An irregular photoperiod can cause more males than females to develop. Once you start the photoperiod you should keep that way especially when the plants near maturity (the preflowering stage). During the 6 hours of darkness the grow room is allowed to cool down for this period but a well maintained good grow room setup should not require a cooling down period.Ģ4/0 and 18/6 both share the same problem though. Also the 18/6 photoperiod will generally extend the bulb's lifespan. You use a quarter less electricity and this will have an impact on your electricity bill. There are no problems associated with 24/0 and although some have attributed cannabis sexual dysfunction (the hermaphrodite conditon) to 18/6 photoperiod these problems are actually the result of heat stress.Ī 24/0 photoperiod requires that your grow room temperature be kept well monitored. As we have said already, cannabis is a light demanding plant. Although this does not mean that a plant produces 1/4 less leaves,branches and nodes under the 18/6 photoperiod, it certainly does show the correlation between light and cannabis growth. The 18/6 photoperiod expels 3/4 the amount of light that a 24/0 photoperiod does. Under these conditions the plant will grow quite naturally but not as vigorously as the 24/0 photoperiod. This is 18 hours of light, six hours of darkness light regime. Some growers opt to use 18/6 as their photoperiod. More nodes are formed, more branches are created, leaf numbers increase, the plant is growing at its finest. Plants that are grown in optimal conditions under 24/0 light regime grow vigorusly and the benefits of a 24/0 photoperiod can be seen actively in the results. Plants that grow under 24/0 flourish and do not need a quantity of darkness in order to rest and perform photosynthesis properly.
#CANNABIS GROW BIBLE VS CANNABIS CULTIVATION PROFESSIONAL#
Professional growers keep the light on their plants using the 24/0 photoperiod for this reason. "The following information is straight from Greg Green's "The Cannabis Grow Bible"Ĭannabis is a light demanding plant. Leaving the light on continuously will result in bigger plants, faster, which leads to higher yields." They are thus growing at only 75% of their potential. Plants under an 18-6 light-dark regimen are producing sugar only three quarters of the time. Continuous light does not stress the plant, which reacts somewhat mechanistically to it. The plant can photosynthesize continuously so it produces the most energy and growth when the light is on, continuously. When the light is off, the plant's metabolic processes, respiration and growth, continue. The plant combines nitrogen (N) with the sugar to make amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Plants use sugars continuously to fuel metabolic processes (living) as well as for tissue building. Photosynthesis is the process in which plants use the energy from light (primarily in the blue and red spectrum's) to combine carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and water (H2O) to make sugar while releasing oxygen to the air. Marijuana plants photosynthesize as long as they receive light as well as water, air, nutrients and suitable temperature. "This is a direct quote from Ed Rosenthal whom most of you know is a marijuana growing guru: HXXp://Marijuana Botany Chapter 1 - Sinsemilla Life Cycle of Cannabis 18/6 can be less of a "shock" when changing over to 12/12 for flowering than 24/0 or heat issues can be addressed by fewer hours of light, but basic botany has proven long ago that cannabis needs no dark period.Įd Rosenthal, Mel Frank and Robert Clarke all have covered this extensively over their careers. They can save on their electric bill or prolong ballast/bulb life.
Concerning cannabis, this is not true.Įvery grower can make a personal choice about light cycle. They believe that since people need rest, plants do as well. Some growers practice a version of anthropomorphism with their plants.
As long as the light is on, C3 plants gather and use CO2 for photosynthesis. It does not need a dark period.Ĭ3 plants gather CO2 only during the light period when they are photosynthesizing. "It's been established for many many many years now that cannabis is a C3 plant.