Martian weed?

[KurtDobles]

So after a grow under my belt (turned out okay for a n00b, I think) and all the research I've been doing I had an idea.

A 30 hour day.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this because I have heard of people doing an 18 hour day, but google doesn't turn up anything for a 30 hour light period.

What I thought of doing was vegging under a 400W MH for 20/10 then flowering under a 400W HPS for 15/15.
I'd be using a digital timer* to keep the light on proper schedule, because no 30 hour light timer exists as far as I know.
In theory the plants will need an addition 20% time to flower, so if it takes 60 plant days to flower it will take 72 'earth days' to finish.

I'm really not sure what to expect for an end result, so I'm not going to promise pictures or a super massive yield or anything like that. In fact, if anyone wants to try this themselves I'd love to see the results. Basically I have a good bag seed mum and I'm upgrading my light anyway and would like to try this before I acquire good seeds.

I elieve that the plants will take advantage of the extra light, it will only appear to a human adjusted to a 24 hour day that it will take longer for the plant to go through it's natural cycle. And before anyone has the chance to say it, "Marijuana has evolved to the 24 hour light cycle" yeah I know but I think plants are more flexible than people in this regard.

*My instructions on the 150 said, specifically, do NOT use a digital timer. Should I not use a digital timer and just adjust the lights manually? Can I use one with a digital ballast?

 

[MediScrogs]

good luck with this, i have no idea if it'll work. I think 12/12 is standard for a reason, but experiments are always interesting. Get an analog timer if you can afford it.

 

[KurtDobles]

The problem with an analog timer is they're all made for 24 hours, so I'd have to manually adjust them every day or every other day (kind of a pain in my butt).

 

[RustyShackelfor]

cycle timer mang.

 

[LymphNode]

Yea, if you get a timer that lets you set each day independantly you can easily set a 20/10 cycle.

Not sure why you would want to do this however, after pouring over the lighting chapter of the medical growers bible it seems like the reason that 24/0 or 20/4, etc and 12/12 are preferred is because the extra time on either end of the cycle will essentially be wasted time. The plant needs a 24 hour cycle mainly because the earth operates on a 24 hour scale. Plants naturally are set to a 24 hour clock, while you may be able to alter this with controllable conditions, I don't think that it would be anything but add some undue stress to your ladies. Definitely go for it, just don't use super nice cuttings or seed lol.

 

[RustyShackelfor]

plants will adapt you can flower at 30/12 or 6/12 for dif reasons, both have advantages and disadvantages. if you can veg 24/0 your no longer on a 24 hour cycle anyway you cut it your creating an endless day no end no cycle whatsoever,

i dont know anyone personally who uses 30/12 that was an example that i still think will hold true, although i do know someone who flowers 20/12 and swears by it, but for the cost of a kw ill allways stick with 12/12, and wouldn't be happy with the yeild out of a hastened cycle such as 6/12

 

[Skunkmiester]

The 24 and 12/12 is because that is rotation of the earth and the moon. You can make your plants do whatever you want however there will be no difference in yield as far as increased amount. Plants genetic makeup is designed around the rotation of the moon & earth. People can swear by any other photo period they want but it is futile.

 

[FoCo(No.Co)]

The 24 and 12/12 is because that is rotation of the earth and the moon. You can make your plants do whatever you want however there will be no difference in yield as far as increased amount. Plants genetic makeup is designed around the rotation of the moon & earth. People can swear by any other photo period they want but it is futile.

Do you have any evidence to back this up? Why would a plant that gets (20x60)=1200hrs of light during it flowering cycle yield the same as one that gets (12x60)=720hrs?

There are other factors to consider, but the laws of nature say that an organism which receives more energy(light) produces more biomass(bud).

I've personally never tried this, I dont even know if a plant will bud on a 20/12 schedule. And if it will, will it still finish in 60 light cycles or will it finish in the same number of lights-on hours(12x60)=720hrs/20hrs=36 days? We need to hear from someone who has tried this.

 

[ArcticBlast]

if you want to do a cool planetary experiment with your plants, you should build a pressure chamber, and mimic (some) of the conditions of venus

i bet you'd have buds the size of basketballs lol

ArcticBlast

 

[obscuredbycloud]

Plants have evolved over millions of years with the rotation of the day night cycle.

12/12 mimics fall, which the plants know they are going to die and they need to do their thing. This is programed into the plants.

Why go against nature when everything we are trying to do is help nature.

 

[FoCo(No.Co)]

Plants have evolved over millions of years with the rotation of the day night cycle.

12/12 mimics fall, which the plants know they are going to die and they need to do their thing. This is programed into the plants.

Why go against nature when everything we are trying to do is help nature.

How about hydroponic systems with chemical nutrients? Thats a very unnatural growing condition in which bud size tends to respond favorably.

 

[obscuredbycloud]

How about hydroponic systems with chemical nutrients? Thats a very unnatural growing condition in which bud size tends to respond favorably.

Dude, we are mimicking nature. We are, and in genetics, doing what natures does. The plants don't know it's hydro or soil! They need their nuts, and light....Try growing without calcium. We are exploiting evolution.

 

[obscuredbycloud]

Oh and I don't know anything about the lighting schedule the OP suggested. I am sure there are been studies. If you were really interested I would spend time looking before growing. I'm just pointing out, that it does not seem logical given the evolution of plants.

I just hate to see a grow that could have been better! Good luck!

 

[iSmokeTrees]

Dude, we are mimicking nature. We are, and in genetics, doing what natures does. The plants don't know it's hydro or soil! They need their nuts, and light....Try growing without calcium. We are exploiting evolution.

So what part of nature rains colloidal silver to create feminized seeds?

 

[obscuredbycloud]

So what part of nature rains colloidal silver to create feminized seeds?

Feminized seeds has no place in nature. And never said that we could not manipulate.

But yeah a plant growing in an area with heavy metals such as silver could have a side effect of feminized seeds, however they would probably go extinct. But I digress. Again even that example we are still mimicking / manipulating nature.

 

[bromhexine]

i say give it a shot you never know! ive heard of 7 hours on 20 off and still getting great results. plants are used to nature but life will learn to go on if conditions are changed in their favor. good luck!

 

[EstimatedProph]

I would say you are going against thousands of years of evolution, but hey, who knows? Could work.