Indoor CFL Grow / Light cycle

[DarthMaul]

Hello,
I am running 5x 125W (very large CFL) and I want to know if 24/0 is a good idea if I don't care about the electricity bill? Or is it better to do 18/6 or 20/4?
I always did 24/0 so I'm wondering if I might get better results if i give the plants rest?
Anyone experiment with this yet?

Thanks

 

[namvet25]

The majority of growers use 18/6 including myself.I believe the plants need a short rest just like in nature.

 

[DarthMaul]

I'm just wondering because I saw this on another thread but I do trust you guys more since you are the experts:

I pulled this info from another thread at another site.

Found this information on photoperiod.

"It's been established for many many many years now that cannabis is a C3 plant. It does not need a dark period.

C3 plants gather CO2 only during the light period when they are photosynthesizing. As long as the light is on, C3 plants gather and use CO2 for photosynthesis.

Some growers practice a version of anthropomorphism with their plants. They believe that since people need rest, plants do as well. Concerning cannabis, this is not true.

Every grower can make a personal choice about light cycle. They can save on their electric bill or prolong ballast/bulb life. 18/6 can be less of a "shock" when changing over to 12/12 for flowering than 24/0 or heat issues can be addressed by fewer hours of light, but basic botany has proven long ago that cannabis needs no dark period.

Ed Rosenthal, Mel Frank and Robert Clarke all have covered this extensively over their careers.

hXXp://www.mellowgold.com/grow/mjbotany ... tany1.html Marijuana Botany Chapter 1 - Sinsemilla Life Cycle of Cannabis

 

[illbethere]

I agree with 18/6 but skip a darkperiod every 2-3 days I've noticed autoflowers like a little extra boost in light every now and then.

What colors are the lights? will you be running them all at once?

Looking at my plants they seem to like both 2700K & 6400K with more power on 6400K starting and then gradually upping the amount of light & switching colours until you have more power on 2700K.

I would suggest at least having a small LED thos added light-spectrums will really give you a much better yield.

 

[bubblekarma]

I've always given my plants a rest period. I've been running 19/5 lately and like it.

I'm not sure about the whole "cannabis needs rest or not" debate. However one thing I can tell you is that I notice a notable amount of growth during the dark period of 5 hrs. No joke! I have a camera that takes a pic every hour, and when I compare the one from just before lights out to just after lights on, I see additional growth - during the lights out time. Does that mean that they need or don't need a rest period? Who knows lol. That's just what I observe with my plants.

 

[JAYAR]

I'm just wondering because I saw this on another thread but I do trust you guys more since you are the experts:

I pulled this info from another thread at another site.

Found this information on photoperiod.

"It's been established for many many many years now that cannabis is a C3 plant. It does not need a dark period.

C3 plants gather CO2 only during the light period when they are photosynthesizing. As long as the light is on, C3 plants gather and use CO2 for photosynthesis.

Some growers practice a version of anthropomorphism with their plants. They believe that since people need rest, plants do as well. Concerning cannabis, this is not true.

Every grower can make a personal choice about light cycle. They can save on their electric bill or prolong ballast/bulb life. 18/6 can be less of a "shock" when changing over to 12/12 for flowering than 24/0 or heat issues can be addressed by fewer hours of light, but basic botany has proven long ago that cannabis needs no dark period.

Ed Rosenthal, Mel Frank and Robert Clarke all have covered this extensively over their careers.

hXXp://www.mellowgold.com/grow/mjbotany ... tany1.html Marijuana Botany Chapter 1 - Sinsemilla Life Cycle of Cannabis

Ive read that too and i think thats true. Ive done 20/4 and this past year 24/0 and i notice my 24/0 plants are shorter. My best yields tho are from the plants under 24/0.

 

[boikola]

Sometimes I have to go away for 3 or 4 days and the plants stay only with the light underneath a window. To my surprise, I definitely see a huge growth when I am not around.

 

[elby]

I run 21/3, it's nature that plants have a dark period...

Think of plants like eggs... do you want battery or free range?

 

[greenjeans]

Man, I see SOO much conflicting information on this subject..

I have seen everything from people saying that they have done side by side experiments proving that dark periods=better yields, and saying they couldn't get more than 15g with 24/0, to people saying the exact opposite, and that THEY have done similar experiments with the opposite results.

It really is confusing.

I am growing my first plants right now, under 24/0 with CFLs, and I am going to keep them lit up the entire grow. I will be running the same strain on my next grow, so if I don't feel like I get a decent yield this time, I will try something different.

I can honestly see the logic behind both positions, but know that listening to advice in forums is hit and miss at best. Lots of people have lots of opinions on lots of subjects.

"Don't top/fim", yet we see people doing it with amazing results..
"Don't grow under 24/0", yet people say they get bigger yields and faster harvests that way.
"CFLs suck", yet we see people getting fabulous results with them.

There are just WAY too many variables at play to get any solid advice on these topics, IMO. For instance..

Grower#1 used CFLs and got 2oz of great bud.
Grower#2 did the same, but only got 15g.

They both live in different parts of the world, used different nutes at different strengths, watered differently, treated the plant differently in gods only know how many different ways, temperatures, ph, ppm, training, trimming, air quality, air flow, and on and on and on.

I just think that there are too many things to take into account to be able to follow any of this advice. I think you have to research, come up with a plan that seems right to you, and then adjust as you learn what works best for what you are doing.

 

[oldster]

Hi Greenjeans, growing is as much art as science. There is no magic formula and no replacement for experience which includes making mistakes.

The variables are almost endless not the least of which is phenotype variation in the plants themselves. Regardless of how closely you try and follow the methods of a successful grower there will still be differences in light, temperature, water chemistry, humidity, etc. that will effect how plants grow. The most important thing is to learn to read your plants and to makes changes based on what they are telling you. You can plant 6 seeds from the same plant, give them identical care and you will still see variation.

The worst thing a new grow can do in my opinion is to try and pick and choose items or methods from various growers and try and combine them. You are far better to find a growing style you like, find someone who is doing well with that style and try to follow what they are doing. They are successful because they have developed a complete system that works together for them.

I have seen some great grows using the most basic of equipment and nutes (Atrain, last month's BOM winner for example). Start simple, keep it fun, and pay attention to the basics and you will succeed but know that there will be some bumps on the road