Wow you’re killing it with the thought provoking info! This is another. Hmm…My soil guy The Rev has something he does related to this but not exactly the same method. I think he's got a work in progress with it. Here's some of what he's said:
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Howdy amigo. Yeah, a great question there homeslice. First, let me say that I am still messing with the whole dimming thing big. I have only been doing it for a few runs now, but in that time, I have observed some cool things. I also have only recently learned about that lighting control panel from my buddy Jarrod, over at NextLight. It sounds awesome, and the price seems decent as well.
I actually began dimming my lights at the end of the plants’ day due to high temperatures. So, the next morning when the lights came on, they would still be dimmed until I raised the power levels. This is an awesome countermeasure to high temps. I also noticed a really nice benefit from this move as well regarding terpene expression. My plants (genetics I am highly familiar with) were extra stinky and tasty, by a definitely noticeable amount. The overall elegance/smoothness of the smoke was also kicked up a notch.
The automated control panel will start your plants out dimmed and end them dimmed just like Mother Nature does in the outdoors. I always tend to trust Mother Nature, so this is a no-brainer for me. The panel will also dim the lights if temperatures get too high, a super cool automation indeed. Let me show you how I do the whole (non-automated) dimming thing these days.
Rev’s Dimming Schedule Details
I haven't done any of it.
- My plants flower on a photoperiod of 12/12 (12 hrs. ON/12 hrs. OFF) unless they are landrace sativas.
- I dim my lights to about 50% power approximately 30 minutes before lights out. When lights come on in the morning, I allow them to remain at 50% for the first 30 minutes.
- I also use the dimming feature if the ambient temperatures get too high. I also use the 50% power setting for this purpose."