Reducing veg from 24/0 to 18/6

[Scooby_Snacks]

I moved 2 of my plants out of my main tent to use for moms. I'd like to slow down the growth on them by reducing the light from 24/0 to 18/6 but keeping them in veg. From my reading I'm thinking of doing it slowly over a week or more. Maybe an hour less every night or every other night. Will this work or does anyone have a better suggestion?

 

[Screwnuts33]

No real need to ease into it. I would just make the change. They will have plenty of time to get acclimated to the new conditions.

 

[Scooby_Snacks]

Much appreciated!!

 

[Wolfbuddie]

Scooby, I was going to post the same question. Thank you for saving me the trouble.

 

[OldSkoool]

Same here, have a couple clones in 7/24 that I'll want to switch to 18/6.

Thanks!

 

[amirxp0]

Can a plant just stay 24 cycle till you bloom

 

[WarBux79]

yes a plant can stay 24/0 until bloom. Switching to 18/6 will make your plants stretch more then 24/0 and could take up your space faster.

 

[bud-wizer]

im glad i came across this subject im my browsing . ive recantly changed my plants from 24 hrs to 18/6 thinking i would b damaging them if they didnt have a break !!! wish i would hav seen this first .lol. is there anyway i can i change them bck to 24 hrs without damaging or confusing them to much??? and also can anyone help me in when the best time to change them to 12/12 is ?

 

[WarBux79]

You can go back to 24/0 with no problems. I would suggest vegging for at least 3 weeks before flipping them to flower.

 

[bud-wizer]

thanks for ur help warbux . ill change them bck now .

happy growing

 

[farm this]

i have al;ways used 24/0 and never understood why people used 18/6???? any input on that ?

 

[farm this]

answered my own question thanks to ed rosenthal ....... end result 18/6 = garbage and thats what i thought

By Ed Rosenthal - Wednesday, February 20 2002
Tags: Ask Ed,CC29,GROWING,Indoor,Lights.
What are the best cycles for vegetation and flowering?
What is the best light cycle during the vegetative stage, 18/6 or 24/?
And which one will help the ladies go into their flowering cycle with the less stress?

Lamp Lighter,
New Brunswick, CT

Marijuana plantes photosynthesize as long as they receive light as well as water, air, nutrients and suitable temperature. Photosynthesis is the process in which plants use the energy from light (primarily in the blue and red spectrums) to combine carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and water (H2O) to make sugar while releasing oxygen to the air.

Plants use sugars continuously to fuel metabolic processes (living) as well as for tissue building. The plant combines nitrogen (N) with the sugar to make amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. They are the substance of plant tissue. When the light is off, the plant's metabolic processes, respiration and growth, continue.

The plant can photosynthesize continuously so it produces the most energy and growth when the light is on, continuously. Continuous light does not stress the plant, which reacts somewhat mechanistically to it.

Plants under an 18-6 light-dark regimen are producing sugar only three quarters of the time. They are thus growing at only 75% of their potential. Leaving the light on continuously will result in bigger plants, faster, which leads to higher yields.

Readers with grow questions (or answers) should send them to Ed at: Ask Ed, PMB 147, 530 Divisadero St., San Francisco, California 94117, USA
You can also email Ed at AskEd@quicktrading.com, and send queries via his website at Quick Trading Company.
All featured questions will be rewarded with a copy of Ed's The Big Book of Buds from Quick Trading.
Sorry, Ed cannot send personal replies to your questions.

 

[G-Dog]

Thanx for the great thread Scooby Plus reps for you

Not only do you get to control the growth of your mother plant, but you are saving power and producing less heat. I had a couple mothers and some new clones in a hamper with 3 CFLs (total 50 watts). I had constant and unwanted growth that I had to cut back. 18 hour lighting would have saved me the trouble. Going away for a couple days was a problem because the mothers would grow into the lights.

 

[simondetroit]

i have al;ways used 24/0 and never understood why people used 18/6???? any input on that ?

Im considering switching from 24/7 to 18/6 because my veg room has gotten pretty big and I would like to cut back on the electricity consumption. My Question is....... Once the plants go into the 18/6 light cycle is it just as important as the bud cycle as far as light leaks, interuption goes? If for some reason I wanted to go into the veg room while the lights were off could I just turn them on without causing major stress?

 

[G-Dog]

Im considering switching from 24/7 to 18/6 because my veg room has gotten pretty big and I would like to cut back on the electricity consumption. My Question is....... Once the plants go into the 18/6 light cycle is it just as important as the bud cycle as far as light leaks, interuption goes? If for some reason I wanted to go into the veg room while the lights were off could I just turn them on without causing major stress?

Light leaks are not a problem in veg cycle. You do not want unwanted light to get in during flower cycle though.

 

[simondetroit]

Thanks, just wanted to verify this a bit better? So if I Interrupt the 6 hours of darkness I will not be increasing my chances of getting hermies, stressed plant etc? Thanks for your quick reply dogg.

 

[sully508]

ive had nothing but sucess w/ 18/6. after seedling. faster growth. imagine 18 of sunlight a day. thats still alot of daylight.
ive done 24/0 veg. much slower growth. 20/4 also slower than 18/6.
maybe a pure sative would like 20/4.
but going from 18/6 to 12/12 my plants explode.
right now im doing 24/0 veg because of the cold weather. 7 weeks of veg. then it should be warm enough for 12/12. i do 18/6 starting in febuary/march.
for me winter is veg time.

 

[sully508]

now its been 11 weeks of 20/4 veg. wonder woman strain from nirvana. due to temps. i went from 18/6 to 20/4. they are 16 inches tall and wide. thats w/ lst. unbelievable stalks. you cant see through the plant because its so dense. like a bush on a mission.
i wanna go 12/12 but its still too cold. im afraid of running out of space.
they say it grows to a medium height. but i think i may have wait till spring to bring them outside to bud. any suggestions.ive never veg'd this long before.

 

[andyh22]

wow 11 weeks 6 weeks is usually the norm im nearly at 6 week stage and mine are monsters

 

[StonerJ]

I've always done 18/6 during veg. I do it currently because we have cleaning people that come into the house every week and they come & leave at the same times every week. By timing 6 hrs off to start before they arrive and lights back on after they leave it allows me to avoid having to really "light proof" the closet that I grow in. I do the same with 12/12 so the lights are never on when they're here. At the moment, I'm in 12/12 and I set it up so that the lights are on from 8PM-8AM so that they're off during the warmest part of the day & on during the coolest so I can leverage the ambient temperature outside the closet (my intake air) to help keep the temps under control.

I also use a photocell switch so that when the lights go off, the photocell switch turns on a small exhaust fan which maintains a negative pressure in the space so that there is no discernible odor coming from the closet as well.