A customer has a question and I hope we can get some opinions on it, thanks
I have a question if I may. Suppose I am running lights 24 hrs a day. I cut back the lights to under 12 hrs to kick the plants into the budding cycle. I then turn the lights back to 24 hrs when I see the buds are forming. Is this the best way to go or would the budding be more productive if I keep turning the lights off for 12+ hrs a day, or does it make a noticeable difference? Curious if bud production would be enhanced if I didn’t turn the lights back to 24 hrs a day.
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Don’t play with the lights especially if your growing a photo period girl. Once it starts the 12 and 12 cycle you should leave it. Your buds will be stressed and probably full of seeds. If its an auto it can take more light but still needs a night period.
There have actually been a couple studies done with this, and as long as the plant gets a 12 hour dark period at some point, the next lights on can be longer. Say you did 12 hours off then 24 hours on, then 12 hours off and 24 on. The plants stayed in flower. I am unsure of the outcome of the plant. I lost the article mid read. But it was interesting non the less. While I really dont think it would do anything to enhance your buds and i personally wouldn’t try it. The dark period is what keeps the plants flowering.
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Hi and welcome to ILGM forum. Best place ever to get friendly and helpful info.
U sound like a new grower and I don’t want to confuse u with other people’s experiments. So straight forward info is:
2 types of plants.
Autoflowering who don’t care what u do with lights they will do what they want and flower when they want. People usually keep them on a consistent schedule Bc they do not like being stressed with random light schedules or transplants
Photoperiod plants. These plants will stay in their veg stage until u switch your lights to 12/12. Once u switch to flower u need to keep their schedule VERY consistent. Lights on and off at the same time every day. Best advice. GET A TIMER
Experienced growers like to try different things on their plants and that is fine. If something goes awry they usually have the knowledge to fix it. On your first grow I would suggest sticking to the “rules” of growing so u can get the feel for it.
Do u have any pics of your plants. That usually helps people here to help u.
Thanks and welcome again. It will b a much easier process for u if U join the forum and let some of the very experienced and knowledgeable growers help u thru it.
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No.
A photoperiod plant will revert to the vegetative stage and the stress may do more harm than good.
An autoflower plant doesn’t care; it will germinate, vegetate, bloom and die within a finite time period, even under 24 hours of light.
Keep the light/dark cycle consistent at 12/12 with flowering photos. With autos, stick with 18/6 from seed to harvest.
It’s a good way to hermie your plants.
The light cycle is one area where there is little leeway to experiment.
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