say you r 18/6 and one night timer gets messed with so they only get 4 dark

i hear its supposed to stress plants but how much of a change has to happen to noticeman effectmon the girls? thanks

When I first started growing I use to flop my light schedule around all the time from 18-6 to 24 to 20-4...I would do that for maybe two or three weeks each because I though I was "experimenting" to see what worked best. In actual fact I was in impatient child who was doing senseless things. With that said, I have yet (knock on wood) to herm out a plant, even with doing much more idiotic stuff than that while my plants were in FLOWER. I would think your going to be ok so long as you have good genetics. That is one thing I have always had and I think thats why I havent had a herm problem (yet). If your really super worried about it just keep a close eye on them threw the first two or three weeks of flower but if it were me, I would be more pissed my plants missed two hours of fiber development, and not worry about them herming. Even bad genetics and take a beating in veg and generally turn out ok.

no worries..just get back on schedule

anything above 14 hours per day will result in vegetative growth. Stress is in the flowering, less than 13 hours per day. This causes the plant to flower in attempt to reproduce before its death. Your best bet is to save your timer til flowering, and let your plants grow 24 hours a day. Cannabis needs no dark cycle to grow, and photosynthesis does not occur in a dark period. There is no reason for the plant to rest while vegging; 24 grow, 12 bloom, and you'll have no problems.

These kinds of "experiments" will either just stunt growth, and slow down the whole shooting match, or that will happen, and the stress caused by it will cause your plants to hermie, and you will self pollenate your crop.... I would not suggest and experiments, and stick to the textbook 18/6 for veg, and 12/12 for flowering. I have personally tried different timing, and have seen many other growers employ longer on periods or whatever, and I have never seen, heard, nor experienced any kind of benefits from having done so... Just keep it simple, and focus on other things you can do like using supplemental co2 or trying different nutes, perhaps, as long as you're giving the plants what they need, if they need it, when they need it...

hell ya thanks for the quick response. was thinking since in veg should be ok. justnwanted other opinions as well

bdt1981 said:

i hear its supposed to stress plants but how much of a change has to happen to noticeman effectmon the girls? thanks

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your fine...flowering is the critical time that you will want to "manually" check timers to insure they are going off and on at correct time... better to be safe than sorry!

Having said that, there's nothing wrong with letting plants veg for 24/0 for a while, after they r old enough that they can go without needing rest during veg... I've done it before with no adverse effects when I switched 'em back to 18/6. When I was a new, impatient grower, thinking I was speeding up things, I used to only let my seedlings stay under 24/0, but I just feel like since in nature(unless u live in Alaska), the sun doesn't shine for 24 hours, so in my grows neither should my lights. So, for me, there's no point in trying to rush the process and do things that wouldn't be happenning in nature... U dig?

Exactly... He said it man. Dont f with em during flowering, for sure... 12/12 all the way to harvest during flower... Good luck dude...

lime73 said:

your fine...flowering is the critical time that you will want to "manually" check timers to insure they are going off and on at correct time... better to be safe than sorry!

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Stunted growth does not do it justice, I had like no growth! In any case I've stooped that tomfoolery long ago. I respectfully disagree that 18/6 is ideal. Plants metabolize during the light and build fiber during darkness thus longer periods of darkness allow for more growth. DJ Short veges some of his sativa strains in 13/11. I'm not that intense but I still use 16/8. Which makes sense as in nature there is almost always 8 hours of dark.

GanjaGod420000 said:

Having said that, there's nothing wrong with letting plants veg for 24/0 for a while, after they r old enough that they can go without needing rest during veg... I've done it before with no adverse effects when I switched 'em back to 18/6. When I was a new, impatient grower, thinking I was speeding up things, I used to only let my seedlings stay under 24/0, but I just feel like since in nature(unless u live in Alaska), the sun doesn't shine for 24 hours, so in my grows neither should my lights. So, for me, there's no point in trying to rush the process and do things that wouldn't be happenning in nature... U dig?

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I get you, and have nothing bad to say about that; 18/6 is perfectly ok, as is 16/8 or 14/10. 24/0 will generally give you the tightest spacing between nodes, and larger fan leaves, but the point is to go from beginning to end. As with movies, 90% is the ending, not leaving you hanging or saying, "fuck, that was a waste of my time!". If you wish to use a dark cycle, do so. In my experience, it's been much simpler and easier to operate with lights on for veg, and 12/12 for flowering. Set it and forget it, spend your time on more important things than waiting and watching.

Well said man!