Running With The Big Dogs

[gunforhire]

I joined in August, introduced myself, was greeted very warmly and I felt welcomed. I decided to study as much as I could using the search function as much as possible. Then out of the blue a member here sent me a message saying that he likes to help rookies get started. At first I feared it was a trap but it wasn't, it was a member here that took me by the hand and guided me with the patience of a Monk.

Now it is time for me to jump off the porch and try to run with the big dogs and let my mentor spend his times answering the thousands of questions from others. Thank you Hp. My first crop is dedicated to you.

I'm running a 600 watt mh/hps in a 5'w x 3.5'd x 7'h grow room. I am starting out with 5 plants from Nirvana seed. (4 Papaya and 1 AK48) Everything is going along as well as I could hope for. For this first run I am using the grow room to veg 24 hours a day. In about 4 weeks I'll start flowering but here's where I could use some expert advice. I'm very limited to what I can do for a veg room. I think that I've settled on a grow tent that is 48"w x 26"d x 60"h. I have a couple of questions before I dive into this veg room set up. My first issue is time. I plan on cutting clones from plants about a week before flowering. This would mean that I would have a week of veging and 8 or 9 weeks of flowering before the girls are ready. I need to slow the clones down so that I can veg them until the grow room is ready. I haven't decided on a light for the veg room yet but I would think that a cfl run 18/6 would slow things down a little. I do worry about stretching though. How do the old pro's time this out? I'm fairly certain that I'm not the first one to face this dilemma. Thanks

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I don't know how much you are going to have to slow anything down. First of all, plan on clones taking 10 days to 3 weeks to root. During this time, they basically do not grow as they're working on growing roots. I don't think that you are going to outgrow your veg room (well unless you run your lights 18/6 and use CFLs). Just joshing with you here, but what you propose will have the opposite effect. What you will find is that running inadequate lighting 18/6 is going to cause a huge amount of stretch--something you really don't want. I would recommend a 4' 4 tube HO T5 for vegging. While this will give you slightly under 3000 lumens per sq ft in a 2 x 4' tent, I have found that this is a non-issue, because of the spread of the light and the fact that you can keep the light so close to the plants.

 

[Locked]

I would go with a HO T5 set up for veg as well....no need to slow things down and it's hard to beat the great job T5's do. jmo

 

[Hushpuppy]

You can also do Low stress training and/or high stress training to keep them low during the veg period. I like high stess training (topping, FIM, supercropping) because they are easy to do, slow upward growth, and cause the plant to become more bushy and produce more top main colas

 

[gunforhire]

Thanks folks,
I have been searching for an answer to a few more questions but I'm having trouble finding them. I do plan on LST on a couple and FIM training a couple. I am having difficulty figuring out the time line. Do you train first then clone? Or vice versa? What is a generally accepted recuperation time between training and cloning? I'm also wondering what would be a better choice for a dedicated veg light. I'm very happy with my 600 watt MH This will be the first of 2 dedicated flower lights) as it's doing great on my vegges. But I'm trying to decide between the 4 bulb T5 and maybe a 250 MH. I am also wondering if a 4 bulb T5 would fit indie a 48 x 24 grow tent. At first glance I would assume it would but I've learned to be skeptical over the years. Thanks.

 

[randm999]

Just take your clones befor you switch the plants to flower. If your clones start getting too big, just top em ( high stress training ) to keep them down low. Or if you want to take the extra time then LST ( Low stress training ) by tieing down the longer branches, forcing them to put out new tops on the lower growth. Either way will give you a few extra weeks of time.

 

[b_pow]

Your gonna like that AK 48, gun....if you havent had it already! smell and taste isnt all that and looks ok, but buzz wise it was k.o.

 

[b_pow]

t5 is a great choice if your not gonna MH them.....i used floros on last veg because i never had before< wanted to see first hand what the talk was about. it worked great but i noticed there is a slower time difference on getting to your achieved veg height and noticed decrease mass in stem structure but still healthy plants! your pocket book will love u for t5s ...never flowered with them so cant help u there. seems like you can use that light in your setup might be tight though cuz 2x4ft. is the way most t5 lights come so keep that in mind, but heat is not a issue with t5s so that is a great upside IMO....good luck bro

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I vegged with MH for many years.....until I discovered T5s. T5s and MH put out about the same lumens per watt. However, IMO, the T5 spreads the light a lot better and you can keep the plants incredibly close to the canopy. In addition, the T5 will run cooler. I have a 250MH and a 400W MH that I no longer use.

All fixtures will give the exact dimensions of the fixture. My 48" 4 bulb T5 that I got from HTG is actually 47" long x 10" wide, making it suitable for a 4' x 2' space.