Changing the start of the light cycle

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stoneylove

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I am currently running an 18/6 schedule. The lights start at 10am and turn off at 4 am. However, here in the upper midwest usa it is quickly getting colder, especially at night. So I wanna change my schedule to start my lights at, say, 3pm and turn them off at 9am to keep the area warm at night and take advantage of the warmer day.
Can I just one day start them at 3pm instead of 10am? Should I change it 1 hour every day? I'm guessing a gradual change is better, but hoping for some insight.
 
I've had that happen during a power outage while i was away from grow. nothing adverse happened. ;)
 
When you are in vegging, the plants adjust well to light schedule changes. Since you are in veg, I would recommend an extra long light cycle instead of a longer dark period--many people veg 24/7. When you are in flowering it is the other way around.
 
You are in the vegging stage so it really shouldn't hurt anything to change your timing now. I also live in the northern midwest and have been doing all of my flowering at night for years...it works out well cuz its the coolest time of the day in the summer and during the winter it would get too cold in my grow space at night, but it stays resonable in the daytime...good luck with your grow...

Peace...j.b.
 
While in veggie you can do a lot of things you wouldn't want to attempt during flower cycle, such as change your lights-on cycle. Do it now while they're vegging but not after establishing the flower cycle. That make sence? Happy growing!:)
 
The Hemp Goddess said:
When you are in vegging, the plants adjust well to light schedule changes. Since you are in veg, I would recommend an extra long light cycle instead of a longer dark period--many people veg 24/7. When you are in flowering it is the other way around.

So it is ok to leave flowering plants in the dark period for additional time while adjusting the time the lights are on and off? I was wondering about this exact same thing, but i'm trying to change the times of my flower lighting cycle. Right now i have them coming on at 8p and off at 8a, but would like to change to 6p (on) and 6a (off). is it the same concept when tryin to push the light cycle up, instead of back? Thanks for the help
 
Thanks for all your help. Here's another one for ya. Lets say I changed my cycle to 4pm-10am for veg, but I would like to flower 7pm-7am. Should I just do a 24hr cycle one day and have it stop at 7am and then just start it up at 7pm and start the flowering period?
 
Just flip them into flower whenever you want. You can do pretty much whatever you want while they are in veg as long as you don't give them an extended dark period. The extended dark period (10 or more hours of dark) is what triggers the flowering process. In veg you could go from 18 hours of light to 24 back to 18 every day if you felt like it and nothing would happen. So to break it down for you.

If they are in veg do whatever you want more light = more better just don't let them sit in the dark for 12 hours.

If they are in flower and you want to change you light regime use an extended dark period to do it. Say your light normally turn on at noon and you want them to start turning on at midnight instead. Well when the lights go off go change your timer to turn them back on at midnight an voila your done. So your plants would sit in the dark then for 24 hours.
 
Tater (or anyone else),
I understand what you are saying in regards to flowering and moving the timer BACK...but what about the same example you used, but moving the lights coming on from noon (12p) to 10am. How would you go about doing that?

The reason im asking is because i have my lights coming on at 8pm and i want to move their on time up to 6pm. If i just change the timer while they are in their dark period, they would only be getting 10 hrs of darkness instead of 12 hrs. So this is where my concern comes from.

Thanks in advance
 
solarz said:
Tater (or anyone else),
I understand what you are saying in regards to flowering and moving the timer BACK...but what about the same example you used, but moving the lights coming on from noon (12p) to 10am. How would you go about doing that?

The reason im asking is because i have my lights coming on at 8pm and i want to move their on time up to 6pm. If i just change the timer while they are in their dark period, they would only be getting 10 hrs of darkness instead of 12 hrs. So this is where my concern comes from.

Thanks in advance

Okay, when the lights come on at 12pm let them run until 10m (giving you a 10 hour light period instead of a 12). Now at 10pm, plug in your timer to run on your 10am on/10pm off schedule. It is better to have a little shorter light period than a shorter dark period when flowering.
 
Isn't that what I said. Sorter light period = Longer dark period

Miscommunication is awesome! lol

Glad you got er figured out.
 

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