Lighting What's the best lighting cycle for autos - 24/0, 20/4 or 18/6

[Egzoset]

Salutations Pop22,

...24/0 would likely help make up for the deficit.

My appologies if i happen to be mistaking, reading about a "deficit" i interpreted this must be in reference to my window-sill experiments though i can't tell for sure. If i got the correct impression then i must agree on the term as there was some obvious deficit which reflected through stem circumference indeed! And not just the stems, root systems too, etc. Actually i still need to verify if it's sufficient to provide 5 ~ 6 weeks of CFL light, starting from seed to "prepare" a plant for its future neo-houseplant life behind window glass... Possibly only for the modest purpose of a serenity-promoting hobby if it must - which is why i wouldn't mind about "bananas" much, as long as the plant has a healthy look while it smells good.

Well, anyway at some point i was cultivating spider mites instead, this caused me to loose real opportunities to acquire hands-on experience via trial & error; unfortunately i must admit i thought i had more time ahead before i hit a wall. Perhaps others can succeed with this proposal, that would be my hope because i was finally compelled to cancel under a difficult context at the time:

AFN: The Next Step (2013-Dec-29)​

So far my theory is that under generous artificial light a plant will get a low-profile cotyledon with large healthy leaves that reach 7+ points/fingers leaves early near older nodes. Once moved i would expect the plant to reconfigure by loosing those large leaves at the benefit of new thinner ones - plus the benefits of a proper launch though. My selection of auto-flowering genetic would likely come at a cost but i'm confident it's preferable to grow plants with strong stalks rather than not, naturally... Hence the idea of preparing them to manage until harvest with a future handicap imposed by such marginal cultivation method.

I feel that if you have plenty of light, then 24/0 is nothing more than a waste of electricity.

Please pardon me again if a reply from another member was expected. Personally i consider there's only the aufotems scenario left as candidates for a continuous 24 h/d early vegetative life since i clearly recall i wasn't too impressed with flowering a single Cannatonic even under 550 Watts of mixed CFLs. Of course the problem with sunlight behind a window would be the passage of seasons; at least at my location as i can hardly hope for more than 2 dwarf summer sessions i guess.

Otherwise my option shall be to turn off the lights no sooner than havest day, which would imply hiding a few ladies continuously while i want to appreciate their magical presence often. With my fingers crossed, in hope the wonderful aroma doesn't revive allergy-type reactions...

I'm going to test that theory in my tent by running a single Mars Hydro 300 watt old style on a 32"x32" space. I'll grow some autos I have lots of seed for this. Then I'll grow again using 2 of the same lights run 16/8 ( my normal light schedule ).

Ah, maybe you weren't addressing me after all. In any case i'd comment i'm not happy with this:

IEEE Standard 802.15.4-2011 (as found in ZigBee Data-Logging Meters)​

Such invasion of privacy has to be met with suitable counter-measures and the only one i can imagine is the 24 h/d schedule, while i'm aware in a few other provinces it can get a lot worst and i believe this applies in USA too:

(Civil Asset Forfeiture)​

Please beware! In Harper land even elder cannabis growers risk facing potential life-threatening law-enforcing agressions against their rights and property over a single plant, so i can't ask others something i wouldn't do myself but i still wish there could be a relatively satifying/safe alternative. Window-sill sessions with light supplement during the early vegetative phase might seem an acceptable solution but i can't contribute a solid opinion on this specific matter. Consequetly i'll consider using the [ Follow ] button eventually, which would be a 1st for me on any forum!

Congratulations!



Most certainly i'll be looking forward to read eventual observations drawn from your evaluations, because it shall prove stimulating i'm sure!...

Good day, have fun!!

 

[S!N!STER]

hi all

i have just started my first auto grow and want seeds out of them (allready pollinated)

my question is:
does a longer dark periode, say 14/10, also mean the plants will take longer till they finish or doesn't it matter at all ?

i have read somewhere that for fast auto's you have to lower the lights on period so they have enough time to ripen if you want good seeds..i need to know if this is true or not

am currently running at 14/10 for this reason but if it doesnt make a differrence i gues putting them back to 18/6 or 20/4 would be better right?

 

[pop22]

Again I say, placing rf chokes, etc in the power path of each appliance, and the use of multi-program digital timers can help muddy data collection. I have a timer that can program a different schedule for everyday of the week. Yes eventually a pattern would emerge for on/off times but someone would have to be looking for such a pattern as it is not common. You could even injection disruptive signals into the power stream to scramble any hope of extracting data. If you look into it from an electronics standpoint, you'll see that it won't be that hard to do.

Yes, power companies want to increase revenue for their stock holders ( we ALL should be pushing for municipal power..... ). Collecting data on indoor growing? feasible yes. Likely without a request/warrant from police? I very much doubt it. "Police, can we help you?" " yes, we'd like to report 47,000 suspicious power signatures that MIGHT represent pot growers..........." "Uh huh." We'll get right on that...."

Control your environment, tell no one, don't act suspicious and you'll be fine, no need to create un-needed paranoia.

 

[A Gardener]

Control your environment, tell no one, don't act suspicious and you'll be fine.

You know it.

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations,

...you'll see that it won't be that hard to do.

Considering the huge payload i'm not this confident it's even realistic to hope it can be hidden!... Or at least economically.

Now lets get back to this item anyway:

IEEE Standard 802.15.4-2011 (as found in ZigBee Data-Logging Meters)

So, according to the IEEE Standards organisation:

« The protocol and compatible interconnection for data communication devices using low-data-rate, low-power, and low-complexity short-range radio frequency (RF) transmissions in a wireless personal area network (WPAN) were defined in IEEE Std 802.15.4-2006. »​

In this case "low-complexity" may as well correspond to a data trio of (voltage, current and phase) readings every 5 minutes (e.g. 864 readings daily, worst scenario, that's pretty much about it!)... Honestly i wouldn't expect RF-Choking to effectively mask any valuable information at that rate.

...placing rf chokes, etc in the power path of each appliance, and the use of multi-program digital timers can help muddy data collection.

To me it seems more promising just to get rid of timers (synchronized or not) and follow an elementary 24/0 schedule instead: ZERO "On/Off" events garanteed and i'll bet auto-Flowering genetics are suitable for such basic task.

Yet it doesn't eliminate the risk of remote monitoring for garden activities. Past, present and future...

Collecting data on indoor growing? ... ...un-needed paranoia.

If i were the average citizen being told by my co$tly electricity provider that indoor growing is a "DeLuxe" activity worthy of additional taxation then i might want to believe him and ask where to express my vote, thinking better others than myself!

You see, a day may come when popular media and electricity providers both start pleading with apparent justification that it has become necessary to monitor electric consumption for marginal (read "luxury" use), in order to reclaim juicier taxes, whatever.

So, yep! Collecting data indeed, i'll bet on the average electricity consumer not standing behind anyone else but himslef when such dark days finally arrive. Too bad if money can be saved on police hours in a province where our electricity provider also happens to be our public property, as with the cops i think... So why not directly tip the cops in the process, etc., as it's the same employer! For example...

Not exactly how i view a better world, of course.

Seeking more revenues through electric consumption profiling? Yes, evidently; personally i can envision such a day no sweat, on the land of Harper! Paranoïa is to imagine practical logging meters can echo dense information which would be detailed up to the radio spectrum, where RF-Chokes are traditionally put to work...

Good day, have fun!!

 

[Ram003]

I'm running my light at 18/6 at VEG mode now, channel 1: 20%, channel 2:50%,channel3:100%,channel4, 0%, now it's 35 day

 

[pop22]

There has to be a better option than running your lights 24/7

 

[A Gardener]

There has to be a better option than running your lights 24/7

There is. Jah said "Let there be Light" and there was Light. And he saw that the Light was Good and he separated it from the Night and called it Day.

One Day Babylon shall fall (or at least decriminalize) and I'll grow under the Sun. Til then 24/7.

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations A Gardener,

Jah said "Let there be Light"...

Short of performing biblical miracles it might help to get more luminous light flux for less power expressed in Watts. Additionally, i'd consider hybrid solutions where a significant part of the electrical consumption is switched off-grid to make room for electrical resources needed by indoor cannabis cultivation lights and/or some complementary green-house lighting complement, whatever. The convenient 24-0 schedule compatibility of autoflowering strains renders them desirable in such situations where i'd personally prefer to aim for radio-silence as much as possible, in all possible senses ideally. E.G. 24-0.

So, a better option would be to double the light flux per consumed Watt, for example. Then heat domestic water with cooltube output, etc... Imagine somthing like being able to turn hot water for a dishwasher into electricity for cannabis female plants.

Etc.

Good day, have fun!

 

[Ram003]

http://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/flower-cannabis-plant/
"Indoor cannabis growers typically give their plants 18-24 hours of light per day during the vegetative growth period, and drop down to 12 hours to trigger flowering. Some growers will gradually increase hours of darkness over a period of 2-3 weeks to more closely mimic the outdoor cycle.

Some growers will even give plants a full, uninterrupted 24-48 hours of darkness in order to trigger flowering, prior to commencing the 12/12 cycle. This is thought to assist in achieving a rapid transition to flowering, as the build-up of florigen (“the flower hormone”) is thought to occur mostly at night. As is the case with so many widely-accepted growers’ folk tales, this appears to have little scientific basis. However, studies on inductive dark periods of up to 16 hours for short-day plants have been conducted, and have found no adverse effects."