I RECENTLY READ IN HIGH TIMES THAT YOU SHOULD WAIT APROX. 8 WEEKS TILL YOU SEE THE MALE AND FEMALE PRE FLOWERS BEFORE YOU KICK THE LIGHTS BACK TILL 12/12. THEY SAY IT INCREASES BUD POTENCY AND SIZE. GROWING INDOORS MY CONCERN IS OVERALL PLANT HEIGHT BY WAITING THIS LONG TO FLOWER, ANY OTHER THOUGHTS ON THIS SUBJECT?
This will be dependent on a number of factors including the strain, lighting and other equipment you are using. Eg: Plants grown under a 1000w HID are going to grow faster than ones grown under cfls. I'm suprised that high times would make such a generalisation. My Skunk #11 showed female preflowers after less than 4 weeks since they broke the soil. It's logical to assume that a bigger plant will yield more than a smaller plant of the same strain and grown in the same conditions.
yeah depending on the space you have and and the strain you are growing it may be tight.. i would reccomend growing white widow and switching to 12/12 after 2 weeks.. you will still have a decent yeild and the plant will stay small.. thats my two cents
the article i was refering to was in the latest issue , i dont have it in front of me right now and cant remember the authors name but it was a featured article.
8 weeks is too long. And as stated above, there are too many variables. Your growing medium, light, etc. 3-4 weeks of veg Hydro or Soil is fine--and from my experience with other growers is, this is average. Ofcourse, you could flower earlier--you'd just get a smaller yield. You don't have to wait for preflowers to appear, it'll lift it' skirt a week or so [if not sooner] after switching to 12/12. I stopped reading High Times almost 10 years ago. That's not to say I don't enjoy all the... pretty pictures.