20 - 4 veg

Flowki

Flowki

Well-Known Member
Many suggest 18-6 is the best time but is it better from electric stance alone?.

In the winter months it would seem a good idea to go 20-4 for some extra light along with the heating it would provide/save. Could that be pushed to 22-2 or is that not giving the plant enough rest and outweighs the pro of light+heat?.
 
xmatox

xmatox

Well-Known Member
Flowki said:
Many suggest 18-6 is the best time but is it better from electric stance alone?.

In the winter months it would seem a good idea to go 20-4 for some extra light along with the heating it would provide/save. Could that be pushed to 22-2 or is that not giving the plant enough rest and outweighs the pro of light+heat?.
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You can veg 24/0, 22/2, 20/4, 18/6 or even the gas lantern routine of 12 hours lights on, 5.5 lights off, 1-hour lights on, 5.5 lights off, and repeat schedule. Pick your poison.
 
researching

researching

Well-Known Member
It doesnt really matter. I do 24. I may switch to 18/6 for electric costs. There are differing opinions but in the end, use what works for you.
 
Flowki

Flowki

Well-Known Member
researching said:
It doesnt really matter. I do 24. I may switch to 18/6 for electric costs. There are differing opinions but in the end, use what works for you.
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Assuming running a 315/400 would use ''similar'' W per heat put out compared to a similar sized heater then it would come down to if the plant likes more than 18+ hours. That seems to split opinion on 18 vs 20 possibly vs 22 but most seem to lean toward 24 being too much (for the plants). Any thoughts?
 
researching

researching

Well-Known Member
Flowki said:
Assuming running a 315/400 would use ''similar'' W per heat put out compared to a similar sized heater then it would come down to if the plant likes more than 18+ hours. That seems to split opinion on 18 vs 20 possibly vs 22 but most seem to lean toward 24 being too much (for the plants). Any thoughts?
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My thoughts are plants seem to love it and I have no issues. Never done a side by side to see, but I can understand the logic that plants need rest and it gets dark so they obviously rest. My plants are tweekers though and like to stay up and burn the midnight oil.
 
Flowki

Flowki

Well-Known Member
researching said:
My thoughts are plants seem to love it and I have no issues. Never done a side by side to see, but I can understand the logic that plants need rest and it gets dark so they obviously rest. My plants are tweekers though and like to stay up and burn the midnight oil.
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Yeah never thought to look for a side by side, hopefully somebody has documented it. Also makes sense that plants ''may'' need rest but have seen so many things that defy logic, like dwc, vert growing etc etc. Some posting read suggests mj can rest with lights on, should really track down that info for credibility.

If it is true then one would be hard pressed to tell when the plant is ''sleeping'' with the lights on as to know the max photo period and time set for that. For all we know it may be less than 18 if they can in fact sleep with lights on. Maybe strain/age plays a factor too.

Frankenstein would have stitched them an eye each and trained them to wink for yes. ''Are you sleeping''? *wink. ''Note to self: lying trait may be useful i.e do you yield over 1lb''.
 
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ISK

ISK

Well-Known Member
IMO...when you have limited light (such as a few 23 watt CFL's) it can be advantageous to run 24/0, but if you have decent horsepower (such as a 600 watt HPS) then 18/6 is likely all you need. I believe it's called light saturation....your plants can only process so much light, then it just becomes a surplus.

BTW: I tried 16/8 once and was impressed....may try it again sometime
 
Flowki

Flowki

Well-Known Member
ISK said:
IMO...when you have limited light (such as a few 23 watt CFL's) it can be advantageous to run 24/0, but if you have decent horsepower (such as a 600 watt HPS) then 18/6 is likely all you need. I believe it's called light saturation....your plants can only process so much light, then it just becomes a surplus.

BTW: I tried 16/8 once and was impressed....may try it again sometime
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Impressed in what way?.

Was looking into gradual light reductions from 22 down to 12. With some speculation form other findings it would seem they do more of the stretching in veg that way where you can still easily maintain a canopy. Then it won't need much if any canopy manipulation to keep even in flower due to reduced hour jump to 12-12. One would think, if any of that is true it would allow the plant to entirely focus on budding at an even canopy. If that adds weight or even shortens flower time who knows. Seems a lot of wasted effort otherwise. Did you find that 16/8 had effects in that area or was it something else?.
 
ISK

ISK

Well-Known Member
Flowki said:
Impressed in what way?.

Was looking into gradual light reductions from 22 down to 12. With some speculation form other findings it would seem they do more of the stretching in veg that way where you can still easily maintain a canopy. Then it won't need much if any canopy manipulation to keep even in flower due to reduced hour jump to 12-12. One would think, if any of that is true it would allow the plant to entirely focus on budding at an even canopy. If that adds weight or even shortens flower time who knows. Seems a lot of wasted effort otherwise. Did you find that 16/8 had effects in that area or was it something else?.
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When I tired 16/8, I felt the growth rate was better than expected, but there was other factors, as I was conducting an experiment if environment can influence gender. (follow my signature link if interested)
I wouldn't preach 16/8 as gospel truth, but it does have merits to consider
 
oilfield bud

oilfield bud

Well-Known Member
I believe 18/6 is better because when I first started cloning I was having trouble with my clones just looking slumped over and tired. I was keeping them under 24 hrs light, I was recommended to try 18/6 to give them a Lil time to rest and I started getting at least a 90% success rate with an already shady cloning method haha.
 
researching

researching

Well-Known Member
oilfield bud said:
I believe 18/6 is better because when I first started cloning I was having trouble with my clones just looking slumped over and tired. I was keeping them under 24 hrs light, I was recommended to try 18/6 to give them a Lil time to rest and I started getting at least a 90% success rate with an already shady cloning method haha.
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I clone 24hrs too. (:Very high success rate. We all have what works for us. And that is all that matters.
 
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