Why go 24 hours lights on??

thcrefugee · Nov 9, 2010

Why do i always see people who grow plants in veg with 24 hours lights on and no hours of dark?

anyone heard of the calvin cycle?

plants gotta sleep too, converting the molecules back to the starting constituents.

Thoughts, ideas, etc.. greatly welcomed.

Super.Seeds · Nov 9, 2010

thcrefugee,

I have run the lights on 18/6 and 24/0 and didn't notice much of a difference....Except in my electricity bill! :laughing:

I have heard that you can run them 24/0 to increase growth rates, but I agree, let em' get some sleep! I think they enjoy the dark cycle and maybe it is less stressful on them than 24/0? 18/6 was making my AK47/CHEMDOG flower in the veg room so I bumped it up to 20/4 and everything is copacetic.

Thanks for bringing this up.

SS

Quote from Wikipedia:
The light-independent Calvin cycle, also known (erroneously) as the "dark reaction" or "dark stage," uses the energy from short-lived electronically-excited carriers to convert carbon dioxide and water into organic compounds that can be used by the organism (and by animals that feed on it).

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_cycle

Nicoli · Nov 9, 2010

ibjamming said:
Cannabis doesn't need the dark.

what about in flower?!

whodair · Nov 9, 2010

sometimes i vegg 18/6 summer and 24/0 winter, mainly due to heat !!

nameth2004 · Nov 9, 2010

of course you need darkness when it comes to flowering,but when it comes to vegging you dont need darkness

GeorgeSmiley · Nov 9, 2010

I have never done less than 24/0 until I started vegging under 2k MH the few weeks before flower. I tried 18/6 and they slowed down. I have never cloned or vegged under anything less than 24 as a rule and have excellent results.

Cannabis does not need sleep during veg. But you can, personal preference.

Don't know what to tell you about calvin cycle etc, I just know from experience.

Smiley

emerald city · Nov 9, 2010

ibjamming said:
Cannabis doesn't need the dark. I do seedlings 24hrs under a CFL and at 2 weeks go to a HID for another 2 weeks of 18/6 before I go 12/12.

ditto

thcrefugee · Nov 10, 2010

cool, good to know. thanks everyone.

This may also be in part that we dont veg for months normally, but i would assume there is a buildup of some compound or protein, that will start inhibiting another process, and slow down some growth after a while..
i need to do more reading obviously.

edgey · Nov 10, 2010

unless its down to electricity costs i don't see the point of vegging at less than 24 hours all your doing is slowing the growth rate down , hence longer vegging

thats what i've found in my expirience at least

edgey

alwaystoned_1 · Nov 10, 2010

i always use 24/0

Dr.Young · Nov 10, 2010

I veg with 24 hours just so I don't require a timer, and I don't have light leaks during the dark cycle. I can veg anywhere, and basically decorate with beautiful plants

250wscrogger · Nov 10, 2010

I do 18/6 for everything in veg, even rooting clones...works great.

El Toker · Nov 10, 2010

Nicoli said:
what about in flower?!

It still doesn't "need" the dark, it just uses high phytochrome levels to trigger flowering, it's just a switch to ensure that the plant flowers at the right time of the year. Autoflowering plants have no problem producing bud under 24/0 lighting.

Noobian · Nov 10, 2010

Used to do 24/0 but now it's 20/4...seemed like the little bit of dark did them well so I just kept with it. There's no right or wrong way if they're green and healthy right?

_Dude · Nov 10, 2010

I keep my clones on 24/7 because I don't have an extra timer for that and if I do buy a timer it would go to a pump or lights anyway (I have a couple timers running 2 lights or 2 pumps).

Well, you wanted a reason.

Yeah I wouldn't run an HID 24 hours by choice.

Greyskull · Nov 10, 2010

i like 24/0 i fell ive gotten better/faster growth in veg as opposed to letting them get some rest.

ive done HID 24/0 (400mh) growth was great.. but you pay for it... its the trade off. Id love to be able to veg with a 1k 24/0 shit bubba would get big fast!!

they get plenty of sleep in flower is what my mentor told me.... i agree

rasputin · Nov 10, 2010

In my experience, 24/0 isn't as beneficial as 18/6 or even 20/4, the dark period seems to really help. It was convenient because I could access them day or night and light leaks were no longer an issue but the best results for me have come with a dark period, both for vegging & cloning.

CFL_Grow · Nov 10, 2010

My plants always look the best in right after i turn on the lights. Maybe it's just me. I veg 24/0 for a few weeks then start introducing a fwe hours of darkness a night.

B. Friendly · Nov 10, 2010

sure the calvin cycle exists but with MJ during vegging period does not seem to be to crucial. Done both 24/0 and 18/6 prefer 24 hours of light because of the other necessary and more powerful equation of PHOTOSYNTHESIS. More light equals more growth.

thcrefugee · Nov 10, 2010

After some more researching, this is what i got.

There is no major harm physiologically, when vegging under 24 hrs light.
there is a small build up of ROS in the cell, and some acid accumulation, but its not bad enough to harm anything. However, IF the plants are getting an excess of light, which can happen in cannabis growing, the photosystems will not be able to be repaired once damaged. this only happens at night.

You pay for more electricity. now is that worth the extra growth? who knows.

if you are in it for production, obviously it seems 24 hr growth in the early stages is a beneficial thing. but of course, photoperiods need to be adhered to for inducing normal flowering.

Why go 24 hours lights on??

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