Ramping down light cycle to stay vegging but not flowering

obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
Last year I got several clones from Dark Heart Nursery. They never really vegged or grew much, its 'like they were stuck in a semi flowering mode. I grow outdoors northern Ca area.

Come to find out they likely went from 24 hour light cycle before hitting the dispensary. I had put these outdoors late May, figuring there would be no problems with the natural light cycle getting longer. Wrong! :D

Bought an LED light to keep it on a longer cycle
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Not planning to grow them this way, just for supplemental lighting to keep them in veg. My question is this: Whats the best way to ramp down the need for 24 hours? In the next month I'd like to just leave them outdoors all the time and veg. Also, how hot do these lights get? I can't really hang them so I'll have to set each end on something with the plants underneath and don't want to worry about fire. And...best distance from lights to plants?
 
Lordhooha

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
obijohn said:
Last year I got several clones from Dark Heart Nursery. They never really vegged or grew much, its 'like they were stuck in a semi flowering mode. I grow outdoors northern Ca area.

Come to find out they likely went from 24 hour light cycle before hitting the dispensary. I had put these outdoors late May, figuring there would be no problems with the natural light cycle getting longer. Wrong! :D

Bought an LED light to keep it on a longer cycle
View attachment 4884811


Not planning to grow them this way, just for supplemental lighting to keep them in veg. My question is this: Whats the best way to ramp down the need for 24 hours? In the next month I'd like to just leave them outdoors all the time and veg. Also, how hot do these lights get? I can't really hang them so I'll have to set each end on something with the plants underneath and don't want to worry about fire. And...best distance from lights to plants?
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Just switch to 18/6 or whatever light cycle you want to go to.
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
Thanks. And regarding the light's heat and distance from the plants, does the fixture get hot enough where it's be unwise to set the ends on something to hold it above the plants - and how close to plants should the light get?
 
R

RadicalRoss

Well-Known Member
It's going to depend a lot on the light fixture you've bought. I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to do with that light, it should probably be enough to stop flowering but why bother for an outdoor grow since it's just now becoming summer outside? Days are getting longer, your plants won't flower for quite awhile if you put them outside in the northern hemisphere now.

That light is probably just next to worthless, maybe you could use it to maintain a mother plant or put your clones under.
 
Johnny Lawrence

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
RadicalRoss said:
It's going to depend a lot on the light fixture you've bought. I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to do with that light, it should probably be enough to stop flowering but why bother for an outdoor grow since it's just now becoming summer outside? Days are getting longer, your plants won't flower for quite awhile if you put them outside in the northern hemisphere now.

That light is probably just next to worthless, maybe you could use it to maintain a mother plant or put your clones under.
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He's using it to trick the clones into staying in veg. I've used this technique for the past 3 years. Clones, when taken from an 18/6 or 24 indoor situation, will almost always immediately start flowering if you stick them outside. Doesn't matter if it's April, June, or August. The light is adequate - I do it with A19 bulbs.
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
That's all the light is for, to stop flowering and it's only temporary. Last6 year I put the clones out in May and they were 'stuck' in a halfassed kind of flowering mode, they never vegged
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
Johnny Lawrence said:
He's using it to trick the clones into staying in veg. I've used this technique for the past 3 years. Clones, when taken from an 18/6 or 24 indoor situation, will almost always immediately start flowering if you stick them outside. Doesn't matter if it's April, June, or August. The light is adequate - I do it with A19 bulbs.
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Any advice on reducing the light cycle so they end up outside full time with the natural sunup/sundown schedule? They will be outside all day, just under the lights some additional hours until I figure out how to ramp down
 
osowhom

osowhom

Well-Known Member
that light will be fine i use just a couple LED flood lamps pointed at them it is enough to trick them leave them on 24/7
 
Johnny Lawrence

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
obijohn said:
Any advice on reducing the light cycle so they end up outside full time with the natural sunup/sundown schedule? They will be outside all day, just under the lights some additional hours until I figure out how to ramp down
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Just switch it off when you want them to flower.

Some people run the light on a timer that switches on for an hour at some point after sunset - doesn't really matter when. I set my timer to turn them on about a half hour past sunset(7 to 8p in SoCal) and stay on till like 10ish.
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
osowhom said:
that light will be fine i use just a couple LED flood lamps pointed at them it is enough to trick them leave them on 24/7
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I want to eventually leave them outside under natural light. I have a day room which gets ambient sunlight. Right outside the dayroom is the area in the sun where I'll put the pots/plants. I'm not growing in the ground, so I can move them in and out for LED lights and natural. I want to wean off the lights ASAP so I can leave them outside and not worry about it (and put in larger pots)

Johnny, I don't want the LED for anything else but temporary use, with the rest of the time being outdoors in the sun. I want to end up having the sun control when they flower. I just think throwing them out in the sun now with no additional light hours, I'd end up like I did last year
 
Herb & Suds

Herb & Suds

Well-Known Member
obijohn said:
I want to eventually leave them outside under natural light. I have a day room which gets ambient sunlight. Right outside the dayroom is the area in the sun where I'll put the pots/plants. I'm not growing in the ground, so I can move them in and out for LED lights and natural. I want to wean off the lights ASAP so I can leave them outside and not worry about it (and put in larger pots)
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PLEASE DON"T
Moving plants in an out of natural light is a great way to bring pest into your home and anytime a plant goes from lights to outdoor it needs several days in the shade to adjust to the sun
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
Herb & Suds said:
PLEASE DON"T
Moving plants in an out of natural light is a great way to bring pest into your home and anytime a plant goes from lights to outdoor it needs several days in the shade to adjust to the sun
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Yup, ambient sun in the dayroom, I always start out with a few hours in direct sun, and adding hours each day. But honestly I've had no issues with clones being burned in the sun. And they won't be 'indoors' per se, the dayroom is covered but open on several sides.

Am I doing a bad job on communicating what I'm trying to do?
 
Herb & Suds

Herb & Suds

Well-Known Member
obijohn said:
Yup, ambient sun in the dayroom, I always start out with a few hours in direct sun, and adding hours each day. But honestly I've had no issues with clones being burned in the sun. And they won't be 'indoors' per se, the dayroom is covered but open on several sides.

Am I doing a bad job on communicating what I'm trying to do?
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Sorta but this is my issue ..." so I can move them in and out for LED lights and natural"
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
Haha ok, I'll try again. Clones are for growing outside in sun in pots. If I just throw them out now, after being used to 24 hours lighting they won't veg. I want to use LED to supplement the light hours so they don't flower, and cut down the supplemental lighting so they don't freak out, and then keep them outside permenently. Just looking for the best way to lessen the light cycle slowly so they'll veg until the fall under sunlight
 
Funkentelechy

Funkentelechy

Well-Known Member
I think that what you are asking is, how much can you reduce the light cycle at a given time without causing the plants to flower so that you can over time bring their light cycle close enough to the natural light cycle to allow them to be grown outside with no additional light source?
I don't know the answer to that question, but hopefully, someone with more experience with doing that can chime in.

At the summer solstice in Northern California we get about 15 hours of sun, that's the maximum light hours we get. So, the goal would be to eventually get your light cycle down somewhat close to that cycle, without inducing flowering, before they go outside full time under natural lighting.
 
Johnny Lawrence

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
I
Funkentelechy said:
I think that what you are asking is, how much can you reduce the light cycle at a given time without causing the plants to flower so that you can over time bring their light cycle close enough to the natural light cycle to allow them to be grown outside with no additional light source?
I don't know the answer to that question, but hopefully, someone with more experience with doing that can chime in.

At the summer solstice in Northern California we get about 15 hours of sun, that's the maximum light hours we get. So, the goal would be to eventually get your light cycle down somewhat close to that cycle, without inducing flowering, before they go outside full time under natural lighting.
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It doesn't have to be that technical. Any time in mid to late June, or early July, just remove the artificial light source(or quit moving them to a lit area, if that's what you're doing).

You're over thinking this. Just like indoor growers go from 18/6 straight to 12/12 - it's not necessary to do some slow fade.
 
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