It took me a couple of grows to transition from photos to autos. I run my autos at 19/5 start to finish, but even at 18/6 through flower, it's a lot of light. There is a calculation for how much light over how much time (I understand the concept, but have never learned the specifics), and the bottom line is that I ran my 2x4 tent at 300-350w in flower with photos (obviously at 12 hours), but with autos I only run it at around 250w since they are on for significantly longer. If you're running your light hard, like LEDs at 50w/sf, then 12 hours is probably plenty. As a side note, my outdoor autos only got 7-8 hours of direct sunlight and they got pretty big... so with the right 'quality' of light, they can thrive on fewer hours.
I've never seen my plants droop at the end of the day. What kind of lights are you running, and how many watts? What temperature are you keeping your space at? How about the humidity? Just curious, I'm no expert, just trying to keep learning.
I'm using a Mars Hydro TS 600 (100W) and a TS1000 (150W) for 250W total. I've rarely raised the TS1000 past 75-80% since I noticed drooping. I'm also a new grower in the Cannabis context so I've been testing light height and strength differences over the last 2 grows. My average Temps are an average high of 27°C and a low of 20°. These temps aren't at plant level though so take it for what it is. Lights on at 6AM and I notice droop just after 8 or 8:30 PM. I believe part of the droop thing is dependent on where they are for feeding/watering as well though. The one that droops quicker runs the 3G pot dry daily and the GSC takes a day more to get the same pot dryness. Both are fed the same amount, despite the 2 week difference and they both have exhibited the same feeding tendencies throught the grow. I'll assume that comes down to strain and phenotype as well.
4 timber cobs at 185 w 3500k Cree cob and a 150w qb with Samsung 288 chips. I try to keep temperature around 77 or 80 at 50 percent humidity. I'm using a 3x3x6 tent
