I have one plant and one lamp for it. It may be too late to decide but i would like to know for future references. I been doing 12/12 for light on the plant. I didn't find out about 18/6 until i looked up this site. Why is 18/6 better than 12/12 for vegging? Also, What is the benefits for using 18/6. How does it affect the plant if i am using 12/12 for the whole growth time? No negative feedback or im not going to waste my time replying. Just give some advice to me if you like. Im not a veteran grower just my first plant. Thanxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
For all intents and purpose, a 12/12 regeime will trigger the plant into flower for most strains (there ARE exceptions). The plant actually "feels" the longer dark period that is a change from the summer's longer days. In nature, she veg's for "x" amount of time (+/-3-4 months) then is triggered to reproduce as the onset of fall happens (after the nights start to last longer). Some plants will flower under 13/11 or better, so there isn't a hard and fast rule. It is all strain dependent. Autoflowering is from the genetics of the Ruderalis genotype found mostly in Eastern Europe (Russia) due to short summers and long winters. Nature simply set the plant to flower as fast as can be as the time to produce viable seeds is lengthy and if winter comes too fast, no seeds will continue the strain on.
There is great debate as to wither it is better to Veg for 18/6 or 24/0 and is still out to the masses to proove. I have always used an 18/6 regime because it is my belief that this plant, like most, requires a certain amount of time to process the nutrients it has converted throughout the photosynthesis time of the daylight and even rests at night. We know that the plant doesn't really rest, but it seems that most growth takes place "after hours". Just MHO, so take it all with a grain of salt...
In answer to your question, you certainly can switch to 18/6 or wnatever then go back to 12/12 when you want to flower her. Some growers do this as a matter of fact in that they flower for some time, gain a partial harvest, re-veg for more then harvest a second time. My belief is that this accomplishes nothing more than the plant will ever do under regular circumstanses. Any given plant is genetically pre-determined, That means that as people, we cannot get more from a plant than was in the original plans of that plant. The best we can hope for is to provide every significant factor a plant needs (we'll still fall short) and then hope for the best. The more we invest into taking care of the plants needs, the better the outcome.
