Light/Dark Time question

[Toking-24-7]

Hello.

I've grown with 24/h veg cfls before and I've done 12/12 from start with a hps but now I've got a 250wcfl and I'm doing a 16/8 light regime for veg. Is 16/8 sufficient for the plants to veg properly? Thanks.

 

[durka_durka420]

yes it is i use 18/6 every time i veg as i believe plants were ment to have some darkness....so it is perfectly fine

 

[ibjamming]

They won't grow as big as fast with less light. It's a speed/size vs cost/heat issue. you CAN grow with light from 1/23 to 24/0 and your plants health/rate will vary proportionately. There seems to be a "peak efficiency" at around 18/6, the best bang for the buck... The choice is yours.

 

[jasondanzig]

16/8 is not a good veg regime, i run 24/0 for veg and never looked back.

 

[Hank Hemp]

I do 18/6, save me some electric and money. I see know difference using 24hr of light, which I've done.

 

[durka_durka420]

thats your opinion in nature plants have darkness so i like to keep it that way....theres so many different ways to veg so saying something is not a good regime is just plain ignorant its growers choice...every one has its pros/cons in reality....if i could id keep my plants in tune with nature and keep readjusting on off times to match nature...but that would be alot of work to setup.....so what hours you run your lights is up to the grower....

 

[DK2670_01]

I always run my mothers, cuts, seeds and veg on 24/0

But i then give them 24 hours total darknes before going in to 12/12

The last 4 weeks i turn to 13/11

and just before harvest i turn off the light for 48 hours

happy growing

 

[Bud Bug]

The only thing I see 24/7 doing is keeping the nodes tighter as the temp/humidity changes are more stable then with 18/6 but if your room is dialed in and you can control lights on/off temps/humidity there's no reason to not do 18/6.

 

[Space Ghost]

i do 23.5/.5, basically 24/0, but i give the equipment 30 min of rest every day... works for me...

 

[Toking-24-7]

I just wanted to know if 16/8 was ok for stable vegetive growth, not a debate on what light cycle is best.

 

[kal]

I always run my mothers, cuts, seeds and veg on 24/0

But i then give them 24 hours total darknes before going in to 12/12

The last 4 weeks i turn to 13/11

and just before harvest i turn off the light for 48 hours

happy growing

PLease explain ...

Why the 24hour dark period before 12/12?? and why 13/11???

 

[insane420]

PLease explain ...

Why the 24hour dark period before 12/12?? and why 13/11???

Some plants can be notoriously difficult to get the flowering started. Going 24 to 32 hours of darkness is one way of jump starting the process.

insane420

 

[HappynPeaceful]

Space ghost has the right idea in terms of equipment... Your fans and ballasts will last longer and be more efficient if you give them a rest.

and as far as your plants - i believe your plants would if they could for giving them a little rest too. They get tired after a long day just like you and i

 

[smokeymacpot]

Space ghost has the right idea in terms of equipment... Your fans and ballasts will last longer and be more efficient if you give them a rest.

i disagree, the cooling down, heating up and initial start of electrical items is what causes premature failiure. constantly on is better, providing they are sufficiently cooled.
the fans will last longer tho since they are rated for X hours, the longer it takes to hit that, the longer they will last.

i prefer 24/0 for veg, the plants grow very fast with shorter distance between nodes. if you do give them darkness remember that will give more stem growth, so they can potentially grow taller.

 

[Bud Bug]

Some plants can be notoriously difficult to get the flowering started. Going 24 to 32 hours of darkness is one way of jump starting the process.

insane420

I've done that twice and saw no difference in how fast the fist hairs/flowers showed up vs when I flipped them right away. I've seen bigger differences in not letting certain strains get vegged for say 4 days vs flowering them straight with out vegging.

For example I've grown diesel with no stress whats so ever from flipping then straight from babies or even when vegged for say 5 days. On the other hand with OG Kush letting them veg for 4 days vs flipping them right off the bat made a world of a difference on how well the plant grew. The 4 day veg is needed by OG.

I also had a friend of mine do the same thing with PK. The babies came from the same mothers. With no veg they had a very hard time getting going. With 4-5 day veg they were 100% more vigorous when flipped into flower.

 

[Bud Bug]

i disagree, the cooling down, heating up and initial start of electrical items is what causes premature failiure. constantly on is better, providing they are sufficiently cooled.

The only time you'll see ballast fail is not because of on/off cooling/heating times but what they are made off. Good quality copper coil ballast with last for year. I've seen people use 10+ year old Sylvania/Advanced ballast and they still lit the bulb the same way. Capacitors do fail and I'd say about 25% of capacitors have to be replaced within the first 3 years.

Now with the introduction of cheap Chinese made aluminum coil ballast you'll be lucky if the ballast last more then 3 years especially the cheap ass capacitors. The cap/voltage/common/x2/x3 wires on a LOT of those ballast are not very heat resistant and become brittle even after 6 month of usage.