yea, i did a 24 hour dark period before switching to 12/12. Worked well on all the plants, had males picked within 2 weeks, most after 1 week. I had one other plant that i just threw in to the 12/12 light directly from 24 and it took about a full 2 weeks to show gender. I think it does make the transition faster by having a 24, but 36 sounds like it might just put too much stress on the plant.