Light deprivation is a crucial technique for weed growers. Especially if you are keen on speeding up the flowering process, or you live in a cold, wet climate. We will briefly outline the benefits and drawbacks associated with this procedure, and how it can aid you to accomplish two or three harvests each season!
To Begin With
Light deprivation, also known as the light dep technique, enables you to regulate the hours of light received by your cannabis plants. In other words, you are tricking your cannabis plants into believing that it’s time for the shorter light periods – specific to fall and winter. That will determine them to speed up the flowering process.
Obviously, the primary advantage to using this technique is that you can seriously maximize your weed production. For instance, if your cannabis plants are budding in the summer season, instead of fall, you might enjoy even more advantages.
A low-budget light deprivation setup requires you to build hoop houses. That implies covering your weed garden with clear plastic so that you manage to insulate the plants as they would be in a greenhouse.
Of course, there are also hoop houses that include a permanent greenhouse structure. Such a structure will withstand wind and will be more durable since the manual labor is minimal.
There are also high-end systems that balance the best features of both indoor and outdoor weed growing. This implies having ultimate control of the climate, and increase or decrease the humidity depending on the weed’s needs.
Benefits of Growing Weed with Light Deprivation
Although growing cannabis outdoors is likely to produce amazing marijuana, there are numerous things that can go wrong. Especially if the growing environment isn’t the best. So, building a greenhouse allows you to safeguard the plants from the weather that could diminish the THC production while breaking down terpenes, and causing mold and rot to your buds.
Additionally, using this technique will enable you to increase your profits, giving you the opportunity to run different strains in various seasons. And, of course, you can determine when your weed garden has grown to your standards before you can move on to the flowering stage.
When Should I Use Light Deprivation?
If you live in Europe, then your cannabis plants will get somewhere around 12.5 hours of light in September. However, during the winter months, since the days become shorter, your plants will only get about 7-9 hours of light. Consequently, outdoor marijuana crops will be done with flowering in October.
Additionally, the rainy weather and cool temperatures that are common in most European countries might determine the cannabis plants to rot. By using the light deprivation technique, you can force the plants to bud in July. What is more, the high temperatures and sunlight during the summertime will enhance the quality of the bud, while significantly reducing the likelihood of rot and mold.
In summary, light deprivation is a terrific way of producing first-quality cannabis at a reasonable price. It also allows you to experiment more, as a weed grower, and determine what works best for you. You can also learn about 5 methods of growing medical weed.
