Because most cannabis is photoperiodic, properly functioning light timers are extremely important. Should timers fail your cannabis will become stressed at the very least. At worst, intersex traitsOften called 'hermies' or 'nanners;' Unpollinated female can... More (male flowers on female plants) could seed your crop. These seeds are virtually unusable and the quality of the finished buds will also be greatly reduced.
The take-away is: use good quality light timers! Cheapo timers from department stores are attractive due to their price, but usually don’t have the quality needed in a grow space and can be prone to failure. After all, these timers are usually designed to handle a table-side lamp or other small fixtures – not the massive lights they may get hooked up to. Sometimes they also have low amperage ratings. You should be buying a timer that has the same amperage rating as your circuit (15A is most common). Remember, in terms of features, you really only need a single on/off cycle per day for a cannabis grow-light.
When setting up your timer, it’s best to be present for the first few on/off cycles. Show up just before a light is scheduled to come on, or turn off, and make sure it really happens. You can also use this opportunity to check your grow space for light leaks. Light leaks during “Off” (night) periods are acknowledged as being one of the top reasons why plants show intersex traitsOften called 'hermies' or 'nanners;' Unpollinated female can... More (aka “hermie”). Be especially watchful for appliance displays. Identify them and cover those lights with tape or whatnot. Some light timers even have little LED power lights on them during the night cycle! Not good.
When to set your lights for the ‘on’ cycle is primarily personal preference. However, it is worth noting that if you invert your cycles so that the light is on during the night you might be able to compensate for the day-time heat in the summer. Conversely, you can also make use of the extra heat produced by your light during the cold winter nights. In any event, when you set your cycle is far less important than keeping that cycle very consistent.
Finally, when you can afford it, it’s not a bad idea to have a spare timer on hand. I treat these timers as 2-year devices. This means that I plan on replacing them every two years even if they seem to be performing fine. I just assume that the insides are corroding due to humidity or some such. Timers probably have the highest ratio of expense:importance of any of your semi-durable equipment. They should not be treated as an afterthought.
What are your experiences? Do you agree that timers are worthwhile investments?
Happy Harvests!
— The Lit Farmer —