From seed - two (sets of) questions

[billyboy]

Hi folks - Two questions:

(i) Light: Is a 24/0 light cycle a real thing? If so, when do you go 18/6? or is it a step to 20/4 and then 12/12 to shorten the Veg?

(ii) Germination: I have 6 of 8 beans sprouting (paper towel method). Last time was 8 of 9. Is that a normal ratio, 75% to 85%?

Thank you!

[rangerjake]

I am hardly the foremost expert here but will weigh in with what I know;

i) Yes, 24/0 is a real thing that people have run full grow on autos. Clearly not for photos. Though it has been the consensus opinion that 20/4 or 18/6 is the preferable light cycle for the full grow of autos. For photos it sounds like most people run a full 24 or 18/6 for the veg period and then switch to 12/12 for flower. Stepping down doesn't seem necessary to get from 24 to 12. I ran my seedlings at 24/0 for 5 days to get them going and then went to a 20/4 for autos and vegging photos. The autos will be ready when the photos are ready to go to 12/12.

ii) don't think there is a "normal" here- depends on the seeds (quality, age, how they were stored, etc)

[billyboy]

Thanks RJ. I think I will try a 20/4 Veg. That sounds like a good way to accelerate them.

The seeds were all delivered recently (past 4-ish months) from a seed bank.

[oldjarhead100]

As far as seeds germinating ,the age,genetics,storage of seeds affect weather they germinate , also some will pop before others because of shell hardness so I leave mine and plant them as they pop

[9fingerleafs]

like jake said, not much difference 18/6 or 24/0 except for the electricity cost. i run my photos 24 hours until i switch to flowering. this way no matter what time of the year (i live in a tropic) i take the plants outside to flower, the big difference between 24 and 13 or 11 is enough to get flowering going

about germinating OJH is right on the money, some seeds never sprout and is normal

[Toker1]

24 hours is a real thing. It’s kind of wasteful, because for some time the plants are “sleeping”. So when that happens, you are wasting electricity. That’s why most choose 18/6 for veg. Gives 6 hours to rest, and allows almost maximum growth with very little waste.
I do 12 on, 5.5 off, 1 on, and 5.5 off repeat in the summer time. Growth is slowed a bit, but this allows me to only run during the coldest parts of the day.
I get 100% germination rates. Seed storage is detrimental to success rates.

[billyboy]

Awesome guys. Thank you. I think I am starting to get it.