Will this work tricking the plant

[santiago19]

Hi

I'm in the southern hemisphere, my season starts 1st September (germination) and then the plants usually start to flower late February finishing late April.

Can I do the following?
In mid December when the plants are about 4 months old, I want to put a normal cfl bulb over each plant and make the light cycle 20/4 for about 1 to 2 weeks (turning on the lights for 6 hours about an hour before dark, as they already getting 14 hours natural light at this time) until lets say the 1st of January and then remove the lights completely to let them go back to normal daylight (about 14/10), because I want them to start flowering early and not in late Feb as usual.
As I hear it depends on the light time differential between flower and veg.

The Cfls will only be on for 2 weeks if someone confirms that my idea will work, the lights are only to trick the plants, I can use a normal porch light if I wanted to, so when I turn off the lights they will rely on the Jan and Feb sun to flower and yield

My question is will this work? Will they start flowering after I cut the lights in January? Is 2 weeks enough for the lights? (Reading up on ed rosenthal, even 5 days maybe enough)
Does this experiment/trick give a bigger chance of 'hermieing' them or any negatives at all?

This grow is 100% outdoor from beginning to end.
I hope my post is understood.
Looking for input. Thank you for your time.

 

[SolMJ]

Hello Santiago,

If the lights are close enough then your plants will be tricked into thinking its still veg time. However the plants will not flower with 14hr sunlight. If you want them to flower earlier you will need to bring them inside before placing them back outside until sunlight drops to 12hrs or so. But with 14hr light your plants will start flowering quickly once this drops to 12hr. Anyway I hope my 2cents helps.

Good luck.

 

[Bilbobudkin420]

Hi

I'm in the southern hemisphere, my season starts 1st September (germination) and then the plants usually start to flower late February finishing late April.

Can I do the following?
In mid December when the plants are about 4 months old, I want to put a normal cfl bulb over each plant and make the light cycle 20/4 for about 1 to 2 weeks (turning on the lights for 6 hours about an hour before dark, as they already getting 14 hours natural light at this time) until lets say the 1st of January and then remove the lights completely to let them go back to normal daylight (about 14/10), because I want them to start flowering early and not in late Feb as usual.
As I hear it depends on the light time differential between flower and veg.

The Cfls will only be on for 2 weeks if someone confirms that my idea will work, the lights are only to trick the plants, I can use a normal porch light if I wanted to, so when I turn off the lights they will rely on the Jan and Feb sun to flower and yield

My question is will this work? Will they start flowering after I cut the lights in January? Is 2 weeks enough for the lights? (Reading up on ed rosenthal, even 5 days maybe enough)
Does this experiment/trick give a bigger chance of 'hermieing' them or any negatives at all?

This grow is 100% outdoor from beginning to end.
I hope my post is understood.
Looking for input. Thank you for your time.

Interesting thought. My man above is right though they wont start flowering until light hours are 12 or below. In future may I suggest running autoflowers. They finish when they wanna finish. Smaller the container quicker they finish. Just a thought

 

[SolMJ]

Interesting thought. My man above is right though they wont start flowering until light hours are 12 or below. In future may I suggest running autoflowers. They finish when they wanna finish. Smaller the container quicker they finish. Just a thought

If you have good weather & a place to grow outdoors then auto's will really shine I agree, all that sun during flower will make up for the short veg period if well taken care of. Another way if you have a secluded garden is to simply move them in/out everyday.

Cheers.

 

[santiago19]

OK guys screw this idea. I'm going with light deprivation like most people. I already drew up a plan for my mini tunnel with lightproof black tarp.


Now I have new question.
My plants start flowering normally in mid to late feb (let's say 15 feb usually in my experience) like you guys above is mid to late august even early September..

I would like to start with the deprivation tarp at about the 10th of January so that they can start flowering properly... so about a month earlier than their usual starting time over here

So my question is, can I remove/stop using the deprivation tarp completely at about the 15th-20th of Feb (their natural flowering time over here) or MUST one use the deprivation every single day until the end of the plants life/flowering to avoid fuck ups like shock/ stress if any... ?

Looking forward to a reply.

 

[Bilbobudkin420]

OK guys screw this idea. I'm going with light deprivation like most people. I already drew up a plan for my mini tunnel with lightproof black tarp.


Now I have new question.
My plants start flowering normally in mid to late feb (let's say 15 feb usually in my experience) like you guys above is mid to late august even early September..

I would like to start with the deprivation tarp at about the 10th of January so that they can start flowering properly... so about a month earlier than their usual starting time over here

So my question is, can I remove/stop using the deprivation tarp completely at about the 15th-20th of Feb (their natural flowering time over here) or MUST one use the deprivation every single day until the end of the plants life/flowering to avoid fuck ups like shock/ stress if any... ?

Looking forward to a reply.

As long as you are genuinely at the point where the sun light hours are bang on 12h shouldnt be any shock when u take off the tarp

 

[flashmp3]

I feel like sharing considering the amount of websites, YouTube videos and thread on this from I ve been able to look at. I ve read at several place that some strains start to flower with more than 12 hours. Some can even start with 14hours of light. So giving them let s say 15 hours will keep you safe. I had read about lift depreciation but don't remember so won't say anything about it. Regarding the CFL, they in general output around 50000 lux (which is good and enough even for a flowering plant) at around 3 inches. Yes you can put it close but just far enough too keep away from too much heat. In general with a good airflow you should be able to keep it close. But even if it was too high, a plant need a minimum amount of light to keep going but it s very little. Don't remember the exact value in lux but from memory it s around 8000 lux. So don't worry if it s only 2 weeks, the most important so that the plant doesn't flip to flower is that she gets more than safe 15 hours of lights per day. When the plant is flowering, even a bedroom light could trigger reveg. So it's really more about time of light than intensity. Intensity helps for development etc... Hope I was clear enough

 

[santiago19]

I just got this on a royalqueenseeds blog - "If you ensure that your plants get only 12 hours of sunlight, they will begin flowering. After three weeks with your light deprived plants in flower, you won’t need to cover them any longer since the days will be sufficiently short."

I guess this answers my question, I won't have to use the deprivation tarp until the end, I can discard it after they've been flowering for 3 weeks as the days are anyways getting shorter?

Thank you flashmp3 for your reply to my 1st topic.

 

[flashmp3]

I just got this on a royalqueenseeds blog - "If you ensure that your plants get only 12 hours of sunlight, they will begin flowering. After three weeks with your light deprived plants in flower, you won’t need to cover them any longer since the days will be sufficiently short."

I guess this answers my question, I won't have to use the deprivation tarp until the end, I can discard it after they've been flowering for 3 weeks as the days are anyways getting shorter?

Thank you flashmp3 for your reply to my 1st topic.

I think I had read the article about light deprivation on that website. Regarding your question as you may know the answer is yes! When days become shorter it will keep flowering without trouble.

 

[Bud]

If I was in your part of the world,I’d b looking into autos, thay bloom no matter the amount of sun gotten,more is always better tho. Iv had much success growing them.lol

 

[santiago19]

As long as you are genuinely at the point where the sun light hours are bang on 12h shouldnt be any shock when u take off the tarp

Ok but the time I'm looking to discard the tarp the daylength hours will still be 13 hours mid feb. Will this be a problem? Does it really matter if it's still 13 hours, by this time the plants will have been flowering for 4 weeks already, I'm sure they won't reveg.

 

[SolMJ]

Ok but the time I'm looking to discard the tarp the daylength hours will still be 13 hours mid feb. Will this be a problem? Does it really matter if it's still 13 hours, by this time the plants will have been flowering for 4 weeks already, I'm sure they won't reveg.

Hi buddy. They might not reveg but they will experience some stress. One hour is enough to make a plant think the circumstances have changed. An extra hour to 13 will cause confusion in the plant. Bear in mind that strains are different, some will handle this better than others. So although its unlikely to completely reveg because the end is so near the final outcome wont be optimal that's all.

Put it this way...the plant was on a roll for 4 wks producing flower, all of a sudden it gets 13hrs. Its now wasting time thinking how can this be? it tells itself to continue as normal until tomorrow to confirm this 'increase in light'. The next day its confirmed...now the plant starts to slowly shift to veg. But because your at 4wks it won't look like its reveging but the mechanics inside will be changing priorities from bud to leaves. Its still producing bud but on a gradually lesser scale. Then after another 2wks the plant notices light is down again to say 12.5hr...enough maybe for it to repeat the same process but the other way. Imagine an oil tanker having to change direction...it takes time & effort.

Cheers.