When to put plants under lights? and other Qs

[Derorli Panza]

Hail,


I am working on my first grow right now. I will have finished my indoor grow cab. by Friday afternoon. (21 March)

I put 4 seeds into soil and have kept them in a dark/warm place for 4 days now. 2 of the seeds took hold and are now growing (i hope the other 2 come along as well).


When should I move the seedling from the dark to the 24 hours of light?

I have a 400watt lumatek cab, and a 200-300 watt CFL cab. Which would be best to put the seedlings in for their first several inches of life? (I was thinking I could put them under the CFLS to save on electrical cost for the first week or weeks of the seedlings life.)

At what time should I repot from the seedling tray to their own individual pots? (I have 3 gallon pots)

My main grow area is 6 feet high, by 3footx3foot floor, with a 400W lumatek ballast, height adjustable.

I am planning on doing ScROG, but is that the best grow method if I end up having only 2 plants growing this first grow? It would seem I have plenty of space to just let them grow to their own shape.

I am growing BlueberryxCinderella99 from JoeyWeed/Hemp Depot.

Thank you for your assistance in helping make my first grow a hopeful success.

Derorli Panza

 

[PurplePotion]

Hail,


I am working on my first grow right now. I will have finished my indoor grow cab. by Friday afternoon. (21 March)

I put 4 seeds into soil and have kept them in a dark/warm place for 4 days now. 2 of the seeds took hold and are now growing (i hope the other 2 come along as well).


When should I move the seedling from the dark to the 24 hours of light?

You should put the seedlings under light right after they've sprouted. Also, I would suggest an 18on/6off lighting schedule over 24on/0off. Plants like their darkness, plus it saves energy ($$).

I have a 400watt lumatek cab, and a 200-300 watt CFL cab. Which would be best to put the seedlings in for their first several inches of life? (I was thinking I could put them under the CFLS to save on electrical cost for the first week or weeks of the seedlings life.)

The CFL cab would be fine for the first few weeks of their life. Note that Daylight and Cool White CFLs are better for the beginning stages of their life than the Warm White bulbs are. The Daylight & Cool Whites are more of a blue light, while the Warm White bulbs have more of a red light. In more technical terms, the first have a color temperature of 5000-6500Kelvin, while the latter are usually around 2700Kelvin.

At what time should I repot from the seedling tray to their own individual pots? (I have 3 gallon pots)

I would transplant as soon as you see roots showing through the sides of the soil.

My main grow area is 6 feet high, by 3footx3foot floor, with a 400W lumatek ballast, height adjustable.

I am planning on doing ScROG, but is that the best grow method if I end up having only 2 plants growing this first grow? It would seem I have plenty of space to just let them grow to their own shape.

SCROG still sounds like your best method. The purpose is to provide an even canopy so all of the bud sites get equal/fair amount of light, rather than having lower sites shaded. The amount of time that you veg the plants for will determine how much of your cab you fill. You could fit 20 plants with no veg time, or 2 plants with 7-8 weeks of veg time (purely an example), and achieve the same yield.

I am growing BlueberryxCinderella99 from JoeyWeed/Hemp Depot.

Thank you for your assistance in helping make my first grow a hopeful success.
Derorli Panza

Good luck!

 

[Guest]

You need to get those sprouted seedlings under a light...right now. 18/6 is fine for vegging.

CFL's are fine. You don't need to put them under your big light yet.

I grow mine under this 4 tube T-8 fixture. I've grown them under there for 5 weeks and 24" tall before. Plants did fine.

I like mine close up to the diffuser. One of the advantages of that diffuser is that it is not hot at all. The plants can push right up against it and no harm at all.

I'd recommend at least one transplant between whatever they are in now and your 3 Gallon pots. You'll hear other opinions, and that's fine, but IMO it is not a good idea to put a small seedling directly into a 3gallon pot. If you want to know why, go read my current thread.

You have the room to do a Scrog if you want. Others will have to advise you on Scrog techniques. It's not my thing.

You can also do something like many do and top and prune your plants to suit your space. If two is all you get, maybe top them twice, making them into bushier plants. If all four are girls, then maybe prune/train them into more compact upright plants.There's lots of ways to grow them out. Again, a lot will simply be ersonal choice. And again, look at some grows going on here. Check out things like that 400W club thread.

You've asked a lot in your post there. I'd advise you to look at other people's grow threads, here, Grow Diaries, Soil grows, Organics, ...etc. You'll have to just spend some time, hours, looking at threads of grows, especially 400W grows in a similar space. There's just sooooooo many ways to do things. Many choices will simply be "what YOU prefer or are comfortable with"....there not necessarily being a hard "right or wrong". There are lots of 400W grows going on here, including mine.

If you have problems, there are good people over in the Sick Plant Infirmary that can help. Make sure you have all that preliminary info ready BEFORE you post your question. It really annoys those trying to help when you pose a Q like "My leaves are yellow. What's wrong with my plant?" and that's all the info they give.

pedro




My veg space. Simple track shelving with the light sitting on two brackets. Easy to take down and use for something else if need be.

 

[Derorli Panza]

Thank you both so far for your replies.

Even though I am a new registered person, I have spent hours upon hours browsing this site beforehand. I think of all the questions I have wanted to ask why I waited for the ability to post.

I ordered my light system from md hydro. I got all these individual pieces sent to me, and no instructions on how to connect the items together (ballast, socket, reflector, where to connect the ground wire) etc. Painfully I found most of the info I needed just from hours of searching.

For my main question in this thread, "When to put plants under lights?" Finding that answer by searching wasn't so easy for me, instead I decided to take advantage of posting!

As of 2 hours after the advice was received, I moved my two hatchlings under 180 Watts CFL (3 60 watt daylight bulbs *will upgrade to 100 watt bulbs in the future I think*)

As soon as I finish bulding my cab I will make a nice post with pics hopefully. Lots of sweat, some tears, and a little bit of blood went into making it. "

"Experience, the universal Mother of Sciences."

I appreciate the 18/6 advice, I will stick with 24/0 and in the future experiment more. This first grow's main goal is just to not kill them.

Derorli Panza

 

[PurplePotion]

Uhm. Why stick with 24/0? Use logic here. It's not experimentation.. it's proven. Cannabis vegetates best with ~18 hour of light per day.

 

[bugbud63]

PuplePotion can you show me where its proven that 18/6 is the best for veg.I believe as long as they get some darkness they are fine.I like 20/4 better,its a faster veg.Thanks in advance.PS faster means less time in veg ie. more crops per year.

 

[Choki_777]

You can put it on 24/0...i believe there is no big diference,if you want to have a few dark hours to cool of the lamp,put it on 23/1 or 20/4,why waist time on darkness?


by Ed Rosenthal:

Quote:
One way in which plants are categorized is by the way they gather and handle carbon dioxide. Cannabis is a C3 plant. It uses the CO2 it gathers during the light period, when it is photosynthesizing. Plants designated C4 also gather CO2 during the dark period for use during the light period. Many C3 plants, including cannabis, do not need a rest period. They continue to photosynthesize as long as they are receiving light.

The plant's photosynthetic rate determines its growth rate because the sugars are used by the plant to build tissue and for energy. Cannabis under continuous light will grow 33% faster than the same plants on an 18-6 light regime.

It's all relative,you put them on regime that you prefer,adjust it to yourself...