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What is best light period for auto plants?

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It says they do best with a 4 or 6 hour dark period, but lots of growers say you can't tell a difference if they have 24 hours of light. I have mine under a 600w MH light dialed down to 75% power for a 18/6 light schedule and she is doin awesome.
 

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Im about to start running these under a 24/0 cycle on my next grow. I am at 20/4 today- to keep as much heat in the tent going as possible. Now I am battling again so I want more light and heat- so I will probably start pushing 24/0 as they have no sense of a dark period to kick flowering. You will see 18/6 20/4 or 24/0 - all work I suppose
 
Different people have different grow styles and ideas.

Like Chemichael said, 18/6, 20/4 or 24/0 could all be used. 18/6 & 24/0 are the two most common from what I've read.

Some people say that anymore than 20 hours of light gives poor returns for the extra energy used and the plants would do best with a short period of rest each day.

Autos have C. Ruderalis ancestry, which naturally grows in places where there is sunlight for 18+ hours per day but the growing season is short and the onset of a cold winter is quick. I'm at 42 degrees south so my climate is similar to that of naturally occurring ruderalis but not quite as extreme as places in the far north

For my imdoor grow I used 600W HPS on 24/0
 
18/6 has worked perfectly with my auto grows...I can't imagine what I would gain from the extra light.
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Pankace
Hi. I got a question about your plant.

I used to belive blue/red ratio, and light intensity(or maybe blue intensity, I'm not sure yet) determine distance between nodes. MH lights have high blue/red ratio that push plants to stay short and you said your 600w MH has beed adjusted to 75% so your MH basically is using 450w which i expected much less distance between nodes. Is it genetic or you are training(More hanging height or something) your plant to grow tall?

If it's part of your training strategy, may i please ask what's behind that training? Why should i train an auto to grow such a tall?
 
This was my first grow. I have a photo strain that I keep short with manifold technique, but that auto has no training whatsoever. I just give her light and nutes and she grew all on her own. I would have to say it is completely genetics. I'm hoping she quits growing or she will grow into the light real soon!
 
I use 18-6 and here is why.
1.
I subscribe to the theory that any added yield I may get from 24 hour light would be more than offset by the 33% increase in electricity cost.
2.
My current yield satisfies my needs.
 
In my experience it seems like after the light has been on 18 hours you get diminishing returns. The difference in growth of your plants between 18/6 and 24/0 isn't really that big. On the flip side, if you stay on 18/6 you're saving 6 hours of your grow light being on each day, which means 25% less electricity use and heat production. In the summer I usually put their 6 hour dark period in the middle of the day when it's the hottest, so I save on cooling, too. I also feel like plants tend to grow greener under 18/6 and are less likely to suffer from deficiencies. I think that the saved heat/electricity combined with the healthier growth makes 18/6 a better choice a lot of the time, but it's true they do grow a little faster on 24/0, and if your grow space is cold you might need the light on all the time to keep your plants warm :)
 
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