How long should i keep plants on 24/7 and various other questions

I have 30 plants i started from seeds and put into soil 9 days ago( most of which i will give away to friends and keep the best 4 or so). I have them split up and put under 2 sets of 2 40w wide spectrum plant and aquarium lights that i keep 1-2 inches away from them and i have an rotating fan blowing on them constantly. I started all of them in jiffy starter pots with jiffy starter soil so they will be easy to transplant when the time comes. As of now all of them are 3 to 4 inches tall and have 4 to 6 leaves. They all look extremely healthy (I will have pics eventually) with no yellowing of the leaves or drooping but after researching a lot i found that i was over watering them so i started cutting back a few days ago. My main questions are: When should I change the light cycle (or should i have already)? What would be the best light cycle for now? When should i start adding nutes? What would be the best i can buy from a retail store? What type of soil should i transplant into and when? And should i switch atleast 1 bulb per set to daylight bulbs? I dont have a lot of money to put into this and it is my first attempt at growing so im gonna have to stick with fluorescents for now. I have read hundreds of forums and watched a hundred or more videos all of which say completely different things so anyone that has experience with growing under fluorescents i could really use some insight. Thanks

Want to know about flouros eh? Good news - they will work and produce good bud. Based on my research I would say switch to 18/6 and save on a bit of power. As for soil, if you have large enough pots (a gallon per foot MINIMUM) and if you use Fox Farms you wont need to use nutes until you flower (12/12) although 1/4 strength or 1/2 strength nutes may speed up the growing process a bit. If you want to save money you don't need to switch bulbs, cool whites and warm whites will be OK for flowering if you have the lumens.

I prefer to keep my plants under continuous light, but you can switch to 18/6 any time you want(will save you money)

I usually start adding light nutrients at the first sign of yellow(light green) at the tops.

The best Nutrients at a retail store... a little harder to answer, I usually use 50 10 10 NPK(Nitrogen Phosphorous Potassium) for veg, and 15 50 15 NPK for flowering...I couldn't tell you which brand would be best but if it is chemical based, make sure you flush the plants with plain water(some still use molasses or something made for plants with molasses to help take up any nutrients left in the soil)for the last few weeks

Soil will vary, if your only choice is walmart, or something similar just try and get one of the pro mixes(different versions) with as little fertilizer in the soil as possible. Might need to buy some perlite for better drainage.

You will have different opinions on the lights, I prefer to use bright white(appx. 6500k) lights for veg. and soft white(appx. 2700k) for flowering. Others prefer to use a combination of both for the entire life, and others say it wont matter...

This plant was from my first indoor grow(done with cfls)

Thanks for the help...Thank God power where im at is relatively cheap i figured it up and combined both sets of lights runnin 24/7 will only up my bill about 12 bucks a month but will i get better growth runnin 24/7 or will it be about the same as 18/6? I have seen other peoples grows runnin fluoro's at around 10 days and they seem to have a lot more growth could the over watering contributed to growth bein stunted?

some ppl say its good to have it on 24/7 until there like a foot tall then go to 18/6 then go to 12/12 but idk

jepayne said:

Thanks for the help...Thank God power where im at is relatively cheap i figured it up and combined both sets of lights runnin 24/7 will only up my bill about 12 bucks a month but will i get better growth runnin 24/7 or will it be about the same as 18/6? I have seen other peoples grows runnin fluoro's at around 10 days and they seem to have a lot more growth could the over watering contributed to growth bein stunted?

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Overwatering is possibly the most common problem people have, and yes it will cause growth to be slowed. Let your girls get pretty dry between waterings and they will pay you back later

Over watering will stunt growth, its easier for the plant to recover from under watering than it is to recover from over watering. I keep mine 24/7 because it tends to keep the plants shorter and bushier.(most upward growth is done during the night, so switching to 18/6 will make them taller and easier to see the growth)In nature the plants never get 24/7, so many argue that it is pointless. Its really a matter of opinion which will vary from person to person.

Thanks for all your help everyone. I believe im gonna switch it to 18/6 for now and def. let them dry out a lot more than i have been. Now that i know over watering stunts growth that explains a lot. Im very anxious to see how they turn out and im sure i will have a lot more questions to come because im sure i will want to try my hand at tying down and cloning. But again thanks for everything and hopefully i will have pics up in the next few days.