Is it safe to switch lights in veg?

[slohemian]

Say i have 2 mamas starting their life under a 250w CMH. When its time to take clones from them, im going to put the clones under the CMH and change it to my flower chamber. I plan on moving the mama's underneath a few CFL's or possibly the long tubelights(forget the name, but r good for moms) if i can find some that will fit in a veg grow box that is 15" wide, 17" deep, and 23" tall.

Is it safe to go from a 250w CMH to a few CFL's overnight w/ the mamas? I wont change the hours at all, just the lights.

 

[FreezerBoy]

It's safe but, highly wasteful. You're throwing away a month or more of growing time. The time it took the plants to grow large enough to provide clone material, the time it takes to root the clones and the time it takes for the clones to be mature enough to flower.

Better to make moms of the clones and flower the donors.

 

[slohemian]

Is that right? So grow a normal plant from seed, and take a clone off of her and use that clone for a mother?


What benefit do i get from your method? U say i lose growing time, could you explain it a bit more please?

 

[FreezerBoy]

I don't know what you're growing. For arguments sake, lets say it has a 6-8 week flowering period.

Cloning takes about two weeks. The seedling stage takes about 2 weeks. The switch to flowering takes about 2 weeks. That's 6 weeks.

The donors don't need two weeks to clone. They've already been through 2 weeks of seedling stage. By flowering the donors, you'll be six weeks into flower before the clones show a single hair. It's possible you'd be smoking the donors before the clones show a single bud. At best, your method postpones the smoking stage by at least a month. Possibly more.

Would you rather smoke in 8 weeks or 14 weeks?

 

[slohemian]

Maybe i was unclear on my methods...

2 seeds germ'd
2 seeds planted
2 seeds grown under 250w CMH until they can produce clones
X number of clones go into CFL veg chamber
x number of clones move to CMH chamber and is switched to 12/12
2 plants from seed are put in a different chamber w/ CFL's to continue veg
X number of clones are all in flower while a second batch of clones are being cut

....cycle continues

 

[FreezerBoy]

I understand the cycle. That's why I can say with confidence if you flower the seed plants you'll be smoking 6-8 weeks sooner. Doesn't mean you have to do it that way. Absense makes the heart grow fonder. Anticipation and all that jazz.

 

[la resistance]

changing lights shouldn't matter

a good way to do it is to cut clones 2 weeks or whatever before you harvest the current crop, so there's no downtime. think that's what you're doing, so good job!

 

[Dr Dog]

I don't know what you're growing. For arguments sake, lets say it has a 6-8 week flowering period.

Cloning takes about two weeks. The seedling stage takes about 2 weeks. The switch to flowering takes about 2 weeks. That's 6 weeks.

The donors don't need two weeks to clone. They've already been through 2 weeks of seedling stage. By flowering the donors, you'll be six weeks into flower before the clones show a single hair. It's possible you'd be smoking the donors before the clones show a single bud. At best, your method postpones the smoking stage by at least a month. Possibly more.

Would you rather smoke in 8 weeks or 14 weeks?

I completely agree with this, it is what I do, I take enough clones to cover a 30 % success rate, even though I normally get around 90%, then I can mother one or two of the clones, and veg the others for flowering

By waiting for the clones to get big enough to flower, you are wasting time

 

[YwouldntI]

"I completely agree with this, it is what I do, I take enough clones to cover a 30 % success rate, even though I normally get around 90%, then I can mother one or two of the clones, and veg the others for flowering

By waiting for the clones to get big enough to flower, you are wasting time"



exactly the same here,dude whats so hard about this?if you take clones and bud the big ones you dont have to WAIT till the clones are done rooting ,veggin,budding to smoke,you just flower them out and smoke in 60 days or so.if you take cuttings and wait for them you have two stages before you can even flower them THEN you have the 60 or so days flowering time=atleast 3 months
if you clone and flower ur big ones only flower time remains=around 60 or so days

think about it bruh,thats three people that know tellin you good advice.i wouldnt waste my time giving you bad advice bro,i cant even type good it would take too long lol peace my man,gl

 

[slohemian]

I see what you guys are saying. How many clones can i get off of these seed plants? If i take too many clones ill lose quite a bit of yield with them wont i? Say i start off by growing 2 seed plants.... what time would i take clones? Secondly, in my 24"x22" footprint, how many would i take? I want my perpetual grow to have a harvest every week or two weeks at the least.

 

[FreezerBoy]

What kind of seeds? Indica? Sativa? Are they Feminized? While odds are 50/50 with standard seeds, those odds are per individual seeds. You could plant 100 seeds, sprout 99 males and the odds on the last seed are still 50/50.

Cuttings can decrease the bud count. They can also increase the count depending where you cut. Example: cut off the growing tip and your plant will grow two main stems. However, now the plant is twice as wide and in your limited area it reduces the number of plants you can grow. I'd take cuttings from the lowest branches. It will reduce popcorn buds and keep plants narrowrer, meaning more plants per space. While cuttings may reduce bud count of that plant, once cloned you'll get to smoke them later on. Speaking of which ...

How successful are you at cloning. While my success rate is near 100%, it didn't start that way. There's more than a little voodoo involved. Many here swear by naked stems in bubbling tap water. I've tried it 4 times with complete failure. As Dr. Dog says cut 2-3 times more than you need untill you get it down. If you LST first, this will encourage vigorous side growth for more cutting material.

If you want to harvest every two weeks, you'll need more than two plants. However, the more you pack in, the smaller individual root systems will be and the smaller the plants and buds. I did perpetual in a 22"x29" space for a while. 4 banks of 6 each in 4" cubes. I harvested one bank every two weeks but they were small. Main colas about the size of a Bic lighter. I switched to 2 plants in 8" cubes with LST and was much happier until I saw this place and discovered Root Porn, DWC and Scrog.

 

[slohemian]

I wanted to do something similar to Drbudgreengenes w/ the perpetual grow. This guy gets mad weed every week. The strain i want to work with is sensi star, because i heard they clone easily and they are also a nice strain to smoke. Drbud harvests 3 clones a week, if i could harvest 1 that would be fine, ill more than likely do 2. If i kept 2 monthers and alternated their cutting schedule, i could pull 2-4 clones a week wouldnt you say? one mother one week, the other mother the next. I would keep my grow perpetual and re-veg my clones after they bud.

Ive never cloned before but ive read so much information i believe i can do it. Im on my way out, let me know what u gusy think.