If you're looking to maximise your yields but you are limited on space, maybe it's time to switch from your traditional cultivation techniques to the "12/12 From Seed" method. Instead of cultivating from a clone, waiting through weeks of the vegetative stage, and growing plants that take up way too much room, the 12/12 from seed method produces high yields and maximizes your time, space and money.

Traditional indoor cultivation systems that run from seeds maintain vegetative stage that lasts anywhere from 2-4 weeks, sometimes even longer. The vegetative stage is maintained using an 18-24 hour light cycle, which prevents the cannabis plants from flowering.

The 12/12 from seed method takes a different approach. By starting your garden from seed instead of clone, you avoid potential problems like pests. By implementing a 12/12 light cycle from germination, you end up with a lean, dense plant, and by elimination of the veg stage, you will be able to harvest up to seven times a year. This makes it an ideal method of cultivation for anyone pressed for time and space.

STARTING WITH SEEDS

While growing cannabis from clones may seem like a quick and easy way to get started, they have their fair share of drawbacks. First off, when you grow from a clone, you are limited to whatever selection the local clone shop has, as you can't ship clones through the post. Buying from a respected seed bank gives you selection and confidence that what you are buying is actually what you are getting. Next, there is the risk of contamination. Grows are affected by pests and mildew not because they are inherent in the plant; they are brought in from the outside, often on clones purchased from contaminated sources. It's just not worth taking the chance. Starting with quality seeds is a fundamental part of the 12/12 from seed method.

SKIP THE VEGETATIVE STAGE

The vegetative stage is the early stage of a cannabis plant's life. It is during this time that the fledgling plants are fed a high-nutrient regimen and are kept under either 18 or 24 hour light cycles to prevent flowering. This vegetative stage is a time when young plants grow into a rigid framework on which the heavy cannabis buds can sit. High levels of nitrogen are needed to reinforce cell walls, strengthening branches, and creating a lattice of limbs strong enough to support the weight of the incoming fruit. The 12/12 from seed system of cultivation does away with this entirely, focusing the light's energy into a single robust cola surrounding the center stalk.

Once your seeds start to germinate, going right to a 12/12 light cycle will forever change how your plants will grow. By removing the four-week veg stage, you force the plant to grow a single dense cola around the central stalk, as the many branches of the plant have not had time to form. This causes flowering to being almost immediately. The central shaft will be surrounded by only a few smaller branches close to the base. The end result is 85-90 percent of the budding occurs in the single central cola.

ADVANTAGES OF 12/12 FROM SEED

High yields in a small space is one of the primary benefits of the 12/12 from seed method of cultivation. By design, plants grown in the 12/12 method start flowering from day one. This causes flower growth to follow a very consistent pattern of short, tight, single cola plants, with few smaller branches. This allows the maximum amount of energy from your lighting system to be focused into the single central cola. This eliminates most lower branches and the space they take up along with them. This is ideal for those who don't have much space to play with.

In eliminating the four weeks or more of vegetative time, you are able squeeze in more harvests per year. Using the 12/12 from seed method, growers have been able to harvest as many as six or seven times each year. More plants per square meter plus more harvests per year equals an opportunity to truly maximize the amount of cannabis you can produce in even the smallest of spaces.

Switching to the 12/12 from seed method of cultivation produces the same dense, high THC-rich nuggets of its traditional counterpart, however, is designed for those looking to maximize yields in tight spaces. By eliminating the vegetative stage, you are able to squeeze in a few extra harvests every year which will save you time and money in the long run.