I have read and read, however, there aren't any clear reasons of the difference in the cycles. Every grow shop that I have shopped at here in Cali don't really know. I'm thinking about having a mother plant indoors and using her clones to plant outside. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
If your using CFL's i would go 24/7, if your using hps or Mh i would go 18/6. I find that 18/6 works just as good for me, and I pay less on the electricity bill.
18/6 vs 24/0 is never-ending debate which leads to a lot of confusion for the new grower. As noted, it's a personal preference and either way WORKS. In fact, anytime you see a lot of conflicting opinions and information about a particular aspect of growing (germination method, cfl vs hid, soil vs hydro, organic vs synthetic, etc.), EITHER way works - so just pick one and stick to it. GL!
My first grow I did 18/6, and I just ended 4 weeks of 24/7 on my 2nd grow. I really can't compare evenly because my first grow was with an old 1000w MH bulb, and the 2nd was with a new 1000w MH, but you can really see a difference, if you look at my journals. I may get another new bulb and do 18/6 on my next grow just to compare evenly, as far as growth and electricity use. That extra time of light is sure to raise the bill a lil' bit, how much I don't know.