Best light cycle for vegging under t5's? +rep for help :)

So I picked up a new T5 fixture... 2ftx2ft 4 bulb 100 or so watts...

I'm going to use it to veg seedlings to 3 weeks.... I used to use MH HID with 18/6.....




I'm wondering if 18/6... 19/5.... or 20/4 would be best with t5 fluorescent though.... What is your folks experience?



I feel like plants could handle 20/4 on 100w floroescent lighting far better than 18/6 on 250w MH for seedlings..

Well, I go 24 hours, its not so much the schedule of lights for seedlings as much as the intensity of light. You want to make sure to not roast them is all, but not too far away either of course

St. Verde: please let me put in a plug for a schedule on of our teachers at school recommended that worked great for me. Start at 20 on and 4 off and drop the light by one hour per week every week. It's simple and my plants loved it, three times so far.HSA

This latest grow I used T5s for veg and flowering. I was only using a 4' 2 lamp HO and a 2' 2 lamp standard output in veg. I did not notice a significant change in growth rate when I switched from 24/0 to 18/6. I say you should go 18/6 so you can save a little electric. 24/0 does not have any negative effects as far as I can tell. It might grow a little faster, but enough to justify keeping your lights on around the clock.

Im Currently having my two 4' t5's going 24/0, I debated the 18/6, but i figured what the hell, 24/0 is easy, and really not that much more electricity.

AssDan said:

This latest grow I used T5s for veg and flowering. I was only using a 4' 2 lamp HO and a 2' 2 lamp standard output in veg. I did not notice a significant change in growth rate when I switched from 24/0 to 18/6. I say you should go 18/6 so you can save a little electric. 24/0 does not have any negative effects as far as I can tell. It might grow a little faster, but enough to justify keeping your lights on around the clock.

Click to expand...

the 100w draw isnt much to worry about... i never really liked 24/0 because I like giving my plants some rest... I always find a period of *sleep* helps plants bounce back..

I'm just wondering if I can get more compact plants with more than 18hrs of light a day... or if I should just keep it at 18/6 so as to not stress my plants too much when switching to 12/12 on a 250HPS..



It's less of a money issue and more of a cost/benefit.... I want the most compact nodes possible, on a healthy plant...

Well I'm going for 20/4...

Lights on tomorrow..