My 8hr flowering experiment

[ttystikk]

I tried something like this a few years ago but was doing 8 hr days and nights but abandoned it do to having to manually control the lights. couldn't find a countdown timer to flip the lights every 8 hours. the plants were flowering but no idea if the flowering cycle could be done 1/3rd faster which was the original point of the experiment.
Glad to see others trying there own experiments with light cycles

There are now cycle timers that will support schedules other than 24 hours.

Whether it would accelerate the blooming process is a fascinating question!

 

[torontoke]

There are now cycle timers that will support schedules other than 24 hours.

Whether it would accelerate the blooming process is a fascinating question!

There is no question anymore sir.
I am now 100% convinced
Using glr then switching to 8/16 I save at least a week in the transition time alone.
Plus the quicker flowering shaving another handful of days I'd say I should trim 10-14days earlier then if I was doing 18/6 then 12/12.
Now whether these numbers would work with your vert setup is another question all together.

Give me a month or two and stay tuned. I got a few new ideas to put into play and we shall see what happens. The experiment is being up sized a lil bit

 

[JDMase]

I see no advantage to a slow transition. I've tried it, just got less yield.

I'm interested in an 8 hour high intensity day cycle and 16 hour dark because of the possible three way split of a given amp load. If yield loss is low vs 12/12 then maybe this is an efficiency boosting tactic.

Ah that's a shame, I had heard it sped up the flowering transition, limiting shock?

 

[JDMase]

There is no question anymore sir.
I am now 100% convinced
Using glr then switching to 8/16 I save at least a week in the transition time alone.
Plus the quicker flowering shaving another handful of days I'd say I should trim 10-14days earlier then if I was doing 18/6 then 12/12.
Now whether these numbers would work with your vert setup is another question all together.

Give me a month or two and stay tuned. I got a few new ideas to put into play and we shall see what happens. The experiment is being up sized a lil bit

Would these light cycles be effective with auto flowers? I know people say they do their own thing regardless of light cycles but surely they must react to them?

 

[torontoke]

Ah that's a shame, I had heard it sped up the flowering transition, limiting shock?

No I think that diminishing light cycle would have minimal effect. I just go from 12:1 to 8/16
No slow decrease the plants start to pre flower under 12:1 and then as soon as I flip they start to flower big time. Within a day or two full on flower mode

 

[torontoke]

Would these light cycles be effective with auto flowers? I know people say they do their own thing regardless of light cycles but surely they must react to them?

Highly doubtful
Autos are a whole different animal altogether. I have never tried an auto flower under anything but 18/6 and I was not impressed so I'd never run another.
I hear people say all the time that they have gotten better but half the plants genetics are crap imo and I don't have the time or patience to grow plants that should be half good

 

[torontoke]

Atf X ssdd
Day 21


D cure
Day21

 

[torontoke]

Removed the shelf separating the cab to give these girls a lil more headroom.
22 days and they already want to fall over on themselves.

 

[whitebb2727]

Would these light cycles be effective with auto flowers? I know people say they do their own thing regardless of light cycles but surely they must react to them?

No. Not for an auto. You need at least 18 for them and I prefer 19 myself. I run the light on times broken up. So the light is never on more than 6 hours without a break.

Mid day depression. Anytime you can give them a break even for a few minutes helps.

 

[JDMase]

No. Not for an auto. You need at least 18 for them and I prefer 19 myself. I run the light on times broken up. So the light is never on more than 6 hours without a break.

Mid day depression. Anytime you can give them a break even for a few minutes helps.

I've never heard that. Is that autos specifically or cannabis in general?

And as an example on a 18/6 you would turn off the light for an hour or a couple minutes every 6 hours?
So 6:1:6:1:6:6
Onffnffnff repeat.

 

[whitebb2727]

I've never heard that. Is that autos specifically or cannabis in general?

And as an example on a 18/6 you would turn off the light for an hour or a couple minutes every 6 hours?
So 6:1:6:1:6:6
Onffnffnff repeat.

Any plant. Ever notice after a hot long day they are droopy?

Keep it at 24 hours. I have a timer that you push tabs down. 30 min increments. So 48 tabs. For 19/5 I need 10 tabs not pushed.

you could do 5/1, 5/1, 5/1, 5/1. That would equal a 24 hours day. It doesn't have to be exact. My autos do fine and I have some vegging under the same schedule.

I see faster growth.

 

[ttystikk]

Any plant. Ever notice after a hot long day they are droopy?

Keep it at 24 hours. I have a timer that you push tabs down. 30 min increments. So 48 tabs. For 19/5 I need 10 tabs not pushed.

you could do 5/1, 5/1, 5/1, 5/1. That would equal a 24 hours day. It doesn't have to be exact. My autos do fine and I have some vegging under the same schedule.

I see faster growth.

I run 6 on and 2 off three times a day. Do you think cycling even faster is better?

 

[whitebb2727]

I run 6 on and 2 off three times a day. Do you think cycling even faster is better?

I'm not sure. I would have to run some at those intervals and see. I reckon there wouldn't be much difference in the 6/2 or 5/1.

 

[ttystikk]

I'm not sure. I would have to run some at those intervals and see. I reckon there wouldn't be much difference in the 6/2 or 5/1.

There's an extra 'day' cycle and the dark period is substantially shorter. I think the boost is due to avoiding a mid day depression, but that's only someone's guess that sounds right to me.

 

[JDMase]

Any plant. Ever notice after a hot long day they are droopy?

Keep it at 24 hours. I have a timer that you push tabs down. 30 min increments. So 48 tabs. For 19/5 I need 10 tabs not pushed.

you could do 5/1, 5/1, 5/1, 5/1. That would equal a 24 hours day. It doesn't have to be exact. My autos do fine and I have some vegging under the same schedule.

I see faster growth.

I'm going to give that a go, I've got it on 20/4 already for my autos, but I think this will also help with my heat issues.

How much faster? Can you quantify it or is it just a general observation?

 

[whitebb2727]

I'm going to give that a go, I've got it on 20/4 already for my autos, but I think this will also help with my heat issues.

How much faster? Can you quantify it or is it just a general observation?

General observation. It will help with heat.

 

[ttystikk]

General observation. It will help with heat.

I second this. It helps both overheating and with things getting too cold.

 

[torontoke]

Day 25 update
Been busy packing and slowly moving. Getting pumped about upsizing.

 

[ttystikk]

Day 25 updateView attachment 3839134 View attachment 3839135
Been busy packing and slowly moving. Getting pumped about upsizing.

I'd love to hear about your new place!

 

[torontoke]

I'd love to hear about your new place!

Nothing special
Not my dream home that's for sure dude. But I can finally set up a bigger area and use my experiment cab to veg. I have another cab to start seedlings and hopefully my lawyers get my money by February and I'm buying a house for the sole purpose of using the entire basement.
I'm allowed 30 plants now and I have two friend that are allowed 38 and 45 plants so by next spring I will have at least 100 going.
Thinking I might run a wall with your vert technique.

You might want to consider a visit north next summer lol preferably around trim time lol