Combining flouro and HID lighting

[Tead]

Back story... due to circumstances beyond my control, I veg in a very hot grow tent under 24 hour fluorescent lights.
I use the flouro's because my HID would make the cabinet way too hot during the day time.
I could run the HID at night alongside the flouro's, but I'm concerned that the lumen change might trigger the bloom cycle even with the flouro's running 24/7.

Thoughts?

 

[David Bowman]

Lumen changes won't affect the plants, the sun's light doesn't stay constant throughout the day due to clouds, angle to the horizon, etc. so I wouldn't worry about any changes in light intensity throughout lights on. In photo-period plants, the light cycle changing to 12/12 is what causes the plant to start flowering.

 

[Tead]

yea... I wasn't too concerned about it... but thought I'd ask none the less.
Luvin the Gas Lantern info.... thanks. Never saw that technique before. It may fit very well into my growing scenario.
Thanks for the link in your sig!

 

[David Bowman]

No problem Tead! You're welcome!

 

[Tead]

Hmmm... so to continue the conversation....
I wonder what would happen if I switched from 24hr light down to 12-1/11 to follow the Gas Lantern technique?
Would my plants go into bloom then back into veg? That would not be cool and I'd need to wait for the next crop.
Seems like changing light cycles mid veg would be a tragedy in the making.
Thoughts? Experiences?

 

[David Bowman]

On my first grow I changed from 18/6 to GLR at ~3 weeks into veg and on my second grow I went from 24/7 to GLR also at ~3 weeks into veg, both caused no issues whatsoever. Cannabis is much more forgiving with light cycle changes during vegging as compared to flowering.

 

[Tead]

Gotcha... thanks. I'll try to remember to report back.

 

[Tead]

Lights set to 12-1/11 this morning. Should be fun to see what happens.
I have been keeping my clones in the same tent. Any thoughts on how this might impact clones trying to make roots?

 

[David Bowman]

Lights set to 12-1/11 this morning. Should be fun to see what happens.
I have been keeping my clones in the same tent. Any thoughts on how this might impact clones trying to make roots?

I'm assuming you are using GLR? If so, make sure your light cycle is 12 on, 5.5 off, 1 on, 5.5 off. It is important to have the interruption of dark in the middle of the lights off. This destroys some of the flowering hormones so it doesn't immediately go into flowering before it is sexually mature. Also, if you are concerned about wear and tear on your HID ballast, you can use just the flouro for that 1 hour of dark interruption, it doesn't need all of the light, just enough to interrupt the hormone production.

 

[Tead]

Yea... I thought the 12-1/11 would indicate GLR. 12 on, 1hr in the middle with 11 hours of dark. I suppose a proper description would have been 12/5.5/1/5.5.
Any thoughts on how this would impact new clones still rooting?

 

[David Bowman]

That's why use the term "GLR", much easier than 12/5.5/1/5.5! I've not done any cloning as of yet, just doing seeds, as I bought 60 last year and want to go through them first, but I'm sure someone with more experience in that area will reply.

 

[wufo]

Would you not stress your plant out with the constant light intensity changes, I know there's a hardening off period if u go from cfl to HPS you have to climatise them?

 

[Tead]

wufo:
ColoHigh has talked me into trying GLR lighting. Apparently it's quite effective at promoting fast growth.
Check out the link in ColoHigh sig.
I was running 24hr light in my Veg chamber, but heat is an issue I can't subtract from my growing equation, so the GLR lighting technique is quite appealing to me. I can run the 12 cycle at night with both the flouros and HPS, then have the 1 hour phase in the middle of the dark be just flouro... thus avoiding my heat issues while providing maximum light at night when the air is cooler.

ColoHigh:
I bet you can buy seeds locally and easily in CO theses days.... I'm way jealous!

 

[David Bowman]

That has not been my experience at all and from what I understand of the origins of this technique an actual gas lantern caused the delay of flowering when farmers checked on their crops at night, so it's not the quantity but the presence of light that's important.

 

[David Bowman]

Tead, actually GLR is not the fastest way to flowering or getting the most growth, that would 12/12 and 18/6 respectively. GLR is the fastest way to get the plant sexually mature and flowering using the least amount of resources. Since I purchased my seeds last summer, before recreational sales were around (that started on 1/1/14), I got them from a seed bank in the Netherlands. But it is nice to be able to supplement my grows with different varieties when the need arises that's for sure!

 

[Tead]

Very impressive so far.
Temps are down about 10(f) during the heat of the day and growth rates appear to be significantly improved.
At this point, I'm kicking myself for not trying it sooner!

 

[David Bowman]

Most excellent Ted, err, I mean Tead! It's so good to hear this technique working for others here at .