24hrs of light durring veg?

Ive always understood that I should have light on for 18hrs & light off for 6... But today I attended a "grow class" and the teacher said 24hrs for veg?

What do you guys do?

Mikey Hustle said:

Ive always understood that I should have light on for 18hrs & light off for 6... But today I attended a "grow class" and the teacher said 24hrs for veg?

What do you guys do?

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Here we go!
Mikey....there are two schools of thought on this. Both sides have good reasons for and against 24/0 vegging. Try searching the threads and you can read the different takes on this method.

Good Luck
YO

haha.. yeah I tried the search method.. Unfortunately almost every thread has the words "light" "18" and "24"

I kept scrolling and said fuck it... I'm sure this issue has been beat to death. But whats your input? What do you do?

well mike i am new here and have tried both ways and what has worked for me with young seedlings is they need rest for root growth when i gave my girls some rest they really took off.

I can tell you that....for the growers in favor of 'rest time'...many seemed to think 20/4 (4 hours dark) was good. And everyone agreed that having the lights off will save $$$ on electricity and give your room and equipment a chance to cool off.

But I'm just a newbie...so I'm just telling you what I read from the bigger kids!

YO

RuchaYolanda said:

I can tell you that....for the growers in favor of 'rest time'...many seemed to think 20/4 (4 hours dark) was good. And everyone agreed that having the lights off will save $$$ on electricity and give your room and equipment a chance to cool off.

But I'm just a newbie...so I'm just telling you what I read from the bigger kids!

YO

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yeah exactly no point having the light run 24/7 .... And i like to think that the dark period is very natural... ( found in nature ) 24/7 light is only found somewhere in the north pole or is it south.. who cares... weed doesnt grow there...

hehe.... well.... I would recommend you go with 18/6 i've seen better growth.. also i do my cloning with 18/6 aswell..... not 24/7.


Evryone i know has the 18/6 for veg.... I found that with a 24 light period your plants dont grow as fast.... it was like watching paint dry.... for me.... guess there used to a dark period some time around the day...

another newbie here as you will see with my question. when i started clones about 10 days ago, i was told to keep the t5 on for 24 by the guy who sold me it. now i am moving them to veg and 18/6. is this going to hurt them? and i don't think this is a problem but my 12/12 cycle started an hour late today (i am 2 weeks in) due to me messing with it. i figured this is probably the same as having a solar eclipse, so no worries. any comments would be great.

right now i use a 24/0 light cycle... i dont have any problem with slow growth at all... in fact growth is 1 to 2 inches a day during veg... but i am thinking about switching to 18/6 but prolly 20/4.. me and MYGIRLS had a long talk about this.. more on that in a minute... there are 2 schools of thought... first is those who choose 18/6 who think plants need rest and those who choose 24/0 and think plants dont... as long as plants have light they will grow... light is what they use for photosynthesis... as long as they are getting light and photosynthesis is occuring they will continually grow... both plant and roots... they will grow faster usually... not to call DWR a liar... and grow taller... plants do NOT HAVE to have rest at all for any reason.... BUT that doesnt nessicarily mean a better plant... now i truley DO NOT believe it is because plants need rest... i think that idea is bullshit at best... i DO however believe this... when plants do not reiceve light during veg growth they stretch to find it... this is obvious when lights are to far away... so it stands to reason that when the lights are off during veg period they stretch then as well... I BELIEVE that the stretching they do allows more light to penetrate deep into the plant and canopy.. more light penetrating = stronger and better growth = higher yields... the node spacing on plants grown under 24/0 light are shorter and tighter, meaning if your light is not strong enough it will not be able to penetrate the plant.. the node spacing on plants grown under 18/6 lights are further apart... so even if your light is not a very strong light it can penetrate each plant and the canopy better and deeper... basically its like this..

18/6 or 20/4 is better to use if your lights cannot give 100% of each plant 100% of the light they can absorb.. so if you dont have 10,000+ lumens per square feet then the stretching that occurs benefits growth by allowing more light to penetrate the canopy...

24/0 is better if you have lighting that does ensure your entire plant can get 100% of the light it can absorb... if your plant and entire canopy can be penetrated by light then there is no need to allow for the stretching...

since almost non of us can garuntee that we have as much possible light that the plant can absorb it seems some dark is beneficial... not that it doesnt do anything else but stretch during the dark... but the light penetration that comes from the stretching is what is truely beneficial...


thats just my 2 cents worth
sampson

18/6 produces healthyer crop,, 24/7 exhausts the poor fuckers,, my plants love their 6 hrs sleep,,

I was always told the dark cycle causes the plant to have a reason to absorb nutrients more. This is coming from the only person I know personally that has a reasonable amount of personal experience. So long as the light is on, the plant has no need to draw, it kind of makes sense. Though the 24 on cycle would most likely be quicker, it may not give the plant as much of a need to lean on the nutes you feed it.
This may not in fact be true, but it does make a good deal of sense to me at least.

Bud Frosty said:

It's all personal preference. I like 24/0 because it allows me to go in and mess with my plants at any hour without having to rig any other lights. And I like to grow bushy, compact plants. I like to prune and shape and such, not in a big hurry.

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yeah...well said...there is not a right or wrong answer...it's just whatever makes sense for whatever reason you decide.

YO

good shit. Thanks guys!!!!

Im gonna do 18/6. It makes more sense & it saves cash.

depends on what light you have. CFL are typically cooler (not to mention less expensive) so you can afford to have em on 24 hours i would think

so if you are in a hurry to get the plants to flower, would you use 18/6 or 24/7.
cheers

sam41798 said:

so if you are in a hurry to get the plants to flower, would you use 18/6 or 24/7.
cheers

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That's a tough one.
If I was goin for tall non pruned plants w/one main cola; 18/6.

If I was goin for shorter, fuller, pruned plants w/multiple shutes; 24/0.

I'm sure different genetics have varying light preferences also. Any good research on the subject would have to be strain specific.

FOLLOW UP!!

I did 20 plants @ 24hrs.. Strains were White widow, Grapefruit Diesel, and Grand Daddy Purple.

Result was amazing. Roots were obviously not as strong. And the plants DID NOT yield as much as my previous grows. Plants didnt look as healthy either. (10 weeks in 24hrs, then into 12/12)

Basically when my veg was 18/6.. I got better results.

Mikey Hustle said:

FOLLOW UP!!

I did 20 plants @ 24hrs.. Strains were White widow, Grapefruit Diesel, and Grand Daddy Purple.

Result was amazing. Roots were obviously not as strong. And the plants DID NOT yield as much as my previous grows. Plants didnt look as healthy either. (10 weeks in 24hrs, then into 12/12)

Basically when my veg was 18/6.. I got better results.

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same here, my plants are a lot more healthy at 18/6 than at 24 straight.