The most significant factor that the marijuana plant needs to grow is Light! During photosynthesis, most plants transform light energy into chemical energy, enabling them to grow healthy and strong, and with Marijuana, significantly, light also facilitates bud generation. If you are growing Marijuana outdoors, you can harness the sun’s energy, but in an indoor setup, sunlight is imitated through the use of grow light bulbs, which aim to function similarly as the natural sunlight. .
This article will explain everything you need to know about why light matters when growing Marijuana.
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Why Light Matters When Growing Marijuana?
The success of your marijuana plant growth often relies on one essential factor: lighting.
Proper Lighting conditions are significant when you are cultivating Marijuana, whether indoor or outdoor. Lighting has a substantial effect on marijuana yield, but optimizing harvest sufficiently includes far more than just exposing marijuana plants to continual, bright light. However, like all light plants, Marijuana amazingly benefits from light cycles. Besides, marijuana yields can be boosted by carefully regulating the light intensity at different growth stages of the marijuana plant.
Let’s look at the process in detail:
- Process Of Photosynthesis
Light is the fundamental element for photosynthesis, a process that Marijuana and other light plants wield to grow healthy root systems and foliage. Marijuana plants produce chlorophyll, which transforms light into food energy for the plant’s development through photosynthesis. Several varied forms of chlorophyll are present in a marijuana plant’s leaves. Marijuana plants specifically comprise concentrations of chlorophyll a, which absorbs light in the red to violet apparent light spectrums ranging from 430 and 600 nm wavelengths of light.
One of the keys to enhancing marijuana plantation is to modify light wavelengths to stimulate the generation of the proper forms of chlorophyll that the plant needs to develop at different stages of its growth. Marijuana planters and growers can have better plant development and attain healthy crop yields when they monitor lighting.
- Light Cycle
There are two main stages of marijuana growth where it is significant to regulate light intensity strategically. These include:
- Vegetative Stage Of Marijuana
It is the stage where your marijuana plants are maturing. This stage is crucial for the health of your marijuana plant. At this stage, the stems and leaves of the marijuana plants begin growing more prominent and taller. However, at this stage, the marijuana plant doesn’t generate any buds, and you will need to monitor the shape and size of your plant carefully. That is where the role of the light cycle comes in. You can manipulate the morning for your plants at this stage to produce better growth. The more lighting your marijuana plant gets, the better it grows and develops.
At the vegetative stage, it is best to keep marijuana plants under a minimum of 18 hours of light, that is 18/6 whether indoor or outdoor. But if you would like your plant to thrive as big as possible, then you may want to keep them under 24 hour (24/0) indoor light.
The vegetative stage can prepare the plant to support the bud generation while also preparing it to thrive more and more healthily. Failing to provide a good quantity of light will arise in an unhappy plant that will be more likely to get affected by diseases and bugs. From the moment you have successfully crossed the vegetative stage of your marijuana plants, from 3 to 6 months, get ready to reap a bountiful harvest from your seedling efforts.
- Flowering Stage Of Marijuana
The flowering stage is the last stage of development for a marijuana plant. It is when Marijuana begins to formulate resinous buds, and your hard work will be paid off. While marijuana plants do not need any darkness during the vegetative stage, many planters know that most marijuana plants do need a continuous dark period to grow flowers due to the process known as photoperiodism. A photoperiod is a connection between the length of the light period and the dark period.
Most marijuana plants are photoperiod, which implies that they can only grow flowers when a specific duration of the dark period is provided. In most marijuana plants, the dark period must be at least 12 hours or half of the total 24-hour light cycle. On average, the marijuana plants begin doubling up in size and shape after they reach the flowering stage. However, be sure your marijuana plants are not exposed to light during the uninterrupted dark period.
Planning Your Light Cycles for Maximum Growth
Are you thinking of growing Marijuana? You must thoroughly understand the concept of light cycles for marijuana plants so you can provide the appropriate light schedule for your plant. If you follow up with an adequate lighting schedule, you can get maximum yield.
If you are planting your Marijuana indoors and have sufficient space and room for the plant to grow at its total capacity, you must place your plant under a 24/0 or 18/6 light cycle during its vegetative stage. It will last for up to 60 days, which is the ideal time to produce more flowers. On the other hand, if you plan to grow outdoors, You must schedule your light cycles for flowering Marijuana for 18/6 or 24/0. Still, you will want to keep them at some safe place until all unfavorable weather conditions like freezing temperatures and frost have passed. After that, you can safely put them out and encourage them to grow and flourish naturally under the sun.
Final Verdict
There are a whole lot of advantages to growing your cannabis. However, you can only get the best yield and, therefore, the most help from homegrown Marijuana by knowing the various light cycles involved during the planting and growing of marijuana. Light is indeed the most important factor when it comes to growing Marijuana. You will have to employ various trial and error methods to get truly familiar with the marijuana light cycles as discussed above. However, if you are a marijuana planter newbie, you can follow the steps outlined above, and rest assured that you will find success along the way.