12/1 lighting--Any truth or banana in the tail pipe?

[OrganicOzarks]

I just printed out the schedule for 12-1, and staggered lighting flowering, and was wondering if anyone else has actually tried it? I do not know about faster growth, but if you can get similar growth with less electricity then it is a win in my book. Also if smart meters are looking for a 12-12 pattern then this could fuck that algorithm all up. It appears that with the veg, and flower cycles being done this way you could save approximately 25% on your electric bill. Which means you can now add 25% more lighting.

 

[DJOGBK]

has anyone tried 6 hours on / 6 hours off / 6 hours on / 6 hours off? or 7 hours on / 5 hours off / 7 hours on / 5 hours off? or something alone those lines?

 

[Phaeton]

13/11 can cause flowering in many strains, not good for veg, the 1 hour at midnight stops the bud cycle from starting.

The thread "Hours of daylight question" has delta9nxs mentioning his testing of a great many combo's of light & dark including some mentioned here. His posts are always informative.

 

[El Jefe]

has anyone tried 6 hours on / 6 hours off / 6 hours on / 6 hours off? or 7 hours on / 5 hours off / 7 hours on / 5 hours off? or something alone those lines?

im also interested in this....penny for your thoughts, internet?

 

[Oregonism]

From a botanical point of view and not a money saving venture, I think this is a good idea to develop. It amazes me that with all the shared knowledge available, [feeding scheds, watering, mineralization, don't get me started on hyro or aero either] that light patterns aren't more utilized.

I would suspect that by trying to mimic the outside conditions, indoors, that you would increase results.

DLI, Daily Light Integral

Plants need light, duh, but in what amounts? Even pumping big wattage and lumens doesn't necessarily trigger every photosynthetic switch. A small example is using a HPS fixture to veg.

But this also leads me to believe that autoflowering is more present as a dominant trait than thought. I don't have a citation, but have read that Cannabis sp. all have autoflowering as a recessive trait. Only some species express it and we don't really know why. [My theory is that commercially viable autoflowers are usually high latitude derived and they have evolved to autoflower because of high amounts of sunlight during the growing season]

Lastly, anybody ever heard of the King of Nepal?

Ciao!

 

[Phaeton]

So far the 12/1 isn't causing stretch or thin leaves, it is saving electricity though.
Oregonism, my veg DLI rate at 12/1 is .3, I have noticed in my veg room the minimum light to prevent stretch works out to .3 DLI in 16 hours. I ran .4 on the 18/6, a margin for error is nice. I need as slow as I can safely get.

My electric topped $600 last month, diesel based electricity in the boondocks, anything to save a nickel, budrooms turned back to 11.5/12.5, plants aren't suffering there either.

16/8 starts making my plants indecisive, so this 12/1 is a boon, slow grow without stressing the bud cycle.

So far so good in my veg room. :kitty:

 

[IMO]

\

By Joe Pietri

"12-1 is a more natural way to grow indoors and you well have the best results you have ever had and save as much as 50% in energy costs."

lol? wtf is natural about a 1 hour burst of light at midnight? moon exploding or something? this is an interesting and entirely viable experiment, but i dont think there is anything more natural about that light cycle.

in case anyone is interested, may want to poke around about research being done with various spectrums [read at least one person is playing with the UV's in here...] specifically use of far-reds at the start and finish of lights on... i know a couple of growers were documenting their own findings somewhere around here.

 

[Phaeton]

Oldmac was using far red flashes in the morning to stabilize the plants before the main lights, and again at evening overlapping after lights out to minimize stretch and make the dark more effective.
I gave it a grow using 600 watts halogen for the red, did not notice enough difference do it twice. I grow many fewer and larger plants than oldmac, smaller changes help him more.

He also used 80w UVB flash three hours a day at noon, saved a week on oil production. This one also worked in my room, but testing showed the same result from full time 450 nm light (10% of total, 400 watts), lots cheaper than UVB.

Oldmac has not posted in awhile, he is actually pretty old. Searching him out is worth the time.

I have a separate test budroom, I run anything remotely plausible for a grow as time allows. Major changes in the main budroom as a result. Closet full of useless lights also, just passed the $1000 mark on my current UVB mountain grown test. Not the results I want either.

But this is not the thread for all that.

12/1 still going in veg room, another big benefit for me is the lights and fans are all synchronized with the budroom, fewer chore times mean longer breaks.
:kitty:

 

[Aksala]

well it might work. but i really doubt your bulbs and ballasts last longer with all that turning on and off. i smoke alot of weed and i can guarantee i would fuck up the schedule somehow so i wont be trying it . but would love to watch others

Same here...I'd have to have a professional setup to do some shit like that...

Have enough trouble with my shed/one light flower room....

 

[OrganicOzarks]

I just switched one of my rooms to 12-1. Let's see what happens.

 

[IMO]

Oldmac was using far red flashes in the morning to stabilize the plants before the main lights, and again at evening overlapping after lights out to minimize stretch and make the dark more effective.
I gave it a grow using 600 watts halogen for the red, did not notice enough difference do it twice. I grow many fewer and larger plants than oldmac, smaller changes help him more.

He also used 80w UVB flash three hours a day at noon, saved a week on oil production. This one also worked in my room, but testing showed the same result from full time 450 nm light (10% of total, 400 watts), lots cheaper than UVB.

Oldmac has not posted in awhile, he is actually pretty old. Searching him out is worth the time.

I have a separate test budroom, I run anything remotely plausible for a grow as time allows. Major changes in the main budroom as a result. Closet full of useless lights also, just passed the $1000 mark on my current UVB mountain grown test. Not the results I want either.

But this is not the thread for all that.

12/1 still going in veg room, another big benefit for me is the lights and fans are all synchronized with the budroom, fewer chore times mean longer breaks.
:kitty:

awesome awesome awesome. sounds like ill be doing a little friday night reading. first- did you play with other nm than 450? lookin through my old info, tryna find other specs that have been used, so far ive seen people playing with 730nm or so. care to elaborate on the decision for 450nm? most of the tests ive seen prior have been done on smaller scale grows using very manageable plant sizes. leads me to believe it has its largest[perhaps most recognizable] benefit in sog style growing/short veg.

in ref. to the 80w uvb usage- im assuming noon is simply midcycle flowering. did he do this throughout? most of the uvb research/testing ive seen has been pretty inconclusive - interested if his/your methodology gets repeatable results [do you still employ the 450nm?]

anyhow, thanks again for the quick response/sharing info. so much reading and so little time, i appreciate having someone who has the space for hands on work to give me insight. INVALUABLE. dream of having a 'test budroom' to do my own tinkering.

 

[Bionic]

Anyone have any more practical experience or updates with this seemingly awesome method?

 

[weedomat]

Has anyone ever done a comparison grow of this shedule and the regular one ?
I do not doubt that plants can live and grow well under this light shedule, however i seriously doubt the claim of simmilar or better results.

Simple physics tell me that plant matter is nothing but energy stored in a chemical form. Longer lightning = more energy = more plant matter.

I would really like to see a side by side comparison grow, unfortunately I dont have the means to do it myself.

 

[ogenko]

has anyone tried 6 hours on / 6 hours off / 6 hours on / 6 hours off? or 7 hours on / 5 hours off / 7 hours on / 5 hours off? or something alone those lines?

i tried the 6/6/6/6 cycle one run awhile back
it was going really nicely for a couple weeks until i ran into some other issues that screwed my grow
the theory went something like;
the plant get all the light the need in 6 hours of on time (being its straight high power hid stuff)
and 6 hours of dark tells em they are still in flower as the veg/flower cycle is dictated by the night shift
sounds good to me hahahah

and then your veg cycle is 12 hours of light a day, just like your flower cycle
so your bill is always the same (close to)

i will definitely try it again.
im not afraid of that kind of gamble=)

 

[OrganicOzarks]

So it's been about 3 and a half weeks since i have flipped to 12-1. I am getting similar growth as with 18-6. The big difference that I am seeing is that some of my plants appear to almost be budding. They are pushing out hairs like crazy. I am going to guess that once flipped to flower, the 12-1 schedule will have shaved some time off of flower because they are on the brink of flower now. I will continue to test, but so far I am sold.

 

[supermanlives]

very interesting guys. great read. i definately wanna hear the results. bulb size,yield and a few pic wouldnt hurt.k+ for the effort

 

[Habel]

So it's been about 3 and a half weeks since i have flipped to 12-1. I am getting similar growth as with 18-6. The big difference that I am seeing is that some of my plants appear to almost be budding. They are pushing out hairs like crazy. I am going to guess that once flipped to flower, the 12-1 schedule will have shaved some time off of flower because they are on the brink of flower now. I will continue to test, but so far I am sold.

That kinda means that it hasnt worked, as it has triggered flowering rarther than keep them in veg?

Do the strains you have have a tendancy to auto?

 

[OrganicOzarks]

That kinda means that it hasnt worked, as it has triggered flowering rarther than keep them in veg?

Do the strains you have have a tendancy to auto?

I never said it has triggered flowering. I said it appears to be on the brink of flower without actually flowering. I am running a Sour diesel in that room, and it does not auto flower. I have ran it for a year and a half now. The article in Skunk had said that it will speed up flowering due to the plant having higher flowering hormones in it because of the 12-1 light schedule. My results so far match that to a T. Once flipped, instead of taking two weeks to really get into flower it is suppose to be almost instant. I will flip them in a few weeks, and we will see. Like I said before so far I am sold. I am getting similar growth, but saving on my electric. Now if they flower faster then that will just be the icing on the cake. I think that as an industry we will change to this light schedule due to having to cut cost to increase profits. Once fully legal the price is going to plummet, and everyone is going to have to find ways to save. To me this is a no brainer. If anyone doesn't believe the results then instead of being a "Keyboard cowboy" they should try it themselves. The proof is in the pudding.

 

[Grass Lands]

I never said it has triggered flowering. I said it appears to be on the brink of flower without actually flowering. I am running a Sour diesel in that room, and it does not auto flower. I have ran it for a year and a half now. The article in Skunk had said that it will speed up flowering due to the plant having higher flowering hormones in it because of the 12-1 light schedule. My results so far match that to a T. Once flipped, instead of taking two weeks to really get into flower it is suppose to be almost instant. I will flip them in a few weeks, and we will see. Like I said before so far I am sold. I am getting similar growth, but saving on my electric. Now if they flower faster then that will just be the icing on the cake. I think that as an industry we will change to this light schedule due to having to cut cost to increase profits. Once fully legal the price is going to plummet, and everyone is going to have to find ways to save. To me this is a no brainer. If anyone doesn't believe the results then instead of being a "Keyboard cowboy" they should try it themselves. The proof is in the pudding.

what type of light are you using for the 1 hour of light between the dark cycles...are you flipping on the ballasts or just firing up some floro's or cfl's...would think the cfl's or floro's would be better for savings and less wear and tear on the ballast and HID bulbs.

GL

 

[OrganicOzarks]

what type of light are you using for the 1 hour of light between the dark cycles...are you flipping on the ballasts or just firing up some floro's or cfl's...would think the cfl's or floro's would be better for savings and less wear and tear on the ballast and HID bulbs.

GL

Actually that is a great idea. I have not even taken the time to get that far, but that could save even more money. Right now I am vegging under 600 watts of hps. I don't fuck with changing bulbs out for veg and flower anymore. I use to use MH for veg, but now I veg under t5 for a bit then put them under the hps until they are ready to flip. It is just easier for me. I really like the idea of coming on with some cfl for the hour. There would be a loss of light, but I bet the savings would out weigh it. It should be worth a try. On a large scale that would be the way to go. Thanks for the idea. I will add that with as much shit as I have going on I am not in the mood to setup some cfl's so I won't be trying that,but I hope someone does. It is a brilliant idea!