I think
@Regrowth nailed it. Plants can only use a certain maximum amount of light per period and, after that, any additional photons are essentially wasted on the plant.
Thats exactly correct.
Well in saying that, the studies and information that I looked at were produced by light manufacturers and light measuring equipment companies, so they still had a market they were selling to.
Doesn't mean they have bad information, its simply they produced it out of profits from consumers, which means they
could minimise or downplay the data that runs counter to their market aims.
One in particular drew from canna plant studies based on biology, so I tend to affirm the findings that the DLI (Daily Light Integral) is measurable and specific to canna.
With enough data and calculations it should be straightforward to affirm. For now Ill take their word.
The reason most auto growers use a longer light period is to try to give the plants as much light as they can use and, depending on your light, distance of light to the plant, etc the number of hours required will vary.
Thats right. Here we are in thresholds
( max/min, optimised, over saturation etc) that have inherent variables.
Its one thing to know them, another to measure, and yet another to standardise results to compare.
The average grower isnt routinelygoing to go through those steps.
The default is, too much is better than too little.
So, in the absence of fancy light measuring technology to know how many hours you need in your specific circumstances many auto growers just opt for more light hours to try to maximize that factor.
Exactly. My counter was the need for a dark period.
To orientate the map to solving the problem, we need to first understand what position we are in primarily.
How well can we control the variables?
Its easy to solve one thing, and create another problem by default.
Once the plant has absorbed as much light as it can for the day, any more light, and dollars spent on electricity to produce it, is essentially wasted on the plant and it may very well be better off in sleep mode and root growth, etc.
Thats as close to the conclusion Ive drawn put in an easy to understand way.
@Jon and @krissboth grow autos very successfully so maybe they have thoughts on light schedules, toppings, and up-potting for autos....
Thanks for tagging them Azi.
What I know about autos, or canna, or even plants, is more than the average person, but far less than a competent grower who chases down ideas and puts things into action, gets the results and reports back.
For the most part Im the bystander, the plants have always just done exactly what their programming tells them to do. I try to stay out of their way and keep things simple.
Its less like having children, where a firm hand is needed, and more being the student to what they have to teach.
