I have yet to see this answered anywhere

Virulent Amoeba

Well-Known Member
yes and also it uses more power to turn a light bulb on then to let it run 24/0
While the bulb may last longer by not turning them off and on, your not about to tell me, much less prove that it costs as much to turn on a HID as it does to run it for 6 hours!

The ballast would have to draw Ungodly amounts of Ampers for the 5 minutes it is warming up.

1000Watts @230VAC = ~4 Ampers(Amps)
6000W = ~24-25A @230VAC

to pull the same amount of electricity durring the 5 minute warm-up would require

6 hours @ 1K watts
12 5 minute periods to an hour
~4Ampers per 1Kw light
6 * 12 * ~4 = 288Ampers

The ballast would have to pull 288Ampers for a full 5 minutes to equal the power consumption used durring the 6 hour off cycle in question. Most houses MAIN breaker isn't big enough to support that!
 

TatickX

Well-Known Member
While the bulb may last longer by not turning them off and on, your not about to tell me, much less prove that it costs as much to turn on a HID as it does to run it for 6 hours!

The ballast would have to draw Ungodly amounts of Ampers for the 5 minutes it is warming up.

1000Watts @230VAC = ~4 Ampers(Amps)
6000W = ~24-25A @230VAC

to pull the same amount of electricity durring the 5 minute warm-up would require

6 hours @ 1K watts
12 5 minute periods to an hour
~4Ampers per 1Kw light
6 * 12 * ~4 = 288Ampers

The ballast would have to pull 288Ampers for a full 5 minutes to equal the power consumption used durring the 6 hour off cycle in question. Most houses MAIN breaker isn't big enough to support that!
that I can't tell you because I'm only using CFL to grow with
 

pandabear

Well-Known Member
yea me I cant allow my plants to be off that long 6 hours to me is a bit much, i have settled on 20 hours on and 4 hours off for them to get a chance to rest as well as my lights can rest too, i think you get the best of both worlds that way. or atleast in theory, 6 hours off though seems like you are wasting too much time. i mean im not a hard driver or anything but i expect my plants to perform!!! after all they aint gettin all this food and water for free:mrgreen: i little extra encouragment to grow might inspire them to please thier master:blsmoke:


but yea im pretty sure all clones need 24 hour lights. the light also provides warmth for your clones, ill keep my lights in 24 until my clones roots begin to hang down in the res before changing to 20/4 then once they get 5 inches im blaze them to 1000watts 12 hours a day:hump:

then im gonna smoke em, and then ima eat a sanwich and then ill prolly have to poo, then maybe go to sleep.
 

jetski

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by jetski
how does it allow for better root growth?

more light more photosynthesis more energy more plant growth, also more electricity cost



In a way you are right, but not fully. Light required for photosynthesis: Only part of solar radiation is used by plants for photosynthesis. The photosynthetically active radiation(PAR) contains the wavelengths between 400 and 700 nanometers, and falls within the so-called visible spectrum (380-770nm). The total visible spectrum is perceived by us humans as white light, but with the aid of a prism, we see that the "white" light is actually separated into a spectrum of colors from violet to blue, to green, yellow, orange, and red. Plants use the blue and red light as their energy source for photosynthesis. So not all of the light emitted is used as food, only part of it. As for 18/6, I have read that it is very healthy for plants to have a "resting" period. That 6 hours of darkness helps them grow better and stronger.

that has nothing to do with what i first said. we are talking about quantity of light not quality

.
 

jetski

Well-Known Member
plants dont work the same way as animals. they dont need sleep. they grow faster on 24 hours light, maybe not enough to justify the extra cost perhaps but they will grow faster. i think its worth doing 24/0 when using low powered lights like cfls as the extra power usage isnt that much
 

edro

Well-Known Member
:joint:18/6 tends to stimulate root growth while 24/0 tends to help vertical growth.....,I was told this by a hippie....I figured he would know,,bein a hippie an all...:peace::?
 

TatickX

Well-Known Member
plants dont work the same way as animals. they dont need sleep. they grow faster on 24 hours light, maybe not enough to justify the extra cost perhaps but they will grow faster. i think its worth doing 24/0 when using low powered lights like cfls as the extra power usage isnt that much
my plants have growen alot and I am only using 55w of CFL for 1 week and they have growin about 1cm but they also have alot more branches forming
 

Smokez420

Active Member
Ive done all my plants on 24/0 and have had no problems so far. From seed to 12/12 is exactly 30 days. Plants get about a foot tall but have between 9-12 nodes. Each yielded at least 1 oz of straight dank buds. I believe that 24/0 forces the nodes to be as close as they can possibly get for whatever light setup you are using. Plus the veg time is shorter. 24 hours a day for 30 days is 720 hours of on time. 18 hours a day will require more veg time. 18 hours x 40 days is 720 hours of on time. All your doing is spreading out the time the plants need to veg, which also spreads out node spacing. I would only see the point if mayb you were running 2000w+ and the electric bill was looking kind of shady.
 

BongReaper

Well-Known Member
I have read this entire forum thus far and still have not leaned one way or the other, everytime i make my mind up on 18/6 someone says something good about 24/0... Y dont some real 10+ year indoor growers chime in
 
Top