Yes you do change your spreader. Me and my friend were lookin at a High Times mag and we couldnt figure out the difference between the bloom and the veg stage. The difference between them is with the veg speader it has the two short pvc pipes in the middle and with the bloom it staggers. It starts with the small/short on the outside and then the tall one. and so on and so forth. I still dont know what the purpose of that but i guess it wouldnt be in high times if it wasnt worthy huh. Hope this helps you out a little bit.