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A cultivation technique that manually controls a cannabis plant's light cycle to trigger early flowering outdoors.
Light deprivation, commonly called light dep, is an outdoor or greenhouse cultivation technique where growers manually control the light cycle by covering plants with opaque tarps or automated blackout curtains. This triggers the cannabis plants to begin flowering on the grower's schedule rather than waiting for natural seasonal light changes.
Photoperiod cannabis plants begin flowering when they receive 12 or fewer hours of light per day, which naturally occurs in late summer or early fall. Light deprivation growers use tarps or greenhouse blackout systems to artificially reduce the light period to 12 hours, starting in late spring or early summer. This forces plants into flower months ahead of the natural outdoor cycle. The plants still receive natural sunlight during their 12-hour light period, combining the benefits of sun-grown cannabis with the scheduling control of indoor growing.
Light dep allows outdoor and greenhouse growers to harvest multiple crops per season instead of a single fall harvest. An early summer light dep crop can be harvested by August or September, followed by a natural-cycle harvest in October or November. The technique produces sun-grown quality cannabis, which many consumers prefer for its robust terpene profiles and natural vigor, while giving growers better control over timing and reducing the risk of late-season mold issues that can plague fall outdoor harvests.
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