GLR or trying to use a more natural light cycle is what I would call a advanced growing light cycle. Its nice to keep things in a more natural environment and there are some benifits but for new growers it can be a hassle or cause problems, especially if the person doing GLR doesn't understand why. The info in the link posted above in Alaskan1's post gives a good description and understanding.
Most indoor growers go 24/0 or 18/6 veg and 12/12 flower because it works and its easier to control and maintain. Without a special timer you have to manually adjust the timer daily or weekly and there is a chance of being human and fucking up the light schedule. I personally don't do GLR, I do 24/0 for veg because its easy for me to work in the garden without worrying about the light schedule. I do 18/6 for veg during the hot months to reduce heat and electrical use. The plant growth rate is about the same weather its 24/0 or 18/6. I nolonger worry about clone burnout because I only keep mother plants for less than one year and I do my best to keep the mums as healthy as possible. A poor or sick mum showing 3 finger leaves will produce clones with low potency buds. I have had buds that looked awesome but would only give me a weak high and that sux so choose clippings where the leaves has 5 fingers or more. 3 finger leaves or less is a sign of a stressed plant.
I do 12/12 for flowering because again its easy for me to maintain. If you have to mess with the light cycle, always maintain the dark cycle and adjust the light's on time. The dark cycle is the trigger. A special hormone builds up up during the dark cycle and the light period disrupts this hormone buildup and this is the plant's internal clock triggering the flower period. Disrupting the dark cycle stresses the plant and can cause the hermy effect.
I have tried to flower on a 18 hour day before. I bought a special timer and used it during the summer to reduce heat and shorten flowering times. 6 hours of light, 12 hours of dark. It brought a 60 day flowering time to 45 days with no hermy effect but the diminished bud size and density made me abandon the project after 1 test run. I prefer premo nugs or no nugs at all.
I have also tried leaving the lights off the last few days of flower. Tried it more than one occasion since I can only harvest on weekends and sometimes my regular job gets in the way. I still can't tell if it helped any with the resin glands so I don't really know if its helpful or not, I just do it if it fits within my schedule and I don't need to waste the light power.
I'm a pretty technical type of guy and have tried a number of ways to increase production and growth. Light cycles for me are pretty much locked in, I concentrate mostly on nute strenghs and cycles, light intensity and mostly environmental conditions. The growing part for me mostly depends on the plants and what they have to tell me like ph issues, how its grows and what the leaves and roots are doing. I make adjustments from there wether they are right or wrong. The best grows are grows with lil to no problems, a grow with problems becomes more like a learning experience. I hate those types of learning experiences so I do what I can to prevent them. Unfortunately I only see my grows 1 to 2 times a week and depend on a friend that is suppose to check on them daily but likes to drop the ball during critical times.
I used to be a terrible grower, I had to learn everything the hard way. I am stupid and stubborn and had to go back to the basics over and over again. The funny part was that I started growing good right from the start of my second grow and filled myself with as much info I could find about growing mj plants but my odd wacky experiments like co2 infusion to the roots or increasing temps during the dark period to name a few kept me from really learning how to read plants correctly then neglecting maintenance and taking shortcuts and cleaning really fucked me. Not using tools like ppm meters and just following directions from the bottle made TDW(Total Dried Weight) numbers stagnant and I couldn't progress. I used to blame my water and water temps but after owning and using rodi filtration and a water chiller I was able to elimenate water as a issue if it ever was and fine tune my growing skills.
Just realized my post is long winded, sorry. I got off work early and smoked a lil too much and before I knew it I was reading then typing away. I already forgot what I originally wanted to post. I think it was important but puff,puff, it went up in smoke. How is everybody today? I am happy, how about you? Wish I could remember have of everything I learned about growing, wish I had a better vocabulary lol, peace.
