SmokyLungs
Well-Known Member
Has anyone tried a more dark period during flowering instead of 12/12 opinions?
11/13 flower cycle
- Thread starter SmokyLungs
- Start date
MrStickyScissors
Well-Known Member
yes I do 10/13 for about the last 3 weeks
MrStickyScissors
Well-Known Member
opps i mean 10/14 im sorry
SmokyLungs
Well-Known Member
can i ask you why does it speed up flowering? Save electricity? Whats the reason i plan on lowering light time myself
MrStickyScissors
Well-Known Member
I just do it because I feel that it helps them mature. I'm sure people will chime in and call me an idiot but that what I do
Justinsbudzzz
Well-Known Member
I am doing. 13-11 now on indoor got goin.see what happens I heard some people on riu say that it's more like nature at 13 hours light 11 dark I know that when the daylight changed to 13 -11 outside my outdoor plants started budding so idk.. Also I didn't get full sun all day either so that could also be why it's started than. In by far no expert lol
SmokyLungs
Well-Known Member
Opposite and interesting but too much light during flowering can stress it if im not mistaken
MrStickyScissors
Well-Known Member
I think it will take you way longe to finish
MrStickyScissors
Well-Known Member
Iv heard of people doing that and heard of better yields but also I heard it takes longer
Justinsbudzzz
Well-Known Member
Huh well shit... Ha ha like I siad no expert was just gana do it and see what happens. See if what some peeps say is a good. Thing or not but we shall see if it don't go good that's alright I have more clones lol
pineappleman420
Well-Known Member
I do 5on, 1off, 6on, 12off. Ive notice my plants are happier, and increase in quality.
SPLFreak808
Well-Known Member
You flower like that?I do 5on, 1off, 6on, 12off. Ive notice my plants are happier, and increase in quality.
SPLFreak808
Well-Known Member
13/11 first two weeks (MH/BLUE)
12/12 for a month (HPS)
11/13 for the finish (temps drop at this time)
12/12 for a month (HPS)
11/13 for the finish (temps drop at this time)
BobCajun
Well-Known Member
Does it effect yield? I read in one greenhouse book that if you give tomatoes 1-3 hours of dark in the middle of their light period that it increases yield substantially over the same light period on straight. In other words, fewer total hours of light in the day but the same night length. I thought it might cause herming in weed though since it's an irregular photoperiod.That was the only place I ever saw that type of experiment. The theory was that the leaves get light saturated after a few hours and a shorth period of darkness brought the leaves back down to an unsaturated condition so that they would actually absorb light more efficiently when they went back to light. However, Cannabis doesn't get light saturated as easily as tomatoes, it can take huge light intensities before it starts to saturate. Tomatoes saturate at quite low light levels.I do 5on, 1off, 6on, 12off. Ive notice my plants are happier, and increase in quality.
Maybe you could o an experiment with two plants, one where you use 12/12 and the other say 4.5 on, 3 off, 4.5 on, 12 off. The increase in yield increased up to 3 hours of dark in the middle of the light period and then dropped back off with more than 3. If it works with Cannabis then you might be able to actually get a higher yield from a total of 9 hours light than with 12, thereby saving 25% on power. 9 total hours does seem low though, so maybe 1 or two hours would work better than 3. Experiments would have to be done to find the optimal length of the dark interval. Even if the yield and potency are at least equal to a full 12 hours of light then it would be worth doing just for the power savings.
I did try this myself before but only in vegetative mode. It was hard to tell if it improved growth. I didn't do a controlled experiment or anything. I was just trying to save power. They did grow fine though. I got some herms but it may have been the strain.
EDIT: Actually I think it may have been maximum increase in yield at 1 hour dark and then gradually going back down until it reached normal again at 3 hours. But still it would be good to get the same yield with 9 hours total light as with 12 and save on power. But if your goal is maximum increased yield with only an 8% power savings then 1 hour would be the way to go. Again I must stress that experiments would need to be done to confirm that this works with Cannabis like it deos with tomatoes. Tomatoes are a C3 plant and Cannabis a C4. Quite different forms or photosynthesis.
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hotrodharley
Well-Known Member
Do tomatoes hermie?
BobCajun
Well-Known Member
No, it was weed I grew. BTW, the yield increase was pretty dramatic in the tomatoes experiment in the book, like 50%. It was a book I read years ago in a university library. I went back a few years later to try to find again and I couldn't. I have to go by memory. Don't recall the book name. The yield increase was only dry leaf weight though. They didn't actually grow the tomatoes. It was just an experiment and they just used leaf growth.
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Darth Vapour
Well-Known Member
what a person should do is try to mimic mother nature as best as they can so when in flower 12 /12 as weeks progress slowly lowering light hrs to finally last week where a person can get to 10 on 14 off
i have been thinking of changing it up meaning last week bump it back up to 18 /6 hammer them with light although it goes against mother nature
i have been thinking of changing it up meaning last week bump it back up to 18 /6 hammer them with light although it goes against mother nature
BobCajun
Well-Known Member
Yeah I was thinking along those lines too, since an article I read said that experiments showed that THC content was twice as high under 12/12 as 10/12, I figured if you increased it to 16-18 hours light for say the last 3-5 days it might increase potency but not make the buds start reveging yet, which would take at least a week to show up.