Light recipes: why 12 hours beats 24
Continuous light does not mean faster growth. We compared four photoperiods in the grow cabin, and the result was counter-intuitive.
The first instinct is that longer light is better. In our cabin, basil under 24-hour light developed thicker leaves and weaker aroma by week three, and was shorter than the 12-hour group.
Plants need a dark period to move sugars and regulate stomata. For leaves and herbs, twelve hours of light and twelve of dark balances photosynthetic efficiency with flavour compounds.
The second variable is distance. Below eight centimetres, upper leaves show photo-inhibition while lower leaves stay starved. Kōki fixes its light 14 cm above the canopy, with three height settings.
So twelve hours is the default, and the timer is a physical dial — it needs no app and remembers its cycle after a power cut.
Every figure comes from a full growing season in the Verdara cabin.
