24/0 vs 16/8

Is there any reason to not go with a 24/0 photo period during vegging?

plants need a dark period its during the dark they grow using all the energy from the light they have gathered during lights on. i have experimented with different lighting schedules and 18/6 does seem best for veg.

shadowdarker said:

plants need a dark period its during the dark they grow using all the energy from the light they have gathered during lights on. i have experimented with different lighting schedules and 18/6 does seem best for veg.

Click to expand...

this is not quite right but its a good try.
a mj plant can photosynthesis 24 hours a day. it dont need the dark period except for in flower. there is only a handful of other plants that can do this.

the 18/6 cycle is more natural and in my opinion grows a lil bit faster. but i been doin 24/7 for years with no probs.




soil

so in your opinion with 18/6 they grow a little faster and its more natural for them but you still use a 24/0??? they dont need a dark period but with 1 they do grow faster. seems to me you just wanna waste electricity. like i said i have experimented with different lighting schedules and 18/6 seems best. and it is during a dark period the plants like to use there stored energy to build. these are my opinions but based upon tried and tested methods. i dont see your argument. i know i stated they need a dark period and this is of my own opinion i know they grow better with 18/6 hence why i gave the advice..

I veg 24 hrs because I have seen nothing other than anecdotal evidence that depriving them of light during this time has any advantage. Show me and I'll change.

Cannabis is a C3 plant and doesn't really require a dark period. CAM plants require a dark period (like cacti/succulents).

The reason why:

(CAM) A form of photosynthesis first described in the family Crassulaceae and since found in many other succulent plants. CAM plants keep their stomata closed during the day to reduce water loss by transpiration. Carbon dioxide can therefore only enter at night when, instead of combining with ribulose bisphosphate (as in conventional *C[SUB]3[/SUB] plants ) it combines with the three-carbon compound phosphoenol pyruvate (PEP) to give the four-carbon oxaloacetic acid. This is then converted to malic acid, which can be stored in the cell vacuoles until daylight, when it is transferred to the cytoplasm. Here it is broken down to release carbon dioxide, which is then fixed in the normal manner. This adaptation allows such plants to flourish in arid habitats but their growth rate is slow. CAM can be induced in certain C[SUB]3[/SUB] plants by water shortage. See also Hatch-Slack pathway.

Click to expand...

CAM plants just have to do things that way because of extreme conditions where they grow (low rainfall in the summer and even less in the winter).

Some people say you get more females with 18/6 than 24 hours of light if starting from seed. I have not really tested this.

shadowdarker said:

so in your opinion with 18/6 they grow a little faster and its more natural for them but you still use a 24/0???

Click to expand...

yes sir. you are 100% correct , i am wasting electricity. i am lazy an never got around to hookin up the timers an re-wiring my lights. they still grow the same , just a lil bit slower , not enough to care about. i dont need to move that fast.

shadowdarker said:

and it is during a dark period the plants like to use there stored energy to build. these are my opinions but based upon tried and tested methods. i dont see your argument. i know i stated they need a dark period and this is of my own opinion i know they grow better with 18/6 hence why i gave the advice..

Click to expand...

i dont have an argument ? i just simply said the plant dont need the dark period. if you would have stated that it was your opinion to begin with ..... i couldnt have said nothing to you.

i have plenty of knowledge an experience to back it , thats why i agree with you that the plant likes the 6 hours of dark more then no dark. thats MY opinion.

as you can see though science tells us the facts an we make our own opinions based of the facts.


you gave great advice. no prob at all shadow...





soil

no worrys man. sorry about that

This is my favorite debate to troll normally but i'll pass today. I just like how people have such passionate opinions.

I have researched it, and the only thing that I can ever find that is backed up scientifically is the argument that more light is good for C3 flowering plants, making specific reference to no benefits to dark periods. On the same note, I think alot of people who see growth spurts from a dark period, they are probably not incorrect. In the dark the plant stretches to find the light, and will likely be noticably taller when you check on her again.

I've also seen arguments regarding plant processes that they can only do in the dark, however I've not been able to find anything to back up that idea at all except speculation.

On the same note, the energy saving from 18/6 could be reason enough. If you are vegging in a schedule where you have to wait for the flower room to clear, and have no trouble reaching desired size, then a schedule of less light can make the most sense.

Though I have seen the arguement that the same electrical usage is used for the same sized plant ultimately because they have to veg longer, thus use the same amount of electricty. I would disagree with this argument based on evidence I've seen, though I have not done side by side tests myself. I don't have a stable enough environment to test anything like that conclusively. My general argument is that at 18/6 light, I think plants grow somewhat slower, but not 20% slower, so it is argueably more efficient use of the light in that respect.

That being said, I try to get as much as I can out of every minute of veg and personally run 24/0 exclusively now.

ill be honest. i veg 24/0 simply because im to lazy to mess with timers lol.

roidrage152 said:

I've also seen arguments regarding plant processes that they can only do in the dark, however I've not been able to find anything to back up that idea at all except speculation.

Click to expand...

I think people tend to just assume all plants are pretty much the same and somewhere along the line heard something about a certain kind of plant needing a dark period in order to grow properly (like cactus or succulents needing a dark period in order to grow a healthy root system)... and therefore assumed all plants must therefore need a dark period to grow a healthy root system. You really don't see these kinds of discussions in more general growing forums (non-cannabis related) where people are more likely to have a broader range of knowledge about different types of plants.

On the other hand, a lot of people don't have optimal growing conditions indoors when the lights are on - mainly that it gets too hot. In that case, having a dark period would give the plants and roots a chance to cool down and might just result in a healthier plant overall. With hydroponic growing especially, letting that water cool down can make a big difference.

That's my take on the argument at least.