The impact of lighting on marijuana yield is quite significant, but enhancing it takes a lot more effort than just exposing marijuana plants to light for several hours. Like all plants, marijuana has a great impact on light cycles and darkness. Furthermore, marijuana harvests can be augmented by regulating the relative concentration of dissimilar wavelengths of light at diverse stages of the growing marijuana plant.
How Lighting Affects the Production of Chlorophyll in Marijuana Plants
Marijuana produces chlorophyll, a composite that alters light to food energy for the growth of the plant. Numerous diverse kinds of chlorophyll, in addition to secondary compounds, are there in the leaves of this plant. The plant precisely include concentrations of chlorophyll A which captivate light of the red to violet perceptible light spectrums among 430 and 600 nm, and chlorophyll B, which captivates a wider spectrum of perceptible light. If we think about sunlight, it has every colour of the light spectrum in it.
Adjusting light wavelengths can be a great way to boost the production of the suitable kinds of chlorophyll that are needed by the plant at different stages. Harvesters can get better growth and attain better marijuana yields when they adjust their light wavelengths as such that they include more of the red to violet spectrum.
Marijuana Growth Stages and Lighting Cycles
The impact of lighting on marijuana is clearly noticeable if done properly throughout the different stages of its growth. It has two kinds of receptors, phytochrome red, and phytochrome far-red that gives indications to the plants that regulate fit will endure yielding vegetation or will go into the flowering stage. As darkness periods upsurge, the equilibrium of red and far-red receptors in the floraealter, indicates the plants to bud. A harvester can get superior vegetation before it reaches the budding by keeping it in extended lighting cycles, then go back to briefer cycles when it reaches its desirable levels of vegetation.
Lighting is crucial for growing marijuana, be it indoors or else outdoors. The lighting cycle you put to use for budding marijuana unswervingly relates to the overall harvest and the quality of it. Apart from just keeping it in light, you must be aware of the stages and their relation to light cycles for optimum growth.
There are two phases of growing marijuana where it is vital to deliberately keep an eye on light cycles. These phases are:
- The vegetative stage
- The flowering stage
1. The Vegetative Stage
This is the phase of growth of the plant. This phase is very important for the development and well-being of marijuana. In this phase, the branches and leaves of the marijuana start getting bigger and higher. Nevertheless, also in this phase, the plant doesn’t crop any flowers, and you will have to rheostat the form and dimensions of the plant. This is the point from when the light cycle needs to be altered: the light for your plants can be manipulated at this stage to yield better growth. The more illumination your plant takes, the healthier their development and future yield will be.
When the growing marijuana is in the vegetative stage, keep it underneath light for at least 18 hours, it is also called the 18/6 method. But if you are someone who is not bothered by how much the plan expands, then you can keep in under the light for 24 hours, also called the 24/0 method.
Marijuana plants need 12 hours of continuous darkness to reach the next stage of flowering. If they don’t get 12 hours of darkness, they will endure persisting in the vegetative phase. If the plant gets somewhat 13 hours of light every day, it can be made to last in the vegetative stage forever.
2. Indoor Vegetative Stage
Light is not the only concern while keeping the plants indoors, there needs to be room for the plant to grow, and the ceiling must be high enough.
Some of the strains of this plant will not necessarily need such conditions to be grown, and they can grow anywhere easily.
3. Outdoor Vegetative Stage
Usually, maximum cultivators would begin with growing marijuana indoors under artificial lighting and then keep them outside to grow fully, which is a rather great thing to do, especially in changing seasons.
So, if you have thought of cultivating marijuana, it can be extremely helpful to initially keep them indoor still all kinds of hazards like hoarfrost, for instance, have gone and the weather starts to warm up again. A sudden and unexpected fall in the temperature can slay the plant completely. But after the cold weather is over, the plant can be grown well outsides.
4. The Flowering Stage
After keeping the plant in constant light for hours, when you think it is ready to go to the flowering stage, it will be needed to be kept in 12 hours of dark every day. Only then will it reach the flowering stage.
5. Flowering Indoor Marijuana
Many cultivators that produce marijuana indoors start from 12 hours of dark immediately after the plants have touched the anticipated dimensions and form throughout their vegetative stage. Usually, many cultivators favor an indoor vegetative stage that lasts for 4-8 weeks ( 18 or 24 hours of constant light)
To produce marijuana effectively indoors, you need to make the lighting pattern look like the natural growth pattern. When you produce marijuana outdoor, it will get into the flowering stage when the daytime gets shorter. To achieve this, you need to go from 18 to 24 hours of bright sunshine daily to 12 hours in the light and next 12 in dark.
6. Flowering Outdoor Marijuana
If you have thought of growing marijuana outdoors, then nature will do the rest for you. By keeping the plant outside, it will grow from the vegetative stage to the flowering stage on its own. This will happen somewhere around the month of June.
Mostly the marijuana plant starts increasing its height after it reaches the flowering stage — this is the case with both indoor and outdoor both. On the other hand, make sure that the plant gets the 12 hours of darkness and is not in the light during that time. Even bright street lamps can damage the plant.
Final Thoughts!
Growing your own marijuana comes with a lot of benefits. However, the benefits can be achieved if you have complete knowledge of the stages and light cycles associated with the plant.
It might take some time to be a pro at the tips mentioned above, but after you do that, the results will be great.
