The GLR Light Schedule (Gas Lantern Routine)

[hardon]

Hey all,

I used to be a PP grower and had a real interest in light schedules. I researched the topic loads back then as I figured there must have been a better way than 24/0 veg, 12/12 flower. It was during my research that I stumbled upon the GLR routine. GLR stands for Gas Lantern Routine as the Victorians used a gas lantern in place of a big fuck off HPS back in the day

So the basic theory behind the routine is this. Cannabis plants need only 13 hours of light to stay in the vegetative growth stage. The GLR (12-1) lighting schedule is as follows - 12 hours lights on, 5.5 off, 1-hour on, 5.5 off, and repeat schedule. The 1 hour on in between off period fools the plants that stay in vegetative growth state. Your immediate savings are 5 hours in energy costs daily (versus 18/6), as well as your bulbs and equipment lasting longer. But how do the plants react to this lighting schedule? You see immediate growth response from your plants, they are happy from the added rest time. The plants are bushy with twice as many bud sites without topping or bending, In fact when you top and stretch your plants out, you get many more bud sites than you would have had under 18-6 using same procedure of topping and stretching plant, your growing bigger and better and faster.

I used to use this schedule all the time and found it produced bigger and better plants at the end of the veg period as opposed to any other schedule I'd used. However I made the switch to autos a few years ago and for some reason, I never considered using the GLR with them. I soon forgot all about the GLR until I happened to stumble across my research a couple of weeks ago and it sparked my interest once again.

A few years ago searching for anything GLR related produced very few results but a quick search now produces quite a few results, the majority of which are positive for the GLR. I don't want to link to other forums but even AFN's very own Groff ran the GLR in this grow with amazing results.

The potential benefits to the plants under this schedule are huge, better growth, less stress, thicker stalks and branches, all of which equates to a bigger harvest. The potential savings with this method are also huge, 35 hours of light less each week soon adds up to be big saving over the course of a grow. It can be used to overcome the trouble that summer brings. For example I always used the GLR during the summer, running the lights at night at full power when it was cooler and for one hour in the late afternoon at a lower setting to combat the heat during the day.

I suppose nothing speaks louder than actual results so I am going to run with the GLR for my current grow. The seeds went in the soil on Wednesday and haven't broken through yet. You can find the thread here although I will keep this thread updated with any GLR related info from the grow.

Thanks for dropping in!

Cheers,
Hardon

 

[Corgy]

You may find this interesting https://www.autoflower.org/threads/...ern-routine-dutch-pro-new-led-spectrum.38355/

Subbed to grow journal

 

[hardon]

Hey all,

I've been doing some research again on the GLR and there is a wealth of information out there now as well as hundreds of documented grows proving this method is extremely effective for both photoperiod and autoflower plants. I will use this thread as a reference to document my own progress and research as well as other GLR grows on AFN (it seems there has been a few....).

***THIS THREAD RELATES TO THE GAS LANTERN ROUTINE (GLR) VEGATIVE GROWTH METHOD. THE DIMINISHING LIGHT ROUTINE (DLR) FLOWERING METHOD IS A SEPERATE FLOWERING ROUTINE AND DOES NOT FORM PART OF THE GLR***​

AFN GLR Grows:
Groff - Dutch Passion Autoultimate LED
Incredible demonstration of how effective the GLR can be.

Roark - Sweet Seeds Ice Cool Dark Devil and Dinafem Blue Cheese
Great grow using the GLR.
https://www.autoflower.org/threads/sweet-seeds-ice-cool-dark-devil-and-dinafem-blue-cheese.43235/
Hardon - Fast Buds West Coast O.G.
GLR grow in progress (It will be epic though! )

More to follow....

 

[hardon]

Interesting article on the GLR method.

There is a new wave of learning now occurring about Cannabis, as growers begin to ask some of the right questions about growing conditions and the most effective way of achieving the best results from their medical grows. Unfortunately, good information on growing Cannabis has become hard to find, since much of the current information on Cannabis has been warped by the misuse of a single factor of the process, that of lighting.

For cannabis to have an eighteen hour day and a six hour night, it would have to be created under unnatural planetary conditions. A planetary body being roughly a sphere, can only be lit on one half of its surface, or 12 hours at a time by a single light source such as our sun. To cover more surface area and create an 18/6 cycle would require TWO light sources. I am absolutely going out of my mind trying to imagine the gravitational forces and planetary orbits for a model with twin stars. In fact 18 hour lighting is so unnatural, few other plants on earth could possibly survive it, since 18 hour lighting conditions do not exist anywhere, and does it not fit in with the planets natural ecosphere. It is a testament to Cannabis’s toughness that it can stand so much abuse and still survive.

It seems obvious to me that the proper lighting cycle for Cannabis shouldn’t be any different from any other short-day flowering plant here on planet earth, where global lighting never passes sixteen hours of daylight for the day, and yet for thirty years so called ‘Gurus’ have said that Cannabis needs eighteen hours of light to stay in a vegetative state.

Authors who wrote that Cannabis should be grown under eighteen hours added lighting hours to their schedules hoping to boost crops for profit, and yet one has to wonder why the botanically experts of the times ignored them. One may easily extrapolate that a prohibitionist social atmosphere would have frowned on botanical experts for proving or disproving anything written about Cannabis. Still, their tacit support of a erroneous botanical principle allowed the creation of an entire industry on products that only a highly stressed, tired out and weakened plant requires. I have had great success using cheap and easy to get materials that you can find in your Kitchen.

Cannabis has been historically known as the easiest to grow, most abundant plant on earth, yet these books have made it more difficult to grow and more expensive as well as indirectly blackmailing illegal growers who can’t possibly complain about over-hyped and over-priced products. Further, while they somewhat recognize that Cannabis is a short-day plant, they incorrectly claim that twelve hours is sufficient to properly flower Cannabis. Back here on earth, a short day is when the hours drop below 11 hours and nine hours in northern climates. Again, a mistaken hypothesis prevents the plants from fully blooming, and retards flowering because twelve hours light is neither short nor long, but intermediate length. These writers completely ignored over a century of research and work on photo-periodic lighting by botanical specialists such as Paul V Nelson (‘Greenhouse Management’ ) which discusses light interruption during night cycles to prevent short day plants from flowering.

(I don't know where I got this from but credit to the author/s)

 

[hardon]

Another GLR article. Also includes details on the DLR routine (NOT CURRENTLY RECOMMENDED).

The biggest innovator in the history of cannabis in my generation is Reinhard Delp. Not only did he invent and holder of the patent for ice water extraction, he has been building flower forcers since 1992. His new solar powered Sun-gate is the leader of the industry. He was the first to feminize seeds and sell them in Europe in the late 90’s. His process was done naturally, without the use of any chemicals.

No one is more copied but seldom matched than Mr. Delp, who to me is the top grower of our generation. The first time he impressed me he showed me 2 plants, planted next to one another, 1 completely covered in powdery mildew, the other completely clean and beautiful. He was developing mildew and mold resistant genetics.

In the late 90’s Reinhard brought back the gas lantern routine that you find in any college grade horticulture book, and applied it to cannabis. Cannabis needs only 13 hours to stay in growth state. The 18-6 lighting in growth pattern, actually stress your plants, that never get that much light in one-day outdoors. Cannabis is an outdoor plant. Growing indoors you should copy how it grows outdoors.

No Cannabis growing in Afghanistan gets 18 hours of light in growth pattern. Most strains today have some part Indica in their genetic pool. Even equatorial strains don’t get 18 hours of sun a day. 12-1 lighting is as follows: 12 hours lights on, 5.5 lights off, 1-hour lights on, 5.5 lights off, and repeat schedule. The 1 hour on in between off period fools the plants that stay in growth state!

Your immediate savings is 5 hours in energy costs daily, as well as your bulbs and equipment lasting longer. But how do the plants react to this lighting schedule? You see immediate growth response from your plants, they are happy from the added rest time. By day 14 the plants tripled in size. The plants are bushy with twice as many bud sites without topping or bending, In fact, when you top and stretch your plants out, you get many more bud sites than you would have had under 18-6 using same procedure of topping and stretching plant, your growing bigger and better and faster.

So you're saving 5 hours daily in energy costs, as well as your accelerated growth pattern which also saves you time and energy and equipment use. In the growth cycle, never use 12-12, start your flowering period at 11 hours on 13 hours off. When your are growing outdoors each day you get less and less sun light, you should copy the way the sun acts naturally in your indoor grow. So first 2 weeks of flower you go 11 on 13 off, the next 2 weeks you go down to 10.5 on 13.5 off, next 2 weeks 10 on 14 off, next two weeks 9.5 on 14.5 off and the last weeks of flower you should be at 9 hours on and 15 hours off. You’ll get bigger and better buds by copying the way the sun light works on cannabis outdoors.

Cannabis is an outdoor plant and you should copy the way it grows outdoors indoors. The only thing that 18-6, and then 12-12 do is make the energy companies rich as well as the people who sell lights and equipment, the more you use the more you spend. 12-1 is a more natural way to grow indoors and you well have the best results you have ever had and save as much as 50% in energy costs.

(I don't know where I got this from but credit to the author/s)

 

[Roark]

I tried the glr cause the methods seems sound. I think with the right set genes one could kill it with glr. I just haven't found that strain.

I love what your doing here!

 

[hardon]

I tried the glr cause the methods seems sound. I think with the right set genes one could kill it with glr. I just haven't found that strain.

I love what your doing here!

Cheers for the rep man!

I really think you nailed it with the GLR in your grow. Mine are due to start the GLR tonight and I can't wait to see the results!

Thanks for the support!

Cheers,
Hardon

 

[paddler54]

I am so subbed for this grow. The thought of reducing cost and increasing yeild is very intriguing. In fact it is so exciting I do believe I am getting a hardon, doh sorry I could not resisit, but seriously when I saw this thread I was really happy cause this does make sense, plants are busy producing food during the day, but at night they use the food to motabilize. Can't wait to see how your plants grow under this light regime. Best of luck and for having vision and the balls to follow through with that vision.

 

[ThaGreenBandit]

The stretch it causes... I don't really care for it. BUT, as long as my girls benefit from it, I'm all for it! I currently have 2 month old plants, and a few week old plants growing under the GLR. I've seen some awesome grows (@Groff is the main reason I decided to try it), so I'm a believer, I just hope I'm able to dial my shit in so my plants properly benefit from it. It definitely takes some getting used to, tho, because I like feeding my plants frequently, but with the GLR, it seems they consume less food. Keep up the good work and research!

 

[hardon]

I am so subbed for this grow. The thought of reducing cost and increasing yeild is very intriguing. In fact it is so exciting I do believe I am getting a hardon, doh sorry I could not resisit, but seriously when I saw this thread I was really happy cause this does make sense, plants are busy producing food during the day, but at night they use the food to motabilize. Can't wait to see how your plants grow under this light regime. Best of luck and for having vision and the balls to follow through with that vision.

Cheers for the rep man! Running costs are a major thing for a lot of people. I'm only running a 400w lamp on 20/4 and it costs me around £70-80 a month. Unfortunately I've had to abandon the GLR for my current run due to the lights off temps. I will be using it for my springtime grow (weather pending!) as well as the epic summer grow off SCROG with Roark.

Good to have you onboard man!

Cheers,
Hardon