A Thought.... (first post, by the way)

On lighting. Now that I think, it's a question, not a thought. An off the cuff theory, really.

I'm new to greenery growing and relatively unknowledgable towards everything but the mechanical/construction side of things. That said, I have a lighting theory. It's probably ridiculous but hey...I don't know jack.

Could we in theory, trick the plants into growing faster? Well, not so much growing faster (if anything, it'd be slower I'd think) but to progress faster? To flower, we do 12/12 and the plants know that fall is coming and flowering starts. Could we do say, 8 on 8 off 8 on 8 off (or a variation on these numbers) and so on through veg and into flowering? Would the life cycle of a plant follow suit with our 'shortened' days? Would a seedling become vegetative sooner?

Sorry if this is dimwitted. To me, it seems like a valid question.



And, for those curious, I currently have 2 Auto Lemon Skunk plants in mid-flower as well as an Auto AK x Blueberry in flower. They look haggard, but have had a rough go in life. I'm surprised they're alive really. There is a Juicyfruit x N.L. #5 x Skunk #2 seedling that is doing fantastic as well. 7 set leaves showed today. Lighting is 8 household CFLs of varying wattages (23-42) in a makeshift stealth fridge setup that I somehow managed to build with no real tools. Pics asap, but in another thread

stick to 18/6 and 12/12 no point screwing about with ya plants

No, no. I'm not going to do it with the current ones. I'm just curious as to how it would work. Anyone interested in trying it? I don't have the supplies to potentially waste, personally, or else I'd try it for sure.

Welcome m8. I am going to try and keep it brief. Essentially, you are trying to re-create the wheel. Get yourself a good growers guide. The Medical Growers Bible by Jose Cervantes is a great reference. Basically what you have layed out wont benefit the plants for a couple of reasons. First being, that anything under 12 hours of light will rob the plants of precious light to create pghotosynthesis. Anything 12 hours or less will not allow the plants to vegetate, but rather to switch gears hormonally speaking into the flowering mode. I suspect you would also introduce stress to the plant which ultimately will affect your yield, and maybe even cause unwanted male flowers on an otherwise female plant. Seeds follow in that scenario. Not the best to smoke in my opinion. SO, if it were me, just stick to the 18/6 or 16/8. Either schedule will give you acceptable results, but it is my opinion that 18/6 is the way to go. Hope that helps. And do get yourself a grow guide...you'll avoid a lot of misinformation. These forums are full of young people who dont have any real experience growing. and are all too happy passing on bs info. Thats my opinion. Good luck!

The simple answer to your question is no...


This has been asked again and again and again here.

You know its fine to JUST SAY NO, but it sure makes it nice if we give reasons for our advice, so the noobs can understand "why". No disrespect LVTDY.

i agree people who do crazy things are the people who invented the wheel cause they were sick of carting shit around
i know people have been talking about this whole fucking with the time thing ,im gonna go try find ya thread that i read i while ago about it

Ok. Well put Danky. I have read a few guides over the years and know more than the basics, but certainly not with any working knowledge, with this being my first grow and all. And, as much as this is my first post I have lurked for a while, so I'm not a total failure when it comes to knowing who is in the know and who is more about the hear/say as a poster. You, my new friend, seem pretty on the ball.

Thanks for the info/perspective here, and I will certainly get my hands on Cervantes' book for a future grow (seeing as this one's almost done). If not that one, any others you'd recommend? I'm in Canada, if that makes a difference.

EDIT: Lots of replies while typing the first draft of this one.

NLXSK1, sorry for the redundancy.
Danky, none taken. None at all, no worries.
Jimmy, cool man. Thanks. Much appreciated.