Stoney thinking. Do we REALLY need 12/12?

firsttimegrowing

firsttimegrowing

Member
This morning i woke up and had a little smoke and that got me thinking about my plants and how they were doing in there first day of 12/12
and then i thort Hey i wonder if anyone has proved that 12/12 is best for the plant..
i know thats how much day and night a plant would get if it was growing naturally but i was wondering what would happen if say i put my lights on a 24 off 24 on light cycle or maybe even a 6 on 6 off 6 on 6 off.
Does any know if this would make any difference to the plant?
Just a thought :>
 
mygirls

mygirls

Medical Marijuana (MOD)
firsttimegrowing said:
This morning i woke up and had a little smoke and that got me thinking about my plants and how they were doing in there first day of 12/12
and then i thort Hey i wonder if anyone has proved that 12/12 is best for the plant..
i know thats how much day and night a plant would get if it was growing naturally but i was wondering what would happen if say i put my lights on a 24 off 24 on light cycle or maybe even a 6 on 6 off 6 on 6 off.
Does any know if this would make any difference to the plant?
Just a thought :>
Click to expand...
not sure thats why im doing 12 on and 36 off right now then i will try a plant at 6 on 6 off 6 on and 6 off, but in all actuality i think it would be the same as 12/12.
 
firsttimegrowing

firsttimegrowing

Member
mygirls said:
not sure thats why im doing 12 on and 36 off right now then i will try a plant at 6 on 6 off 6 on and 6 off, but in all actuality i think it would be the same as 12/12.
Click to expand...
12 on and 36 off?
Is that just for the first day of flowering or have you been doing that for a while?
and if so.. why?
iv never heard of 12/36 :P
 
firsttimegrowing

firsttimegrowing

Member
Minnestoner said:
Im sure it would shock the hell out of it.
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Why would it shock the hell out of it?
not like it knows the exact time and when it should be day and night right?
wouldnt it adapt to its surroundings and learn to manage with the lights on and off for a longer or shorter period?
 
AquafinaOrbit

AquafinaOrbit

Well-Known Member
You do 12/12 because thats what nature does and the plant has evolved around that. I also don't think 24/24 would keep a plant in flower and going below 12/12 is waisting time that could be energy. Now vegging say 24/0 then switch to a 15/9 cycle may keep the plant in flower but also provide a longer photosynthesis period.
 
R

reeferMaster

Well-Known Member
if u want it 2 flower you need 12 hours of nite besides that they need full sunlite ...... 16 hours on 8 hours off4 veg, id do it
 
R

reeferMaster

Well-Known Member
15/9,14/10, what i do is slowly change the suns time just like it would in the sky the days get longer for a while and then the days get shorter then it fall, then you replant and then i would slowly increase the lite up probly half an hour on each side every week. that way its kinda like the seasons changeing, during budding im catious when doing this ushally only change it 15 mins i would then slowly make my way 2 10/14. this is my experimental knoledge. i also think when you let the plants dry out 2 much they start 2 bud . one thing i wanted 2 know is how 2 bud and veg in the same room.13on/11off maybe and put the flowing ones farthest from the light???
 
SableZen

SableZen

Well-Known Member
I don't think it matters to the plant. What triggers flowering is when the plant responds to an increased length of the darkness period - relative to whatever light/dark schedule it was on previously... if that makes sense?

Basically the plant has a light sensitive hormone it produces. The hormone only builds up during the dark period and is destroyed by light. As any dark periods increase in duration (days getting shorter as winter approaches), the hormone will build up to a high enough level to trigger other processes that trigger flowering before winter arrives (hopefully). Indoors, people tend to always vegetate with greater than 12 hours of light and the switch to 12/12 which increases the dark period and triggers the same hormonal response that triggers flowering in outdoor plants. It's not a hard and fast rule that 12/12 must be used. So you are right in thinking that other light/dark schedules would work in theory. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 
T

T.H.Cammo

Well-Known Member
SableZen said:
I don't think it matters to the plant. What triggers flowering is when the plant responds to an increased length of the darkness period - relative to whatever light/dark schedule it was on previously... if that makes sense?

Basically the plant has a light sensitive hormone it produces. The hormone only builds up during the dark period and is destroyed by light. As any dark periods increase in duration (days getting shorter as winter approaches), the hormone will build up to a high enough level to trigger other processes that trigger flowering before winter arrives (hopefully). Indoors, people tend to always vegetate with greater than 12 hours of light and the switch to 12/12 which increases the dark period and triggers the same hormonal response that triggers flowering in outdoor plants. It's not a hard and fast rule that 12/12 must be used. So you are right in thinking that other light/dark schedules would work in theory. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
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Yeah! That's pretty much it! It takes about 12 hours of un-interrupted darkness to accumulate X amount of the "Sleepytime" hormone that allows a cannabis plant to maintain itself in flowering mode.

It takes about the same 12 hour period of light to produce a balanced amount of "Wakeuptime" hormone. Otherwise the plant may feel stressed and turn "Hermie". You can "play" with the photoperiod a lot more in veg than you can in flowering, but there is still some "Wiggle-room".

I have tried different variations in the photoperiod - never found a "Magic" combination for flowering! Slight changes, maybe, but nothing major!
 
TeaTreeOil

TeaTreeOil

Well-Known Member
The photoreceptor(pigment) is called phytochrome.

http://plantphys.info/plant_physiology/phytochrome.shtml

It does far more than simply regulate flowering.

10-12 hours are required daily for the plant to produce the hormones for flowering(CONTINUOUS!), phytochrome instructs the plant to do this. However, there is no 'hard coding' of exactly how long a day ought to be.

Basically how it works is extended dark periods will make the plant mature more quickly, usually lowering yield(and hastening harvest time). Extending the light period will slow maturation, and likely increase yield(and also the total time to harvest).

14/10 to 10/14 are typical ranges for the flowering photoperiod.
 
OregonMeds

OregonMeds

Well-Known Member
I've had a lot of plants droop in anticipation of sleep and perk up in the morning in anticipation of light on it's own schedule, seeming to know it's about time for light and dark, so saying they don't have a clue what time it is may not be 100% correct.
 
AirAnt

AirAnt

Well-Known Member
I've been running my plants successfully in an 6/12 schedule to try to speed up the flowering process. I'm doing this because I had some problems with bugs and stress and want to get this grow over with so I can start my next and not make mistakes. About 1-2 weeks left now where else I probably would have been at it for another 3 or 4 at least. My yeild will probably be slightly reduced but not significantly since the plants were already stressed and this way I'll be able to get another grow in before it gets too cold.
 
mygirls

mygirls

Medical Marijuana (MOD)
firsttimegrowing said:
12 on and 36 off?
Is that just for the first day of flowering or have you been doing that for a while?
and if so.. why?
iv never heard of 12/36 :P
Click to expand...
im doing this to one plant threw the whole flower cycle. just to c what happens.so far she looks good.
 
I

Illegal Smile

Guest
reeferMaster said:
15/9,14/10, what i do is slowly change the suns time just like it would in the sky the days get longer for a while and then the days get shorter then it fall, then you replant and then i would slowly increase the lite up probly half an hour on each side every week. that way its kinda like the seasons changeing, during budding im catious when doing this ushally only change it 15 mins i would then slowly make my way 2 10/14. this is my experimental knoledge. i also think when you let the plants dry out 2 much they start 2 bud . one thing i wanted 2 know is how 2 bud and veg in the same room.13on/11off maybe and put the flowing ones farthest from the light???
Click to expand...
Good thought, that is the way nature does it. Too much is given to exactly 12/12, the sun doesn't just switch on and off. But I don't think you can veg and flower together. The dark periods need to be really dark, like 95% dark.
 
Ghost420

Ghost420

Well-Known Member
the dark cycle allows the photo-chromes to build up initiating flowering. its not to say that 12/12 is the time you need rather manipulating the enviroment.
 
mygirls

mygirls

Medical Marijuana (MOD)
firsttimegrowing said:
This morning i woke up and had a little smoke and that got me thinking about my plants and how they were doing in there first day of 12/12
and then i thort Hey i wonder if anyone has proved that 12/12 is best for the plant..
i know thats how much day and night a plant would get if it was growing naturally but i was wondering what would happen if say i put my lights on a 24 off 24 on light cycle or maybe even a 6 on 6 off 6 on 6 off.
Does any know if this would make any difference to the plant?
Just a thought :>
Click to expand...
9 days from 12/12. two diffrent strains also..:weed:
 

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firsttimegrowing

firsttimegrowing

Member
Thanks for all the feedback guys there is some really useful information going around and im glad that other people have being thinking about this too.
I think im gonna stick with 12/12 for flowering, the thought of 6/6/6/6 and 24/24 sounds cool in a different kind of way but what iv read so far 12/12 is the best and easiest way to flower so ill keep it simple :P
 
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