Mother plant lighting schedule

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SmokeyExcursion

Well-Known Member
I was wondering if anybody has experience with using a 6 on/ 6 off/ 6 on/ 6 off lighting schedule or similar for a mother plant? My thinking is that it would keep growth slow for smaller operations. And give less wasted clippings. It also wouldn't get 12hrs of straight darkness to flip to flower. Does anybody have experience with this?

What I want to do is run a mother plant or two in my 2x2 till i can run SoG from clones in my 4x3. Then flower the mother plant(s). And switch strains.
 
anexgrower

anexgrower

Well-Known Member
I would reduce the light to slow the growth of the mother, probably the least harmful way to slow it.
 
Rurumo

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
I would just keep them 18/6, just keep in a small pot and feed them the min amount of nutes to keep them healthy, then just crank up the nutes a bit when you expect you'll need cuttings. I keep my mothers in 4 inch pots and keep them vigorously pruned. I wouldn't mess with what works too much if the mother is valuable, but if it's an experiment, then go for it.
 
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Fruity420

Well-Known Member
I’d say 6/6 would be detrimental to the plant, I’d keep it 18/6.

I wouldn’t recommend ramping up nutes before taking cuttings, definitely not nitrogen. I’d keep the mother on a low nitrogen regime and always take cuttings after giving it a very low N feed.
Do this and take your cuttings after the dark rest to increase viability.
If you’re desperate maybe try a 15-16/9-8 lighting schedule for a mother but anymore dark would see most strains flower.
 
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SmokeyExcursion

Well-Known Member
Brettman said:
Hmm. Im assuming that would still make it flower.
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I was thinking itd have a similar affect as putting a flashlight on it for a little while to keep the plant vegging.


Rurumo said:
I would just keep them 18/6, just keep in a small pot and feed them the min amount of nutes to keep them healthy, then just crank up the nutes a bit when you expect you'll need cuttings. I keep my mothers in 4 inch pots and keep them vigorously pruned. I wouldn't mess with what works too much if the mother is valuable, but if it's an experiment, then go for it.
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I might just play around with this eleven roses seed I just laid to rest and see what happens. Worst case scenario I have to re-veg it
 
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SmokeyExcursion

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the input and advice guys. I guess ill give it a whirl and see what happens. From my understanding flower only happens if its getting 12 or more hours of uninterrupted darkness. Ill be back making a post with the results in 5-6 weeks
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
SmokeyExcursion said:
I was wondering if anybody has experience with using a 6 on/ 6 off/ 6 on/ 6 off lighting schedule or similar for a mother plant? My thinking is that it would keep growth slow for smaller operations. And give less wasted clippings. It also wouldn't get 12hrs of straight darkness to flip to flower. Does anybody have experience with this?

What I want to do is run a mother plant or two in my 2x2 till i can run SoG from clones in my 4x3. Then flower the mother plant(s). And switch strains.
Click to expand...
I tried a schedule called 12-1 this January because of incredible electric bills here. 12 hours on. 5-1/2 off. Then on for 1 hour. Then off another 5-1/2.

Repeat. This guy is a “grow guru” and said veg is normal. I can promise it’s not. I wasted a month watching seedlings creep up.

Try it.
 
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SmokeyExcursion

Well-Known Member
Good to know. Gives me more hope. Ill have results in a few months. I tried my last mother on a 16/8 lighting schedule and it has turned into this monster 5-6 weeks after the flip20210304_180505.jpg
 
GrownAtHighAltitude

GrownAtHighAltitude

Well-Known Member
I replied to this thread but then lost it... I replied to another thread though with my observations of 12/1 and 8/16 -- https://rollitup.org/t/gas-lantern-lighting.1048468/

In short, I'm convinced and I love the way all my plants grow. Battery backed up timer is essential otherwise it can confuse some strains if the lighting cycle shifts after a power outage. I don't notice slow veg at all, but I do notice super tight internodal spacing and slight trichome development in veg on my Tahoe OG cut, like it's just showing off that it's the most potent plant in the room (out of several dozen strains I have vegging atm).
 
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SmokeyExcursion

Well-Known Member
I went ahead and ordered a 2x4 tent and sp3000 mars light. Ive got three seeds in soil. An eleven roses, phantom og and silver frost. Gonna put them all through the light test. Ill make an update after I pull clones off them and veg them a little
 
GrownAtHighAltitude

GrownAtHighAltitude

Well-Known Member
kingromano said:
i use 6/2 schedule for mothers and clones
try you will never 18/6 again
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This works because after 6 hours you are interrupting the hormone cycle with the 2 hours of light. The downside is that you never really establish a "daytime" "night time" routine, but that probably doesn't matter for an indoor grow. You could switch to 8/16 or 12/12 and flower would probably be just fine.

I would wonder though what this would do when transplanting outdoors. Any experience with this?

You can also do the 12/1 schedule with the 12 on as 30 minute on, 30 minute off increments. 5.5 off, 1 on, 5.5 off as usual. I haven't tried this method because I don't like switching the ballasts that much but it does appear to work from others' experiences.
 
kingromano

kingromano

Well-Known Member
GrownAtHighAltitude said:
This works because after 6 hours you are interrupting the hormone cycle with the 2 hours of light. The downside is that you never really establish a "daytime" "night time" routine, but that probably doesn't matter for an indoor grow. You could switch to 8/16 or 12/12 and flower would probably be just fine.

I would wonder though what this would do when transplanting outdoors. Any experience with this?

You can also do the 12/1 schedule with the 12 on as 30 minute on, 30 minute off increments. 5.5 off, 1 on, 5.5 off as usual. I haven't tried this method because I don't like switching the ballasts that much but it does appear to work from others' experiences.
Click to expand...
i was speaking about 6hours on and 2 hours off
 
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