Complete Dark for 5 days/pre-flower

Red1966

Well-Known Member
Ive heard of outdoor growers doing this to start flower early but only 24 hours then the plant goes into a shady area where it only recives full sun for 8 to 9 hours
Even in the shade, a plant will still get enough light that it will "think" it's still daytime. Inosolation (diffused sunlight) is 10-20% of the light normally falling outside.
 

bravedave

Well-Known Member
Nay, I say. Nay.
Damn you naysayers!!! ;) No bold exclamations here though. I need a few comparison grows. The results of the 3 days dark seems to look pretty good so far and at the very least it was not harmful and removed any fear of going 5 days sometime in the future. 2 weeks into flower and there is no mistaken it...click on the pic above .. that is really a few hours less than 14 days and now another watering and 2 days later its looking even better. However, there is not complete joy in WooHooville ...as they just told me the the lack of music in their room was unacceptable and that they considered those times I sang to them also in the "lack of music" category. Pretty sure they would regress to veg if I hauled in the banjo.
 

reddan1981

Well-Known Member
light manipulation is one form of stressor that can be used to induce a response from our plants, scratching the stem being another of many others
 

bravedave

Well-Known Member
About to finish a somewhat accidental (and somewhat questionable)side by side with the following conditions:

1. 8 plants grown under 2-bulb T5 in clone cabinet. 24 hour light.

2. 9/30. 6 plants were removed from clone cabinet and put under a 600w MH. 20/4 lighting. 2 plants left in cloning cabinet still under 24 hour lighting to be one-time mothers. Feeding/watering the same in all.

3. 11/8. Turned off grow room lights. Clone cabinet remained lit for the 2 will-be mothers. Difference between 6 in grow and 2 in clone seemed negligible at this point.

4. 11/10. Light turned on after 56 hours dark. Start of 12/12 lighting. Clone cabinet still at 24.

5. 11/16. 6 clones taken from both mothers. I beautiful mother plant culled, the other dropped into 12/12 grow room with the 6 who have a 6 day head start.

6. 12/2. 3 weeks of flower for the 6. MUCH more developed than the plant who will reach 3 weeks on Sunday. I will provide comparison pics then. Here is a representative one of the 6 at 3 weeks:

image.jpg
 

RM3

Well-Known Member
Consider Gaslight Veg as a better option, they flower as soon as you flip em with little to no stretch. It's a technique used in green houses for regular garden flowering pants MJ growers mostly use it on long flower Sats
 

bravedave

Well-Known Member
Consider Gaslight Veg as a better option, they flower as soon as you flip em with little to no stretch. It's a technique used in green houses for regular garden flowering pants MJ growers mostly use it on long flower Sats
Yeah. Someday.
 

bravedave

Well-Known Member
sounds interesting.
The control group (plant) is a bit imperfect but ...if one isolates things at the point of flower start when all "looked" similarly happy and healthy there certainly seems to be evidence of "something" causing a difference in maturation speed.
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
My off-line mentor has been doing this for a dozen years and suggested it. Yes, the plants stretch out a bit.

Thoughts?
Yes my immediate thoughts are take clones. Do this with 1 group and put the others under 12/12, compare your results with your genetics :)
 

bravedave

Well-Known Member
Yes my immediate thoughts are take clones. Do this with 1 group and put the others under 12/12, compare your results with your genetics :)
First grow had me do a 3 day dark and things turned out just fine. I am going to test it more precisely next summer. Here, it was called accidental because I had not planned on keeping that mother plant going.
 
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