How long to keep light on cannabis plant?
Lighting is essential for all cannabis plants, both indoors and outdoors. It can change the growth status of plants and have a far-reaching impact on different life stages of plants.
As we all know. Marijuana is a “photoperiodic” plant, which means that the amount of light received each day determines when the plant begins to bloom or sprout. This also means that they rely on a 12 / 12 photoperiod to bloom. It is important to provide the correct light cycle so that your cannabis plant can begin to bloom
Arranging your light schedule correctly is an important part of growing marijuana. In fact, the size and quality of the harvest depend largely on the amount of light received by the cannabis plant and its time. Unique light conditions are required for seedling, vegetation and flowering stages.
Seedling stage
The seedling stage of marijuana. It lasts only 2-3 weeks indoors, but it lasts up to 6 weeks outdoors. At this stage, your cannabis plant will devote a lot of energy to developing its roots.
The best marijuana light schedule for seedlings is 18 / 6, which means that the light is turned on for 18 hours and turned off (darkening the plant) for 6 hours a day. Seedlings can grow well without strong light. Strong light can sometimes damage seedlings. However, if the grow lamp is too far from your plant, it will stretch, and if the grow lamp is too close, it may burn (especially if it is HID). For example, when using LEDs, you need to keep the grow light for seedling between 60-76 cm (24-30 inches).
Vegetation stage
Vegetation stage is one of the most important parts of cannabis plant life. Plants often grow very fast, especially under appropriate conditions. Whether you grow cannabis indoors or outdoors, you must ensure that your cannabis plant receives at least 13 hours of light a day to maintain the plant growth stage. 18 / 6 mode (6 hours of darkness after 18 hours of light) is the standard light cycle for indoor plant growth. Outdoors, however, growers cannot end the nutritional phase by changing the light schedule of marijuana.
Flowering stage
Flowering is the third and last stage of the life cycle of cannabis plant. When plants receive 12 hours or less of sunlight a day. At this stage, it is necessary to set the illumination schedule of 12 hours of darkness (12 / 12) after 12 hours of illumination. This phase lasts 8 to 12 weeks. Your light should be in a constant cycle of 12 / 12, because any interruption will seriously damage your growth. Marijuana begins to sprout when the plant is kept dark for at least 12 hours every night. After plants begin to germinate, they must continue through the long night until harvest, otherwise they may return to the nutritional stage.