Marijuana Light Schedules: Vegetative Phase VS Flowering Phase

Marijuana plants will grow bigger and bigger as days pass, and will eventually begin developing buds if you grant them longer nights. Marijuana plant is characterized as photoperiod. This means that the quantity of light that they penetrate each day determines when the plant begins creating buds or flowering. This article will explain how much quantity of light needed a day your marijuana plants require to flourish and begin budding, for you to have a fulfilling harvest season.

1. Vegetative Stage – Seeds or clone directs to the vegetative stage

• Give the plants at least eighteen to twenty-four hours of light for day

1. Flowering Stage – Budding phase directs to harvest

• Give the plants twelve hours of light, the rest twelve hours for dark, each day

Seeds or Clone

Although it is not methodologically a “stage”, all types of marijuana growing begin with either seedlings or clones.

Growing Indoor

Simply plant the seedlings or clones whenever you feel you are all set for growing!

Growing Outdoor

Numbers of outdoor growers begin their growing indoors to provide them a favorable beginning prior planting outdoor.

If you are planting Cannabis Seeds outdoors, you must let it stay for few weeks following the spring equinox to finally plant the seedlings outside.

Growers who prefer to use clones for growing, overall you should let it stay for few more weeks, longer than seeds. Marijuana clones are more inclined to flowering sooner than the seedlings.

If you are residing in a place with cold weather, you must also wait for the right time, ideally succeeding the last frost, prior putting the plants outdoor. A very cold temperature can potentially harm your plants and can even kill them. The choice of your strain is very significant. There are types of strains which start to flower sooner than other kinds of strains. For growing outdoor under cold climate, it is necessary to ensure you flourish a strain which is compatible with the local climate, in order for the plants to be prepared for the harvest before the temperatures decline.

Basically, the objective of growing marijuana plants is to acquire a huge yield when the time for harvest arrives. Whether you choose to plant indoor or outdoor, the lighting is one fundamental factor of your plant growth. The light penetrated by the plant throughout the whole lifecycle will make an amazing effect on how much marijuana they generate.

Marijuana growth is comprised of two main cycles. These cycles are named as the following: vegetative stage (this is the stage where the plants are flourishing), and flowering stage (this is the stage when the plants generate buds or flowers).

Vegetative Phase

Your marijuana plants will have to undergo several life stages. Vegetative stage, in particular, is one of the significant parts in your plant’s life cycle.

Vegetative phase is the stage of growing of your plant. During the vegetative phase, the marijuana plants would grow taller and bigger, growing only the leaves and the stems. Being a marijuana grower, you have the capability of controlling the shape and dimension of your marijuana plants by implementing certain training strategies.

Having the capacity off controlling the light schedule of the plant have become possible to acquire more promising yields the moment harvest time comes. While the plants are in the stage of vegetation, the more quantity of light is received by the plants, the larger they grow.

During the whole vegetative phase, your plants will totally not generate buds. You will only see them growing their leaves and stems. While in the vegetative phase, the plants would likely to grow rapidly, particularly if the conditions are best.

What puts marijuana in the stage of vegetation?

Short nights will hold the marijuana plants in the stage of vegetation. You can actually hold your plant in the stage of vegetation for practically perpetual provided that the plants endure in getting short nights (briefer than 1 second- twelve hours, counting on the type of strain). Further, marijuana plant will hang in the vegetative phase provided that the plants receives short nights, that is lower than 11-12 hours each day for dark).

Regardless if you are growing outdoors or indoors, you have to be certain that your plants attain at least thirteen hours of daily light to hold in the vegetative phase. Once the marijuana plants attain a number of few extended nights, it can begin budding before you even like it.

Marijuana plant can penetrate light of as much as twenty hours daily during the vegetative phase. A lot of indoor growers practice 18-24 hours of light daily (recognized as 18-6 or 24-0 light schedules) while in the stage of vegetation to promote rapid vegetative growth.

Do not like to be troubled with light schedules?

For marijuana growers who do not want to go through the trouble of light scheduling, you have an option of auto-flowering strains of marijuana, that will immediately go through their entire life in around three months regardless of light schedule being given. For certain growers, these auto-flowering strains can be a lot simpler compared to the conventional type of strain.

Indoors

Many indoor growers give 18-24 hours of daily light. Providing your marijuana plants greater number of hours of daily light during the flowering phase will promote rapid growth.

Outdoors

Provided that your plants are receiving larger amount of light each day, the plant will immediately halt in the vegetative phase from late spring up to the late summer. Each strain is quiet unique.

Flowering Phase

Your marijuana plants will begin budding if they get a minimum of twelve hours of unbroken darkness every night. After the plants begin budding, they should persist to achieve prolonged dark nights just before harvests or they can turn back to the phase of vegetation.

Indoor

In growing indoor, many growers place their marijuana plants in a schedule that is 12-12 to institute flowering. When outdoor, the plant will commonly begin budding during late summer as the nights are turning longer and longer as winter advances. You just have to see to it that the plants are not revealed to the light while in their dark duration.

The essence to flourishing marijuana indoor is imitating what exists in the nature. If grown from outdoor, marijuana begins to generate flowers the moment the days starts to turn shorter and they acquire a minimum of 12 hours for dark. Everything that is needed to be done is to shift the light schedule from the 18-24 hours of light daily to 12 hours of light for day and another 12 hours for dark.

Understanding 12-12 Lighting

Indoor growers will have to synthetically activate flowering or budding in marijuana plants by modifying the schedule of light in order for the plant to get 12 hours of day light, and another 12 hours of unbroken darkness.

The moment that plant has changed over to the light schedule of flowering (12/12), there is overall additional 6 weeks to 5 months before the buds of the plants are available for the harvest.

Outdoors

Outdoor growers will have to stay until the marijuana plants begin instinctively flowering through their own, commonly after the mid-summer when the days begin altering lesser than 12 hours.

It is necessary to guarantee that the plants are not revealed to light during night while in their dark stage, including spotlights or street lights, for this can hinder the marijuana plants from flowering perfectly.

Growing Indoor but not Certain when to Shift to Flowering

Indoor growers have the privilege of deciding when to flower their marijuana plants. But the question is – when is the perfect time to begin flowering your marijuana indoors?

The perfect time for flowering would actually depend on the preference of an individual.  Further, the best time for flowering is also determined depending on what kind of output one is looking for. There are two main concerns when selecting the best time to shift to 12/12, the height of the marijuana plant, and the age of the marijuana plant.

Height: A standard rule says that your marijuana plant can double or even triple its dimension while in the stage of flowering from the mark where you initially alter the schedule of light to 12/12. There are plants that will flourish more, there are some that will flourish less, but an ideal standard rule is that to shift over the schedule of light when the marijuana plants have obtained halved of their ultimate wanted height. Bending, also recognized as “Low Stress Training” or LST, can be utilized to command colas which get immensely tall. Just bend down immensely tall colas and far from the middle of the plant. Certain growers will even break lightly the branches in order to have them bend at an angle of 90 degrees. For growers planting in a limited space, one main concern is the height. Nonetheless, there are various ways on how to grow short.

Under maximum conditions, if the space and height is not a concern, you would basically like to vegetate your marijuana plant within 60 days or even more prior to shifting it over to the stage of flowering. This will grant your marijuana plant a lot of period to grow tall and big, and lets neophyte growers to tune in their desired growth prior for the plants to come in the delicate stage of flowering. During the vegetative period, it is accessible to reclaim from issues, but issues are more complicated during the stage of flowering, where errors can desperately injure your final harvest.

Providing the marijuana plants enough time in the stage of vegetation, and reserving time to prepare them to suit your space, will grant you the perfect final yields. Nevertheless, if the space is limited, then it is more ideal to shift if the plant is halved the ultimate wanted height, or even to try to flower the marijuana plant direct from seedlings.

Age: Number of growers believe that the marijuana plant that has been planted through seedlings shall not generate many buds or have sufficient production of resin if the marijuana plant is not granted a minimum of 60 days during the vegetative period to mature prior it’s shift over to the stage of flowering. There is no truth behind it. A lot of growers introduce flowering early after the germination of the seed so that the plants shall be kept short and small. This is frequently named as “12-12 from seed”. Put in mind, regardless of what you do, an immature marijuana plant shall not begin the stage of flowering until it reaches the age of 2-3 weeks. Regardless if you place a seedling on a 12-12 light schedule from the origin, it will not initiate perfectly budding for around 3 weeks.

If you are growing marijuana plant through a clone, age will not become a concern and growers can directly shift to the stage of flowering the moment the clone has founded roots. This is being explained in such a way that regardless if the clone can be small, the fact still remains that it is a mature plant because it is created from a piece of a mature marijuana plant. Rooted clones are likely to grow rapidly during the first few number of weeks compared to plants that are grown through seedlings. In any situations, age is relatively not a concern, and you must shift the light schedule in a time that will perfectly suit your availability and requirement.

Whether you are up for indoor or outdoor growing, determining the perfect light schedule to follow will assist boosting the yield.

Harvest Time!

Once the vegetative stage and flowering stage are done, your marijuana plants are ready for harvest! Enjoy the fruit of your labor and seize the enticing flavor of your plant! Reap what you have sown and harvest those wonderful buds. You have placed your knowledge, time, and effort for this moment to come. So, now is your time to treat yourself. All those wonderful buds are awaiting for you!