Lighting times

[tanksta]

I am a first time gardener. I have a 1000 watt hps and a grow room set up nice. I was planning on using this light from start to finish. I have read that the plants should be on a 18/6 day night sechule and then switched to a 12/12 scedule. My question is how long should I keep my plant in a vegative state until I change the lighting to force flowering? Also when can one tell when the buds are ready to be harvested how long should I keep them in a flowering stage.

 

[LaserKittensGoPewPew]

Veg for like...8 weeks minimum. Double check that though because I'm not 100% sure. The flowering stages varies depending on the strain. Some may be short at 8-10 weeks, others can go 10-13 or so. You should get yourself a small microscope lense that you can use easily to magnify the trichomes. When you see these are beginning to turn cloudy instead of being clear it's beginning to get around harvest time. DO NOT HARVEST BASED ON THE COLOR OF THE HAIRS. look at the trichs. Cloudy trichs will be more of a head high. If you wait a little longer they will begin to turn to an amber color. This will give you more of a body high. It's also more potent. Or you can harvest with a combination of cloudy and amber for affects of both. There's a thread floating around somewhere on here that shows magnified photos of what I'm talking about and lists out the types of high also. I'm sure someone will post it up for you because this question pops up frequently.

 

[Rocker420]

When plants are in vegative state is it ok to have them on a 8/16 day/night schedual? Or should they be getting more light?

 

[user 5533]

you should have the 18 hours be the day (light) time.... or is that what you meant already? or you could just do 24/0 while in veg... lots of people do both, so it's more your choice.

 

[LaserKittensGoPewPew]

***...no. 8 hours light and 16 hours dark would be terrible for your plants. 18 hours of light and 6 hours dark or 24 hours constant for vegging.

 

[Rocker420]

lol well ****. Wish i would have known that. No wonder my plants arnt growing very fast. haha well thanks.

 

[LaserKittensGoPewPew]

A little reading goes a long way. To grow MJ well you're going to need A LOT of little reading...Get those babies under 18-24 hours of light asap. Should start making a comeback in no time.

 

[theyorker]

I am a first time gardener. I have a 1000 watt hps and a grow room set up nice. I was planning on using this light from start to finish. I have read that the plants should be on a 18/6 day night sechule and then switched to a 12/12 scedule. My question is how long should I keep my plant in a vegative state until I change the lighting to force flowering? Also when can one tell when the buds are ready to be harvested how long should I keep them in a flowering stage.

You need to let your plants veg until they are showing alternating nodes. This can take anywhere from 4 - 8 weeks depending on the strain when grown from seed.

 

[Rocker420]

Yeah, i changed the hours already. They have still been growing fine, just not blooming very much, just getting taller. Guess that was why.

 

[benajmin1137]

Veg for like...8 weeks minimum. Double check that though because I'm not 100% sure. The flowering stages varies depending on the strain. Some may be short at 8-10 weeks, others can go 10-13 or so. You should get yourself a small microscope lense that you can use easily to magnify the trichomes. When you see these are beginning to turn cloudy instead of being clear it's beginning to get around harvest time. DO NOT HARVEST BASED ON THE COLOR OF THE HAIRS. look at the trichs. Cloudy trichs will be more of a head high. If you wait a little longer they will begin to turn to an amber color. This will give you more of a body high. It's also more potent. Or you can harvest with a combination of cloudy and amber for affects of both. There's a thread floating around somewhere on here that shows magnified photos of what I'm talking about and lists out the types of high also. I'm sure someone will post it up for you because this question pops up frequently.

Will a magnifing glass work ?

 

[LaserKittensGoPewPew]

if you can see them clearly enough to tell that they're becoming cloudy or amber then sure. I think you need like a 30x or so to view them in detail though. Maybe stronger. I read it somewhere on here, but I can't remember what power they said. Send a PM to Hick, elephantman, or The Brother's Grunt. They'll know for sure.

 

[benajmin1137]

k thanks

 

[Rocker420]

If your using a 400w HPS light to veg, what height should i keep my light. The plants are only 3 inches tall.

 

[LaserKittensGoPewPew]

Most people keep them anywhere from 12-22 inches off the plant canopy. You'll need to adjust it as you go until you find the optimal height. I think for 400w somewhere around 18 is good. I think 12 would be more for a 250w system because it puts out less heat than a 400w. try it at a nice number like 20 or so and lower it from there until you find a spot where it doesn't burn your plants, but is as close as you can get it. You want to keep that light intensity up.

 

[frankpeterson]

if your using that big 1000, would recomend that you, you don't do the 24 hours a day to give the light and bulb and that ballast a rest. Save a bit of juice to. 18/6 is great.

 

[tanksta]

Please someone tell me if this sounds right. Its my first time growing this plant. So my plan is a minimum of 8 weeks in veg light of 18/6 hours. Then I will switch to 12/12 for flowering. Not sure for how long though. How long does flowering go on tyically? How long does the whole grow usually take?

 

[LaserKittensGoPewPew]

flowering weeks differ from strain to strain. Your best bet to harvesting at the proper time is to look at the trichomes under a microscope lense. The Brother's Grunt has said repeatedly that you can find them at your local radio shack for $10 or so. You harvest when the trichomes go cloudy to amber. Cloudy is more of a head high and amber trichs give more of a body high. You can always harvest with a combination of both.

 

[theyorker]

Please someone tell me if this sounds right. Its my first time growing this plant. So my plan is a minimum of 8 weeks in veg light of 18/6 hours. Then I will switch to 12/12 for flowering. Not sure for how long though. How long does flowering go on tyically? How long does the whole grow usually take?

Depending on the strain you will need to veg from 4-8 weeks using 18/6 lighting. You can veg up to six months. The taller they get in their vegetative growth state the taller they will be when they are finished. A general rule of thumb you can use is a 3:1 ratio. If the plant is 10" when you put it into flower, you will need to prepare for a 30" plant at harvest. This is a "rule of thumb" only. If you are looking to put your plant into flower as quickly as possible, you should wait until your plants are showing "alternating nodes". Right now make sure you give them enough light and don't overwater them or use ANY fertilizer for the first 3 weeks. Later.