When it's time to change the clocks back, what do we do about our timers? Since we gain an hour, how do we go about setting them and all; won't this mess up our light schedules?
The clocks just go back one hour, no need to adjust the timers. As far as the plants are concerned nothing has changed. The only problem you will have is the lamp will come on and go off an hour out of sync from the timer. If the timer says the lamp comes on at 12 then it will come on at 11 but the timer will still say 12. I think that makes sense.
My lights are from 6-6 and because of work I need to change them to 7-7. Now they are comming on at 5-5 since the time change. I know its not a great idea but I am just going to bite the bullet and give them two extra hrs of light. Hope it wont hurt anything. Opinions welcome on the matter. The plants are well established and on dcy 37 of budding with about that much more to go. If anyone thinks the extra hrs of light will hurt please let me know. Its either that or give them two extra hrs of darkness with a light interuption while I move the timer after lights out. I know its an old thread but still relevent this time of year Ok I got it figured out. I just adjusted my timer to the right time this morning. Had to go around with the timer so the lights went out for a brief second. Then I moved the timer back to go off at 5 tonight since it came on at 5. Then over night it will get two hrs more darkness and the lights will come on at 7am. then I will go and move the timer off buttons up to go off at 7. I figure the extra darkness is better than extra light. Sure dont want them to go back into vegging if thats possible.
You can and should adjust your plant's light schedule to match your schedule, making sure you have the ability to tend to the plants during lights-on time and leave them alone during lights-off time. How you adjust depends on whether you are in veg or 12/12: - During veg, extra light is fine, you want to avoid extended dark because that triggers flowering. So, to adjust lights during veg, either extend light cycle or shorten dark cycle to get the timing the way you want, never extend dark. - During 12/12 and flowering, the opposite is true: extra dark is fine, you want to avoid extended light because that could trigger a reversion to veg. So, to adjust lights during 12/12, either extend dark cycle or shorten light cycle to get the timing the way you want, never extend light.
^ What this guy said. To adjust a light schedule, if in veg use extra light to get the schedule where you want it. If in flower, use extra dark to fix your schedule.
Or it could be to shorten dark during veg or shorten light during 12/12. It depends on how you need to adjust your schedule -- it's better if you can adjust one hour in one direction than 23 hours in the other... The real key is to not give extra dark during veg and not give extra light during 12/12, you want to stay on the same side of the hormonal triggers that switch the plant's growth stages.