How To Set Grow Light Timer

Whether you're researching how to abound weed or y'all've already acquired all of the necessary tools-of-the-trade — it's time to learn i of the essential aspects of indoor cannabis cultivation.

Today, we'll discuss how to prepare and accommodate cannabis grow calorie-free timers in a few elementary steps. You'll notice everything y'all need to know to ensure your indoor marijuana garden receives the light it needs.

Permit's begin!

Why Yous Demand a Grow Low-cal Timer When Growing Marijuana Plants

The age-old question — why practice I need to modify the grow light schedule when growing weed indoors?

For starters — abound low-cal timers are the reason why yous can abound cannabis indoors. Without a grow light timer, y'all would non be able to switch from the vegetative phase to the flowering stage.

Aside from making the indoor cultivation experience possible, here's a list of associated benefits of using a abound light timer when growing weed indoors:

• Prevent hermies (hermaphrodites)
• Foreclose stress
• Increase command

Remember, cannabis plants are photoperiodic. Therefore, you must use grow light timers to mimic the changing of the seasons to fox the cannabis plant to vegetate or blossom.

When it comes to marijuana plants, two stages are essential for indoor cannabis cultivators:

• Vegetative phase
• Flowering stage

To accomplish either of the stages mentioned in a higher place, y'all'll need to adjust the timer to ensure your cannabis abound light system turns on and off at specific intervals. Hither are the nigh common timing cycles that indoor cannabis cultivators depend on:

• Vegetative phase: 18/6 or 24/0
• Flowering stage: 12/12

The Vegetative Phase

Let'south briefly hash out the vegetative stage and its associated light schedule.

Every bit we but mentioned, the vegetative phase requires an abundance of light, such every bit xviii-hours on and 6-hours off. Some indoor growers opt to employ the 24-60 minutes schedule to maximize growth during the vegetative phase.

A grow light timer allows you to set your grow light system to these same parameters.

For example, if you want to veg your cannabis plants for three months before switching to the flowering cycle — you may opt to set your abound light timer to the xviii/6 or 24/0 schedule.

By doing and then, your cannabis plants will remain in the vegetative stage indefinitely until you switch to the 12/12 (flowering) schedule.

The Flowering Stage and the All-important 12/12 Schedule

Ready to terminate producing leaves and outset growing buds? Well, the 12/12 low-cal schedule is all y'all demand to kick off the flowering phase.

To exercise and then, however, y'all need a grow low-cal timer to attain this feat.

Once switched from the vegetative stage to the flowering stage, your cannabis plants volition suddenly modify and commencement the final step in its life cycle.

However, what does 12/12 really mean?

The 12/12 light schedule simply means 12-hours on and 12-hours off.

Think — the 12-hours on must be followed past 12-hours off. When the grow low-cal timer turns the lights off for 12-hours — the grow room must remain pitch blackness.

If your grow lite timer malfunctions, or you exercise non gear up it correctly — you may stress your marijuana crop and produce hermies, which in turn, produces seeds inside the buds.

Unless your want seeded weed — correctly setting your grow light timer is paramount.

The 12/12 flowering schedule kicks off cannabis' flowering phase.

The Unlike Types of Grow Lite Timers

Let'southward briefly go over the unlike abound low-cal timers, so you lot gain a better agreement of what'southward bachelor.

Analog Timer

Analog timers are ideal for cannabis cultivators on a budget.

Similar to digital timers or grow calorie-free controllers, analog timers are incredibly easy-to-use and reliable. Yet, analog timers must be set by hand. In other words, you will need to utilise the pocket-sized dial to adjust the on and off periods.

Although analog timers have been used by generations of cannabis cultivators, beginners may feel overwhelmed by analog timers.

However, yous'll soon learn how to set upwards an analog timer in a few easy steps!

Digital Timer

Digital timers are much easier to utilize than analog timers because times are adjusted with a few buttons.

Yet, beginners may become equally overwhelmed when posed with a myriad of options when setting up a digital grow calorie-free timer.

Don't worry! You'll presently learn how to gear up and adjust a digital timer with ease.

Grow Lite Controller

Abound light controllers are the creme de la creme of grow light timers.

Although these expensive timers may exist overkill for beginners — they are straightforward to use due to their high-end interface. However, we won't comprehend using a abound light controller in this guide because these units are meant for commercial cannabis growers that fall outside this tutorial's telescopic.

There are analog timers, digital timers, and controllers.

How to Set Up and Adjust an Analog Grow Light Timer in Three Easy Steps

To prepare upwardly and accommodate an analog grow low-cal, you lot'll need:

• A grow low-cal system (LED, HID, plasma, or CFL)
• An analog timer
• Extension cord

Step One

First and foremost — look over the analog timer.

You lot'll notice that the timer'due south confront exhibits a dial and two chief colored sets of numbers (blackness and white). The white numbers generally exhibit the hours of 12PM to 11PM. The black values exhibit the hours of 12AM to 11AM.

At that place is also an arrow on the dial that will motion as the timer goes through its wheel one time set.

Step 2

Side by side, adjust and ready the analog timer.

Before you begin stride two, yous must understand that you lot'll need to synchronize your grow light timer with your home clock. The reason why yous'll do this is that you lot'll e'er exist aware of if it's low-cal or dark in the grow room.

Your analog timer should come with easy-to-read instructions. However, we'll discuss the basics here.

On the punch and above the numbers, you'll notice black "buttons" that can be pressed downward. Once pressed, your timer will turn on during these hours.

For example, if yous are ready for the 12/12 light schedule — merely printing down 12 continuous hours and leave the remaining 12-hours up.

In other words, if you want the 12/12 schedule to start (lights on) at 12 PM — simply press the black buttons from 12 PM to 11 PM. Every bit yous'll notice, the 12 AM to eleven AM slots volition remain upward (lights off).

Voila!

Footstep Iii

Last just not least — connect your grow lite to the analog timer. At this point, your grow light and analog timer are paired.

Nonetheless, you must monitor your grow room during the lights on and off hours to ensure the timer works. During the setup, you may accidentally switch the incorrect button, which all of a sudden turns the grow lights on or off during the center of the night.

Therefore, you must use the utmost care to ensure your grow low-cal and analog timer function as intended.

How to Ready Up and Conform a Digital Grow Lite Timer in Three Easy Steps

If you'd rather skip analog buttons — here's a guide on how to set upwardly and accommodate a digital abound calorie-free timer in a few like shooting fish in a barrel steps!

To set up and adjust a digital abound light, you'll need:

• A abound light organisation (LED, HID, plasma, or CFL)
• A digital timer
• Extension cord

Pace I

Commencement — look over the digital timer.

You'll notice that the digital timer exhibits buttons instead of a dial. You'll also find a screen that shows the appointment and time.

Wheel through the options to gain a experience for the digital timer to prepare you for footstep two.

Step Two

Next, it's time to set up and adjust your new digital grow light timer. Your digital timer will come equipped with instructions, but we'll condense them here.

First, you'll desire to set the minutes, hours, and finally, the week(s) that the digital timer will operate.

For example, if yous want to gear up the light schedule to the vegetative phase (18/6), you'll desire to head into the hours section and adjust the schedule. Depending on when you want the grow lights to kick on and off, y'all'll set 18-continuous hours on the on section. Thus, the remaining half dozen-hours will automatically turn off.

Next, yous'll want to set the device to follow this predetermined schedule every solar day of the week. Therefore, yous'll need to set the exact same on and off hours for Monday-Sunday.

Once done, your abound calorie-free timer and abound light organisation will follow this schedule until y'all decide to modify it to the 12/12 schedule to enable flowering.

Footstep Three

Lastly, you'll desire to plug the grow light system into the digital timer and brand certain everything works.

Remember, the last thing you want is your cannabis garden to turn full hermie if you fabricated a simple error. Therefore, make sure the grow low-cal timer kicks on and off at the predetermined hours.

Concluding Considerations When Setting Upward Your Cannabis Grow Light Timer

Phew!

Suddenly, setting upwardly your grow lite timer isn't as hard as you expected, right?

Lastly, we'd like to transport you off with a few central considerations that nosotros've learned during our numerous years growing weed indoors.

The near of import consideration is the on hours that your abound lights will operate. This is especially important if you grow weed with high-wattage lights, such every bit HIDs.

Remember, in one case your grow lights kick on — the grow room will rut upwardly. Therefore, if you lot want to avert sky-loftier air-workout bills, y'all'll want to set your abound lights at strategic hours.

For example, if you live in sunny SoCal during the summer, you don't want your grow lights to plow on at 1 PM. If yous oasis't guessed, let'southward just say your plants volition probably dice from a estrus stroke.

Therefore, you lot want your abound lights and timer to plough on at the almost strategic time, such every bit 7 PM. If you're aiming for the best hours for 12/12, then lights on from vii PM to half-dozen AM is the sweet spot.

We recommend enabling lights on during the hours of 7 PM-six AM for 12/12 because these are the coolest hours during 24-hours. Then, the grow lights volition turn off during the heat of the mean solar day.

If you want the coolest hours for 18/6 (veg) — set the grow lights to turn on from 5:00PM to 10:59AM. Then, your grow lights will turn off from xi AM to 4:59 PM — eureka!

Every bit you can see, yous'll need to practice with your new grow light timer to ensure you have the hang of it. However, one time you practise — you can prepare your cannabis grow lights to your ideal schedule.

Whether you're vegetating your feminized beauties or you're in the middle of the flowering phase — your cannabis garden requires a fully-functioning grow light timer.

Now that you understand how to use a grow calorie-free timer — become growing!

Source: https://www.10buds.com/grow/how-to-set-up-a-cannabis-grow-light-timer/

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