What is the ideal light cycle for vegetative growth of marijuana plants? 18/6 or 24/0? Which one helps the female marijuana plants enter flowering stage with less stress?
As long as the marijuana plants receive light, water, nutrients, adequate temperatures, and air they will photosynthesize. Photosynthesis, of course, is the process in which plants take energy from light (mostly from the blue and red spectrums) and combine that with CO2 and water to produce sugar and release oxygen into the air.
Plants use these sugars on a continuous basis in order to perform metabolic processes and build tissue. Nitrogen (N) is combined with sugar to produce amino acids (protein’s building blocks). This is what plant tissue is made from. When it’s dark, the plant still performs its metabolic processes, respiration, and growth.
It’s possible for the marijuana plant to photosynthesize nonstop to produce energy and growth. Uninterrupted light will not stress the plant. Heat from the lamps can end up hurting the plants, but the light itself will rarely (if ever) be harmful.
Marijuana plants that undergo an 18-6 regimen will only be producing sugars 3/4 of the time. This means they’re only going to grow at 3/4 of their potential. Continuous light will produce bigger plants at a faster rate, which will then lead to higher yields.
Robert