From my experience with autos, how you care for the plant and maintain the environment will determine your yield unlike photos that have to be on a 12/12 down to a 10/14 schedule. I'll probably say this wrong but because of the ruderalis they have their own internal clock that isn't dependent on light schedule. As long as you're giving them enough light, look up DLI, I can't imagine that your light cycle matters as much.
DLI in the simplest way I can explain it refers to how many umols of light in a given cycle the plant needs.
https://smartgrow.systems/sgs-original-research-on-the-importance-of-daily-light-integral-dli/
I've done 24/0 and 18/6 and doing 11/13 for some photos but if your VPD, leaf surface temps, air exchange, feeding practices, etc are dialed in you're going to be rewarded.
My northern lights took awhile to finish being an auto but my yield was heavy running 600w hps on 18/6
Here's my journal for it
https://www.autoflower.org/threads/...w-growpito-sim-mix.66482/page-12#post-1879893
What you say, couldn't agree more.
The trouble with DLI for auto's is, what is optimal?
There is 2 problems, what is optimal in MOL and what spectrum provides that optimal number?
Some light manufactures imply they have some knowledge, like Osram/Fluence, Lumi, etc., but of course it is proprietary for commercial reasons haha, there is no real scientific knowledge available anywhere as far as I know, just a lot of this or that many Mol seems to work very well and such.
I have an Apogee MQ-500 and imo this is the lowest entry point to PAR measurements. I also have 3 lightscouts to measure an approximate DLI.
But what you really want is probably an Asentek lightning passport for ease of use lol
https://www.lightingpassport.com/# or some similar spectrometer
The Apogee will give an idea, but unless one has a test stand, it's pretty useless for specifics, moving the sensor just a fraction or changing the angle will make a big difference in measured value, AND where exactly to measure.
Perhaps the breeders should include recommended DLI numbers with specific spectral curves for start-mid-end vegging and flowering hahaha, especially for strains where the beans cost more than a fiver a pop lol, heck, throw in the flushing period too for those who cling on to myths
My Apogee and lightscouts are hardly ever used, the novelty wore off quickly and the futility took over. This is not a backyard one man two handed job, something more elaborate is required.
And yes, mobile phone sensors aren't gonna cut it
Just be aware before you decide to splash any cash, it ain't cheap gear and it ain't as simple as measuring the temperature!
