Switching to flowering

[Ryboburton]

So this is my first grow. Plant is humboldt sour diesel feminized. Grown in soil under two 315 lecs in a stainless steel box. Temps are 77 and rh is 55 typically. Question is when switching to flowering how do you do it and why. 24 hours of light first then 12-12 etc. plants are on 18-6 thanks

 

[threatco]

Hey, nice looking plants! Love that they are raised up a bit.

For "how" to do 12-12 there is not really much magic to it.

Just set lights to 12-12 and away you go. You don't need to "ease" into it or anything like a transition light cycle.

Some questions to ask before doing it is;

How big do I want them? Most strains tend to double in height/length during flowering on average.

Do I want to prune them? Yours look clean and good to go. But any cutting if you want clones or something should be done before flowing usually.




That is about it. Those temps and rH are good. Even if temps drop with lights off, the girls like cold as long as it's not frost.

 

[One drop]

So this is my first grow. Plant is humboldt sour diesel feminized. Grown in soil under two 315 lecs in a stainless steel box. Temps are 77 and rh is 55 typically. Question is when switching to flowering how do you do it and why. 24 hours of light first then 12-12 etc. plants are on 18-6 thanks

Some growers have a dark period before the flip I think they think it triggers the flowering we’ll just reducing the hrs to 12/12 or to 11/13 they start to flower . I’ve never used the lights out method just turn hrs down .

 

[Ryboburton]

I’m cutting clones tomorrow. They claim they’ll double at least in size and I have a lot of light there. Don’t want them growing into them. They’ve had some hard lst. They handle it and I’ve just kinda experimented. I’m willing to sacrifice yield to know they won’t grow into the lights or bleach them and know next time. My problem is right now the lights go out at 6am. I want them on for flowering 9am to 9p. So was curious how to change. More dark or more light

 

[threatco]

My problem is right now the lights go out at 6am. I want them on for flowering 9am to 9p. So was curious how to change. More dark or more light

The key is not to interrupt or shorten the dark cycle.

It's not harmful to have shorter light cycles or longer dark cycles.

It's not that bad to have a longer light cycle but should be avoided.

This above concept comes into play if ever your timer fails and you find you are not on the cycle you want to be. Just extend the next dark phase to get back on cycle in most cases.


So for your example, either have them go off at 6am like normal, and have their first dark cycle be 15 hours from 6am to 9pm. then go 12-12 from there.

or

Don't turn it off at 6am, turn it off at 9am this time instead, and keep it dark 12 hours. starting cycle there.

 

[One drop]

Just set your light for the time you want and shut them down till the 9 pm lights on time .

 

[Ryboburton]

The key is not to interrupt or shorten the dark cycle.

It's not harmful to have shorter light cycles or longer dark cycles.

It's not that bad to have a longer light cycle but should be avoided.

This above concept comes into play if ever your timer fails and you find you are not on the cycle you want to be. Just extend the next dark phase to get back on cycle in most cases.


So for your example, either have them go off at 6am like normal, and have their first dark cycle be 15 hours from 6am to 9pm. then go 12-12 from there.

or

Don't turn it off at 6am, turn it off at 9am this time instead, and keep it dark 12 hours. starting cycle there.

Sorry I’m misunderstanding. I want the lights on from 9am to 9p but they currently go off for six hours at 6am to back on at noon. Seemed easiest to me shut them off the first day at 9pm and then back on the next morning at 9am but wasn’t sure if it would shock them is all. Again first grow

 

[One drop]

Sorry I’m misunderstanding. I want the lights on from 9am to 9p but they currently go off for six hours at 6am to back on at noon. Seemed easiest to me shut them off the first day at 9pm and then back on the next morning at 9am but wasn’t sure if it would shock them is all. Again first grow

Yes that what I said .

 

[threatco]

My bad. I got mixed up there.

No, they won't get shocked.

Just have a shorter day in that case. They will turn on at 12 like normal for the last time. And go dark at 9 pm till 9am to start the cycle. That is fine.

 

[Ryboburton]

My bad. I got mixed up there.

No, they won't get shocked.

Just have a shorter day in that case. They will turn on at 12 like normal for the last time. And go dark at 9 pm till 9am to start the cycle. That is fine.

Cool. Thanks

 

[threatco]

I'll add just in case nowadays this isn't printed all over every grow guide out there.

Be careful to not allow light leaks during the dark phase.

Strains will vary in sensitivity, but no one likes seeing their girls go hermaphrodite and start growing pollen sacks and seeds.

 

[growsince79]

Some growers have a dark period before the flip I think they think it triggers the flowering we’ll just reducing the hrs to 12/12 or to 11/13 they start to flower . I’ve never used the lights out method just turn hrs down .

My plants will flower @ 13-11. I leave it there for 3 weeks if I want bigger buds. Then 12-12 to finish. When I want a small seed crop I do 12-12 from seed.

 

[One drop]

Cool I run straight to 11/13 never had any problem .

 

[growsince79]

Cool I run straight to 11/13 never had any problem .

I think 13-11 for 3 weeks instead of 12-12 lengthens the flower cycle by only 1 week on most of my seeds. Maybe next run I'll try 11-12 using identical clone to compare time and yield with 13-11. Perhaps someone here has tried it and will share the results.

 

[chemistry]

All I do when the time comes to flip is wait for the light to go out after 18/6, and change the timer to 12/12, the next time the lights come on, it's flower time, job done.

 

[Aqua Man]

In flower the key is the dark period not the light period. You can run a plant in 2hr on 2hr off and it will never flower. Even though it's getting 12/12 in a day.

During the dark period the plant changes processes if I remember correctly during nightime proteins in the photoreceptors are broken down that are created during photosynthesis. At a certain point the plant senses this shift in these proteins and knows it's time to flower. Even a small amount of light during the dark period or interruptions can prevent the plant from flowering, stress it and cause Herms or cause it to reveg if it has begun to flower.

Opinion only. 24 ish hours of dark then 12/12. But just switch to 12/12 is absolutely fine.

 

[threatco]

I always wondered how much experimenting has been done with longer dark phases, or longer/shorter day phases.

But in my decade of reading about this, I have never really seen it discussed in depth much beyond sometimes doing the 24-hour thing to kick it into gear.

I assume if there was a better ratio then 12-12 then people would be posting evidence-based articles about it. I have no clue though.

You would think some strains would be different, and maybe be able to flower with 8 or 10 hours of dark yet not be an auto. But I have never heard of anything like that.

 

[Aqua Man]

I always wondered how much experimenting has been done with longer dark phases, or longer/shorter day phases.

But in my decade of reading about this, I have never really seen it discussed in depth much beyond sometimes doing the 24-hour thing to kick it into gear.

I assume if there was a better ratio then 12-12 then people would be posting evidence-based articles about it. I have no clue though.

You would think some strains would be different, and maybe be able to flower with 8 or 10 hours of dark yet not be an auto. But I have never heard of anything like that.

Well my opinion is the more light you can get to the plant in those 12 hrs the bigger the yield. This is where light intensity makes all the difference. You may be able to push 13 hrs of light and 11 or dark but I have not risked doing so. The more photons you can get to the plant between dark cycle the better. That's why like I say in general and especially in flower light intensity is everything. In veg you can kinda make up for it with a longer light period. Low light 24hrs high light 18hrs.. med 20/4. But then you also need to look at the media microbiology. It's all intertwined and complex. There is no one best protocol... It's all variable between different grows and why some things work better for some people and not others. Then we all come here and argue what we feel are best... When in reality they are best for our grow but may have negative impacts on others grows

 

[Burned Haze]

When do Cannabis Plants Flower? - Growbarato

When do cannabis plants flower? Why do cannabis plants flower? In this article we're explaining then how, when and why's of cannabis flowering.

www.growbarato.net

 

[chemistry]

The problem I have with 24 hours darkness, is that I would lose two days growth in flower when its not been proven to work any better than 12/12.