light over germed seeds

surfnugget

surfnugget

Well-Known Member
for seeds that have just popped open, and been planted in their medium, how long should i wait to put cfls on them? i only have one at the moment, and it's taproot was about .25" long, i put it in my shredded paper/red poreous rock with a water wick so that it pulls water when it gets dry.

im also just using plain tapwater right now. i havent added nutes, and im not sure when to add them, or what is the best for a pseudo-hydro setup.
 
magic

magic

Well-Known Member
once the germ'd seeds are planted use the light right away at 24/0. The warmth at the top layer of soil (or whatever medium you use) will help guide them in the right direction
 
White Widow Woman

White Widow Woman

Well-Known Member
TomThom1987 said:
just a quick question. how long do you leave it on the 24/0 cycle on the new sprouts
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I let my seedlings and clones veg under 24/0 until they are ready to go into the flowering room. Some people do 18/6 throughout the veg cycle. It's up to you. And obviously, you'll save on electricity with the 18/6, but the 24/0 is easier on you lights if you are using HIDs.

:peace:
Widow
 
WWgrower

WWgrower

Well-Known Member
I was just wondering why you thought 24/0 is easier on the lights? This is the first time I have heard that and was wondering where you heard that. Not trying to be a smart ass. I don't usually go in this section and thought I would tonight. Thanks
 
magic

magic

Well-Known Member
once the seedlings have sprouted use 24/0 for a MIN of 2 weeks. After that point you can switch to 18/6 if you want. I leave mine on for 24/0 up until one week of flowering (24/0 2 months of flowering, 18/6 1 week before flowering, 12/12 for flowering)
 
cloudflyer

cloudflyer

Well-Known Member
I don't where this 24 hour cycle I keep hearing about came from. Plants grow at night from the engery they recieved from the day. Also they can only store so much energy and they need a rest. A seed has it's own supply of food to get the seedling started. As soon as the leafs appear 18/6. 250 lumens. The only exception to this is called a short day cycle and it requires a special non-24hour timer. It is 12/6 12 of light 6 of dark (18 hour light cycle). and this is only used in the VEG stage. It is the dark cycle that determines the stage of the plant, not the light.
 
stunned

stunned

Green Thumb of God
I do 24-0 up until flower, they seem to grow quicker that way in my experience. I end up with 12-15 inches in a month of 24-0 then flip it to flower. I flower under 14-10 though, which is not advised by some. I do it because in my mind more light=more bud so why not give the minimum amount of dark necessary to make them flower.

One thing I've never tried but am curious about is if you could keep a plant flowering by doing 24 hours light followed by 12 hours dark.
 
cloudflyer

cloudflyer

Well-Known Member
stunned said:
I do 24-0 up until flower, they seem to grow quicker that way in my experience. I end up with 12-15 inches in a month of 24-0 then flip it to flower. I flower under 14-10 though, which is not advised by some. I do it because in my mind more light=more bud so why not give the minimum amount of dark necessary to make them flower.

One thing I've never tried but am curious about is if you could keep a plant flowering by doing 24 hours light followed by 12 hours dark.
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The plant can not keep storing energy, it needs rest. You will waste 6 hours (or more) of power with worse results. If you want to test this, on your next grow seperate 2 plants but feed them from the same water. 24 hours for on and 18/6 for the other. You will find the 18 hour plant grows much better. A perfect example of this is nature, there are not 24 hour light days. The good news is plants are quick adapters, they will grow but they will have to devote resources unnaturally to other places
 
surfnugget

surfnugget

Well-Known Member
thanks everyone for all the help.


i would give everyone rep points, but im stoned and lazy.
you have been a great deal of help tho.
 
Twistyman

Twistyman

Well-Known Member
I know the 24 - 18/6 battle rages. I tried the 24 thing didn't notice much. Went to 18/6
and there's a noticeable change every time I wake up and check the babies.. I've got space problem's & 24 light is a problem...
 
surfnugget

surfnugget

Well-Known Member
im gunna go 24/0 for a week or two, maybe just till the sprouts are a few inches before i go to 18/6. i got a chart goin and im gunna try both ways with diff. plants. thanx guys.
 
Twistyman

Twistyman

Well-Known Member
Yeah, you've got to experiment...it's fun and interesting too ! Sometimes you stumble across a great nugget of knowledge............all good
 
stunned

stunned

Green Thumb of God
cloudflyer said:
The plant can not keep storing energy, it needs rest. You will waste 6 hours (or more) of power with worse results. If you want to test this, on your next grow seperate 2 plants but feed them from the same water. 24 hours for on and 18/6 for the other. You will find the 18 hour plant grows much better. A perfect example of this is nature, there are not 24 hour light days. The good news is plants are quick adapters, they will grow but they will have to devote resources unnaturally to other places
Click to expand...
Thanks for explaining brotha'

I will give it a shot next time and see what my tests yield. Because if the 18/6 is better than that does save quite a bit of electricity over the veg cycle.
 
surfnugget

surfnugget

Well-Known Member
what about 18/5 with an hour of light 2.5 hours into darkness.. isnt this supposed to coax fem's? or is that only right b4 budding?
 
cloudflyer

cloudflyer

Well-Known Member
surfnugget said:
what about 18/5 with an hour of light 2.5 hours into darkness.. isnt this supposed to coax fem's? or is that only right b4 budding?
Click to expand...
Uninterrupted darkness is the key. Every time the light changes the plant has to switch gears to start performing it duties. Light go on, the leafs start reaching upwards to the light, co2 receptors on the bottom of the leaf start taking in co2, and photosynthesis occurs. This ramp up takes a few hours. Outdoor plants do this gradually (sun set/rise). With indoor plants the light is on…then off. This is why indoor plants are so susceptible to light damage at night. Lights off, the leafs start to droop so the plant doesn’t waste energy reaching for light that is not there. Then production starts creating plant matter. The more matter that is put on, the larger your root system becomes. Uninterrupted darkness is the key. Plants are extremely resilient. There entire purpose is to survive (everything depends on them). Indoor growing is all about controlling the environment. Your entire job is to be the immune system for the plant. You do not want the plant to devote resources to fix a problem that you have control over. If you keep your grow room too hot, the plant has to spend it’s resources to cool itself. That energy was going to be growth. You can pick and choose what you want your plant to do. If I want my branches to be strong, I put a fan on the plant so it devotes resources to survive in windy conditions. You can even control how close your branches are from each other. I like short dense plants so I keep the daytime and nighttime temps close to each other.
 
WWgrower

WWgrower

Well-Known Member
All that sounds really good and all but I don't think you have any scientific research to back it up. Some of the so called experts in this field all came around to believing 24 hour cycles were not believed to benefit the plants. Then many years ago they experimented and never had negative results and in some strains a increase in size. There is no evidence there is need for sleep. Look at the writings of Rosenthal and a few well known others. They all believe a 24 hour cycle can help. Last I myself do 24 hours first 3 weeks of a grow and then slowly move to 18/6. Just the way I have always done it.
 
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