24 hour no dark to 18 and 6??

[rj puff n stuff]

Six of my seven plants have been growing a little over a month and appear to be hybrids, i got the seeds out a bag. The 7th is a indica and had been growing for about 38 days. None of these are showing sex yet. I was wondering if it is ok to begin a strict 18 and 6 hour light schedule. will this help with inducing sex? or should i say speeding up the sex? Thank you for the responses.

 

[bigv1976]

You need to give them 12 hours of darkness to induce flowering.

 

[wbd]

Are they autos or something? Your question confuses me...

Non-ruderalis (not autos) start flowering under a 12/12 cycle...

 

[rj puff n stuff]

Sorry i didnt mean to confuse you. I was just wondering if its ok to switch light cycles and if switching will encourage better growth which will lead to the sex of the plant showing quicker?

 

[Wetdog]

Sorry i didnt mean to confuse you. I was just wondering if its ok to switch light cycles and if switching will encourage better growth which will lead to the sex of the plant showing quicker?

Not really. When the plant is mature, it will show sex (pre flowers), regardless of the light cycle.

Don't put them in a 12/12 unless you intend to flower. There is really no need and it will just stress the plants.

You could take a cutting from each plant, put it in a glass of water and put that under 12/12 to show sex. No need to root, it will stay alive long enough in plain water to show sex.

Wet

 

[Kalebaiden]

Personally I only use the 24 hours of lights for clones and seeldings (under 2 weeks old). After that I put them on a 18/6 schedule because of the rest requirements for a plant. Think of it as a jogger and with 24 hours of light he's jogging all the time with no rest. By giving the plant 6 hours of darkness, it gives the jogger some time to recuperate and time for his muscles to build up. The same theory applies to plants, they need a rest period to develop properly.

Once your plant has started having staggered branching (instead of the branching being opposite it becomes alternate) your plant is physically ready to go into a 12/12 schedule without stress.