I guess many people don't realize this but a plant will PRE FLOWER on a vegetative NORMAL cycle like 18/6. The plant will grow a few flowers but not actually progress with the hormones to continue flowering.. that is, until you switch to 12/12. Thus, you CAN determine the sex of a plant by vegetative growth pattern over time.
Females will be slow and steady with even node spacing.
Males will grow taller and more robust with more spacing between nodes and WILL preflower a full two weeks before a female plant of the same age.

I'm not sure what is so confusing about it. Light cycle is one of those things you don't want to mess with, so stick to what is tried , tested and true.

Question:
Where in the world do you get 24 hours of light a day and see fruiting and flowering plants grow?

Answer:
Nowhere.

Conclusion:
Don't use 24 hours of light as a vegetative cycle.

Reasoning:
The plant will stay in a vegetative state with more than 14 hours of light a day. The only reason to use 24 hours of light is when germinating seeds out of a medium. With the light always on there will be a source for the plant to grow towards once it actually breaks through the medium. Once you have all your seedlings sprouted and growing resume a light cycle that contains at least 4-6 hours of dark daily.
When the plant is not absorbing energy and no chlorophyll is being processed the plant will generate more roots, this is fact.

Any of this make sense now?

:thumbsup:
BobBong Reviewed by BobBong on . Light confsuion URGENT!! My plants are almost 4 weeks old. They are about 7 inches tall. Doing really good, very healthy. From seedling to now they have been under 24/0 light. I was told by a friend that I should cut back the light for 24 hours starting now. check them in 24 hours and if there is no sign of sex then cut it again for another 24 hours and so on until they sex. After that they said to put the light schedul back on 24/0 then to 12/12 before harvesting. Is this good advice? Or will that do damage to my Rating: 5