What is yall opinion on letting plants set in dark for 36 hours before the light flip from 18/6 to 12/12. Any advice be appreciated.
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seems a bit pointless on flip imo. some people hail by this prior to harvest.
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I haven’t heard it done that way, but at the end of the grow before harvest sure.
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Plants dont live in the dark. All production of energy for growing is light driven. 3 days of dark in any scenario just has the plant idleing. 3 days of dark before harvest are 3 days of no trich production. Bruce Bugbee mentioned no energy…no production and his thoughts were bro science for darkness. Just my opinion.
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The light cycle for growing weed is 18/6 in the seedling and vegging stages and 12/12 in flowering. It lets plants photosynthesize, stretch, bloom, and yield an abundance of sticky buds. this is how I did mine
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Hard pass… no un wanted stress is best. Imagine if the sun didnt come up for 3 whole days. You would be freaking out the entire 72 hours. 
The plants are aware without external intervention.
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Bruce Bugbee suggests that instead do 48 hours lights on for bestter results. I dont do either at home or at work.
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Haven’t heard that either and my last grow was outdoors so no special treatment. Chopped, washed, hung to dry, and cure. This is my first grow in a tent and I’ll probably just chop when she’s done and treat her like an outdoor plant.
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Here’s my 2 cents on this. May be counter to the forum but what I know…
A 24-hour period of darkness before switching to a 12-hour light cycle can help to jumpstart the flowering process in photoperiod cannabis plants. Here’s how it works:
- Signal Transition: The extended darkness period signals to the plant that the days are getting shorter, mimicking the natural transition from summer to autumn. This helps to ensure that the plant recognizes the change and begins the flowering process more uniformly.
- Hormonal Changes: The prolonged darkness helps to reduce the levels of the phytochrome Pfr more quickly. This reduction triggers the production of florigen, the flowering hormone, which promotes the development of flowers.
- Stress Reduction: Some growers believe that this method can reduce the stress on the plants during the transition, leading to a smoother and potentially more productive flowering phase.
Overall, this technique can help ensure a more consistent and robust flowering response when you switch to the 12/12 light cycle.
Photoperiod cannabis plants under 12 hours of light is primarily due to changes in plant hormones, particularly phytochrome and florigen.
- Phytochrome: This is a light-sensitive protein that exists in two forms: Pr and Pfr. During the day, Pr converts to Pfr in the presence of light. At night, Pfr slowly converts back to Pr. [When the plant experiences longer nights (12 hours or more), the level of Pfr decreases significantly, signaling the plant to start flowering]
- Florigen: This is a flowering hormone produced in the leaves and transported to the flowering sites. [The reduction in Pfr levels during long nights triggers the production of florigen, which then induces flowering]
[These hormonal changes are the plant’s way of sensing the shift from longer days to shorter days, mimicking the natural transition from summer to autumn, which is the typical flowering season for many plants]
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