For several years, it has been carrying out an alternative way of growing indoors, saving time and money on the electricity bill. It is a simple technique that does not require significant extra efforts, simply a little better control culture parameters.

We speak of the culture at 12-12 from seed. Indoor crops are usually always given four to six weeks of growth to seed before changing their light cycle and pass them to bloom. But ….. and if that is not necessary?

Cultivating 12-12 from seed is not only possible, but also will save us energy, which translates into cost savings for our pockets.

The culture technique is identical, but with a few minor modifications as detailed below for anyone interested in trying out this method.

Genetics

One of the prerequisites to grow with this method is selecting the right genetics for indoor. The indica varieties do not grow very fast and just bloom to double their height during flowering; they also do not develop the root system much like other varieties, so totally it’s not recommended to be cultured to 12-12 with indica varieties.

Sativa or hybrid varieties are most suitable for this crop. Their vigor and growing root development during the whole culture make them ideal candidates for this task.

The culture has to be made starting from seed or from cuttings since the cuttings need a period of adaptation and pre-flowering root development.

Media

It is important that we begin our culture with a container / pot / final pot to avoid transplants during cultivation.

It is essential to have a powerful lighting system. These plants only need twelve hours of light, so they need the maximum amount of lumens to develop in good condition.

A cooling system / correct air help us to focus on the plants and they can obtain more lumens without suffering from excessive heat.

Cycle

The light cycle must be strict 12 hours of light and 12 hours of total darkness from germination until harvest.

If we use sodium vapor (HPS) lamps, we can use the same bulb from beginning to end; it is not necessary to use white light bulbs.

These are the main changes that can be seen by comparing a standard crop growth cycle and bloom with a crop from seed 12-12.

Marijuana plants do not bloom until they reach sexual maturity accurately, so even if we start with a cycle of 12-12 the plants would be in a period of growth during the three or four initial weeks of life. Later, they begin to bloom automatically because the light cycle is appropriate.

With no abrupt changes of photo-periods, the plants will suffer much less stress. Also blooming starts a little earlier. This not only saves you hours of light, but also days of culture.

Curiously, plants grown with this system develop far fewer branches than if we had given them a growth cycle with more hours of daylight than darkness (or 24/0 6.18). It is even advisable to manually remove any small branch that we observe. This will set the plant to develop a good central bud, regardless of whether the strain is highly branched or not.

By performing it correctly, all late plants get a meter tall with good central bud. This is because not subtracted light branches, this can penetrate much better to all plant parts, producing a beautiful green foxtail.

As against …. plants produce slightly less amount, but as branch … can put some more plants per square meter, which will compensate for production and even increase the final yield per square meter.

Obviously, it is extremely important to have a good lighting system, and a poor lighting system will give us results in stunted plants with ridiculous production.

Cultivating 12-12 from seed is not only possible, but it’s a great alternative for indoor growing.