What's new
GrowWeedEasy.com
You're browsing as a guest. Sign up to join the conversation, share your grows, and get help from thousands of fellow growers — it's free and takes less than a minute.

When do you check on plants? 12-hour dark period is annoying

W

wannabeagrower

Member
Morning or night? Just curious how you set up your time schedules to fit around your life.

It seems like autoflowers can be convenient for a busy person because at 18+ hours a day and no worry about light during their night period. You can check on autoflowers or water them pretty much whenever.

Photoperiod cannabis plants are the same way in the vegetative stage, but once they start flowering they need 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness every day. So you can't check on them for 12 hours a day.

Last grow I struggled with that. I had the lights set on from 6am-6pm at night, so I could only check on them before 6 pm and that didn't work well. I'm thinking next time when I get to flowering I'll have lights be on from 10am-10pm so I can check on them until late in the night.

What light schedule do you use? When do you check on your cannabis plants?
 
Last edited:
I bought an Active Eye green LED worklight/flashlight for just that reason. With the flashlight I look in on the plants when I want to. I like to look in during the dark period just cause it's cool to see.

I have tried several different lights on/lights off schedules over the years. I have settled on 0700 to 0100 for veg both photo and auto tents and 0700 to 1900 for flower in the photo tent. I might go 0700 to 1800 depending on the strain.
 
Last edited:
Bowhunterwoody said:
My basement gets a bit chilly this time of year so for me at this time I run lights on at night. Usually 9pm-9am.
Click to expand...
My environment is somewhat opposite and run mostly fall-spring grows to avoid summer heat waves, but since I work 1-9PM, I set mine to 9 PM to 9AM for flower and 9PM to 5 PM for veg. Makes it easier to work on after the 1 hour "sunrise" variable I have set which increases brightness to "full power" to a preset level.
 
Lights on at night for me, when it’s cooler and also when power is cheaper here.
I work basically 8am -5pm so I run 18 hours 3pm - 8am and 12 hours 5-5pm. Yes 18 hours give you more opportunities but in time you will figure it out 12-12.
I like to check on my pants during lights on so I can see how they look while they are growing and inspect properly. I usually check them between 7-8pm so they have been up and growing for a bit and not just waking up. I think it’s helpful to check them at approximately the same time every day so you can compare, especially if your hand watering and trying to judge how much the plant is or isn’t wilting
 
7 am light. 7pm dark. But like Chipmunk, I'm retired as well. I keep my tent open during the 12 hours light on. It helps keep the tent cool and easier to water and check on things.
 
I would suggest you grow autos before adding the complexity of light exposure with photos.
Everyone has their own schedule. Autos on a set and forget 18/6 light schedule let you have all your waking hours for plant care, light and tent adjustments. Before work, after work, before dinner, after dinner - whenever.
 
wannabeagrower said:
Morning or night? Just curious how you set up your time schedules to fit around your life.

It seems like autoflowers can be convenient for a busy person because at 18+ hours a day and no worry about light during their night period. You can check on autoflowers or water them pretty much whenever.

Photoperiod cannabis plants are the same way in the vegetative stage, but once they start flowering they need 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness every day. So you can't check on them for 12 hours a day.

Last grow I struggled with that. I had the lights set on from 6am-6pm at night, so I could only check on them before 6 pm and that didn't work well. I'm thinking next time when I get to flowering I'll have lights be on from 10am-10pm so I can check on them until late in the night.

What light schedule do you use? When do you check on your cannabis plants?
Click to expand...
I only grow autoflowers now, the 12/12 is a pain for me, my dog doesn't understand why he can't go in the bedroom during flowering. I can also leave tent openings open all the time for more airflow. With autos I run the light 18 hours a day, 6 hours of rest. Pick the times most easy for you. I'm retired, so time of day doesn't matter much to me.
 
6am-6pm or 7-7. I usually only grow indoors dec-April. My grow tents are in our upstairs basement it get too warm in the summer then I move outside to grow. Yes I said upstairs basement. Our home is a partial earth contact the upstairs was added before we purchased it. I too am retired and love it.
 
I've read that 24 hours of light with no rest period each day can make plants more susceptible to disease, etc, they need the off time even if they are autoflower. The same tutorial also did a test on yields and potency, with no real difference between 24 hours and 18 hours of light on autoflowers. Thats also 6 hours of not burning electricity on the light each day too. The tutorial was on Build A Soil's site, They have several. Also there was no real difference in harvest times either, it didn't make the plants mature quicker. All plants need the down time or dark time, and autoflowers aren't pure ruderalis, they are all hybrids of a photoperiod strain and a ruderalis strain, and can benefit from a few hours of dark. My electric company sends me an email daily on my usage two days ago, so it's easy for me to track it, and see the difference in how much electricity I use. Which is important to me, living on SSID. My exhaust fan goes off when the light does, leaving the input fan and circulation fans on all the time.
 
Hello gt37. The reason I use a 24hr light schedule. Autos are day neutral plants and flower on age. It accelerates early veg growth and has a faster finish w/larger frames. My experience has been it maximizes growth efficiency. I run a 300 watt bar style light in my auto tent at about 60% power on 24/0. By lowering to 60% I manage the DLI and heat environmental appropriately and it avoids light stress. It works well for me
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top