What time of the day do you run your lights?

[Gquebed]

Your guy is hurting your yield. DLI, or Daily Light Interval, can be thought of as the total tally of photons your plants get in a given 24 hour period, which takes into account both duration and intensity.

Simply put, the more light, the better, up to the point of saturation- which isn't happening in too many indoor grows because it's extremely expensive. Therefore, a grower wants to get every minute of lights on time s/he can.

Running a schedule of less than 12 hours of light through early and mid bloom is unnecessary and counterproductive in terms of encouraging plant growth. Only in the last weeks does it make much sense to shorten overall day length.

Many people run 13 hours on, knowing their plants will flower with 11 hours of darkness. Still others are experimenting with far red LED lighting at lights out to encourage the night response, all to add another hour of daylight.

And this goes for abnormally long periods of darkness at the beginning or the end of bloom, as well.

So how is it that some are claiming bigger yields on lighting schedules with far less light?

I believe RM3 has a grow or two on here doing 9 on and 15 off...i think it was... and said he has plans to cut to as low as 6 hours of lights on...

After i read an article in HT i think it was about some gas latern routine i tried 10/14 for flower and found no loss of yield at all on a strain i do regularly. In fact, there was a slight gain in yield.... although it was a small enough gain that i cant fairly claim it was due to the lighting change.

But what was very clear to me was that 2 less hours of light did not have any adverse effect at all...

 

[kmog33]

9am to 8pm ATM in my flowering tent. I like them to be up when I am so I can mess with them during the day if I want/need to.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ttystikk]

So how is it that some are claiming bigger yields on lighting schedules with far less light?

I believe RM3 has a grow or two on here doing 9 on and 15 off...i think it was... and said he has plans to cut to as low as 6 hours of lights on...

After i read an article in HT i think it was about some gas latern routine i tried 10/14 for flower and found no loss of yield at all on a strain i do regularly. In fact, there was a slight gain in yield.... although it was a small enough gain that i cant fairly claim it was due to the lighting change.

But what was very clear to me was that 2 less hours of light did not have any adverse effect at all...

You have a point, and I'd say there are likely other factors at work we haven't teased out yet as growers.

I've noticed that those I talk to who run short day schedules talk about better yield per kilowatt, not overall. @RM3 is by no means the only one doing this.

Gas lantern is not a flowering technique, though using it before flower seems to make a difference.

Final suggestion; few serious growers here treat anything found in HT with any more credibility than The Onion. We do our own fuckin research here, firsthand and we share what WE'VE found. IF articles are discussed at all, they're either informational (what's VPD?) or they're actually research papers written by scientists.

 

[Gquebed]

You have a point, and I'd say there are likely other factors at work we haven't teased out yet as growers.

I've noticed that those I talk to who run short day schedules talk about better yield per kilowatt, not overall. @RM3 is by no means the only one doing this.

Gas lantern is not a flowering technique, though using it before flower seems to make a difference.

Final suggestion; few serious growers here treat anything found in HT with any more credibility than The Onion. We do our own fuckin research here, firsthand and we share what WE'VE found. IF articles are discussed at all, they're either informational (what's VPD?) or they're actually research papers written by scientists.

Fair enough...

As for HT.... for the record...i mostly just look at the porn...lol

As for my lighting shed.... i realize that one crop is hardly something to base a conclusion on, but what i found was exactly what you said... i saved a few bucks on electicity on that run so i am trying the same sched on this run with a different strain that i know very well just see what happens....

 

[Jimmyjonestoo]

8am-8pm gives me time after work to care for the garden.

 

[ttystikk]

Fair enough...

As for HT.... for the record...i mostly just look at the porn...lol

As for my lighting shed.... i realize that one crop is hardly something to base a conclusion on, but what i found was exactly what you said... i saved a few bucks on electicity on that run so i am trying the same sched on this run with a different strain that i know very well just see what happens....

And the best tips in the business are an open mind, diligent observation and good notes.

BTW, I was born in Edson. I live in Colorado now, but a visit is definitely on the bucket list.

 

[NVGrower]

My friend, I mean this in the nicest way possible; the commercial scale mmj growing business is not a settled science, and size of op is no guarantee of best practices.

In addition, it's important to understand that the very difference of scale means that what works for each of you is likely to be very different.

Best of luck.

I'm just growing for myself. I'll tell you though, they're getting frosty quick after a 36 hour dark period 6 weeks in before 11-13 and the buds are developing quicker. I also read this will bring out more resin.

I have a chronic bladder pain condition, really seeking out how to get the most potency over yield, any tips on that my friend? I appreciate you jumping in the thread.

 

[NVGrower]

I run a flip schedule (NOT the silly box, though); things flip around 1am and 1pm. I highly recommend this sort of schedule for larger growers, as it means you can reduce your design cooling capacity by half and run it 24/7. The best way to do this is with water cooling, which is also efficient enough to pay for itself on its own merits.

Wait, tell me more. Flip schedule?

 

[ttystikk]

I'm just growing for myself. I'll tell you though, they're getting frosty quick after a 36 hour dark period 6 weeks in before 11-13 and the buds are developing quicker. I also read this will bring out more resin.

I have a chronic bladder pain condition, really seeking out how to get the most potency over yield, any tips on that my friend? I appreciate you jumping in the thread.

If resin production is your goal, start rounding up some UVB T5 lighting. That's going to get you a lot further than darkness.

 

[NVGrower]

If resin production is your goal, start rounding up some UVB T5 lighting. That's going to get you a lot further than darkness.

Switch out those instead of the 1000 watt cooled hood?

 

[ttystikk]

Wait, tell me more. Flip schedule?

Small growers won't benefit as much. The idea is to have two sets of bloom spaces, as equally sized as feasible. Run one during the day and the other at night. This way, the electrical system isn't overtaxed and your HVAC load remains steady.

I suggested water cooling because it handles flip style grows automatically.

 

[ttystikk]

Switch out those instead of the 1000 watt cooled hood?

What's in the hood? What are your goals?

 

[Flagg420]

24/7 in veg room (may run it 20/4 if I run a few auto's) but flower room (currently 2600w on 240v) kicks on 6:30p-6:30a

 

[Skunk Baxter]

1 PM to 1 AM - there's always going to be some part of the lights-on that I'll be home to fuss with the plants.

 

[Gary Goodson]

Small growers won't benefit as much. The idea is to have two sets of bloom spaces, as equally sized as feasible. Run one during the day and the other at night. This way, the electrical system isn't overtaxed and your HVAC load remains steady.

This is how I run my two 3x3 flowering tents and for those same reasons. I kept poping my breaker with 2 600's, fans, and a window ac all on one circuit. So now I run one at night and one during the day. 7am-7pm.

 

[ryan1918]

12am-12pm because its cheaper to run at night due to energy costs and also cooler for when the lights are on so I don't have to run a space heater when lights are on

 

[tyke1973]

Flowering room through the night,summer it's colder at night so helps with temps,bringing in cooler air at nights, plus electric is a tad cheaper at night,for some strange reason

 

[NVGrower]

Flowering room through the night,summer it's colder at night so helps with temps,bringing in cooler air at nights, plus electric is a tad cheaper at night,for some strange reason

It may have to do with how energy trading works. Less trading at night can cause prices to stay low. Maybe that's the mystery of cheaper night power.

 

[ttystikk]

It may have to do with how energy trading works. Less trading at night can cause prices to stay low. Maybe that's the mystery of cheaper night power.

Higher demand in daytime drives down system voltage. Also, lots of utilities charge different rates at different times in order to encourage customers to spread their electrical usage more evenly.

 

[Gquebed]

And the best tips in the business are an open mind, diligent observation and good notes.

BTW, I was born in Edson. I live in Colorado now, but a visit is definitely on the bucket list.

Edson, Alberta?

If that is the case then if you make it up this way dont be shy about giving me a heads up PM. Be happy to show you the garden and share some wares....