Light cycle question - would it help to imitate nature?

Hi all. Fairly new grower here (now flowering 3rd crop); have an idea and wondering if it's worthwhile.

I just refitted my cabinet with a digital controller that I use to control both lights, fans, and reservoir pumps. Now that I have full control over my lights (limited only by my ability or lack thereof to program), I'm wondering if I can improve my system by varying the light cycles.

I'm not interested in doing anything too radical (like non-24 hour days), because I've read that they're stressfule and don't want any hermies. What I'm thinking is that I can vary the light cycles to mimic nature, i.e. reduce the light period by 4-5 minutes per day, to simulate the transition from longer spring days to shorter days as fall approaches. Presumably this would be more natural and less stressful to the plants, but then again I'm growing indoors and i dunno maybe indoor strains were developed with 18/6 and 12/12 in mind?

Does anyone have any thoughts/experience in this regard? Thanks!


My system: perpetual stealth scrog, 150w HPS flower, 125 flouro veg. No mother plants, cloning 2-3 weeks into flower. Currently growing Nirvana Wonder woman.

short answer... no

nature can support a plant and allow it to survive, but you dont want them to just survive, you want them to thrive...

Nature does not give optimal growing conditions... you have the power to boost your plants potential.... over clock them

Give them as much light as they can handle, allowing a short dark period in veg, which the plants like

indoor strains dont have a different concept of light cycle than outdoor strains, only autoflower do... that is autos(ruderalis) dont care about photoperiod and the rest (sativa/indica) will use the photoperiod as a guide for when to flower and when to veg...

long answer...yes.

go to a nearby woodland....see any thriving plants?
I bet you will...mother nature has had millions upon millions of years of practice...she knows best.
She produces best too...even in spite of denials and the baws of the high tech grower and their puny collective years of comparable practice...

healthy, content, relaxed, and happy plants overclock themselves without any help at all.

i have asked this before and the short answer is no.

it was explained like this....

If you start with 20/4 vegging and decrease it everyday slowly you are getting less and less light daily. If you start with 20/4 and veg till your ready to flower the plant has had maximum lumens for the vegging stage, also by going straight from 20/4 to 12/12 you kick the plant into flowering.

With my last grow, Also 150+CFL+Tubes (and in my journal)... my cheap ass timer continually went off earlier each night by almost a minute.
I had them turning off at midnight, and coming on at noon at the start, then gradually they came on earlier, and went off earlier. My GF would always tell me, "babe, ur lights are about to turn off, and I'd spring up to close my door/set my fans. By the end of about 70 days, my lights were turning off around 11:05 PM. All 4 strains finished great and i didn't have a problem with them turning off sooner/coming on sooner only because I thought that it would mimic natures earlier dusk cycle for fall.
Hope this helped.

whats more important.... how your plant feels, or how much you plant yields?

sputniknz said:

whats more important.... how your plant feels, or how much you plant yields?

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On a smaller scale.. Quality no doubt. But with quality come happiness below and above the surface.

I grow only for myself...small grow...I'm biased. long story short, yeah, i kinda care more how my plant feels, as you put it, far more than what it yields. i for one don't really like being kicked into anything...much less work. that shit is stressful. sure, it makes me produce more in the long run...but it is only fairly passable work at best...not my best. likewise, i'll do everything in my limited powers to be difficult in general and make life a living hell for my tormenting captor. i simply expect no less from my plants...or any creature for that matter...it's a simple matter of respect.

ChubbySoap said:

I grow only for myself...small grow...I'm biased. long story short, yeah, i kinda care more how my plant feels, as you put it, far more than what it yields. i for one don't really like being kicked into anything...much less work. that shit is stressful. sure, it makes me produce more in the long run...but it is only fairly passable work at best...not my best. likewise, i'll do everything in my limited powers to be difficult in general and make life a living hell for my tormenting captor. i simply expect no less from my plants...or any creature for that matter...it's a simple matter of respect.

Click to expand...

Your respect is based off physics. Your ladies in the grow room won't think you're hot.
They won't yield more because you're an arrogant, selfish prick. Quality over yield anyday, and when you're a fan of quality... proper treatment makes the difference!

Yes. that's basically what i said all right.

thank you for restating it in the way i had meant for it to come out.

lmao i do it all the time when i hit flowering usally i start playing with my lights around 5th week less lights by 15 mins 6th week 1/2 hr 7th week my light schedule is 11 hrs light 13 off
seriously a plant will only take 4 to 5 hrs of light thats all it needs when your lights are on all THC is being sweated out lights off plant refurbishes THC levels and adds more as flowering process goes on

funny when i look at my plants during lights on i dont see much growth but after darkness turning lights on its like wow

I wouldnt make less light changes ever. But you can help factor in "recovery days" by dimming your light on an electronic ballast to simulate "foggy" weather.

I have to disagree with chubby...

Sure mother nature gives all these wonderfull plants and such... but you look at those plants growing in nature, they are covered with bugs eating them, diseases, lacking certain neutrients, thirsty for a drink, then a tree will grow over them and steal their light...
they struggle to survive, they are not feeling good as you put it...

nature is cruel and unbalanced

If your goal is to be natural and make the plants happy... let them reach their goal, that is... to seed up and make the next generation

Most people are growing for sinsemilla bud, and plenty of it

There really is no right or wrong answer. The plants will start to flower when they recieve enough darkness which could vary wildly with different strains. Basically 12/12 is accepted as all plants will flower with this photoperiod (or at least almost all IDK) and most indoor strains like you said have adapted to this kind of photoperiod so changing it would probably be more stressful than easing them into it. That's not to say that it is the ideal for all plants or there is no experimentation that could be done but I guess if it aint broke don't fix it.

Thanks for the answers, all.

I guess, if nothing else, I could start shortening the light cycle for the last week or so and see if it boosts resin production.

I've also read of a couple of tricks, like giving one day at around 3-4 weeks where the lights don't turn off, to give an energy boost and accompanying growth spurt. Any suggestions?

you might risk shocking them or turning some hermi or having them try to reveg...

If you want a boost like that, try giving them 13 hours light every day

they do use the night period as well, its not wasted time