Light schedule help

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LBH

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Ok, my germinated seeds are now in their peat moss packs and loaded in the veg room. How long do I run the lights for, 24 hrs? and if so, till when?

I'm growing G13's Pineapple express, first grow. Aside from triggering flowering, what schedule of light should I run till that time is here?

Thanks in advance
 
Some people do 18/6 and some do 24.Its up to you, i personaly do 18/6 just to give the plants a little break and cut down on my electric.
 
I've read that many auto-flowering plants need 20/4, it even states that on numerous G-13 strain directions.
 
The Hemp Goddess said:
Plants grown 18/6 tend to stretch some during the dark period.


I agree, thats what i run now for my bagseed.
I had to raise the lights again today as they grew overnight almost 3/4".
There 3 1/2 weeks out of the dirt and 1 is 10" tall and the shorest is 9".

Himmm, i wonder when i should think about flowering them...?
 
LBH said:
Ok, my germinated seeds are now in their peat moss packs and loaded in the veg room. How long do I run the lights for, 24 hrs? and if so, till when?

I'm growing G13's Pineapple express, first grow. Aside from triggering flowering, what schedule of light should I run till that time is here?

Thanks in advance

When I veg I run my light 24/7.
I let mine get about 12" to 18" before flipping to 12/12. Most plants will double or even triple in height once in flower. But this is all dependent on grow room size and the growers' preference.
 
THG & pcduck nailed it. Not only what they said, but it will also make your grow finish quicker because 24/7 shortens your vegging cycle.
 
pcduck said:
When I veg I run my light 24/7.
I let mine get about 12" to 18" before flipping to 12/12. Most plants will double or even triple in height once in flower.

So it's NOT how old they are ?
It's how tall they are?
I have my bagseed at 11" , the tallest one............it's 3 1/2 weeks out of the dirt..........................maybe another 2 weeks it will be ready to flower?
 
mrkingford said:
So it's NOT how old they are ?
It's how tall they are?
I have my bagseed at 11" , the tallest one............it's 3 1/2 weeks out of the dirt..........................maybe another 2 weeks it will be ready to flower?

Well, it is both. The plant will not start to flower until it is sexually mature, regardless of how tall it is. On the other hand, you do not want to wait too long to put your girls into flowering, because as pcduck mentioned, plants can and will double or triple in height. So it is also somewhat dependent on your lighting and the height of your space. I have some plants that are about the same age as yours, only they are only 3-4" tall, but they are on their 7th set of true leaves. Internodal spacing is 1/4-1/2" :hubba: (I love my T5!)
 
The Hemp Goddess said:
Well, it is both. The plant will not start to flower until it is sexually mature, regardless of how tall it is. On the other hand, you do not want to wait too long to put your girls into flowering, because as pcduck mentioned, plants can and will double or triple in height. So it is also somewhat dependent on your lighting and the height of your space. I have some plants that are about the same age as yours, only they are only 3-4" tall, but they are on their 7th set of true leaves. Internodal spacing is 1/4-1/2" :hubba: (I love my T5!)

I have 8 sets on one plant. Internodal????????
Most have 6-7 sets but some are very compact and SHORT, some are more open.
 
mrkingford said:
I have 8 sets on one plant. Internodal????????
Most have 6-7 sets but some are very compact and SHORT, some are more open.

THG is referring to a very desired characteristic for compact plant growth. It's having the minimal amount of stem space between (inter) the branching (nodes) on your plant! ;) Her plants sound ideal with only 1/4" to 1/2" of stem growth between the branches developing on the mainstems. Tighter spacing = tighter, compact overall growth and consequently more compact *budding* which is all the easier to keep the lighting down close on your flower girls and the more developed the buds are going to be. Some of this is strain dependent but keeping lights close to your plants is key and T5's are perfect for this.

Peace!:cool:
 
Greetings LBH...

There's really no way to go wrong with veg time as long as it's sufficiently long enough to keep your plants from flowering before you desire. Longer light cycles do give you more growth above ground but there is some debate as to what's best for the development below the soil surface in your root structure. I tend to go with 18/6 if I'm vegging plants for eventual flowering indoors.

When I grow plants for outdoor grows that are to be put outside in the spring, I always grow my seedlings under 12/12 light and keep them there for the 4-6 weeks before I put them outside. Despite growing them under 12/12, most strains won't show pre-flowers until I'm ready to put them outside. Keeping the days short insures that the amount of daylight they get outside will be longer than their indoor daylight and they won't go into flowering when I put them outside. Plants put outdoors that were under 16+ hours of veg light indoors often go into flowering by the shorter days in nature at that time and then slowly return to vegging with the growth somewhat stunted.

Happy Growing!:cool:
 

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