Proper lighting for cannabis
The advantage of growing cannabis indoors is the fact that you can give the plants the feeling that it’s their flowering season all year round. You’re not dependent on the weather or the season. We distinguish two separate phases in plant cultivation: the growth- or vegetative phase, and the flowering- or generative phase. We’ve already made sure the lamps are installed in such a way that all the plants can be optimally illuminated. A light period of 18 hours and a dark period of 6 hours is ideal for the vegetative phase. We’re assuming that you already have cuttings with roots. With proper care, a healthy cannabis plant can grow up to 5 centimeters per day. It’s very easy to cause the plant to flower. We only have to give the plants the idea that the days are getting shorter (‘autumn’; for cannabis, the sign to flower). We do that by making the light and the dark periods the same length; – 12 hours. In principle, cannabis is an annual plant. The entire life cycle, from seed to death, takes place in one year in nature. When growing cannabis under artificial light, it is possible to force flowering earlier than in nature. After 4 or 5 days vegetative phase, flowering can be ‘provoked’. We do that the moment the clones have visibly started to grow. Two or three weeks after the light period is reduced to 12 hours, the plants begin to flower. It’s very important not to interrupt the dark period. If the plants receive light during the 12-hour dark period, they ‘get confused’; they want to continue growing, and the blooming phase is postponed. The generative phase lasts 60 days or longer, depending on the variety you’re growing. When working with cuttings, it’s possible to harvest four to five times a year.