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lighting 24 Hour Lighting?

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

I sprout and clone under 24 hour light.  I sprout that way mainly because I depend on lighting for a bit of the heat that speeds things up.  I clone that way because it has given me best results.  First 24 hours of darkness then lights always on.  No clue why it works, but read about that cycle, tried it and like the results.  But after things are a couple inches tall, I switch to 12 hours on and twelve hours off.  I would go 16 on and 8 off but I only have enough electricity to run one room at the time.  Until I can afford to have someone run new wiring off the circuit breaker for each room, I am kind of stuck.  So kind of curious if it is worth it to get the wiring done.

Do folk think there is much of a difference between 12 and 16 hours?
Do you think 24 hours is detrimental?
 
I used 24 hour lighting on 15 bhut jolokia plants years ago til they were about 6 inches tall and I moved them outside. They did great under 24 hour lighting.
 
I start my seedlings under 24 hour light til they're all sprouted and a couple inches tall to keep them from getting leggy, then switch to 18/6
 
Eventually the 24 hr light cycle will be detrimental. In order to grow vigorously and remain healthy the plants need a rest period. There are certain processes that are only performed in the dark. A 12 hr cycle is fine but will not maximize the plants growth potential. The rest cycles in most healthy plants have been observed to last from 2-8 hrs.
 
The rest cycles are only really relevant after plants get true leaves though, right? 
 
The big true leaves act like storage tanks for nutrients. A rest cycle allows those to work properly. 
 
12 hours is too short, though, for the amount of light.
 
I ran 3x circuit breakers feeding 20 amp circuits to my grow room. I run my warming mats off of the existing 20 amp circuit to that room, and my lights off of the 3x 20 amp circuits.
 
I did the wiring myself, but I also do wiring as a day job, so .. didn't cost me much. Already had spare 12-2 wire I could borrow from work, along with 4" boxes, dual receptacle covers, and 20 amp receptacles. $15 in circuit breakers. 4 hours of labor. If you were hiring it out cost could vary wildly depending on how your house is set up. Mine was pretty easy as I had drop ceiling already installed in the basement and all of the tools to drill joists. If I were billing out the job it would have been about $300-350.
 
For the grow room at my farm I ran it as a commercial wiring job, 10x 20 amp circuits for 30 T5 4' 8 bulb units. Will draw 102 amps @ 120v when those are all lit up. That took me two days to do. New sub panels, 180 feet of EMT 1" conduit, several hundred feet of THHN 12 ga wire, breakers, etc. That cost me about $850 in materials to do and about 15 hours of labor. If we were billing that out it would have been a $3k job, easy. 
 
Residential wiring isn't overly hard, but if you've never added a circuit before best to call in a pro. I've been electrocuted once at the day job and it's not much fun to go to the ER and find out you depolarized half of your heart. :)
 
 
I have a close friend who is a certified electrician for Ford.  So covered there.  To be honest, what I want to do is move the entire thing to the barn.  It would be so nice to deduct the electricity from the income.  Barn is on its own meter.
 
I only give about 11 hours of light to my chilis growing inside the growroom and when the sun start to shine in the spring, i will move them next to the window.
 
Sinn said:
Lots of good lighting info here what’s the optimal on/off time?


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I have them on between 07.00 to 18.00. This is what i give to them and dont care much about any optimal stuff, because hey this works for me.
 
I have used 24/7 lights for years without any detrimental effect. 
There is no science behind the , " The plant must rest . " argument.
After the last frost , I take some plants and give them 8 hour sunshine and 16 hours of lights and they really thrive.
 
 
Hmm think I’m going to change mine I’m doing 13 on 11 off right now I felt like maybe that wasn’t enough reading this post I think I was right


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hardcore said:
the pepper plants will fruit  under 24 hrs lighting?
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I still think, that they need some down time from all the bright light to make them rest a little. During the summer time in Finland there is very little down time between all that light during the day and night time.
 
Very interesting conversation looking forward to everyone’s opinion [emoji851]


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I've linked a short article that touches on some of the key points of plant light cycles. When I get some free time I can outline in more specific detail what is actually happening during the "rest" cycle and how best to manipulate them.

www.popsci.com/blog-network/our-modern-plagues/do-plants-sleep
 
Walchit said:
I went with 18-6 figured it couldn't hurt the electric bill, and they should be plenty big by dirt day
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I run 18-6 also. 6 A.M. to Midnight. I run that until dirt day at the end of May or first week of June.
 
Look into the "gas light" method.

You provide different intervals of light mixed with darkness hrs.

Something to consider if power $$$ is an issue.

Personally I run 18/6 schedule. I had pods set and ripen full term last yr before I could plant out.
 
hardcore said:
the pepper plants will fruit  under 24 hrs lighting?
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Chilidude said:
I still think, that they need some down time from all the bright light to make them rest a little. During the summer time in Finland there is very little down time between all that light during the day and night time.
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As you experience, our northern location and because nights are light from the end of May to the beginning of August there is daylight in summertime around the clock across the whole of Finland. Lapland, north of the Arctic Circle, has “nightless nights” in the middle of the summer, when the sun does not sink beneath the horizon at all., how do your plants do outside? Do you try to shade them? Do you think they'd do better with rest?
 
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