is 18/6 better than 24 hours light?

jordisgarden

jordisgarden

Well-Known Member
i have my plants growing in 24 hour light and ive allways done this till i cut it to 12/12 to flower will i get better results if the plants get dark time? does the plant need time to slow down? because thats all they do in the dark is slow down right? whats better 24 or 18/6? any advise greatly appreciated
 
There is great debate on this. I have tried both, and got pretty much the same results and spent the same money on electricity. Some people say the plants need darkness to "rest" and store food. Some say the hell with darkness and go 24. I am still on the fence, and still grow both ways, although I find myself doing slightly more 18/6 out of convenience. I know that was a vague answer, but its my 0.02.
 
Does it make a difference to the plants? If it does, its not a noticeable one.

Does it make a difference on the electric bill? You bet.
 
I like to run 19/5 or 20/4. Why? I've got one strain that likes to semi-autoflower, so I'm constantly babying her to make enough viable clones. The longer light period seems to help somewhat. (The strain's been going a few years, a few mutations and I think it's about time to retire her :lol:)

As far as the off-time not making any difference on the power bill, it all depends what you're flowering under. A couple of fluoro fixtures won't be a big change, but with HIDs, every bit counts.
 
freddiemoney said:
As far as the off-time not making any difference on the power bill, it all depends what you're flowering under. A couple of fluoro fixtures won't be a big change, but with HIDs, every bit counts.
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Well really, its all about wattage. It doesnt make a difference if its HID or flouro. Turning off a 400w flouro setup for 6 hours will help just as much as turning off a 400w HPS for those hours.

I switched to HPS and am using less electricity than my CFL grow. 2 150w HPS's versus 650w of flouro.
 
Very true, I guess what I should have said was a couple of 4 ft. shop lights or the equivalent. I've never ran 400w of fluorescent lighting before though.
 
I run a hald dozen or so CFL's, and i used 24/0 schedule. The way i see it is the 6 hours off wont make any real difference in electric bill because they are CFL's, and since the CFL's dont have as much lumens as the HPS/MH lights i figure the more light they get the better. The only problem i encountered was a bit of stretching, but i beleive it was cuz of my error not the schedule
 
i am not so worried about the bill. i do ok as far as finances go so running 3 100 watt hps and a 4ft floro 2 tube shop light isnt gonna be the deciding factor. having the best conditions for my plants is numero uno. i started with a four foot 2 tube floro and i grew to harvest with it, 6 plants, but the buds were not as thick as i know they could have been so i went out and bought three 100 watt hps lamps ad i have them shining up into the plants to get as much coverage as possible. will this make the buds thicker and denser (better) or am i wasting time and money? thanks guys
 

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The three HPS's are providing 95% of your light in flowering. The tubes are helpful, but the HPS is the real light provider. Im kind of astonished you harvested 6 plants with one 4' shoplight. Were the nugs super fluffy?
 
i had better experience with 24 cared more about results than expense i found i have a little more strechting with 18/6
 
i use 24/0....works great for me....but i also flower and veg in both hps and metal halide....so really its all up to personal preference..:joint::bigjoint:
 
i start them at 18,then work them up to 24 just before flowering.I find this increases the impact when turned to 12/12, making things head harder and quicker.
 
I heard that the 6 hours of rest in the 18/6 cycle is primarily for root development... So the better the roots, but stronger the plant eh?
 
yeah thats kinda similar to what i think as far as 24/0 goes. if you veg your plants 24/0 throughout the entire veg time, and then just slam on the breaks and throw her into 12/12, i would think that the plant would react better, and start the stretch right away, and harder too. I had my plants in 24/0 for 4 weeks, and they were around 11 inches when i pulled the trigger. within a week they were all boardering 3 feet in height. now the plants are all 4 feet including my growbags. i dont have much experience with 18/6 , but i did use it in my last grow for one of my plants, and the results were good, but i cant say how good they were because i used an aggressive LST, and kept my plants under 10 inches throughout the entire grow. 24/0 has great results n IMO id stick with that :D
 
thanks guys im gonna leave em on 24/0 then bang em into 12/12 in about a month. they are allready over a foot tall and this time i want trees. my last grow was the first real grow indoors. first time to fruition anyway. so i guess you learn as you go.....has anyone had it that each grow you get better and better? it seems that way for me.
 
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