14/10 flower schedule?

Hi guys, due to the nature of my work, I’m having a hard time being home when the lights are on sometimes. Making feeding/caring for the plants difficult sometimes. My work is very random and I come home at all different times of the day/night.

Will a 20/4 veg and 14/10 flower schedule work well?
I’m hoping to increase the number of flower hours to increase the chances of the lights being on when I get home from work.
I don’t really have too much of a problem in veg but I’m guessing you want to increase the veg hours if you increase the flower light hours.

Cobbyist said:

Hi guys, due to the nature of my work, I’m having a hard time being home when the lights are on sometimes. Making feeding/caring for the plants difficult sometimes. My work is very random and I come home at all different times of the day/night.

Will a 20/4 veg and 14/10 flower schedule work well?
I’m hoping to increase the number of flower hours to increase the chances of the lights being on when I get home from work.
I don’t really have too much of a problem in veg but I’m guessing you want to increase the veg hours if you increase the flower light hours.

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Veg is fine anywhere from 18-24 on, I usually run them 18/6 to save energy. Although you'll get slightly better growth under 24 hours light.

We do 12/12 for flowering because it's the perfect balance between a long enough dark to flower properly & as long of a day as possible to grow as much as possible. With a slightly shorter night it'll take longer to flower, you'll probably have more stretch as it'll take longer to flip but it should work. Growers have experimented with all sorts of different light schedules over the years, the big thing is that it's consistent.

I think he means 14 on 10 off? Never tried it but the common thought is you nees 12 hours dark to flower. Why can't you just have it come on 2 hours later or earlier and keep the 12/12?

donkeyshow said:

I think he means 14 on 10 off? Never tried it but the common thought is you nees 12 hours dark to flower. Why can't you just have it come on 2 hours later or earlier and keep the 12/12?

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Yep, assumed that's what he meant hence saying with a shorter night (10 hour night being shorter then 12) it'll take longer for the phytochrome FR to build high enough to flip to flowering.

While 12 hours darkness is optimal plants will flower under shorter nights it'll just take longer. Look at outdoors where plants routinely flower before the fall equinox.

donkeyshow said:

I think he means 14 on 10 off? Never tried it but the common thought is you nees 12 hours dark to flower. Why can't you just have it come on 2 hours later or earlier and keep the 12/12?

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As I said earlier my work schedule is random. I work in film so to make it short, I can start at any time of the day/night and my work hours range from 8-16 a day.

There is no schedule I can set my lights to so basically the only way to better my chances is more light hours total.

And yes I mean 14 on 10 off

Somatek said:

Yep, assumed that's what he meant hence saying with a shorter night (10 hour night being shorter then 12) it'll take longer for the phytochrome FR to build high enough to flip to flowering.

While 12 hours darkness is optimal plants will flower under shorter nights it'll just take longer. Look at outdoors where plants routinely flower before the fall equinox.

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I can’t seem to find much online about others doing the 14/10 flower schedule, the few I have found also say increased flower time like you said..but also increased yields.

I’m wondering if others who tried 14/10 flower can verify this?

I have been running 10/14 for a year and love it with no effect on yield and a couple days quicker with less cost. It requires pretty good light intensity but I really like it and especially since I do a difficult Sativa from time to time. Mostly COBs with a white high end panel or two when needed.

hillbill said:

I have been running 10/14 for a year and love it with no effect on yield and a couple days quicker with less cost. It requires pretty good light intensity but I really like it and especially since I do a difficult Sativa from time to time. Mostly COBs with a white high end panel or two when needed.

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I've thought about trying this. You say it requires good light intensity, how intense are you talking? I have a par meter so if you have one we could just compare numbers.
Right now I'm running two 315w cmh's dimmed to 80% and 9 cobs dimmed to 33.3 watts each, inside a 4x8 tent. High temps have me running things softer is why I ask.

I've used 14/10 to trigger pre-flowering while waiting for my main flower room to be ready. It will trigger flowering in most strains but not all, and they take much longer to start flowering. Also, at 14/10 you'll be adding somewhere around 2 -3 weeks to your flowering time. 13/11 is used and should flower almost any strain, but your flowering time will be extended by 1-2 weeks vs. 12/12. I've tested flowering (with clones from same strains) from 12.5/11.5 down to 11.5/12.5 and settled on 11.5/12.5 as it sped up my finish times with no noticeable hit on yields.

I have no par meter but at least 40 watts/sf of COBs is what I run. I have ducted some heat/ac into my flower tent which is wonderful to maintain container temps in the winter.

GroErr said:

I've used 14/10 to trigger pre-flowering while waiting for my main flower room to be ready. It will trigger flowering in most strains but not all, and they take much longer to start flowering. Also, at 14/10 you'll be adding somewhere around 2 -3 weeks to your flowering time. 13/11 is used and should flower almost any strain, but your flowering time will be extended by 1-2 weeks vs. 12/12. I've tested flowering (with clones from same strains) from 12.5/11.5 down to 11.5/12.5 and settled on 11.5/12.5 as it sped up my finish times with no noticeable hit on yields.

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When you tried 14/10 what veg light cycle were you using? I wonder if the bigger difference from 20/4 vs 18/6 will help trigger flower sooner?

hillbill said:

I have no par meter but at least 40 watts/sf of COBs is what I run. I have ducted some heat/ac into my flower tent which is wonderful to maintain container temps in the winter.

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Yeah I'm only sitting at about 30 watts/sf right now. I'll be able to get it up there more this winter.

Cobbyist said:

As I said earlier my work schedule is random. I work in film so to make it short, I can start at any time of the day/night and my work hours range from 8-16 a day.

There is no schedule I can set my lights to so basically the only way to better my chances is more light hours total.

And yes I mean 14 on 10 off

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From my experience 14 on and 10 off won't work. I lowered my veg to 14 hours on One Summer due to heat considerations and while I thought it was working fine when I actually looked at it I had a billion preflowers but it continued to mainly veg.

Some plants will flower more heavily, some plants less dependent upon strain, but it's not going to work well for you in my opinion, good luck

Cobbyist said:

When you tried 14/10 what veg light cycle were you using? I wonder if the bigger difference from 20/4 vs 18/6 will help trigger flower sooner?

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It's not the difference between photoperiods, it's the length of the night period which relates to 2 specific pigments; phytochrome red (Pr) & phytochrome far red (Pfr) that trigger flowering when they reach a critical level. In darkness Pfr slowly converts to Pr, if the dark period is long enough then it'll change the hormone balance & trigger flowering.

So some plants will have genes that trigger them to flower quicker, others later but I've never heard of any relations between day length during veg vs flower making a difference as it's a long night flowering plant.

Can always go autoflowers and never turn your lights off!

GroErr said:

I've used 14/10 to trigger pre-flowering while waiting for my main flower room to be ready. It will trigger flowering in most strains but not all, and they take much longer to start flowering. Also, at 14/10 you'll be adding somewhere around 2 -3 weeks to your flowering time. 13/11 is used and should flower almost any strain, but your flowering time will be extended by 1-2 weeks vs. 12/12. I've tested flowering (with clones from same strains) from 12.5/11.5 down to 11.5/12.5 and settled on 11.5/12.5 as it sped up my finish times with no noticeable hit on yields.

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Having seen evidence on your grow I just switched my timer to your setting. Juice is expensive in Alaska.

donkeyshow said:

Can always go autoflowers and never turn your lights off!

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Baked Beans Seeds has some strains they bred. Focused on the Northwest and Alaska . One of the owners turned me on to some Bering Sea Blue and some Sweet Tooth. Autos. To convince me they're good.

The BSB rocked. One of the best tasting smokes ever too. Both turned really good in the jar.

Both grew no problem. I went light on the nutes and didn't have to.

Cobbyist said:

When you tried 14/10 what veg light cycle were you using? I wonder if the bigger difference from 20/4 vs 18/6 will help trigger flower sooner?

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I've done it from 18/6 and 20/4, I switch around in veg depending on what I have coming up and when I need them ready. Like I said, it will trigger some but there's no guarantee and it will take longer to transition. I've never tried flowering a whole round under 14/10 but based on 13/11 and 12.5/11.5 I'd bet your flowering times would increase significantly.

GroErr said:

I've done it from 18/6 and 20/4, I switch around in veg depending on what I have coming up and when I need them ready. Like I said, it will trigger some but there's no guarantee and it will take longer to transition. I've never tried flowering a whole round under 14/10 but based on 13/11 and 12.5/11.5 I'd bet your flowering times would increase significantly.

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Would a far red light to help trigger flower possibly outweigh the decreased dark hours?

GroErr said:

I've done it from 18/6 and 20/4, I switch around in veg depending on what I have coming up and when I need them ready. Like I said, it will trigger some but there's no guarantee and it will take longer to transition. I've never tried flowering a whole round under 14/10 but based on 13/11 and 12.5/11.5 I'd bet your flowering times would increase significantly.

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In summer here it's never dark for a lot of the Spring and all summer. The sun will officially set at my place July 29 for the first time since May. Vegging here is cheap. We fill grow bags and buckets. But flowering requires more intense levels of light so a tent and HID it is. At least I can leave the tent open and get excellent air flow.