Question about messing with the light cycle a little

Hey everybody, just had a question...

If one's cfl light cycle was on from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am and he was switching it under an hps that is on from 1:00 pm to 1:00 am what would be the best way to go about it?

I have read you should extend the dark period, which would give them a total of 30 hours in the dark.....

If they were moved now they would get 7 hours of the hps and then would be 12/12...

Sorry if it's confusing tried to make it easy to understand. But basically should i give them only 7 hours light then 12/12 or should i just continue their dark cycle for 30 hours.

Thanks for the help

I think you should have thought about this before you started the 12/12 cycle. Just go for the gusto and do the 7 hrs of darkness and at 1pm turn them back on.

Boneman said:

I think you should have thought about this before you started the 12/12 cycle. Just go for the gusto and do the 7 hrs of darkness and at 1pm turn them back on.

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i agree . i think you'll be alright

Thanks for the help guys! It's the other way around actually, the seven hours are when it would be light and at 1 it would be dark. I'm pretty much wonderin is it worth it to sneak 7 hours of light in there or just keep them in dark for 30 hours?

I'm kind of thinking its natural because they get shade, cloudy days, etc. but from what I can find it also says that extending the dark cycle will not really mess with the plant, as long as no light creeps in they can stay dark for a day or two and use up the energy from the light period.

I've given my plants several days of darkness. There's no ill-effects besides very slight stretch(typically from about 3 days). 30 hours? You won't even notice, and neither will the plants.

10-11 hours should be your minimal darkness. Or you interrupt the sex hormone production... and this can cause hermies(it's quite unlikely unless you just keep fucking up their schedule). Light is never an absolute given for a plant in nature. Darkness is always an absolute given. For example, out doors, only 5 hours of direct noon sun is required to grow some nice plants. The rest of the 7 hours of daylight aren't as meaningful. Plants can only use so much of anything in relation to their nutrients, water, air(CO2 and O2, mostly). Unless you can masterfully balance these, no one or two does much better(for the plant) without all three in balance. I always say one needs to check one's genetics, care, then light when growing plants(order of importance). Because more often then not one's lacking the first two, and not the third.

Hermies aren't a big deal. I isolate them to their own area, and deprive them of all their manhood, every last one(hopefully)! It's a constant process though, as the pollen sacs will keep coming back.

yeah thanks again for the help... exactly what I was lookin for