Auto vs Photo? Not a flame post.

I have a basic understanding behind auto and photo plants.

I know that Autos are not dependent on light cycles and its a race from day one to harvest.

With photo, they are dependent on light cycles. So 18/6 for grow and then 12/12 for bloom.

My question is: Can you shorten or lengthen the grow cycle with the lights and not shock the plant?

Example: I only have 5 foot grow clearance, can I go 12/12 when plant is 2 feet tall and it will finish about 5 feet. (Assuming the 100% burst growth when you switch)

Or

If I have smaller area or larger area, will having a very short or very long grow light cycle give me any negitive effects before I go into bloom light cycle?

Thanks in advance

Can you clear up your thought process, why would the area of growth have an adverse effect on light cycles?

I have to watch my height as well and I have 7.5' My setup, an upper and lower tote is approx 2.5' leaving 5'. Dont discount the room needed for the light clearance as well. IMO keep the normal light schedule but be prepared to train the plant. I reduce my veg period as well to appr. 20-25 day. I still max out almost every time. I have not grown any auto strains indoors but am planning a outdoor run so have only read about them. It is my understanding that they do need the maximum amount of light to achieve their max potential. Another issue I had was my flower area was to small for the number of plants and there was no real room to move branches away from light without negatively affecting other braches. As far as stretch when flowering my experience is 2 to 3 times height at switch, with my White Russian hitting 3x. Good luck!!!

DroBlowBoy said:

Can you clear up your thought process, why would the area of growth have an adverse effect on light cycles?

Click to expand...

Im thinking in the sense of wanted height. If I want a 3 foot tall plant or a 6 foot tall plant can I dictate that just by changing light cycle sooner or later with out stressing the plant?

I want to try photo, but space may be an issue and I want to know how to control them and not overgrow my space.

Well photo are way easier to manipulate, the plants tend to grow like you said 100% more when they go into flower. I.E. you have a 2 ft tall plant in veg it'll grow to a 4ft plant after flower. you could always keep a 12/12 for photo plants and then they will just flip when they are ready. If your worried about height do a scrog, sog, lst, and top your plants to make bushy short plants, also the strain is a height determinate. Indica, or indica dominate strains, are shorter to their counter part cannabis sativa.

I have done a few 12/12 from seed and would not do them again due to the smallish amounts but just my experience. Try a short veg period and training, topping. Keep the plant numbers down and max out the space with proper training would be my suggestion.

5 feet is plenty of room, just flip to 12/12 when the plants are like a third of what you want the final size to be and sit back and enjoy

My space is a 4x4x6. I can only let my plant get about 2 ft tall before flipping and counting the 5 gallon bucket that's 18 inches added to the plant height so 3 1/2 feet from the ground they go in to 12/12. They still have to stay 1 foot to 1 1/2 feet away from the light so that's 4 1/2 feet taken before they even stretch. 1 inch a day for 21 days is 21 inches almost 2 feet added to the total so around 6 ft maybe a bit more. I will have to do a bit of tying down but I veg my plant for 8 weeks under floros. Here's what they look like 1 week after the flip.You can see it the top right corner my hygro meter hanging this is how close they can get to the light. I still have about 8 inches left to raise the light. They went in at 20 inches and now are 26. Still have lots of room to grow. Hope this helps

Just switch when your plants are a foot and a half....