It is a common myth that plants can’t utilize more than 12 hours of light per day and require a dark period. It isn’t true. Try to imagine a plant’s growth cycle is similar to an animal, the more you feed it, the fatter and bigger it gets. If you never decided to switch to 12 hours of darkness your plants would continue to grow until they reached an unmanageable size!

It is recommended that you start the flowering stage, which is when you start the 12 hours of darkness, once your plants reach 10-18inches in height. During all stages of growth your light hood should be around 5 inches from the growing tips of your plants. Since the reflector stays cool to the touch there is no risk of your plants burning. Move the reflector up as your plants continue to grow taller.