HPS

[fishman]

I only have hps lights(4-100 watts) what are the pros and cons of useing hps for vegging? I never vegged under hps lights before.

 

[Pops]

I start the veg with a 125w cfl and once the plants get some growth, put them under 2 1000w hps. They tend to get a little leggy, but as I am a tree-style grower, that is not all bad.

 

[fishman]

Pops how long do you vegg them under cfl and how leggy would they get if i start them under hps and do you vegg them long under your hps

 

[Pops]

When you put small clones or plants under strong light, they may wither. If you want to veg under HPS right from the start, raise the light pretty high so that the temps are not too high, then gradually lower as the plant hardens off. I use cfl for about 2 weeks, then switch to HPS for the next 6 weeks. I am a tree-style grower, so I veg for 8-10 weeks total. How long you veg, depends on how much vertical space you have and how much yield you want. Sativas are going to stretch far more than indica dominant strains, but I still have had indica strains that were 4' tall when I put them in flower and they wound up just over 5'.

 

[chunkny]

When you put small clones or plants under strong light, they may wither. If you want to veg under HPS right from the start, raise the light pretty high so that the temps are not too high, then gradually lower as the plant hardens off. I use cfl for about 2 weeks, then switch to HPS for the next 6 weeks. I am a tree-style grower, so I veg for 8-10 weeks total. How long you veg, depends on how much vertical space you have and how much yield you want. Sativas are going to stretch far more than indica dominant strains, but I still have had indica strains that were 4' tall when I put them in flower and they wound up just over 5'.

Why let it grow that tall? For a higher yield? (With proper flowering, of course)

 

[Pops]

chunkny, I am Prop 215 in Cali, so we are limited on number of plants to be legal. The bigger the plant, the more yield per plant, so I grow 6 footers and get 6-16 oz per plant, depending on variety.

 

[chunkny]

chunkny, I am Prop 215 in Cali, so we are limited on number of plants to be legal. The bigger the plant, the more yield per plant, so I grow 6 footers and get 6-16 oz per plant, depending on variety.

Gotcha. I'm relatively new to growing -- just trying to get some info 6oz is impressive.

 

[fishman]

Does vegging under HPS cause plants to get leggy and strechy because of the color of the light

 

[TGT]

No, not if your light is close enough to the plants. They say MH lights give more dense shorter plants, but I've used both and have had relatively the same outcome. With HPS I noticed a little more fluffier buds as appose to MH, which I got slightly harder denser nuggs, but really a mild difference. So, I would say both are equal in my views. I have grown numerous strains both ways and have had those results consistantly. It might be better one or the other with different strains, but I have not noticed with the ones I have grown.

TGT

 

[Guest]

I agree with TGT,the most important thing about vegging with HPS is to keep the lamps as close as possible to avoid that leggy stretch.You could spend 50 dollars at home depot for a 4 ft. 4 lamp t-8 "wrap",you will have better results vegging plants to the 6-12 inch range IMO.Just keep the growtips nearly touching the lamps at all times,you cant do much better.I've started new clones under a 125 envirolight,250MH,400HPS,400MH,400W combo MH/HPS and 1K MH.Out of all these fixtures I prefer my 4 ft flo to all of these.Also it was said to be careful putting a newly rooted cut thats been under flo's under HID lighting,at least 3 ft over the plants is a must.I'll take it a step further,NEVER take a newly rooted clone from flourescent lighting to HID's even at 3 ft unless you want that clone to shrivel and die,after rooting and planting in medium it must be "hardened off" under flourescent lighting for at least a couple days before moving to HID's.Then,after they've been "hardened off" the flo's,you can put them under HID's at a distance.