Yes, The smaller plant will go into flowering, but make sure that when you add the nutrients that you take into consideration that the smaller plant will be way more sensitive to the nutes. That is an ingenious idea about the "figure eight" wire, I have an aero garden and am pumped that i dont have to manually control the main light anymore. I have seen amazing results by just using the aerogarden without its light and only for the hydroponic system, 15+ grams from 2 125W cfl's! (LowRyder 2's) ..coupling the post by jadeshecky, the best way to ensure the transition is to leave the lights off for atleast 18 hours. and you may notice that the plant continues to grow even while the light is off (stretchy). 24 hours should do the trick, but I trust myself in saying that up to 2 days in the dark is acceptable to the plant, especially in a hydro system that continues to run, its up to you and you will learn better by doing what you think is best. The immediate transition between veg (18/6) and flower stage (12/12) may cause a few days of transition, when the longer period of darkness throws the flowers immediately. I will be tracking this thread, Ive been around for ages, but just now got a username...Peace Ya'll!! Good Luck brothers!