First off, thank you for so promptly answering my question from the other day. Much appreciated. Second, what is the best light/dark ratio for flowering. Obviously, I need the light to be a minimum of 12/12 to start flowering, but I have been reading that some people are doing 6/18 (6 hrs light/18 hrs dark). Does limiting the light to only 6 hrs impact the growth rate/size of the buds? Should I transition slowly to a 6/18 schedule by the end of flowering, i.e, start with 12/12 for the few few weeks of flowering, then go to 8/16 for the middle weeks of flowering, and then move to 6/18 for the last few weeks?
I just got back into growing (Finally legal in Michigan), and its been 15 years since I have grown and a lot has changed. Thank you in advance.
That would be a new approach to me. I have heard of DJ Short preaching an 11 / 13 cycle in order to bring out certain phenotypic expressions, but what you propose sounds very different to what I am accustomed to.
I guess the main question – guru level- is what is the needed DLI and at what point of your light cycle is that met. I may know the question, but to hek if I have the answer, sorry.
In general, the longer the night cycle, the quicker they ripen but the smaller the yield. 6 hours seems way short for an indoor day. That’s a common recommendation for minimum hours of full sunlight outdoors to get vegetables to produce so maybe that’s where the idea came from…? Like Chad said, it’s much more common to hear people suggest 11/13 because DJ Short has advocated it for a long time. It’s something you have to find the sweet spot for your own genetics and preferences if you stray from 12/12. I wouldn’t go much less than 10 hours indoors unless you’re limited somehow with electricity or you just want to run an experiment. Good luck.
-T.Meow
I think you have the numbers flipped. The last two weeks Rasta Jeff turned me on to running 18 on 6 off during the flush period or your last two weeks to increase size. I run 11/13 up until week 7 then I flip to 18/6 during the last two weeks so I get the phenotypic expression plus get the size from the last two weeks of extra light as you will get an extra 50% of light and CO2 during those last two weeks.
That’s a new one for me switching to 18-6 the last two weeks of flower. Do you also do the 2-3 days of darkness before you harvest?
I’ll give a thumbs up to that..RJ steered me that direction as well..back to veg cycle for the last 14 days worked well for bulking up.
I’d have to disagree with Hammer D. Going back to veg cycle, in my experience instantly stops the flowering process. (I’ve done it.) As far as the OP, 11/13 is what I do, but you have to make sure the plant is getting enough DLI in those 11 hours. In other words, a weak light source might lower the yield, so if that’s the case, 12/12 would give a higher DLI.
I’ve been thinking the same thing. Hormonally, that plant is going to be a hot confused mess.
I ran 18/6 last grow to end flowering. You can believe whatever you want and it’ll be true, but one time running the method doesn’t make your opinion valid, not does it mine. I’ll tell you all how it does or does not work after real testing, not just I did it once so now I know what it does. That’s how fools grow.
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