hey all could you touch on the importance of the dark period during flowering,,should it be complete darkness..what does incandescent light do? also i ran 24/7 during veg. i think i will go to 18/6 please advise
12/12 is supposed to be 100% black, any amount of light can stress the plant and cause it to go hermie on you.. Its not to say that it will but it might, and that could cause some seeds for you. Also if there is too much light the plant may not flower at all, it may just stay in veg. I go in my flower room in the dark though and use a flash light.....
For vegetative growth I would use a 18/6 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness lighting schedule. I read a study where lighting schedule versus root length was tested and plants grown under a 16/8 lighting schedule grew the longest roots, 18/6 was not tested. I was made aware of a study where lighting schedule versus growth was tested and plants given at least 5.5 hours of darkness grew the most. For flowering the dark phase is where the plants grow and produce flowering hormones responsible for pistil and calyx growth. Unless you grow Cannabis Ruderalis or auto flower cannabis seeds your cannabis plants will require 12/12 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness to flower properly. During the dark 12 hour phase of the flowering cannabis plants your plants will require complete darkness to flower properly. In the event complete darkness is not given for 12 hours during the dark phase of flowering this can cause female cannabis plants to hermaphrodite and produce seeds with hermaphrodite genes and are not desirable. Instead I have a reliable method to produce feminized cannabis seeds in my KingJohnC's 400 Watt LA Confidential Seed Cabinet Soil Indoor Grow Journal.
Taken from Wikipedia
"Cannabis ruderalis is a species of Cannabis originating in central Russia. It flowers earlier than C. indica or C. sativa, does not grow as tall, and can withstand much harsher climates than either of them. Cannabis ruderalis will produce flowers based on its age, rather than light cycle (photoperiod) changes which govern flowering in C. sativa and C. indica varieties. This kind of flowering is also known as "autoflowering""
ok ...I am directing light to the interior of the plant..and I see results. been folding, bending to allow more in...and removing discolored or damaged leaves. does an old fan leaf still do its job?...as a rookie i let a couple leaves get burnt..should these be removed immediately?
it seems leaf trimming, pruning..is controversial.
she has really stretched the last 2-3 days...right when she showed pistils. I did remove damaged old leaves. im gonna post a thread asking if I should trim the healthy leaves to allow light...we will see what they say.