Ill see if i can find some comparison shots of my latest grow of pinching vs topping. i pinched some up too high too early and so a couple popped off, essentially topping it. The ones pinched are way bushier then the topped ones and outgrowing them.
Might have to give 24/0 a try for a month to see how much it ups the elec bill
so how do you folks tell when it is time to irrigate your plants?
how often do you fertilize them?
and how often do you flush/rinse the containers out?
do you have a set routine?
This is a flawed mentality...well what you are implying is. If you veg in 24/0 you will use the same amount of electricity as if you were to veg at 18/6 or 20/4.
You will get to desired height FASTER with 24/0. You gain 4 hours more of light per day in 24/0 - thus less days to get to desired height.
Even Jorge Cervantes says he now prefers 24/0 bc it will give you faster results.
I have recently been experimenting with going 24/0 for a week then for a day or 2 doing 18/6 then back to 24/0 - from my very limited testing it seems when you suddenly go to 18/6 the growth explodes.
I hate to say it buddy, but I think your mentality is flawed. In a few ways. And I'm usually not one to contradict people but I gotta call this out.
1) 24/0 means 24 hours lights on, 0 hours lights off. 18/6 means 18 hours lights on, 6 hours lights off. For example, if I had a home with only one light, let's say a 1kw light and I ran it for 24 hours, I can guarantee you that I will use more energy/electricity than if I ran that light for only 18 hours a day. I think that math is pretty straight forward.
2) 24/0 light does not necessarily imply more height growth. What 24/0 light does is convince the plant that it should stay in a vegetative state instead of going into flower (12/12). There are arguments on both sides claiming that 24/0 is best or 18/6 is best. I won't go into it, but you can look it up. It is great that you are doing your own experiments with the differences right now. Which brings me to my 3rd point ...
3) You are probably confusing the shit out of your girls by switching light cycles every week. In my opinion, you are seeing that explosion in growth because you plants are essentially starting to flower ... I'm pretty sure they won't go into full flower, but none the less, that is what is going on. Ever see that explosion stretch when plants hit flower? 2-3x stretch? You're seeing similar. By switching back and forth you are essentially taking the plant from veg, to flower and back to veg. If that is how you want to grow them, that's fine, but I'm going to suggest that you choose a cycle and stick to it and judge from there - run a set one 24/0 from clone and 18/6 from clone and then compare.
Experimentation is how every most things are invented, but let's not spread untrue things.
Cheers,
sg
24/0 for 2 weeks = 336 hoursThis is a flawed mentality...well what you are implying is. If you veg in 24/0 you will use the same amount of electricity as if you were to veg at 18/6 or 20/4.
I think more of what he was saying is this. (Hypothetically, and just using random numbers)
24/0 for 2 weeks = 336 hours
versus
18/6 for 3 weeks = 378 hours
The amount of energy spent in electricity would even out, as you would have to veg longer then if you were on a 24/0 schedule. The money spent on electricity would be comparable, and therefore the argument would be using a 24/0 schedule will not significantly raise your electric bill.
Personally I always run 24/0 now. Believe it or not, the plants do grow a bit quicker. IMHO of course.