Flowering dark periods

[Have a Cigar]

Im really confused on what I have to do to prepare for flowering. Do you have to leave the lights off for more than 12 hours? then switch it to 12/12?
Help appreciated.

Have a Cigar Reviewed by Have a Cigar on 01-10-2007. Flowering dark periods Im really confused on what I have to do to prepare for flowering. Do you have to leave the lights off for more than 12 hours? then switch it to 12/12? Help appreciated. Rating: 5

[bud breath420]

You need to get a timer for you lights.. so they are on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours.. its simple my man

[Volker]

Im really confused on what I have to do to prepare for flowering. Do you have to leave the lights off for more than 12 hours? then switch it to 12/12?

No special prep needed, really. Just switch 'em to 12/12.

Just make sure that the dark is totally dark. A streetlight shining through a closed venetian blind is enough to retard bud formation severly. A pinhole in the light curtain between the veg & bud rooms can stop a whole cola cold. Anything brighter than the light of a full moon can stop budding entirely if that exposure during darkness is prolonged.

After light change, it can take anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks before the plant shows any kind of bud activity. Then another 5 to 14 days of pre-flowering before it starts making those fuzzy white 'fros. Then however long it takes your particular strain to finish, which can be anywhen from 5 to 12 weeks.

Side note. Some growers veg with 24/7, others 18/6. Some do 24/7, a week of 18/6, then 12/12. My own personal experience is that plants that veg under 24/7 tend to respond quicker to light changes. But this also varies with species/strain.

[Blayzd]

I am a new grower and am currently growing big bud and have had them in sunlight for the first week i got them(they were approx. 4-6") then bought a 400w hps light and had that on 24/7 (to my knowledge i didnt know what to do at all) have changed them to 18/6 and in 1 day i noticed they started growing faster, also i was watering them 1ce a day, now every 3 days if this is still wrong can someone correct please?

[Have a Cigar]

Ok, sounds awesome thanks for the info. As of now its about 97% or so lightproof and I'll make it 100% over the weekend and I think I'll put them on 12/12.

[Shovelhandle]

I went from lights on at 6am/off 12am (18 hrs) to 6am/6pm (12 hrs).

The first night was 30 hours. Off at 12 midnight and all the next day, back on again at 6am. and so on.... This was also as recommended by T.H.Seeds, who sells this strain (bubblegum)

Shov

[GrowRebel]

When it's time for the ladies to go to the flower level I just put them up there .... I don't do any kind of prep thang ...

I can't get total darkness for my ladies because of my set up, but I haven't experience any problems with them flowering. They don't seem to be affected at all by the light leak.

Just my :twocents:

:noel:

[dutch.lover]

i don't do this personally, but according to jorge cervantes putting your plants in 36 hours of darkness before flowering is supposed to get them to respond faster.

[Zandor]

You should just know that it takes the plant 7-10 days to switch from vegetation cycle to flower cycle so for that time the nutrient requirements are still in vegetation so don't switch to flower nutrients until after that time.

[Abattoir Dream]

you should let those bigbuds grow more, and youll get bigger buds lol... good luck