Thoughts on the debate between vegging at 18/6 vs 24/0? I’ve heard a few things from each side that make sense, but wanted to pick your brains to see if there’s a consensus here.
I use 18/6 for veg just to get them a rest.
I’m more of a 18/6 kind of person. Helps cut down on electric bill and gives them a rest.
24/0 for seedlings
18/6 for veg.
20/4 seed to harvest
I’ve been playing around with that lately. I’ve found most plants will grow just fine with 24-0 but some experience adverse effects. Slow growth, wilted look, just in general get a sad look to em. Giving some rest seems to be safest way to keep everybody happy. I’m still early in this experiment though.
18/6 works best for me.
Always found that they do much better with a decent rest / recovery period.
I watched a University lecture on lighting awhile ago & it stated that anything after 17 hours of light is wasted, check one out yourself on YouTube.
Maybe you could manipulate this by waking the plants up with deep red & putting them to sleep faster with far red spectrums so they have a longer period that they can successfully photosynthesise within.
18/6 works best for me for veg. As mentioned plants benefit from a dark cycle.
@CoyoteCody that seems to be the prevailing thought pattern. I asked because I heard a horticulturist give a lecture about lighting cannabis where he says that most people think plants need the rest because they anthropomorphize plants and treat them as people. He says 24/0 for the whole veg is beneficial. However… most everywhere else I search has said 18/6. My fear is that having had her under 24/0 for so long (almost 3 months of veg) because she was going to be a mother, changing the light now will cause her to go hermie when I flower, which will be shortly as I’m just waiting the weather out here in humid GA.
@Oldguy thanks man. I posted my reason for asking above as a reply to @CoyoteCody if you’re interested.
@kellydans thanks once again! You’re a real one
@StarfaLL very interesting! I will definitely search for that. If you remember anything else I can use to find it, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I posted my reason for asking in a reply to @CoyoteCody if you want to find out why I asked. Thanks again!
@Eagles009 I must have a crackhead plant, because she never looks sad at all lol. But I know exactly what you mean… my last grow I had that issue and immediately went to 18/6, but then I watched a lecture that swung me over to 24/0. Shouldn’t they have this down to a science by now? I mean… it IS science, right?
Thanks for the answer man
@GreenSnek same schedule my buddy uses. May be on to something
@Drinkslinger thanks brother. That’s how I did it originally.
@CMichGrower my puny lights probably run me less than my dishwasher thanks for the reply
I dont think that will cause her to go hermie, jumping from 24 down to 12 would be a bigger “shock” to it than cutting down a few hours at a time until you reach 12, that being said i think even if you were to go from 24 to 12 I dont think she will go hermie then either.
I veg my plants at 6/2 and flower with 12/12.
At 6/2 for veg, the plants receive exactly the same amount of light as they would under 18/6 but the plants get a short rest period every 6 hours. This make heat management a bit easier.
Some studies have indicated that growth is more vigorous under 6/2 and that is consistent with my experience. I average about 1# per plant (dried and cured, ready for smoking or vaping). I started growing using 18/6 for veg and switched to 6/2 last year after doing a bit of research.
It is worth noting that very few growers are using 6/2, the vast majority are using 18/6 with excellent results. I am the odd man out on this as well as many other things. LOL
Another point, the “rest” period is a time for the plant to process the nutrients created during the lights on period. Most plants don’t receive full sun for 18 hours each day in the outdoor environment.
That’s interesting , have you used the 6/2 cycle on photos an autos.