Thinking about starting to flower...

So my NL has been vegging for about 5 weeks (38 days) and I'm thinking about switching the MH for a HPS bulb and switching to flowering time. Should I ease into the 12 hours or just go straight from 18/6 to 12/12? Also I'm considering having the dark period during the day, to combat the heat potential of the summer. I have a corner of my closet dedicated to the grow space and a mylar curtain as well as sliding closet doors... I'm wondering if possible small light leaks could disrupt the cycle... I know this is a serious issue as I don't want to cause her stress. Any suggestions or thoughts on the topic would be appreciated... A few pics included

bump... any advice?

You want 0 light leaks. Inside your flower chamber during dark, u shouldnt be able to see your hand in front of your face AFTER your eyes adjust. If not you'll run the risk of herm etc.

How tall of a space are you working with? Your plant will get 2x-3x its veg size once you flower. so a 12 inch plant will run 24-36 inches when done flowering. If you have more space and time, veg it longer, you'll get more bud in the long run.

Also just flip it to 12/12. Dont dilly dally around with the light schedule. They like something consistent.

gotcha... I have a good amount of height space, just a little limited on width of the grow... its about 20' x 25' of width, and a tall ceiling in my closet. I'm trying to figure out how to have complete darkness in my closet, I'm thinking about addind a curtain to the entrance of my closet and an additional mylar curtain near my plant to ensure against light leaks. I figure while the closet is closed and theres darkness I won't have to worry about heat, but i will need to work on my ventilation soon... add a few exhausts to my 400w

Well you also have to think about this when you flowering. As your plant grows up you jack the light up right. Well especially when you hit flowering, all of the top branches are going to block all the light shining onto lower branches. 400's don't have the best penetration. So If I were you I'd lollypop some. The lower branches are just going to make pussy shitty popcorn nugs that take another week and half to finish compared to the top.


The Mylar doesn't rip on you after using it a bunch going in and out? I've had bad experiences with Mylar. I go with Panda film now. Seems to hold up better in the kinda application you want to use it as.

billybob88 said:

Well you also have to think about this when you flowering. As your plant grows up you jack the light up right. Well especially when you hit flowering, all of the top branches are going to block all the light shining onto lower branches. 400's don't have the best penetration. So If I were you I'd lollypop some. The lower branches are just going to make pussy shitty popcorn nugs that take another week and half to finish compared to the top.


The Mylar doesn't rip on you after using it a bunch going in and out? I've had bad experiences with Mylar. I go with Panda film now. Seems to hold up better in the kinda application you want to use it as.

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I see what you're saying... I already topped the plant, but you think I should prune alot of the lower growth back and just focus on the tops?

The mylar has been working fine for me... I cover one side of my closet door with it, and the curtain I'm using, I ended up doubling up a emergeny mylar blanket and sewing it to another cloth so its basically a lining on one side. Works for me... I'm still working on minimizing light leaks, I think I will have to add another curtain to the entrance of my closet as the sliding doors are cheap and leaky.

Ya you want to get it 100% leak free but other than that I wouldn't purne any of the lower branchs. cause rly if your gonna use a higher wat lamp, meaning anywhere from 250w to 1000w, then rly the light will break the canopy really well and give you nice fat little buds even on the lower branches. Thats just my 2 cents. But I'd say flower the little girl(hopefully) if you arnt working with a lot of space cause when you flower sometimes they can double in height depending on the strain..

robbzilla said:

Ya you want to get it 100% leak free but other than that I wouldn't purne any of the lower branchs. cause rly if your gonna use a higher wat lamp, meaning anywhere from 250w to 1000w, then rly the light will break the canopy really well and give you nice fat little buds even on the lower branches. Thats just my 2 cents. But I'd say flower the little girl(hopefully) if you arnt working with a lot of space cause when you flower sometimes they can double in height depending on the strain..

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I'm already using a 400w, I'm just gonna switch the bulb to a HPS. I think I'm gonna go with your suggestion and not prune. I would like to keep this plant growing fairly naturally, although I'm not opposed to trimming a few extra leaves if need be. I have good white walls and mylar to bounce the light back at some of the lower branches as well, so I'm not too worried about the lower light deficiency. Thanks for the suggestions!

bonuslazer said:

I'm already using a 400w, I'm just gonna switch the bulb to a HPS. I think I'm gonna go with your suggestion and not prune. I would like to keep this plant growing fairly naturally, although I'm not opposed to trimming a few extra leaves if need be. I have good white walls and mylar to bounce the light back at some of the lower branches as well, so I'm not too worried about the lower light deficiency. Thanks for the suggestions!

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Oh ya right on man your set, I wouldn't prune any of it, let it be free and grow man.