Should i run my lights 24hrs for seedlings

[11Ron11]

I run everything 24/7 lights on with seedlings,
Clones and veg plants. I have never seen any difference when using 6 hours lights out.

seedlings, 24 hrs lightView attachment 1213103clones 24 hrs lightView attachment 1213104clones in veg, 24 hr light (most are 2 month clones at this point).
Larger plants are mothers.
The only time these plants see dark is when I do my maintenance spraying every 5-7 days and they only see 2 hrs of dark that day.
Totals approximately 8-10 hrs darkness a month……if that.
I have zero issues with growth.
Hope that helps:)View attachment 1213105

Not really just adds to my confusion..lol
So many different methods.
I've seen different experience growers doing things so polar opposite yet all have great plants.
Ultimately I'm just going to take everyone's info and come up with my own.
The main thing that iv noticed is you can pretty much do anything to your plants as long as 3 things are correct.
Temp
Humidity
Water
All others are just techniques.
I look forward to my future experiments..lol

 

[rolandrog]

I'll be keeping my lights at 18 on 6 off unless there is some experienced guys that put there lights at 24 hrs for the first week and have good results..

Dude - good results come from you giving the plant ALL it needs in the correct proportions. Once the plant has its needs met, giving more will not increase growth. I've seen much growth in the plant at night in darkness resulting from respiration. Increasing the intensity of light and length of light will not help any at all, after the plants receives its PAR limitations.

 

[rolandrog]

Running 24 hour veg is pushing the plants. Its a grower style thing.

There are obviously 2 camps. One is essentially "grow more weed faster" and the other is "sacrifice yearly poundage produced for higher quality."

All things being equal, 24 hours gives a faster growth rate.

On the other side plants actually do stuff at night. Important processes. I have proven to myself via testing that how the plant is vegged has an impact on cannabinoid profile in the finished plant. In general terms, the ones you baby are more complex.

You decide.

This is what I'm wondering.
I'm growing autoflower so the light cycle shouldn't matter.
But is the maybe extra 6 hrs of growth worth it.

Nope NOT worth it.

 

[rolandrog]

let the plant tell you. you will see a response. all the data provided was gold. i jus know, some ladies are picky. talk to them

Lay Lady Lay, on my big brass pot.

 

[chato]

I run the lights 24/0 for seedlings and then switch to 18/6 once they get into proper veg stage. Works good for me.

 

[7munkee]

I ran 24/7 with auto's. I mean the Ruderalis is native to the polar region where there is no real 'dark' period.

Just don't switch the light cycle midway through growth with autos...it tends to stress them into making seeds.

 

[2Bad]

lots of good info in this post , I’m glad we are all talking civil that’s the best part when we can all get along and share our thoughts

 

[Cypress66]

lots of good info in this post , I’m glad we are all talking civil that’s the best part when we can all get along and share our thoughts

+1

 

[E9noxis]

Just don't switch the light cycle midway through growth with autos...it tends to stress them into making seeds.

During veg? Or would you switch for flower? I'm very unclear about "light cycle doesn't matter" with autos...

I have 4 strains of autos that I'll be running in the spring. Can they share the tent and should I stay 12 12 the whole time or 18 6 the whole time or switch times when they flip themselves?

 

[11Ron11]

During veg? Or would you switch for flower? I'm very unclear about "light cycle doesn't matter" with autos...

I have 4 strains of autos that I'll be running in the spring. Can they share the tent and should I stay 12 12 the whole time or 18 6 the whole time or switch times when they flip themselves?

There is no Flipping with autoflower.
Run your lights 18/6 for the whole cycle.
Autos flower after a certain amount of time regardless of light.
Mine are 6 to 8 weeks seed to harvest regardless.

 

[7munkee]

During veg? Or would you switch for flower? I'm very unclear about "light cycle doesn't matter" with autos...

I have 4 strains of autos that I'll be running in the spring. Can they share the tent and should I stay 12 12 the whole time or 18 6 the whole time or switch times when they flip themselves?

I ran my lights 24/7and did fine multiple times. Then I got some misinformation. I was told that they would get frostier if I gave them 6 hours of dark. It was like day 60 that i switched to 6 hous dark until they were done. They grew balls within the first week after switching. I didnt get a lot of seeds, but it was still a bummer. And they didnt get frostier.

 

[Dodge3inches]

Seeds are:
Critical fast bud autoflower.
I read that it's good to run your lights for 24hrs for the first week to help the seedlings create more roots faster.
Is this recommended or will it add stress to the plant as it would have no down time I'm currently 5 days in soil.
I'm running 18 on 6 off I was going to run this time through out the whole process.
I also read that dimming the lights to 50% for 6hrs is good for seedlings.

Have you heard of Matanuska Valley, Thunderfuck strain? I was Stationed in AK in the 80s. That was a Dank strain we could get. That area has 20 hr of light in June

 

[Oldtimegrower]

I always vegged mine under daylight floros 24 hrs a day until they went into flower. Like led, they don’t consume much power.

 

[Space82]

The photoperiod plants grow in 18/6 for veg and it may be okay for autos but they are sometimes growing in a 20/4 light cycle by many growers of auto plants. You are probably better off talking to someone who is a auto grower with experience of the light and the cycles You’re not going to be needing a lot of light to grow your young plants and they only need something like a t5 or a led light of higher power and the dimmer on the 30%/50% is better to have a lux meter and then you can get a better idea of the intensity and adjust it I used to have my lights on the young plants for 24hrs I thought it would be better for them to grow. The only thing that is going to be happening is the electric bill will be a lot more than the 18/6 but that’s the photo but I don’t think it would be any benefit to running the light for the 24hrs unless you can do them under a 24hr cycle for the complete growing period ? If they are going to be getting a 20/4 or a 18/6 i would be the same for the whole grow only grown autos in my early years and I have not been lucky with them personally peace

Fr, and also, I've been doing autos too right....
And with each seeds, from each bank, I look at their recommendations. Like for Blue cheese Auto from RQS, I go 24/0.
For Blue Dream Auto from AutoSeeds, I run 18/6. I try to do what the breeders do.
Plants NEED rest
Generally
So a dark period is necessary for good development.
Don't speak light leaks they're not photos.
Don't make growing an automatic hard
It's like driving an automatic truck. Your not in the cab reaching for the tree to shift gears or moving your feet to search the clutch pedal out
You just drive.
So let that Auto grow itself.
All u gotta do is give it light, feed it, and quit being so anxious.
It's gonna be in ur zig zag in 12 weeks total for trip

 

[7munkee]

I always vegged mine under daylight floros 24 hrs a day until they went into flower. Like led, they don’t consume much power.

While they don't NEED a night cycle in veg, they will thank you for it Plants can only use a set amount of DLI. This varies with plant types and even different genos within each type. Cannabis is one of the highest at about 55-60. After this point they simply stop photosynthesis.

Cannabis will use this time that the lights are off to send different sugars down to it's roots. This will feed the microbes that do the actual nutrient mining for you.

Ever notice that at a certain time of day that your leaves look droopy but arent? That is when they have had enough DLI for the day. You can find DLI calculaters online. Plug in your PPFD, hours on and the calculator will do the math for you and give you your DLI.