Why 18 hours works for me

[thcreactor]

O.K here are a few reasons to run your veg 18 hours instead of 24.

1. You can run 25% more wattage for the same money. (so a 250w on 24 will cost close to a 400 on 18).

2. In a sog or perp harvest where your veg is running constantly 24 or 18 will have no effect on yield though it will have a large impact on electricity consumption.

3. It is simply more natural for the plant.

To be fair I will say that if you have to run the same light for veg and flower 24 may speed things up. But if efficiency is your goal 18 is the way to go hands down.

Any arguements?

thcreactor Reviewed by thcreactor on 11-06-2006. Why 18 hours works for me O.K here are a few reasons to run your veg 18 hours instead of 24. 1. You can run 25% more wattage for the same money. (so a 250w on 24 will cost close to a 400 on 18). 2. In a sog or perp harvest where your veg is running constantly 24 or 18 will have no effect on yield though it will have a large impact on electricity consumption. 3. It is simply more natural for the plant. To be fair I will say that if you have to run the same light for veg and flower 24 may speed Rating: 5

[babystarbud]

i run 18/6 personally.

i think its just a matter of preference, 24 hrs will probably ( ive never tried it )
give slightly faster veging at the trade off for more power, but then if your vegging longer with 18/6 your going to use more power anyway.

i go with point 3, its more natural for the plant.

[thcreactor]

OK even if you are vegging longer on 18/6 the electricity saved = 25%
1 400w bulb 18 hours/day=7200 watts
1 250w bulb 24 hours/day=6000 watts
Know how many more plants you can fit under a 400w compared to a 250? twice as many.

[faithless]

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Well, all the experts I've read say that 24/7 gives thicker bushes, more bud and shorter time.

The natural cycle argument I don't give too much for. Theres not much natural about a human sprinting 100m in 10 seconds or snatching 140kg or benching 1 000lb without maximizing nutes and training beyond anything natural in our environment. Scientific maximization of the key ingredients has given us the fastest and strongest humans ever, much faster and stronger than we naturally are.

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[thcreactor]

What "expert" do you know that says that? More bud?

[faithless]

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Don't have any names memorized, but I've done quite a lot of reading up on the general subject, I seem to remember Ed of High Times amongst others, if you want a name. But from the literature I've read, the conclusion seemed pretty unanimous.

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[thcreactor]

Ed rosenthal said that? I dont think so.

[faithless]

Hmmm, I think so

[faithless]

Light cycle
by Ed Rosenthal

Marijuana plants continue to photosynthesize as long as there is light and their other needs are met. They do not need a rest period. Turning the light off for 25% of the day decreases growth rate by 25%. This is actually costly because it requires the plants to spend a longer time in the vegetative stage.


http://cannabisculture.com/articles/2082.html

[jamstigator]

Greg Green, Marijuana Grow Bible, for sure. Also my experience, after testing identical clones from the same plant in two exactly identical veg cabs, one running 24/0 and one running 18/6. The one running 18/6 was about a week of growth behind the 24/0 box after one month (which makes sense, since it lost about a week's worth of access to light energy over that time).

The main reason why some people run 18/6 is because their ventilation system isn't adequate to control the temps if the lights are running 24/0. And if you can't control the temps, you risk hermies. But if you can control the temps, and have no other reason to slow down growth, then why would you? I've never found a reasonable answer to that question, personally, so once I'd done the experiment and seen what I needed to see with my own two eyes, that was enough for me and I've been 24/0 ever since.