SableZen
Well-Known Member
There are 3 categories plants in regards to photosynthesis/carbon fixation: 3 Carbon (C3), 4 Carbon (C4), and CAM (crassulacean acid metabolism).
Of the three, only CAM plants need darkness and is mainly limited to survivalist cacti and succulents which survive in arid types of environments and can only open their stomata at night, when it is cooler and humidity is higher, to collect carbon.
C4 is mainly limited to grasses and isn't too important to the topic other than to say they are like C3 plants with the addition of a turbo-charger to provide additional carbon when proper conditions exist. C4 plants are most efficient in intense/full light and when water is accessible.
The vast majority of plants are C3 and fill the vast niche between CAM and C4 plants. C3 plants can't take as much advantage from intense/full light but are more adaptable and efficient in more mild conditions in comparison to CAM and C4 plants. However, C3 plants lose efficiency in high temperatures/intense light conditions and generally can't survive in the extremely arid conditions that CAM plants survive in.
The "roots only grow in darkness" thing only seems to be something that gets repeated around on cannabis growing forums and I haven't ever seen any real support for that - but if anyone has a citation of a reputable source that supports that statement I'd like to read it.
Moral of the story: Cannabis doesn't need darkness to photosynthesize/fixate carbon (produce energy and grow).
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: I would be curious about the conditions present in the experiment that resulted in the 4 hours of darkness plants surpassing the 0 hours... were the plants switched from a more mild lighting situation to a more intense lighting situation shortly before the 4 hours of darkness plants surpassed the 0 hours?
Of the three, only CAM plants need darkness and is mainly limited to survivalist cacti and succulents which survive in arid types of environments and can only open their stomata at night, when it is cooler and humidity is higher, to collect carbon.
C4 is mainly limited to grasses and isn't too important to the topic other than to say they are like C3 plants with the addition of a turbo-charger to provide additional carbon when proper conditions exist. C4 plants are most efficient in intense/full light and when water is accessible.
The vast majority of plants are C3 and fill the vast niche between CAM and C4 plants. C3 plants can't take as much advantage from intense/full light but are more adaptable and efficient in more mild conditions in comparison to CAM and C4 plants. However, C3 plants lose efficiency in high temperatures/intense light conditions and generally can't survive in the extremely arid conditions that CAM plants survive in.
The "roots only grow in darkness" thing only seems to be something that gets repeated around on cannabis growing forums and I haven't ever seen any real support for that - but if anyone has a citation of a reputable source that supports that statement I'd like to read it.
Moral of the story: Cannabis doesn't need darkness to photosynthesize/fixate carbon (produce energy and grow).
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: I would be curious about the conditions present in the experiment that resulted in the 4 hours of darkness plants surpassing the 0 hours... were the plants switched from a more mild lighting situation to a more intense lighting situation shortly before the 4 hours of darkness plants surpassed the 0 hours?