Light changes

Hi all,

Just a quick question regarding light changes...

I have a couple of autoflowers in my room at the minute..

And i knkw people have different opinions regarding the light they need.. 18..20..24..12 hours etc

My question is this..

I have no timer so i am turning lights on manually.. But due to working and also been forgetful.. Lol.. I keep getting the times wrong.. Like somedays they might get 18 hours of light.. Other days 22.. Other days 20 due to when i turn them off...

Would i be best to just leave on 24/0 to stop this problem....

Or with them been autos.. Does the amout of light not matter if it varies...

Thanks in advance you kind people

I think that it won't be doing too much harm they way you operate now, but it is best to keep a schedule if you can.
Also, if you are forgetting to turn them off I presume you could forget to turn them on, best to just get a timer they're really cheap.

Yeah you can get a timer for 6 or 7 bucks well worth the investment. Most ppl say 18hrs on and 6 hrs off is best for autos. But I've never heard anyone say changing the schedule back and forth is good. Could be stressful for the plants at worst!

Just leave em on 24/7. My lights have been on since January.

Thanks for the replies everyone.. Sorry for my late reply...

Decided to go with leaving them on 24 hours as people suggested...

My only concern now is that in the last week i have seen very little change in the growth leaving on 24 hours...

Just wondered if they needed time to rest or photosythesize (if thats the right word!).. And wondered if now they have had a bit of time to grow and establish a root... If they would benefit from some rest.. Like 18/6.. Or even 12/12? For the last month

mitzson said:

Thanks for the replies everyone.. Sorry for my late reply...

Decided to go with leaving them on 24 hours as people suggested...

My only concern now is that in the last week i have seen very little change in the growth leaving on 24 hours...

Just wondered if they needed time to rest or photosythesize (if thats the right word!).. And wondered if now they have had a bit of time to grow and establish a root... If they would benefit from some rest.. Like 18/6.. Or even 12/12? For the last month

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A lot of people will say because it can grow under 24hrs if light that it's fine, however, I'd prefer to give them some rest.
After all it is a plant and has evolved over countless years to grow with dark periods.
I believe it also helps with root development allowing dark periods.

I would read either Jorje Cervantes or ed rosenthal or at least have looked at one of the many Grow sites with info like Grow weed easy dot com.

The books are in this page of free links.

http://catnews.org/FREE Pot Books/

Have left lights on 24hours now..

And have had a look at those books some interesting reading especially the jorje cervantes one..

My plants are now into the 4th week.. And i think they are looking ok..

Am only using a 150w bulb.. So just wondered if they will start to fill out a bit in the last month under the light i have? (its the maximum light i can have due to space/heat etc)

It says the site is having problems with uploading pics and stuff.... . But if i do take some pictures of plants.. Would anyone be able to take a look and let me know how they are looking and advise on anything if needed?

Thanks again all

mitzson said:

Have left lights on 24hours now..

And have had a look at those books some interesting reading especially the jorje cervantes one..

My plants are now into the 4th week.. And i think they are looking ok..

Am only using a 150w bulb.. So just wondered if they will start to fill out a bit in the last month under the light i have? (its the maximum light i can have due to space/heat etc)

It says the site is having problems with uploading pics and stuff.... . But if i do take some pictures of plants.. Would anyone be able to take a look and let me know how they are looking and advise on anything if needed?

Thanks again all

Click to expand...

24/0 may be over kill. I keep my autos running at 18/6 in my veg tent with my photoperiod plants and I never have a problem. 24/0 is fine but you can always cut back on that electricity spending if you decide to give it a more realistic lighting schedule.

SonsOfAvery said:

A lot of people will say because it can grow under 24hrs if light that it's fine, however, I'd prefer to give them some rest.
After all it is a plant and has evolved over countless years to grow with dark periods.
I believe it also helps with root development allowing dark periods.

Click to expand...

The assumption that the natural environment is optimal because life evolved in these conditions is a mental trap. Optimal conditions for cannabis do not include hail storms, lightning, or gale-force wind, should we simulate these natural phenomena in our grows, too?

Carbon-3 (C3) plants do not need a dark period, period.

Humans tend to apply human experience to everything, and this is an easy mistake to make.

C4 plants do need a dark period, but Cannabis is a C3 plant. If you give it more light it will simply grow faster. I'm not trying to crawl up your ass, just trying to dispel myths. It doesn't make them sad, or tired, they just grow more.

I'm not advocating one system over another, I'm only trying to keep the facts in play.

Michael Huntherz said:

The assumption that the natural environment is optimal because life evolved in these conditions is a mental trap. Optimal conditions for cannabis do not include hail storms, lightning, or gale-force wind, should we simulate these natural phenomena in our grows, too?

Carbon-3 (C3) plants do not need a dark period, period.

Humans tend to apply human experience to everything, and this is an easy mistake to make.

C4 plants do need a dark period, but Cannabis is a C3 plant. If you give it more light it will simply grow faster. I'm not trying to crawl up your ass, just trying to dispel myths. It doesn't make them sad, or tired, they just grow more.

I'm not advocating one system over another, I'm only trying to keep the facts in play.

Click to expand...

Very interesting mate.. So autos will grow faster under 24hours.. Would make sense as mine have really took off since having on 24.

There is 4 weeks left now approx....

Here is a few pics.. There not the best as had to lift out the room as camera was doing the silly wavey lines when i kept them in there...

Can you all have a look.. And give any pointers..

Michael Huntherz said:

The assumption that the natural environment is optimal because life evolved in these conditions is a mental trap. Optimal conditions for cannabis do not include hail storms, lightning, or gale-force wind, should we simulate these natural phenomena in our grows, too?

Carbon-3 (C3) plants do not need a dark period, period.

Humans tend to apply human experience to everything, and this is an easy mistake to make.

C4 plants do need a dark period, but Cannabis is a C3 plant. If you give it more light it will simply grow faster. I'm not trying to crawl up your ass, just trying to dispel myths. It doesn't make them sad, or tired, they just grow more.

I'm not advocating one system over another, I'm only trying to keep the facts in play.

Click to expand...

I'm not saying that you're wrong, and I don't want to come across as a asshole,
However I would like to see any evidence that the plant will grow indefinitely under 24hrs of light. There will still be a limit it reaches and at that point the extra light is of no use to it. So it makes sense to switch the light off and save money/the environment.
If they do grow indefinitely under 24hrs light, there would be a clear difference of 25%more growth compared to a 18/6 schedule, and I haven't seen this with any plants anywhere yet.

SonsOfAvery said:

I'm not saying that you're wrong, and I don't want to come across as a asshole,
However I would like to see any evidence that the plant will grow indefinitely under 24hrs of light. There will still be a limit it reaches and at that point the extra light is of no use to it. So it makes sense to switch the light off and save money/the environment.
If they do grow indefinitely under 24hrs light, there would be a clear difference of 25%more growth compared to a 18/6 schedule, and I haven't seen this with any plants anywhere yet.

Click to expand...

I am not sure how an individual person would measure that, specifically, I'm not a trained scientist myself. I assume it would take a lot of specialized equipment and hard work. However, there is a ton of science showing C3 plants do not require, nor do they appear to measurably benefit from, a dark period. Search up some scientific literature on other C3 plants, if you're interested. I can't prove it to you, and you're not being an asshole or anything like it. Coming across like an asshole is generally my role...

If you're interested in getting a little science-y about Cannabis, I highly recommend this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Marijuana-Cultivation-Reconsidered-Techniques-MJAdvisor-ebook/dp/B00MV6IPNU/

Anecdotally, I have done it several different ways, and 24/0 definitely grew faster, but that's not always what one wants. I had one plant that was growing obscenely fast on 24/0 and I got behind on watering it one time and it lost a ton of foliage, it didn't end up producing well for me because it was growing too damn fast in veg and I didn't supply it with what it needed.

All things being equal, I have no doubt that 24/0 can result in 25% faster growth, but I totally cannot prove that.

mitzson said:

Very interesting mate.. So autos will grow faster under 24hours.. Would make sense as mine have really took off since having on 24.

There is 4 weeks left now approx....

Here is a few pics.. There not the best as had to lift out the room as camera was doing the silly wavey lines when i kept them in there...

Can you all have a look.. And give any pointers..

View attachment 4017725 View attachment 4017725 View attachment 4017726 View attachment 4017727 View attachment 4017728

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Looks pretty good, keep on doing what you are doing! I don't rock autos, but there's no reason they won't thrive under 24/0. A lot of very good growers will disagree with me on this, and I'm cool with that, they don't have any data either. The biological facts of other C3 plants, some closely related to cannabis, provides supporting, if not explicit, data to back up the shit I'm talking about.

@Michael Huntherz I'm always down for getting scienc-y!
Thanks for the info, I will look into this further.

Hey guys..

Looks like plants have about a month or 3 weeks left to grow..

But under the 150w 24hours they dont seem to be changing at all.. Not filling out much..

I have been given a 400w bulb and ballast and wondered if for the remainder of the grow they would benefit if i switched to the 400w.?.

Would i see any size gains... Will it do any damage to plants.. Will heat be an issue..
If ok to use should i keep on 24 hours.. Or switch tp 18..

Or should i just wait and try the 400watter next attempt

Thanks all

mitzson said:

Hey guys..

Looks like plants have about a month or 3 weeks left to grow..

But under the 150w 24hours they dont seem to be changing at all.. Not filling out much..

I have been given a 400w bulb and ballast and wondered if for the remainder of the grow they would benefit if i switched to the 400w.?.

Would i see any size gains... Will it do any damage to plants.. Will heat be an issue..
If ok to use should i keep on 24 hours.. Or switch tp 18..

Or should i just wait and try the 400watter next attempt

Thanks all

Click to expand...

150 (unless they are uber efficient new midpower leds) is not enough for even one plant, use the 400, if you have space. I can’t tell if heat is going to be an issue because you have not given us enough information to answer that question. Use the 400, or a lot more light of some kind, or give up.

mitzson said:

Hey guys..

Looks like plants have about a month or 3 weeks left to grow..

But under the 150w 24hours they dont seem to be changing at all.. Not filling out much..

I have been given a 400w bulb and ballast and wondered if for the remainder of the grow they would benefit if i switched to the 400w.?.

Would i see any size gains... Will it do any damage to plants.. Will heat be an issue..
If ok to use should i keep on 24 hours.. Or switch tp 18..

Or should i just wait and try the 400watter next attempt

Thanks all

Click to expand...

The more light the better. I’d rock that 400w asap as long as you can handle the extra heat.

Yep i stuck the 400w ballast and bulb in there.. And for the first few hours seemed ok.. Plants even seemed to look like they were getting bigger in that time.. Lol..

But the heat was way too much and i have turned the light off as a few end buds seemed to be drying out to the point of crisping.... Yikes!!... Saved them in time tho..

Going to have to go back to the 150w... As no money at the minute..

Was thinking maybe a 250w bulb and ballast would give off a bit less heat?.

Can i use a 250w bulb in a 400w ballast.. Or does it need to be a 250w ballast..

Have had a read about it but seems to be mixed opinions

Thanks all

mitzson said:

Yep i stuck the 400w ballast and bulb in there.. And for the first few hours seemed ok.. Plants even seemed to look like they were getting bigger in that time.. Lol..

But the heat was way too much and i have turned the light off as a few end buds seemed to be drying out to the point of crisping.... Yikes!!... Saved them in time tho..

Going to have to go back to the 150w... As no money at the minute..

Was thinking maybe a 250w bulb and ballast would give off a bit less heat?.

Can i use a 250w bulb in a 400w ballast.. Or does it need to be a 250w ballast..

Have had a read about it but seems to be mixed opinions

Thanks all

Click to expand...

There are no mixed opinions (I hope) about ballast and hid lights.

You have regular magnetic ballasts that run the same wattage of the hps or metal halide the ballast is made for depending which type or if its switchable between them. Ex. 400w hps mag ballast runs only 400w hps bulbs.

Then there are electronic ballasts that run. Oth hps and mh at a specified wattage. Ex. 400w electronic ballast can run 400w hps or mh.

And there are dimmable ballasts. They can lower the output (or raise with boost on some) but are for a specific wattage. Ex. 600 watt dimmable can dim an hps or mh down to 400w. Maybe 250 but affects the spectrum of the bulb negatively while dimming a little.

And there are select a watt ballasts. They can run different wattages and also dim them. Ex. 1000/600/400w select a watt ballast will run all 3 1000,600 or 400watt bulbs. And will also dim the higher power ones down (or boost).

Ceramic mh bulbs (315 watts) run on a newer designed different type of ballast called square wave or low frequency. They do not run other types of hid bulbs.

The hps and mh electronic ballasts are high frequency.

Hope this all helps.