The gas lantern routine - save 30-50% on your energy costs!

Ganjapussy

New Member
Hello RIU!!

It's been awhile since I did anything for my fellow growers, so I thought I'd share a blog I came across.
Earlier today I was really mad so I left my apartment, when I came back I relized what time it was, sence I'm not the type to use timers, I relized that it was an hour past my light scedual. So I was lookin around to see what would this ACTUALLY do, and I found this:



How to reduce the cost of growing cannabis saving 30-50% on your electricty bill using the 12-1 lighting schedule.

The biggest innovator in the history of cannabis in my generation is Reinhard Delp. Not only did he invent and is the holder of the patent for ice water extraction, he has been building flower forcers since 1992. His new solar powered Sun-gate is the leader of the industry. He was the first to feminize seeds and sell them in Europe in the late 90’s. His process was done naturally, without the use of any chemicals.


No one is more copied but seldom Matched than Mr. Delp who to me is the top grower of our generation. The first time he impressed me he showed me 2 plants, planted next to one another, 1 completely covered in powdery mildew, the other completely clean and beautiful. He was developing mildew and mold resistant genetics.

In the late 90’s Reinhard brought back the gas lantern routine that you find in any college grade horticulture book, and applied it to cannabis. Cannabis needs only 13 hours to stay in the vegetative growth stage. The 18-6 lighting schedule in vegetation, actually stress your plants, that never get that much light in one-day outdoors. Cannabis is an outdoor plant. Growing indoors you should copy how it grows outdoors. No Cannabis growing in Afghanistan gets 18 hours of light in growth pattern. Most strains today have some part Indica in their genetic pool. Even equatorial strains don’t get 18 hours of sun a day.

The 12-1 lighting schedule is as follows 12 hours lights on, 5.5 lights off, 1-hour lights on, 5.5 lights off, and repeat schedule. The 1 hour on in between off period fools the plants that stay in vegetative growth state!* Your immediate savings are 5 hours in energy costs daily, as well as your bulbs and equipment lasting longer. But how do the plants react to this lighting schedule?

You see immediate growth response from your plants, they are happy from the added rest time. By day 14 the plants tripled in size. The plants are bushy with twice as many bud sites without topping or bending, In fact when you top and stretch your plants out, you get many more bud sites than you would have had under 18-6 using same procedure of topping and stretching plant, your growing bigger and better and faster.

So your saving 5 hours daily in energy costs, as well as your excellerated growth pattern which also saves you time and energy and equipment use.

In the flowering stage, never use 12-12, start your flowering period at 11 hours on 13 hours off. When your are growing outdoors each day you get less and less sun light, you should copy the way the sun acts naturally in your indoor grow. So first 2 weeks of flower you go 11 on 13 off, the next 2 weeks you go down to 10.5 on 13.5 off, next 2 weeks 10 on 14 off, next two weeks 9.5 on 14.5 off and the last weeks of flower you should be at 9 hours on and 15 hours off. You’ll get bigger and better buds by copying the way the sun light works on cannabis outdoors.

Cannabis is an outdoor plant and you should copy the way it grows outdoors indoors. The only thing that 18-6, and then 12-12 lighting schedule's do is make the energy companies rich as well as the people who sell lights and equipment, the more you use the more you spend. 12-1 lighting schedule is a more natural way to grow indoors and you well have the best results you have ever had and save as much as 50% in energy costs.


Keep in mind ALOT of people will disagree with this. Which is why, I am actually attempting this, while I copy and paste this. I will check back, and show you guys the difference between this light scedual, and the "normal one" and let's see if proof is in the pudding.

You can ask questions all you want, but please don't talk negative about this unless you've tried it. (also with proof)


Happy growing everyone :eyesmoke:
 

Vonkins

Well-Known Member
This is some intrusting shit right here. I'm fucking down on this one. The only thing would be adjusting your timer in flower every other week.
 
the first thing a lot of people are going to ask for is proof. i have found this post to be thoroughly explanatory and informative. its good to know that there's a person trying to throw out a theory which could possibly end up benefiting many growers out there. i hope your experiment ends up as a success, thus leaving us with a proved theory a new way of growing and getting the most out of growing cannabis. thanks for your input and good luck experimenting!!:clap:
+rep
 

Ganjapussy

New Member
This is some intrusting shit right here. I'm fucking down on this one. The only thing would be adjusting your timer in flower every other week.

This is very true. For someone like me, I don't use timers, I have alarms that go off on my clock when to turn lights lol. But if you can find a way. I'm always at home, so.. Thats why this is possible for me
 

Ganjapussy

New Member
the first thing a lot of people are going to ask for is proof. i have found this post to be thoroughly explanatory and informative. its good to know that there's a person trying to throw out a theory which could possibly end up benefiting many growers out there. i hope your experiment ends up as a success, thus leaving us with a proved theory a new way of growing and getting the most out of growing cannabis. thanks for your input and good luck experimenting!!:clap:
+rep

Thank you friend! I will try my best with this! Kudos to you!!
 

gagekko

Well-Known Member
Definitely down for this - if it works. However, since plants seem to act as accumulators/capacitors and store light energy, it would seem that the more light you put it's way the greater the yield.

I mean, nobody here can argue that a plant grown under a 400 watt bulb usually produces less than a plant under a 600 watt bulb - same with the 600/1000 watt relationship. I'd really like to find out more as the post makes sense - however, proof is in the pictures (and even then, not all peeps honest about that either).
 

Metasynth

Well-Known Member
This is very true. For someone like me, I don't use timers, I have alarms that go off on my clock when to turn lights lol. But if you can find a way. I'm always at home, so.. Thats why this is possible for me
Just out of curiosity, why no timers? Sorta seems like a pain in the ass...never go away on vacation?
 

Shik

Well-Known Member
Sub'd. I agree it seems it makes sense to appeal to a more natural side, and if the growth actually benefited I would turn to it as well. I also agree plants collect, store, then use sort of like humans only re-build muscle during sleep. Looking forward to seeing the results!
 

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Hello RIU!!

It's been awhile since I did anything for my fellow growers, so I thought I'd share a blog I came across.
Earlier today I was really mad so I left my apartment, when I came back I relized what time it was, sence I'm not the type to use timers, I relized that it was an hour past my light scedual. So I was lookin around to see what would this ACTUALLY do, and I found this:



How to reduce the cost of growing cannabis saving 30-50% on your electricty bill using the 12-1 lighting schedule.

The biggest innovator in the history of cannabis in my generation is Reinhard Delp. Not only did he invent and is the holder of the patent for ice water extraction, he has been building flower forcers since 1992. His new solar powered Sun-gate is the leader of the industry. He was the first to feminize seeds and sell them in Europe in the late 90’s. His process was done naturally, without the use of any chemicals.


No one is more copied but seldom Matched than Mr. Delp who to me is the top grower of our generation. The first time he impressed me he showed me 2 plants, planted next to one another, 1 completely covered in powdery mildew, the other completely clean and beautiful. He was developing mildew and mold resistant genetics.

In the late 90’s Reinhard brought back the gas lantern routine that you find in any college grade horticulture book, and applied it to cannabis. Cannabis needs only 13 hours to stay in the vegetative growth stage. The 18-6 lighting schedule in vegetation, actually stress your plants, that never get that much light in one-day outdoors. Cannabis is an outdoor plant. Growing indoors you should copy how it grows outdoors. No Cannabis growing in Afghanistan gets 18 hours of light in growth pattern. Most strains today have some part Indica in their genetic pool. Even equatorial strains don’t get 18 hours of sun a day.

The 12-1 lighting schedule is as follows 12 hours lights on, 5.5 lights off, 1-hour lights on, 5.5 lights off, and repeat schedule. The 1 hour on in between off period fools the plants that stay in vegetative growth state!* Your immediate savings are 5 hours in energy costs daily, as well as your bulbs and equipment lasting longer. But how do the plants react to this lighting schedule?

You see immediate growth response from your plants, they are happy from the added rest time. By day 14 the plants tripled in size. The plants are bushy with twice as many bud sites without topping or bending, In fact when you top and stretch your plants out, you get many more bud sites than you would have had under 18-6 using same procedure of topping and stretching plant, your growing bigger and better and faster.

So your saving 5 hours daily in energy costs, as well as your excellerated growth pattern which also saves you time and energy and equipment use.

In the flowering stage, never use 12-12, start your flowering period at 11 hours on 13 hours off. When your are growing outdoors each day you get less and less sun light, you should copy the way the sun acts naturally in your indoor grow. So first 2 weeks of flower you go 11 on 13 off, the next 2 weeks you go down to 10.5 on 13.5 off, next 2 weeks 10 on 14 off, next two weeks 9.5 on 14.5 off and the last weeks of flower you should be at 9 hours on and 15 hours off. You’ll get bigger and better buds by copying the way the sun light works on cannabis outdoors.

Cannabis is an outdoor plant and you should copy the way it grows outdoors indoors. The only thing that 18-6, and then 12-12 lighting schedule's do is make the energy companies rich as well as the people who sell lights and equipment, the more you use the more you spend. 12-1 lighting schedule is a more natural way to grow indoors and you well have the best results you have ever had and save as much as 50% in energy costs.


Keep in mind ALOT of people will disagree with this. Which is why, I am actually attempting this, while I copy and paste this. I will check back, and show you guys the difference between this light scedual, and the "normal one" and let's see if proof is in the pudding.

You can ask questions all you want, but please don't talk negative about this unless you've tried it. (also with proof)


Happy growing everyone :eyesmoke:
I use the decreasing hours of light to force plants to flower and finish "on time". Looking for a program that could control the light by algorithm using natural light schedules for that strain of pot. But I fear it is the fools' errand I accuse others of. I'm no math head or code writer but it would be nice to have a software program so that when you grew Malawi Gold it could time to Malawi times it would really grow under. Regardless of time of year or even time of day of operation.

I simply change my manual timers every other Sunday. Some strains respond to the change by suddenly coming alive in filling out the bud after the first time change and certainly by the second.
 

johnnymcpotts

Active Member
I've been running this method in veg for a few cycles, growth seems the same as when I ran 18/6. I have not run it in flower, I did run 10/14 for a while when I was using LED but 12/12 with HPS and a light mover is what I'm trying now to save some electricity.
 

blacksun

New Member
12/1 is awesome for saving energy/money and keeping the plants in veg.

You use AS MUCH light as possible in flower to increase yield, *without* reverting it to veg. For most strains this is usually 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark. Using less than 12 hours of light in flower just reduces your yield.
 

MyPetSkunk

Active Member
Here are some links where this has been covered. The first one is a long back and forth. I don't see why Reinhard would say the plant only needs 13 hours of light to stay in veg, but then does crazy things with the light to end up with 13 on per day. Why not just run a 13/11 and be done with it? To be safer, run 14/10. Plus, firing up your ballast over and over again and sending it through heat cycles is not good for it or the lights.

https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/446118-12-1-lighting-schedule-has.html
https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/481702-18-6-12-1-help.html
https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/482080-better-lighting-schedule-bigger-growth.html
https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/482366-12-1-bullshit.html
 

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
TW I do not do any 1 hour BS. I simply decrease light hours the last few weeks on long flowering plants like SSH and other sativas.
 

potpimp

Sector 5 Moderator
BTW, here in Alaska we have 22 hours of sunlight a day in the summer. Some of the absolute best pot in history has been grown up here during those crazy long days. But inside, it's irrelevant since the photo-period of all plants is 12/12 for flowering.
 
Interesting post. Thanks for taking the time to write that. I learned somethings.

BTW timers are like 10-15$ man thats weird you dont have one. I bet your just like I use to be. Always up in the room just staring at the ladies literally watching them grow. I use to go no timer cuz I was a broke ass but a couple fed up schedules & some hermis changed that after the first run. Also you can get a 24hr-7day timer and even do the 13-1-5.5 veg lighting. I only use cfl in veg tho anyway. Those 300watt equivalent bulbs are freaking awesome for veg & hardly use any juice. Always HID for flower though.

Regardless of the timer, still a good post. + rep
 

Krondizzel

New Member
BTW, here in Alaska we have 22 hours of sunlight a day in the summer. Some of the absolute best pot in history has been grown up here during those crazy long days. But inside, it's irrelevant since the photo-period of all plants is 12/12 for flowering.
haha, up on the slope, the sun never goes down, it just circles around in the sky!

yeah outdoor would be cool from about... April 1-Summer soltice? Bring em inside after that. I don't like the unpredictability of our summer weather though. Seems like I could get A LOT more light indoors on a consistent basis.
 

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
haha, up on the slope, the sun never goes down, it just circles around in the sky!

yeah outdoor would be cool from about... April 1-Summer soltice? Bring em inside after that. I don't like the unpredictability of our summer weather though. Seems like I could get A LOT more light indoors on a consistent basis.
I sent for pure Mazar I Sharifi seeds (regular non-feminized from Ace through Sea of Seedss) to try to deal with the weather. No outdoor for me last summer in the Mat-Su. Flooding into late Spring, rain all summer, coolest temps in years. Jesus. It's been all indoors for me feeling lucky to be able to drag them out on the deck a while on good days.

Hell we were flooding into Fall along the Knik and Matanuska Rivers and all down the Kenai!
 

THE KONASSURE

Well-Known Member
interesting stuff

I`m guessing male plants in fem seeds would be reduced a lot too ?

I knew that to induce flower all plants needed was 12 hours of darkness but never knew that just 1 hour of light in the middle of the 12 off would keep them at veg so when some people veg under 24 hour light it`s pointless ?

Something I`ve started to do is in the last week of flower instead of turning my lights off for 3 days at the end the last 3 to 6 days of a plants life I kill all the leds I have on it and just run blue spectrum cfl`s I have only tried this on auto`s so was still running them for 20/4 but the extra smell I`m getting at night tell`s me that it`s doing something.

I guess in winter the light gets more blue also the light intensity drops but cfl`s at close range give off a lot of uv so 5700k clf`s at a low`ish intensity on the last few days of a grow to me seam to get the plant smelling nice and looking tasty.

I think I`ll be trying some of this at some point, do you guys think it will work well with aeroponic`s ? as I`m going to expand and build an aeroponic veg section to put my plants into after aeroponic propagation if that go`s well then I shall build an areo set up for my flowering deck.

I knew people in Africa who used to run crazy levels of light but just for 6 hours at a time due to heat so they would just give 6 hour burst`s to break up the dark time for veg and give 12 hours off for night

Never saw any of the bud that came out of that grow just knew people that worked on it, seams like in an effort to avoid heat they were pretty much using some ideas from this method.
 
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