 7 light and others saying that 18/6 gives a plant "rest time" during which it grows more. I'd like a little discussion on this since it seems like something that would be better resolved.

If people are willing, please tell us your experiences if you've tried both. I haven't, first grow you know, but some folks out there must have tried both settings. They are the ones who can tell us the truth.

Is 18 hours on and 6 off better than 24 hour lighting?

Absimiliard

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Smoker4life420

The reason people use 18/6 is cuz the plant stops photosynthesizing after 16-18hrs,and feel that they're wasting power after that. I doubt it had anything to do with my results but I kept mine on 24hrs and they turned out male, so I'm really considering 18/6
Smoker4life420

born042079

I'm a first time grower as well... but I've been researching on the internet for a while now and this is what I'm planning on:

24/0 until they are 4-6 inches tall. From what I understand they can actually use all of the light at that age.

18/6 until they are 12" away from mature height. Any more light is just going to run up your electric bill.

12/12 when you are ready to bloom. They will grow their last 8" - 16" during this period.

Don't take this as the word of God, but as the word of someone who has done a ton of research on the net.

Peace and good luck!

Born420

420NeMo420

IS this true? if i leave on my light 24/0 rather then 18/6 my plant has a better chance of being female.... ? reply if you know the answer

UncleBen

20/4 veg, 12/12 flowering.

Ben

Smoker4life420

I dont think it would have anything to do with the sex of the plant but i am only 99.9% sure
SFL

absimiliard

So Smoker4life420, UncleBen, and born042079's research all say that 24/0 is not best for veg. Interesting.

I will set my timer on 20/4 then and give it a shot. I have heard great stuff about UncleBen's advice, and he certainly shows excellent results, and given that no one else has bothered to defend 24/0 I think it sounds like some "resting" time would do my girls good.

I'd post here my results but it would be better if you wanted to follow my grow if you checked out the "Annalisa" threads in the Grow Diaris and MyCannabis Images forums instead. I'm loathe to do the extra work of double posting.

Thanks guys.

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LadyGray

I'm thinking that this has some real validity to it. Besides, the 24 hour a day thing really eats up electricity, and if it's true that the plants can only take up so much light after a point, then that rest period is pretty important - if only to allow the plant to regain its strength for taking in the next dose.

I did 24/0 the first time and I was happy with the ratio of female to male (though I would have preferred all "ladies"), so I don't think lighting has much to do with gender switching.

I'd be more inclined to attribute that to stress on the plant, but I'm still reading on it.

LG

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anglachel

during dark periods our dank friends will engage in photorespiration instead of photosynthesis. P.respiration is a more conservative metabolic pathway designed to run only on the plants stored energy and CO2. SO if you run .12 to .15 % CO2 during this period, you will have taken care of at least one limiting factor. However i know of no research done to determine whether this will in any way out yield photosynthesis. Any college level bio textbook can show you that photorespiration is a less productive process than photosynthesis. Plants dont even need to photorespire, because they get so much energy from photosynthesis. Photorespiration is just evolutionary adaptation baggage that is left over from the days on earth when the atmosphere was primarily CO2.


Id like to hear where this information that says a plant can only use 20 hrs max a day light is coming from.

Run your plants 24/0 cycle and you will arrive at a given size sooner than with 18/6.

Spaceman_Spliff

I've heard before that light can have a small influence on the sex of the plant. When I ordered seeds from Marc Emery, they were accompanied by a pamphlet with growing info. and the full seed catalogue. I believe it was the DutchSeed Co. that did an experiment to determine what conditions are most likely to influence a developping plant to be female. They found that the highest female/male ratio was found with:

-less hours of light
-higher humidity
-cooler temperatures

I can't recall what the exact numbers were; I don't know where the pamphlet is. If I can find it, I'll post the info. At any rate, the influence was quite small. I don't think a difference in female/male ratio would be noticed in a small garden, but I guess it's just another reason not to go with 24/0 during the veg cycle. I'm gonna try 20/4 next time.

-~