Can I change light cycle to 16/8 instead of 18/6?

[MasterBarber931]

Can I change my veg lighting cycle to run on for 16 hours and off for 8 hours instead of 18/6 without harming the babies? I am lookin to save a little on electricity. I read an online forum where someone had claimed to have had a stoner moment and accidentally put the timer on 17/7 and claimed the plants looked better than ever..... An extra hour couldn't hurt as long as the dark period doesn't increase more than like 10 hours....right???:

 

[Seamaiden]

You'll cause them to go into flower if you do that. What you can do is stagger the photoperiod, interrupt the dark period for around 2hrs or so. Set the time to the main daylight period you want, and add in two interruptions during the dark period, make them 1-2hrs apiece. That should be sufficient.

It's when the dark period is sufficiently shortened that they tend to go into flower (that and when they're rootbound), so going from 18/6 to 16/8 is sufficient.

 

[MasterBarber931]

Thank you so much for the words of wisdom..... I can assure they will be put to good use.

 

[repoman]

I accidentally had my timer on 17/7 for 4 weeks and they turned out great.

But of course it's better to do what seamaiden says.

 

[500lbs Guerilla]

It depends on the genetics, some are more sensitive than others. When I transplant from inside to the great outdoor, I usually have the light cycle set to 16 hours to closer match the hours of daylight.