Lighting Schedule any tips?

creamsoda2k

creamsoda2k

Active Member
Hi, Ive heard all kinds of lighting schedules to keep the plants on but can somebody just tell me once and for all the lighting hours I should be giving the plants, like during veg. period and how to start the flower cycle pleeease help meh any tips would be appreciated !!
 
FilthyFletch

FilthyFletch

Mr I Can Do That For Half
Ok there will very some variation on the veg.Me personally I have done 18 hours on and 6 hours dark for veg and I have done 24 hours on for veg and I found much better results with 24 hours on and fast growth strong plants and less days of running the veg cycle so it saves money. Now to go to flower you will have 12 hours of lights on and 12 hours complete dark.If you grow from seed make sure the plant is at least 8 nodes high roughly 30-45 days from sprout give or take plant will show its nodes then it can go to 12/12.Remember you can go as long as you want but an indica will double in height when its in 12/12 and a sative will triple or more in height.From cone you can go to flower as soon as it has roots. Hope this helps
 
jsgrwn

jsgrwn

Well-Known Member
veg with a 24hr light on if using florescent, or 18 on and 6 off with hps or mh.
when you are ready to flower regardless of the type of light, set the timer for 12 hrs on and 12hrs off
its that easy, screw any other schedule bro, trust me. late
 
Dirtyboy

Dirtyboy

Well-Known Member
FilthyFletch said:
Ok there will very some variation on the veg.Me personally I have done 18 hours on and 6 hours dark for veg and I have done 24 hours on for veg and I found much better results with 24 hours on and fast growth strong plants and less days of running the veg cycle so it saves money. Now to go to flower you will have 12 hours of lights on and 12 hours complete dark.If you grow from seed make sure the plant is at least 8 nodes high roughly 30-45 days from sprout give or take plant will show its nodes then it can go to 12/12.Remember you can go as long as you want but an indica will double in height when its in 12/12 and a sative will triple or more in height.From cone you can go to flower as soon as it has roots. Hope this helps
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Great info. I dont like the 24 hr my self. I have done 24 hrs in about 4 grows. I have found that some dark(4hrs) gives the plants a break. I am usein 1000 watts so they may need a break from that wattage. 400 watters say 24 hrs is what they like.
 
creamsoda2k

creamsoda2k

Active Member
well right now money is tight, and i just got screwed with a 150$ parking ticket sooo the CFL's will have to wait a few weeks, but the plants have just been chillin with me in the room with plenty of sun, but the sun goes down and they chill in the same room I sleep in soooo what do yall think is gonna happen if i cant get that CFL really fast?
 
panhead

panhead

Well-Known Member
Are you talking about hours of light per day,if so you have many choices it all depends on what you want to do,you can go anywhere from 18/6 to 24/0 in veg & from 11/13 to 13/11 in bud.

I dont think there is a right or wrong,when i was still vegging i started out at 24/0 then after a few weeks broke it down to 18/6,then in bud jumped straight to 12/12, timing my light cycle so as the lights were on when i had the most free time to care for them.
 
creamsoda2k

creamsoda2k

Active Member
well i mean shit, at best it gets about 9 hours of light and then it gets dark, but its not complete darkness so maybe that will prevent it from budding, I just want to know if I can keep it chillin on like a 9 hours of light schedule, i know it needs more and as soon as i get the cfl's its goin on 24 hours light .. is this okay?
 
FilthyFletch

FilthyFletch

Mr I Can Do That For Half
yeah 9 hours of light is just a waste of time not enough to veg or flower right and for flower you need 12 hours of more light then veg lights
 
creamsoda2k

creamsoda2k

Active Member
so do you think I should take it ouside for longer lighting? but if i take it outside, wont the 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark just make it bud early? cuz thats definatly not what i want to happen at 6 inches tall lol
 
creamsoda2k

creamsoda2k

Active Member
aight bro, 1 more question, okay .. say I keep it on the lighting that its been getting, and say in a month or so I get these CFL's could I then decide to let it flower? would that be okay?
 
Enigma

Enigma

Well-Known Member
It probably won't grow very well right now since the lighting schedule is off. Get the CFL's as soon as possible and get it restricted to 18/6 for veg. No light at all during the 6 hour 'night' time.

Try for a 400w or 600w HPS if your build will allow it. If not, stock up on some CFL's.. you'll need quite a bit of them.

What is your planned setup?
 
FrostickZero

FrostickZero

Well-Known Member
I have my girls on 24/0 light using about 120w of CFL and my gilrs look realy happy and I perfer to use both warm and cool white CFL lights I dk why I just perfer more warm then cool

-----Veg-----
24/0
18/6

-----Flower-----
12/12
 
Enigma

Enigma

Well-Known Member
During veg plants use more blue light than red light. During flowering plants use more ref light than blue light. There is a direct correlation between this and nutrients also.
 
FrostickZero

FrostickZero

Well-Known Member
Enigma said:
During veg plants use more blue light than red light. During flowering plants use more ref light than blue light. There is a direct correlation between this and nutrients also.
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and what's the diffrence for each light for that and the nutes?
 
Enigma

Enigma

Well-Known Member
FrostickZero said:
and what's the diffrence for each light for that and the nutes?
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'Cool' refers to the 'blue' spectrum of lighting.

'Warm' refers to the 'red' spectrum of lighting.

There is some specific nutrient information I'll have to pull up to describe the nutrient's affect on how light is absorbed.

There are three basic nutrient 'building blocks' for plants; they are Nitrates (Nitrogen, N), Phosphates (Phosphorus, P), and Potashes (Potassium, K). These are known as the 'Macro Nutrients', meaning large amounts.

The main elements needed for plant growth are Carbon (CO2), Hydrogen (H2O), Oxygen (O2), and Carbohydrates (C12H22O11). Without these life is not possible, on this Earth.

Notice how Carbohydrates have all three?

Now, check out molasses!!!

There are other nutrients that are needed less, but never the less needed!

Quoted from Wikipedia:

Boron is believed to be involved in carbohydrate transport in plants; it also assists in metabolic regulation. Boron deficiency will often result in bud dieback.
Chlorine is necessary for osmosis and ionic balance; it also plays a role in photosynthesis.
Cobalt is essential to plant health. Cobalt is thought to be an important catalyst in nitrogen fixation. It may need to be added to some soils before seeding legumes.
Copper is a component of some enzymes and of vitamin A. Symptoms of copper deficiency include browning of leaf tips and chlorosis.

Iron is essential for chlorophyll synthesis, which is why an iron deficiency results in chlorosis.
Manganese activates some important enzymes involved in chlorophyll formation. Manganese deficient plants will develop chlorosis between the veins of its leaves. The availability of manganese is partially dependent on soil pH.
Molybdenum is essential to plant health. Molybdenum is used by plants to reduce nitrates into usable forms. Some plants use it for nitrogen fixation, thus it may need to be added to some soils before seeding legumes.
Zinc participates in chlorophyll formation, and also activates many enzymes. Symptoms of zinc deficiency include chlorosis and stunted growth.
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I've never used distilled water in soil, only in hydro, for the reason of getting all of these Micronutrients from the tap. Rain water may be useful if the pH is checked and corrected to be below 7. The only catch is the instance of Acid Rain, this will kill your plants. There are emulsions for the micronutrients that are organic and chemical specifically suited for hydroponics.

As I digress, nutrient up-take in the vegetation phase is mostly Nitrogen and Potassium. As the plants enter into the flowering phase of developement the Nitrogen is not needed as much as Phosphorous and Potassium.

Colors of elements:

Nitrogen - Red to Blue (depending on what form it is in NO3; NH4)
Phosphorus - Yellow to White
Potassium - Pale Violet (more red than blue)
Hydrogen - Red
Oxygen - Green to Red
Carbon - White to Red (depending on what form it is in)

You can easily search for any of this information.

I've got to get some groceries.. I'll be back later.

:peace:

Enigma
 
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