How many hours of dark are TRULY needed to induce flowering?

[sktrrwn]

Of course "we all know" cannabis "needs" at least 12 hours of dark to induce flowering, but how true is this?
Could a plant enter flowering with just, say, 11 hours of darkness? or 10 hours of darkness?

If 11 hours of darkness were to be enough, wouldn't it be beneficial for even bigger heavier buds considering the extra hour of light plants would be receiving each day instead of regular 12-12?

Tell me what you think or what you know

 

[ProPheT 216]

Strain dependant. Some will at like 14. 12 is just a good rull of thumb. Also the more mature the plant is the easier and quicker it will produce it's flower hormones. A plant that was vegged for 10 weeks will likely flower with less extreme of a photo change. It's just so eager to produce those hormones

 

[Phytoplankton]

Try it and see, the downside might be less dense or airy buds, but you’ll never know unless you try. That said, I’m sure it’s been tried, and if it worked, you’d think it would be the standard.

 

[joesoap2013]

Rememeber watching a time-lapse video on youtube was only cut the hours back to 12 12 you did see the plants waking up after 6 hours and then going back to sleep again

 

[DanKiller]

No more than 14, tried and tested outdoor, indoor, whatever.
The major issue is their sensitivity to it, even at 13-14 hours the plant can decide to reveg all of a sudden...
So like said above, 12 is a good rule of thumb, anything above is the exception.

 

[HydoDan]

Most strains flower at 14.5/9.5.. I've done it, wouldn't recommend it tho.. Very larfy bud..

 

[MissinThe90’sStrains]

When I grew outdoor, my buds would start flowering around this week, or the first week in August. I just googled “daylight time for today” and it says 14 hours 43 minutes for my area. We’ve been losing daylight, so that seems to line up.

 

[Phytoplankton]

When I grew outdoor, my buds would start flowering around this week, or the first week in August. I just googled “daylight time for today” and it says 14 hours 43 minutes for my area. We’ve been losing daylight, so that seems to line up.

You have to factor in that outdoors the first hour of light and the last hour are so low in the sky that it’s really not usable light for the plant. My plants used to start to flower about mid-August too!

 

[ptegler]

even my autoflowers start to fold up a bit about an hour before the lights turn off, and are up, praying, just before the lights come back on.
They know.

 

[StonedGardener]

Of course "we all know" cannabis "needs" at least 12 hours of dark to induce flowering, but how true is this?
Could a plant enter flowering with just, say, 11 hours of darkness? or 10 hours of darkness?

If 11 hours of darkness were to be enough, wouldn't it be beneficial for even bigger heavier buds considering the extra hour of light plants would be receiving each day instead of regular 12-12?

Tell me what you think or what you know

Bravo ! Always question the norm. You sound like a science buff. I'd say, just follow nature's lead. I question everything, even the constants in the world of science.

 

[nxsov180db]

If 11 hours of darkness were to be enough, wouldn't it be beneficial for even bigger heavier buds considering the extra hour of light plants would be receiving each day instead of regular 12-12?

Not when you use real lights. if I ran a 13 hour day instead of a 12 id have to dial my lights back or else they'd stress from too high of a DLI.

 

[ptegler]

Bravo ! Always question the norm. You sound like a science buff. I'd say, just follow nature's lead. I question everything, even the constants in the world of science.

Algebra couldn't explain enough patterns around him, so man conceived more and more languages
(sciences) to communicate it's newly claimed knowledge of its world around it.
But like it's history, its science evolves continuously, AS they observe, and understand.....
....there is simply No way, to Know What, you Don't know..... until we see it (and A.I. is killing THAT!)...
And yet the most dominent sciences it relies on today, has zero basis is observable actions.
(who counted 6.24x10e18 electrons passing through that wire in exactly one second?)

oops.... content... I'm the kind of guy that adds 'puters and electronics to everything.
Hell, our beehives have their own websites with weight, H/T inside and out, rainfall, etc.....
the tent is not far behind he he. Since the webcam snaps a shot every 20 minutes, the inside
tent footage should be interesting, but my task will be overlaying realtime temp, humidity, VPD, etc
to show the effects on the plants

 

[DanKiller]

Outdoor is different a bit like @Phytoplankton mentioned, there is a difference between horizon sunrise and visible sunrise
According to my knowledge it's like 30-40 min difference.
So you have to factor that aswell.