will this hurt or damage my plants at all?? they have been vegging for awhile now, too long actually but i just bought new lights to help and was wondering if since they have been 18/6 for a month and a half if just switching them to no night would hurt thnx for any input
leave 'em at 18/6 til ya flower. they grow faster and better overall. they will get confused if you switch to more time of light
haha i havent done it yet. i was just wondering becuase my plants are a lot undersized for their age due to lack of light but i just replaced all my lights with 6 cfls which was a huge improvement fromt the crappy tubes i had. they are a little older than a month and a half and not one has broken a foot yet. the new lights have been there for 4-5 days now andi can see it is growing better, i just wanted to give them 24/0 to promote more veg but not if it is going to hurt my babies.
Come on guys, what is this based on? It's quite the opposite, your plants will grow faster and more vigorously under 24 hours of light. Don't let these guys fool you, they are basing that on nothing.
Adding more light to your cycle will not hurt your plants. However, there isn't much evidence to suggest that you would be doing them any good by doing so. Marijuana is one of the rare plants that doesn't need a dark period. However, I have grown with both light cycles several times and have to tell you that there is very little difference in growth rate. It really comes down to preference and practicality. My advice is this. If you are experiencing slow growth, you have to examine a few things before thinking the light cycle will fix it. Maybe the container is getting to small and it is time to transplant. Maybe you just don't have enough light. Maybe you are not providing the proper nutrients. Any of these questions might lead you to your solution more quickly than adjusting your light schedule. Good luck.
I've noticed a difference, not huge but every day counts for me. good advise to them to check other things first. And really the only reason I see to run your lights 18/6 is if you are really tight on money and want to save wherever you can.
sweet i want to switch it i just dont want it to shock my plant because it has been experiencing a dark period. the only reason id like to is because i just fixed my light problem and want to enhance grow as much as possible but safely.
The only benefit to 24 hour light is a consistent environment. Its pretty common knowledge that plants do grow at night, there are lots of plants that do most of their growing at night and collect energy during the day. If you want to go 24 hours, go for it. It wont hurt them although I have read that plants have more of a chance to hermie in a 24hr light schedule, but that's not substantiated with facts from what I know. That being said, plants with hermie tenancies are as such regardless of environmental conditions. Thats not to say that environmental conditions will not set off hermaphroditic tenancies rather it suggests that you may notice these tenancies sooner under a 24hr schedule therefor minimizing lost effort. 18/6 is nice because your plants will show sex sooner. I have read that there are female plants that will never show hermaphrodite tenancies regardless of stress and environmental conditions, that being said. I guess it really is all in the genes. If you want to go for 24 hours of light, go for. I doubt your plants will notice a difference. Listen to mad4reef though, you need to figure out the slow growth thing before you go changing conditions for your plants. If you had crappy lights not to long ago, that could definitely be a cause for slow growth.
There is much debate on the subject of 18/6 vs. 24/0, and it won't be settled here. That debate really has to do with which is better for veg throughout. The OP's question is if a switch from 18/6 to 24/0 while still in veg will hurt the plant in any way, and will it help in any way. Flip-flopping light schedules is not a good idea, but a single switch between 18/6 and 24/0 is no big deal and will not harm the plant. There is debate as to whether it will do any good -- like Mad, I have grown with both cycles and can't say I've seen much difference. But our "evidence" really is anecdotal, I didn't grow hundreds of plants one way and hundreds the other, with all other conditions and strains being tightly controlled, as a true experiment should be done. As long as you can keep temps in line you should feel free to try the switch.
From what I understand, a plant gets all its energy through the sun and go through its photosynthesis throughout the day. Well with that being said I would want my plant to get the most energy absorption so I can have the healthiest greenest smelliest containing plant! If your plant at 18/6 gets a total of 126 hours of light a week compare it to a plant getting 24/7 @168 hours per week. Which one do you think has gained the most energy absorption and growth?
In nature the day get's longer as the season peaks so the thought that it will shock it to give it more light / longer days is funny.Cannabis is a c3 plant (look this up if you want) and can and will grow more the more light it get's in lumens and in hours per day.You will always have the 18/6 guys but they clearly don't understand that weed grows as long as the light is on so it grows more with 24/0 light 7 days a week in the veg. period. 24 Hours Vs 18 hours veg Most green plants are classified as either C3 or C4 which represents how carbon(C) is used during photosynthesis. C4 plants temporarily store carbon dioxide(CO2) over the dark period to use for photosynthesis during the day. C4 plants slow down photosynthesis once the stored CO2 is used up and they need to gather it from the air. Which is why trees slow down photosynthesis in the afternoon even though the sun is still bright. This does NOT apply to cannabis. C3 plants(cannabis/veggies) gather CO2 only during the light period when they are photosynthesizing. During the dark period these plants only use oxygen for their metabolic life processes. They don't uptake CO2, nor do they use it. As soon and as long as the light is on, C3 plants gather and use CO2 for photosynthesis. C3 plants also have the ability to use higher concentrations of CO2 than what is found in the air. If the light is bright enough and the plants have sufficient nutes, their growth rate will accelerate from it(2000ppm vs. 400ppm of CO2), which increases yield. They can do this continuously, without a dark period throughout the vegetative stage. The dark reaction is a process of photosynthesis that takes place in both darkness and light. It uses ATP and NADPH molecules that hold energy absorbed from light to break apart CO2 into it's base components. Because it's called a dark reaction and can occur in the dark, some people(Jorge) have said darkness is needed for this to occur. This Is Not So. Again people get a little obsessed with their plants needs & think of them the same as humans. People need rest, so plants must too. This is false as well. Light means growth. Scientifically. Although 18/6 will 'shock' your plants less when you switch to 12/12, it's a personal choice whether you would rather sacrifice a little growth for a quicker adjustment or less photo confusion. If you want to save money or energy that's a personal choice too. Do what you need to do to make your growing situation work.
the only thing I've experianced is the slowing of growth when light cycles are interrupted and what is commonly called fibanocci spiral in the first leaf of the stock which may also be a harmless virus in the plant that can be triggered by the un-natural light cycles. I also did notice a couple seeds and then found a hermie, but likely caused by a heater indicator light or that of one on a surge strip. be cautious when altering any one item and always keep a journal of changes in order to reduce confusion when your change fails to correct a problem and my possibley create an all-together new problem. WORD OF ADVICE: GO TO YOUR LOCAL GROW SHOP OR COMPASSION CENTER AND GET ED ROSANTHALS BOOK, IT WILL BE THE BEST 30 BUCKS EVER INVESTED IN A GROW!!!
ANOTHER ITEM ON THE USE OF 24 ONLY FOR VEG. FOR MEDICAL IN OREGON IT MAKES GOOD SENSE TO GIVE 24. WE ARE ALLOWED ONLY 6 PLANTS OVER 12 IN. BUT 18 UNDER PROVIDED THEY ARE NON FLOWERING AND THE 12 IN. ALSO COVERS WIDTH MEASURE. SO MY POINT BEING. IF ONE HAS A 6 HOUR DARK ON HIS VEG IT WILL GROW EVERY NIGHT AND EXCEED THE 12x12 IN. REQUIREMENT. KEEPING THEM IN A REMITTED STATE OF GROWTH KEEPS YOU LEGAL AND ALLOWS YOU TO NOT RUSH THE EXISTING FLOWERING PLANTS. THIS REALLY ONLY APPLIES IF YOUR LEGIT OR HAVE NOT ENOUGH ROOM TO BRING ON THE LITTLE GIRLS. GOOD LUCK AND I HOPE YOU KEEP IT LEGIT AS I REALLY DONT PARTICIPATE IN THE ENCOURAGEMENT OR ENDORSEMENT OF ILLEGAL TRADE. AS FOR ASSISTANCE I'M OF NO HELP. BUT IN THIS NATION WE DO HAVE FREE SPEECH AND IT CONFLICTS WITH HELPING GROW. SO I'M REALLY HERE TO TALK AND LEARN AS WELL BUT BY NO MEANS EVER INTEND TO HELP A CRIMINAL SO IF YOU HIDING ANYTHING PLEASE DIS-REGARD THIS POST. BAAAAHHHHHH HHHAAAAA HHAAAAAA !!!! OH MAN I JUST CRACKED MYSELF UP, AM I OVER MEDICATED? OR HAVE I OVER DOSED ON THC? IMPOSSIBLE, MY HEALTH HAS IMPROVED AND MY URIARY FUNCTION IS BACK TO NORM. JUST SAY NO TO IBUPROPHEN, IT MADE ME SOOO SICK FOR YEARS NOW. Per your question: your plants will jump at the time change and a one foot tall plant will easily exceed 3 feet so go slow get strong stocks and roots, then go 12/12 and watch it pop. 24 will put the energy to root growth, also trim about one third from the fans on the clones as this inhibits the growth of green and builds better roots, as the clone will never develope a tap root. learn and practice fim techniques and you will see many more colas up top. fimming is easy and you really cant screw up too bad, even two colas are better than one wunt ya saaay!