16 hours per day veg?

[HighDesertMMJ]

Greetings all,

I am currently running lights on in my veg room 18 hours a day, I am looking at my electric company's time of use rates which increases the cost of power used during peak periods but decreases cost of power off peak. In order for this to work for me I cannot run the veg lights during peak periods, which means the lights will only be on 16 hours per day.

How will this effect the plants? Is it possible?

 

[420Gator]

throw up some smaller lights to use during that period, like cfls or fluros

 

[HighDesertMMJ]

throw up some smaller lights to use during that period, like cfls or fluros

Good idea! So it really is not possible to veg for 16 hrs/day only?

 

[420Gator]

I cant say for sure but its not something Id try. I veg 24/7

 

[HighDesertMMJ]

Do you use the 24/7 veg to cut down on veg time, bigger plants faster? This is not a need of mine, I have seperate veg/flower rooms and could veg for the entire flower time if I wanted to. A little longer veg time needed at 16/8f would not hurt me. Of course if they started to flower that would be a problem.

 

[420Gator]

Im just impatient, my best advice would be to try it out with just one for a week or two and see what happens

 

[ttystikk]

I've never had problems with an 8 hour dark period, but I've never run autoflower strains. You want to run those under strong 24 hour light until you're ready to flower them.

 

[HighDesertMMJ]

I am not growing autoflower strains, I am going to give it a try, veg lights will come on at 6 PM and go off at 10 AM. I'll post back if I see any issues. Thanks for the help.

 

[BCboys]

interested to see how this goes. something tells me it might depend on strain origin? I'm not sure about the science but, intuitively, sativas originating from equatorial regions, evolving under longer days, may start to show flowers at 16 hours when a northern indica might not perhaps? Just a guess at something i've also wondered. Any plant biologists care to chime in?

 

[Seamaiden]

Greetings all,

I am currently running lights on in my veg room 18 hours a day, I am looking at my electric company's time of use rates which increases the cost of power used during peak periods but decreases cost of power off peak. In order for this to work for me I cannot run the veg lights during peak periods, which means the lights will only be on 16 hours per day.

How will this effect the plants? Is it possible?

You can get away with it if you interrupt the dark phase of the photoperiod. In fact, you can set the timer to match whatever daylight length you like, and interrupt it for 1-2 hours, twice during the dark phase. And the thing with interruption is that it doesn't take much light at all, 1-2 CFLs, depending on your space, are plenty.

 

[Tank333]

You can get away with it if you interrupt the dark phase of the photoperiod. In fact, you can set the timer to match whatever daylight length you like, and interrupt it for 1-2 hours, twice during the dark phase. And the thing with interruption is that it doesn't take much light at all, 1-2 CFLs, depending on your space, are plenty.

Sounds like a modified Gas Lantern Technique...

 

[HighDesertMMJ]

Thanks for that Seamaiden, I will do exactly that.

 

[Seamaiden]

Sounds like a modified Gas Lantern Technique...

I know nothing about the gas lantern technique. I know nothing! I keep reading thread titles, and have had a couple of queries whisked past me, but know not a thing. Point?

 

[JAMES KNOX]

You can get away with it if you interrupt the dark phase of the photoperiod. In fact, you can set the timer to match whatever daylight length you like, and interrupt it for 1-2 hours, twice during the dark phase. And the thing with interruption is that it doesn't take much light at all, 1-2 CFLs, depending on your space, are plenty.

WHERE DID YOU BUY YOUR TIMER MATE AND WHAT MAKE AND COST IF YOU DONT MIND IM JUST STARTING OUT

 

[CelticEBE]

I'm running a flip and if my plants are not ready to go into flower I just turn my overhead flouro on to keep them from going into flower. So my HPS are on for 12 hours, then the overhead flouro is on for 7 hours. My plants get a 5 hour break and then its back to HPS.

 

[Seamaiden]

WHERE DID YOU BUY YOUR TIMER MATE AND WHAT MAKE AND COST IF YOU DONT MIND IM JUST STARTING OUT

Walmart! They sell a very cheap little timer that allows you to select 15min increments. I think it was... I dunno, $15? Maybe less than $10? Very extremely inexpensive.

 

[Hawaii50]

Greetings all,

I am currently running lights on in my veg room 18 hours a day, I am looking at my electric company's time of use rates which increases the cost of power used during peak periods but decreases cost of power off peak. In order for this to work for me I cannot run the veg lights during peak periods, which means the lights will only be on 16 hours per day.

How will this effect the plants? Is it possible?

I used to in VEG 18/6. But Now I run 16/8 although I use Fem seeds 16/8 seems to make them bushier after Topping or Fimming in 4 wkx Of VEG. Jst went To 12/12 today. They jst above my Kneecaps and Almost a Foot n a haf Round. Just Incredible on this new technique I'm Using. Fkn. Incredible!!!

 

[growsince79]

Greetings all,

I am currently running lights on in my veg room 18 hours a day, I am looking at my electric company's time of use rates which increases the cost of power used during peak periods but decreases cost of power off peak. In order for this to work for me I cannot run the veg lights during peak periods, which means the lights will only be on 16 hours per day.

How will this effect the plants? Is it possible?

It's a good effect in my world. Makes them shorter and flower faster.

 

[Hawaii50]

Xzactly!! Top,Top,Top in VEG under 16 makes for a Bushier Lady. Found a Formula Tweeking it jst Right. UNBELIEVABLE!!

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Photo-Period grower. I haven't grown any autos yet at all.

I regularly veg under 16 hrs light. Why? To save on electric costs. I wouldn't try this with an autoflower plant though as it's on a time clock and slowed growth means reduced yield. Anyway, at the end of the run at harvest time, I doubt you'd be able to tell that I cut some daylight out for affordability. I'm pulling 4-6 oz per plant per run. So yes, with a photo plant you can do that. Do you want to? That depends because those lost 2 hrs of light daily usually show up somewhere (can lengthen veg time a bit for example) ... but if this change to 16 hrs means everything is running during off-peak hrs, you will likely still be ahead on your electric bill. For a more precise answer, you'll have to do the math.

Now with that said, I am running Tropicanna Poison Fast version photo period plant. It's a fast flower plant. It will flower at 16 hrs of light. These are going in my greenhouse but I'm starting them inside with 20 hrs a day until they get transplanted outside in late June.