Introducing new sprouts to hps light...

How many hours can they handle under a 400 wtt hps light to start out with? Last time I had a different set up. So do I need to start them out with 6 hours and work them up to the 18 hours over a weeks time? Or are they ok will the full 18 hours starting out?

I would wait a few days (maybe a week) before putting new sprouts under a HPS light.

They really dont need that much light to start with, and should be ok with natural light untill they are a little stronger. The HID lighting will promote vertical (stringy) growth but I like bushy plants with horizontal growth so I like to ween the plants onto HID lighting gradually. This is just my pref option, if YOU are able to manage the heat buildup then theoretically you could give the plants 24hr HID lighting in the first week but IMHO this is overkill.

maybe consider investing in a cheap fluorescent or CFL light. No heat and promote bushy growth for the first few weeks. I would then hit it with the 400wat HPS half way through veg and then for flowering.

oh... more direct answer to your question is : with only 6 hours of light at this stage they will continue growing upwards to look for light and become stringy. 18 - 24 hours once the first fan shaped leaves appear is good... but remember to manage any heat buildup

I will do that. I will use my florescents on them. I like them bushy too. You are right they don't need that much light to begin with. It's too hot right now where my light is set up. I have to move them until the temps cool down anyway. Thanks!

Monkeyfloss said:

oh... more direct answer to your question is : with only 6 hours of light at this stage they will continue growing upwards to look for light and become stringy. 18 - 24 hours once the first fan shaped leaves appear is good... but remember to manage any heat buildup

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really?? ive always gone in to every grow starting with 18 hours of light ..from a seedling.
am i wrong by doing this? i use a MH to start and then go into my HPS for flowering

crashbog127 said:

really?? ive always gone in to every grow starting with 18 hours of light ..from a seedling.
am i wrong by doing this? i use a MH to start and then go into my HPS for flowering

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I would say this is not needed. If you dont pay for the electricity, have plenty of room and heat is not an issue, then it might be an option I suppose.... I have fantastic success with keeping the seeds dark until they sprout to about an inch (still with their pre-leaves semi closed), this takes a couple of days. Then a day or so natural light then at the 1" stage I introduce them to my fluorescents for a couple of weeks or so for the vegging and then move them to my HPS for the rest of the vegging and for the remainder of the flowering.

I always do a 24hr veg and 12hr flower : why? you may ask.... Because Im not paying the electric costs. and I reason that a longer day of light is better than a shorter day of light and since plants dont sleep why not??? Also I reason that the massive change from having 24hrs then just 12hrs of light 'sends' the plants into flowering with a real punch. relative to the 18/12hr used by some. Although this is IMHO and have never done the 18/12hr thing so cannot compare.

never used Metal Halides (many do) so cannot talk about them. I would however say its best to keep any project as simple as, so I choose to use just one type of HID, 600W HPS' (less to think about)

peace

lighthouse said:

I will do that. I will use my florescents on them. I like them bushy too. You are right they don't need that much light to begin with. It's too hot right now where my light is set up. I have to move them until the temps cool down anyway. Thanks!

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Good plan. Best of luck.
oh also (you probably know this) Cool blue fluorescents are better than the Warm red fluorescents for vegging but the reverse is true for flowering

yea i pay for the electric lol.. as far as space i have about 5'x5'7' space with cooling under control proabnly around 88degrees while light is running 80 with them off
but i guess i see your point.. and your theory on the 24 hour of light is interesting. i may just have to try this.
how fast do you normally see results once you do the switch to 12/12 it seems to take a while when switching from 18/6 how is it from a 24hr cycle?

It still takes a while to see the fem traits come through but not too long. of course this will be different from plant2plant and between different breeds.
also ......check out what this dude manages using just a fluorescent: click the link. ..... I use the T5 Fluorescent and cannot speak highly enough of them, one of the upsides is that if I was ever busted (again) I would argue my T5 was a regular domestic light. My HPS setup would be harder to explain ...lol

http://www.weedfarmer.com/growing_marijuana_with_fluoresce.htm

wow...this dude weed looks nicer then some of my buds under ym 600w MH/HPS.. what am i doing wrong..
i mean i get a lot larger quantity but the trichomes and resin on those buds look outrageous

crashbog127 said:

wow...this dude weed looks nicer then some of my buds under ym 600w MH/HPS.. what am i doing wrong..
i mean i get a lot larger quantity but the trichomes and resin on those buds look outrageous

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LOL ...init though! .... ive never flowered using fluorescents but this dude swears by it. The key (i think) is to keep the lights as close as poss to the plant. and hes obviously using warm reds for flowering and evidently started with half decent genetics. If you pay for your electricity then its worth considering as flo's are so much cheaper to run.

yea my electric bill used to be around 80-100 dollars a month depending on what i do in the house.. sine i upgraded to 600w MH/HPS doing a 18/6 cycle my bill is 180.
dropped down to a 12/12 cycle my bill is 150-160
so not so great paying that every month.. lol

buy anyhow.. yea those plants looked sexy.. just sad that he couldn't get more of a quantity off them

crashbog127 said:

.. yea those plants looked sexy.. just sad that he couldn't get more of a quantity off them

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I dont think those plants were ready yet and he claims to have not taken the best care of them. Ive got a few 'Budda - blue cheese' vegging now under flo's and will flower one using a T5 starting in the next couple of days. I will journal it so any interested parties can see my results and compare against my HPS plants.

peace

ill deffly be checking it out looking forward to seeing results