Vegitative Light Schedule

Is there another light schedule that is just as feasible other than the typical 18/6, for the veg stage. While most of nature (outside the polar regions) doesn’t get that much sun in midsummer, could a 16/8 cycle work just as good? It might slow the growth, but more rest might help in the long run with a more robust crop, due to a well rested girl? Also, are there specific light schedule’s that work best for specific strains? Every other aspect of cannabis cultivation seems to be strain specific, I don’t see why this wouldn’t be a varible to consider. There may not be enough research on the topic to pull legitimate data from now, as far as the strain specific light sched’s.

6 Likes

Any light schedule that gets less than 10 hours of continuous dark will work. I veg on 6/2. :vulcan_salute: :man_mage:

7 Likes

Lighting schedule is independent of strain. The only differences between the strains are the cannabinoid (THC, CBD, CBN,…) content, the terpine profile, and in some cases environmental tolerance and coloration at harvest.

I wouldn’t go less than 16/8 with a photo. Some plants are capable of flowering with as much as 15 hours of light per day.

11 Likes

You’re anthropomorphising your plants. Cannabis doesn’t need “rest” – it can do everything it needs to during veg 24 hours a day. I’m running a 24/0 veg stage at the moment because it reduces temperature fluctuations in the tent.

7 Likes

We see this “rest” assumption frequently. Cannabis is a C3 plant that doesn’t require a dark period to complete all necessary biological processes (other than flowering in the case of photos.)

7 Likes

Lots of research has been done on this topic. Some lighting schedules in flower for some phenos have shown spectacular growth gaines but as it turned out nothing is free. The development of resins was hampered by the increase in vegetation weight per m2.

Veg schedule manipulation has not shown much change in growth that is beneficial outside of a very narrow range but the data samples are very limited. 2 seed companies did GG4 and the resulted for 18-6 used as a baseline showed 19-5 had gains but less than this had issues with stretch and stem thickness issues. I found these just by searching for light manipulation in cannabis about a year ago. I do not recall if either of the 2 addressed more off cycle time.

1 Like

Given proper temperature, humidity, and adequate water and nutrients, growth during veg is a function of DLI. The plants don’t care if that DLI is provided over 18 hours, 24 hours, or anything between.

During flowering, the light schedule becomes more important. Although the usual 12/12 schedule works, some strains produce better with a 13/11 or even 14/10 schedule:

2 Likes

Thank you. I’ve decided to run a 16/8 schedule.

1 Like

Here we go again on this merry go round. If yall dont mind I’m gonna sit over here and roll a couple joints and dabb sone of this badder while yall jab and feint.

This subject is more worn out than a hooker on Bourbon street. But it does make interesting fodder.

Carry on, I’m hunting that jar of crumble.

1 Like