Yes annuals do appreciate a dark period in its daily light cycle. But to say the dark/lights off time promotes roots growth is just ridiculous. The more natural light cycle promotes more overall benefits, both above and down below...Oh, snap! Here goes the 24/0 thing again.....It's BEST to have SOME lights off time to promote more ROOT growth!
More roots = More buds!
Its your lights causing the slow growth. CFLs can veg and grow just fine. Just dont expect the same growth rates as those using HID or similar...I asked for help in the newbie forum (I'm a newbie) but didn't get a definitive answer. Maybe you guys can help.
Growing under 3x 65W CFL 18/6 with a few hours of sunlight when it's available. The photos show my plants at about three weeks old.
I'm careful with watering and have only very lightly fed them 1/4 strength "Jack's Classic" water soluble plant food (20 20 20.) My grow box has a fan and humidifier. My CFLs are no more than two inches above the plant tops.
Commercial seedling starter soil (Black Gold.)
Strains are Jackberry x Shack, Candy Kush and Cheeseberry Haze.
I don't know what my pH is but plan on finding out ASAP.
This is my first grow. Take pity on this old man and help me out.
Thank you
Well, the lighting is going to change big time as soon as my big guns arrive.Its your lights causing the slow growth. CFLs can veg and grow just fine. Just dont expect the same growth rates as those using HID or similar...
Nice....Well, the lighting is going to change big time as soon as my big guns arrive.
THX.
6 hours of dark is 25% less the plants could be growing. and dark period has nothing to do with roots.Oh, snap! Here goes the 24/0 thing again.....It's BEST to have SOME lights off time to promote more ROOT growth!
More roots = More buds!
POS is a strong thing. But true knowledge is even stronger. You seem to be hanging out with POS,,,,6 hours of dark is 25% less the plants could be growing. and dark period has nothing to do with roots.
don't believe me, try 2 plants under 18/6 and 24/0 and let me know what happens. i've done it and that's why i do 24/0.
Yep, both above and down below. Better to be balanced rather than one sided....Sorry its a Copy and Paste, been looking for the other Info I have on Plants and Light Cycles and Rest(dark/night) Periods...
all Creds to > SmokeyMacPot 420Member
To simplify things, lets use an analogy. Try to think of a plant as a building… one constantly under construction. The plant needs raw materials, (fertilizers and water), and energy (light) in order to “build itself”. The raw materials are the “bricks and mortar” of the building. The energy is the workers, vehicles and power tools used to assemble the building.
The Plant is capable of storing some raw materials and some energy for use later, but the amount is limited...think of a warehouse and a battery.
* During the day, (Lights ON) the plant is collecting and storing light energy, and is using and storing raw materials. The plant is stockpiling raw material, and is charging it’s batteries… it is ALSO using raw materials and using the energy it is collecting. It’s building itself, literally putting itself together.
During the day however, the plant is not as efficient at building itself, as it is at night (lights OFF.) It can build itself, but not as quickly.
* While the lights are OFF, the plant is using energy and raw materials to build itself…. the plant is more efficiently using the raw materials that it stored during the day. The plant is better at transporting and assembling the raw materials.
The bad news: since there is no light energy, the plant must rely on energy it stored while the lights were ON (its stored energy). (Essentially, the plant is running on batteries, and using raw material from the warehouse.)
There is no light energy to collect. Since the plant needs energy to absorb more raw materials, it is easier for the plant to use raw materials that it stored during the day than it is to absorb raw materials through its roots.
* Although the plant IS capable of “doing it all” with the lights on, (Collect, store and use energy & raw materials) it does a better job of actually doing the work (using the energy and raw material) while the lights are out. During the dark however, it relies solely on its limited supply of stored energy and stored raw material.
One last thing to remember is the fact that a plant will always strive to maintain a balance between the size of its roots and the size of its canopy (Leaf mass.) The roots must be big enough to supply as much raw materials as the canopy can use, and the canopy must be big enough to provide the energy required to store those raw materials….
atb
I don't know what my tap water's TDS is. It's from a deep well in my yard. I can use Poland Springs bottled water which is 35-46 ppm TDS. Is it better to have low TDS ?If you use tap water, what is its TDS in parts per million? My tap is up around 600ppm. When I used it it had a similar effect on my young plants. They didn't grow much, seemed stunted, held back.
BTW: Jacks 20-20-20 is good. There are people who grow with 1-1-1 NPK ratio from start to finish. I would have recommended you get Citrus Feed for veg (it's 2-1-2) and Bloom Booster for flower (it's 1-3-2). You could mix them in early flower to get something ratios between those two.
But, nothing wrong with 1-1-1. You can't know how higher N in veg (or P in flower) work without comparing it to something.
If it's too low (for example RO water), you'll need to add some TDS. Either from high TDS tap water or from a small amount of calmag.I don't know what my tap water's TDS is. It's from a deep well in my yard. I can use Poland Springs bottled water which is 35-46 ppm TDS. Is it better to have low TDS ?
I have no opinion because I don't know shit.guess Cervantes, Rosenthal and myself are all wrong about 24/0.
i'll stick with what i tested to be the best IMO>
Thanks.If it's too low (for example RO water), you'll need to add some TDS. Either from high TDS tap water or from a small amount of calmag.
If you don't have a TDS meter, I'd say it's up there in importance as the ph meter. This HM TDS-3 is a decent one for $20. You don't have to buy any special calibration fluids. Eventually you'll want to calibrate it. But, you can dissolve 1g table salt in 1 liter of water. That's 1000ppm. That will get you close enough for what you're doing.
For now, without knowing your tap water's quality, I would use the bottled water and add 2ml calmag per gallon. If you don't have calmag (and there's probably no reason to buy it yet), the next thing I'd do is mix tap and bottled water equally. If your tap is bad, it would improve it substantially. If your tap is good, it shouldn't make it too light on minerals. I.e., seems like a good bet until you find out what your tap water is.