Gradually reduce lighting to begin flower? A resounding coincidence

[PerkPot]

Hello. I have seen it asked a few times in here and thought I would add my experience. I accidentally had one tent on 14/10 when I started to flower. The other was on 12/12. It was about a month before I noticed. Both had started to flower about equally. But when I switched the 14/10 to 12/12 the buds exploded with growth. They are so much fatter than the plant that has been on 12/12 the whole time. Here are some pics. The plant in the tent by itself has been on 12/12 for 8 weeks. The tent with two plants was on 14/10 for 4 weeks and now 12/12 for four weeks. Everything else was the same with these plants. They all sprouted together.

 

[bluter]

i often run a diminishing schedule in flower. 12 / 12 - 11/ 13 - 10 / 14 as weeks progress. it works if you have enough lighting to hit a decent dli. if you are under it, the buds will swell when they get enough.

 

[PerkPot]

i often run a diminishing schedule in flower. 12 / 12 - 11/ 13 - 10 / 14 as weeks progress. it works if you have enough lighting to hit a decent dli. if you are under it, the buds will swell when they get enough.

I might reduce the 12/12 to 11/13 and see what happens lol

 

[Wastei]

You didn't state if they're the same cuts in both tents? If they're not from the same mom you're just guessing, genetics do way more for yield than manipulation amount of light.

To get real results you need to do a proper side by side comparison. They all look planted from seed with different traits.

 

[PerkPot]

You didn't state if they're the same cuts in both tents? If they're not from the same mom you're just guessing, genetics do way more for yield than manipulation amount of light.

To get real results you need to do a proper side by side comparison. They all look planted from seed with different traits.

Sorry I can’t really say if they came from the same mother. They were all gdp seeds from the same seller planted on the same day. The two that were on 14/10 are much fatter than their brother. That’s all I’m sayin. And they all looked about the same before I switched the 14/10 to 12/12

 

[PerkPot]

Here they are during veg. They all looked about the same. The one on the far right is the one I moved to the tent by itself that went on 12/12 for the full 8 weeks.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

As mentioned, yer just guessing at the results of yer mistake

I run mine 10/14 always, speed up that flower time


Mother nature slowly changes her light schedule, maybe ask her about it

 

[PerkPot]

Lol one thing I am no it guessing at is the two plants in the 14/10 tent are twice as fat as the other plant. I moved the single plant to the tent by itself because it was the healthiest out of the three at the time. Now maybe it’s a complete coincidence that the two I left in the 14/10 tent were just stronger plants amd that’s why they have bigger buds but I watched them grow and can say without any guessing when I flipped them from 14/10 to 12/12 they took off and the plant that was always 12/12 just kept plodding along. Could just be a coincidence though lol

 

[Keffka]

Lol one thing I am no it guessing at is the two plants in the 14/10 tent are twice as fat as the other plant. I moved the single plant to the tent by itself because it was the healthiest out of the three at the time. Now maybe it’s a complete coincidence that the two I left in the 14/10 tent were just stronger plants amd that’s why they have bigger buds but I watched them grow and can say without any guessing when I flipped them from 14/10 to 12/12 they took off and the plant that was always 12/12 just kept plodding along. Could just be a coincidence though lol

Every cannabis strain has 32 phenotypes. Each phenotype can express drastically different traits. Some can be fat and resinous buds, others can be leafy and stemmy. You could grow 32 plants from seed of the same strain and have 32 completely different plants.

Most breeders get their strains down to 4-6 really good phenotypes. If you grow from seed, you have no idea which phenotype you’re growing. That’s why the only way to be sure if the changes you made are actually having an effect is to use clones. That way, it’s the exact same phenotype and any differences you observe are a result of your behavior, not the phenotype.

So yes, it is a coincidence that one seemed to flower out more than the other, because there is no way for you to know for sure what’s actually driving your different growth unless they are all clones.

 

[PerkPot]

Lol ok you guys win. I guess dropping from 14/10 to 12/12 has nothing to do with the plants exploding after I dropped the light cycle while the other plant just stayed the same. My bad.

 

[Keffka]

Lol ok you guys win. I guess dropping from 14/10 to 12/12 has nothing to do with the plants exploding after I dropped the light cycle while the other plant just stayed the same. My bad.

The point is, there is no way for you to know whether or not that’s what had the effect. Just being in a different tent is enough to cause a separate phenotype to show.

If you want to know for sure, you have to run clones in the exact same environment with the ONLY difference being the light schedule change. You have to have the same environment, lights, etc. and clones. Otherwise you’re just hoping you’re right.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day

 

[PerkPot]

The point is, there is no way for you to know whether or not that’s what had the effect. Just being in a different tent is enough to cause a separate phenotype to show.

If you want to know for sure, you have to run clones in the exact same environment with the ONLY difference being the light schedule change. You have to have the same environment, lights, etc. and clones. Otherwise you’re just hoping you’re right.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day

I completely understand what you are saying. I watched the growth and it’s my opinion that the light cycle change caused the explosion. I could be wrong. I am wrong at least twice a day.

 

[Sueet]

It makes perfect sense that the plants that got more light hours have more growth, what is the surprise here? I think most ppl use 12/12 because it is a very clear and obvious message for the plant, but we all know that flowering outside typically starts when plants are around 14ish hours of usable light. (or rather, to be accurate - when they have 10ish hours of uninterrupted dark to build up the hormones)

12/12 is just easier and works for all of them, vs fidgeting around to find out just how high can your plant individually go and maintain flowering (without revegging, of course.)

 

[Keffka]

I am wrong at least twice a day.

This made me laugh out loud

I’ve heard both sides. I’ve heard people say 12/12 gives them better growth, I’ve heard people say 14/10, 13/11, 10/14. All kinds of stuff. What I can say is that if it works for you, and you like the results, do it.

Personally I think what you saw was your 14/10 plant was more mature due to its increased light exposure during Veg. Plants reach a sexual maturity during Veg if grown long enough. If you reach that maturity or get closer to it than another plant, you will see much more vigorous flowering with better resin production