Anybody tried alternative lighting schedule?

[Connoisseurus Rex]

I'm talking like 6 on 2 off 3 times in a 24 hr period during veg. Anybody ever tried shorter alternating periods of light/dark?

I know I'll catch some shit about it and that's ok. I was just wondering if anyone has ever tried it. If not, I think I'll give it a shot on some of my clones just for shits and giggles.

Thanks in advance.

 

[superbak3d]

Sure if you want them to hermie

 

[torontoke]

A lot of people are running 12:1 or the glr for veg and a few run alternative flower cycles.
Not every idea turns plants hermie

 

[Connoisseurus Rex]

How would they hermie in veg? Surely, when switched to a 12/12, they would flower as normal, no?

I just wanted to see if it made any difference between normal root and foliage stimulus with shortened alternating periods.

I think I'm going to try it out just because. If they do somehow hermie, they're just clones anyhow. No harm, no foul.

 

[torontoke]

What is your goal?
Energy savings?

 

[Connoisseurus Rex]

Just to see the difference in root and foliage growth. Roots are said to grow more during night, though I can't say that's my experience, so I just wanted to see if short spurts of darkness would stimulate root growth more or less and how it would effect foliage growth as well.

I'm thinking it could possibly create a more structured plant, though I could definitely be wrong. It's just a thought I had and couldn't find any info. Curiosity is all.

 

[torontoke]

The gaslight routine or 12:1 is used by a few of us on here.
A lot of negative people will chime in and say why mess with a good thing just use 18/6 and then 12/12 because everyone knows it works.
Only way to really find out is to sacrifice some cuttings and try things. If they are within reason.

I'm not sure I understand the thinking behind what you want to do but its ur playground and ur kids so do with em what u please

 

[Connoisseurus Rex]

Basically, I'm just trying to balance root and foliage growth more to see what difference it could make. The bigger the roots the bigger the plant, so if they are more balanced (as in the root and foliage growth is more balanced the entire 24hr cycle) I suspect it can be a faster growing plant.

I'm not familiar with the 12/1 schedule.

 

[torontoke]

Basically in the early 1900's
Greenhouse gardeners that didn't want their plants to start flowering early figured out if they hung gas lanterns in their greenhouses for an hour during the dark they could keep the plants in veg til they were big enough. That's the old glr.
12:1 is a newer method recently promoted by joe pietri.
12 hours on 5.5 off 1on 5.5 off will keep certain strains in veg using only 13 hrs energy. Followed by a reduced or diminished light cycle for flower

 

[Connoisseurus Rex]

So it's an energy saving tactic when done indoors, right?

I'm still looking at giving them 18hrs of light per 24 cycle, but at intermittent periods for "balance". Let the roots develop at slower steady periods instead of in one large period.

I'm just wondering if it will stimulate more rapid foliage growth during the on periods. More consistency, reduced stretch, and possibly more rapid growth... I guess they would be the goals.

 

[torontoke]

Energy saving and certain science has shown that the plant can only fully process six hours of light at a time. This is where the arguments start.
A lot of people like to say you are trying to mimic the Sun but they couldn't be more wrong.
Indoor gardening is really about trying to be better or at least more efficient than the sun because we are forced indoors.
Because of decades of prohibition and everything else people in the mj world haven't had much room to experiment and try new things.
Only one way to find out

 

[Connoisseurus Rex]

I didn't know about the 6 hr process, I was just guessing. Gives me more confidence in the theory anyway. Thanks for that tidbit.

I'm all for experimenting just for the sake of experimenting. Even if it fails, I'll just have buds with seeds or smaller buds. I'm running hybrid clones, so I won't have a definitive on if it helps/hinders dominant strains. Ought to be cool though.

I'll run 2 on that schedule and 2 on 18/6 and treat them the same way. Thanks again for the info.

 

[torontoke]

The guy who figured out the 6hr experiment was julien tournois.
If your interested in reading up more on the science of it.
Most is directed at the flowering process which is what I'd guess the plants would do using your idea.

 

[Connoisseurus Rex]

You think they would flower? It's definitely in the realm of possibility, leaning more towards probability... But I'll give it a shot. Clones should be finished in about 6 days.

If they flower, I'll keep them on the schedule and note if there are any differences than the clones on the normal 12/12 cycle.

Thanks for the research. I'll definitely check into that very shortly.

 

[Connoisseurus Rex]

I found 2 scholarly articles (the only ones that were in English) on Julien. They weren't super informative, but they did intrigue me enough to buy his book "Reaching for the sun".

Thanks for providing me the opportunity to learn something interesting today.

 

[Budley Doright]

I did try the GLR a few years back on my White Russian and the yields were a bit less and it seemed to stretch more than normal but it's a stretcher to begin with. Never tried it again so hardly definitive. Would love to try it again just for the energy savings alone.

 

[ttystikk]

The guy who figured out the 6hr experiment was julien tournois.
If your interested in reading up more on the science of it.
Most is directed at the flowering process which is what I'd guess the plants would do using your idea.

Thought our ladies needed at least 10 hours of uninterrupted darkness?

 

[torontoke]

Thought our ladies needed at least 10 hours of uninterrupted darkness?

To flower properly that's what I thought aswell.
To keep something in perpetual veg without preflowering at the very least I don't know.
Not much evidence exists showing people's trial n error seems to be available.
Before I started trying things I read so much conflicting info that's why I said f it and just went for it.
Thinking about it now there might be something to look into with the idea of shortening the plants day in general. Like a 6/10 shedule

 

[ttystikk]

To flower properly that's what I thought aswell.
To keep something in perpetual veg without preflowering at the very least I don't know.
Not much evidence exists showing people's trial n error seems to be available.
Before I started trying things I read so much conflicting info that's why I said f it and just went for it.
Thinking about it now there might be something to look into with the idea of shortening the plants day in general. Like a 6/10 shedule

I like how you think, brother.

Mostly, I like THAT you think!

 

[torontoke]