14 off / 10 on?

I've tried to quicken the flowering time by adding 2 more hrs. of dark for a total of 14 off and 10 on. Whilst the flowers seemed to have matured quicker, the yield suffered by at least 20%! The question being this; By increasing the dark hours, how many days/weeks did this save? I've got a Blue Magoo that started flowering {white hairs visible} 29 days ago (4 weeks). The research I've done suggests this strain finishes in 10-12 weeks! The problem being, she looks much further along than 4 weeks; thrichomes are a range from about 5% clear, 5% amber and 90% white/cloudy. She's a rescue case, given to me at near death! I brought her back from the brink of death and was able to get her to flower once she reached 12" tall.

Why the big rush? I doubt you saved any time whatsoever. Yeah you freaked the plant out making it think winter is coming soon sure enough. But if it doesn't finish PROPERLY, what is the point brother? I would not count that as a saving of time, would count that as a fuckup to be honest... 12/12 mate. There's a reason that this is how it is done. Your statements all seem very uncertain, 'seems' to have flowered faster, but you're certain you lost at least 20 percent yield. I am not all that surprised. I really don't understand why you are, Sir.

14/10 is usually just applied for true /LT sativas~ doubt hybrids or indys need that much darkness imo~

#cheer$

cinandme03 said:

I've tried to quicken the flowering time by adding 2 more hrs. of dark for a total of 14 off and 10 on. Whilst the flowers seemed to have matured quicker, the yield suffered by at least 20%! The question being this; By increasing the dark hours, how many days/weeks did this save? I've got a Blue Magoo that started flowering {white hairs visible} 29 days ago (4 weeks). The research I've done suggests this strain finishes in 10-12 weeks! The problem being, she looks much further along than 4 weeks; thrichomes are a range from about 5% clear, 5% amber and 90% white/cloudy. She's a rescue case, given to me at near death! I brought her back from the brink of death and was able to get her to flower once she reached 12" tall.

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Rule of thumb is 12-12, I've seen strains that don't mind shorter light hours but when your do this solely to speed up the process, there are certainly going to be drawbacks like you mentioned yield or even the amount of vegetative growth of the plant.

Agreed. If it worked like that we could run 4/20 or 6/18 and finish in a month. Truth is, she's ready when she's ready and fiddling with the lights is counter-productive.

For us newer growers {1 year or less experience}, experimentation and mistakes are par for the course. I knew it was going to have an effect on the plants, just not what effect. I'll be returning to a regular 12/12 cycle after this coming harvest. I'm trying to see what works for me using all CFL's; I know, it's not the best but it's what I use and really want to upgrade but can't due to too many factors, I can't count them all! With CFL's, the yield is considerably smaller than those with Metal Halide or Sodium bulbs so, I added more plants (10) @ 12" tall and used 14 off 10 on to get more, faster; didn't work! I'll scale back the # of plants, lower lights more, allow clones to veg. longer and get bigger and return to a 12/12 cycle. Maybe add another fan.

cinandme03 said:

For us newer growers {1 year or less experience}, experimentation and mistakes are par for the course. I knew it was going to have an effect on the plants, just not what effect. I'll be returning to a regular 12/12 cycle after this coming harvest. I'm trying to see what works for me using all CFL's; I know, it's not the best but it's what I use and really want to upgrade but can't due to too many factors, I can't count them all! With CFL's, the yield is considerably smaller than those with Metal Halide or Sodium bulbs so, I added more plants (10) @ 12" tall and used 14 off 10 on to get more, faster; didn't work! I'll scale back the # of plants, lower lights more, allow clones to veg. longer and get bigger and return to a 12/12 cycle. Maybe add another fan.View attachment 2816071View attachment 2816072

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Less plants and bigger pots, but learn to top those plants, they look stretchy, topping will give you extra main colas however they'll need more space around the side of the pot. Make a hood out of Mylar sheets for those CFLs to concentrate as much light as possible downwards toward the plants. Clean those bulbs every now and then since they're not in a hood nicely sealed and usually get dust on them and take away lumens.

You want to be quick go 12/12 from seed/clone or convert to DWC. Oh and get those CFLs almost kissing those tops!!!

I'm already using 3 gal smart pots. I've got (2) 5 Gal. smart pots but that's it. The 3 gals. work fine for the size of Veg. area I'm dealing with. {2'x4' sealed grow tent w/ air + vent.} Thanks @ "cleaning the bulbs", haven't done so since installed. As well as "getting a hood" to direct Lumen's. They're "fairly" close to the tops. As far as "learning to top" I do top often and LST and HST as well. Not this particular cycle but this next one comming.

DWC? I was too quick IMO on a few. They didn't stretch like Mango and Space Bomb. Usually my White Widow is touchy but strong and now she's frail and wispy. The Lumens are totallyu lost in so many ways. Might trade this area for vegging and use my controlled enclosure environment {2'x4' Mylar lined light proof grow tent}.

I'm getting great veg results with mixed CFLs. I just don't like the design for reflection. I think every bulb needs to be in a round hood or half the lights wasted. Those Lotus lights with hoods look very promising. And yes reflective walls are a must!!!

Yeah the lower number of light hours will definitely impact your yield but will usually bring about the sativa side of a strain. At the end of the day whether its 12/12 or 10/14, one light cycle is still only one light cycle so the concept of faster harvest doesn't pan out as well as theorized; I personally do drop to 11/13 and lower my average temp by a few degrees to mimic the shorter days and cooler nights of fall. My avatar is a pic of Grandoggy Purps by Connoisseur Genetics at about 5 weeks into flower. As soon as I move back out to Colorado I'll be able to do another grow and document the journey so I can get some professional opinions on here, I think I got lucky with my first crop turning out to be absolutely flawless lol so I'm prepared for a rougher ride next time.

Reduced light = Faster development but reduced yields.

Yes I too found this lol.

And was back up to 12/12 rapidly.