Of course we all know the old photo game of growing, 18/6-12/12, possibly 24 at youth… good old tried and true schedules! I have lived by them forever, swore by them… Until some canadian growers a few years back introduced me to a new one.
Been using it since with great results, most definable when going into flower cycle. I get about 2 weeks earlier development then on the 18/6 veg cycle.
Anyone else play with this? I do get energy savings!
Great question, @KrisGrows. We actually played around with this on a commercial scale. I had a little over 4,000 square feet of cultivation space dedicated to vegetative growth. I decided to experiment to answer this question. I hypothesized the room with 24 hours of light would grow no differently than the room with the 18/6 schedule. I took two similar rooms and went ahead and implemented some timers…really no big change to the overall facility design.
This facility had their lights on 24 hours a day with no rest. When took on the job, I viewed everything through the lens of a small business owner: essentially anywhere I could save a buck, it was a small win. I approach most matters with a similar lens. The idea was if we could turn out the nearly 100 4 foot 8 bulb T5 fluorescent fixtures for a few hours a day, we could realize a cost savings of nearly $100 dollars every day. Believe it or not, I actually got push back from the owners (non-growers): they firmly believed that their 24 hour a day veg cycle produced bigger, healthier plants faster. I set out to show them they could both save money and have healthier plants by simply giving their crop a rest.
Over the course of several crops, I learned the plants do prefer a rest. During dark periods foliar feeding can be done safely and effectively. When we would come in after lights on, we noticed the plants that got a dark period were actually more turgid and looked healthier and less stressed. Furthermore, our average cost savings in that facility averaged $2000 every month!
I now keep all my vegetative endeavors, including propagation, on the tried and true 18/6 light cycle.
I have never played with the 24 hour cycle, so good to know! I had my suspicions!
I have been using the gas lantern method (12/5.5/1.5/5.5) for 6 cycles now with rapid growth! So seeing the energy savings was nice, and the rate of preflower development is noticable!
i believe a lot of cell division happens in the dark periods.I had a noticeable difference when going from 24hrs to 18/6. i have heard of the 12/5.5/1.5/5.5 schedule just never heard a name for it.
Kinda on this subject.
I like what the jungle boys have done with at least one of there veg rooms from pictures I recently viewed recently on ig. They had every other row in there warehouse turned off than it flipped every twelve hours. Im sure they save a ton with this method. I have also heard about them using 12 hours double ended and and the rest of the day led for some savings as well. Gotta think outside the box. Please explain the 12/5.5/1.5/5.5 method. Is it essentially
12 on
5.5 off
1.5 on
5.5 off
Is there anything besides great early preflowering or stacking that is achieved by this method?
Yes! Glad you asked!
In natures terms, we are breaking down a day into two days, for one. Essentially the plant had its initial take off on day break, and slows growth rate towards the end of daylight cycles. It continues to grow, but not as rapidly at the start of the day. More research I found, including Nasa’s write up, was that too long of daylight hours may not produce extra yield. Anyways, as with any crop, you push too hard, or to the maximum limits of growth, probability for stress and immunity depreciation rises. With this schedule, uptake occurs at the most crucial times of light, while providing more rest between daylight cycles.
With any luck soon, I have a couple more lights i can dedicate solely to this schedule and a traditional schedule while photographing the difference. My records show quicker jumps to flower on my redundant run strains.
Is your jump to flower resulting in a faster maturation time or an increase in yield?
Dewb… Awesome question! I have not tested final yield differences, but my yield did increase.
Now… I cant say to what extent the difference was made, as other growing changes occurred so i do not have controlled samples, however outside of flowering, which should be the 12/12 (Do not gas lantern in flower), the results in veg is very apparent.
The biggest advantage I get from it…
Shorter vegetative cycle if desired, or
Same veg cycle length but bigger root mass as well as overall plant development, leading to better flowering results.
I pull the 36 hour dark before flower. A week into flower, you can guess the outcome!
