Mars hydro TS1000, what light intensity for seedlings

Chenoid said:

Hi everyone, I'm a total newbie and I've read a lot about how far away to have the light from the seedlings but at what intensity do you turn the light up? I put the sprouted seeds (and the unsprouted ones) into the rockwool cubes in a humidity dome 4 days ago and I have it on 50% atm, but I'm not sure how tall "leggy" is. They're all around 3cm tall and thin, so do I need to turn the light intensity up? Cheers

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quirk said:

I germinate with the TS 1000 and neck it down to 75% @ 18" for the first week after sprout, then go to 100% @ 24. Lose the dome and provide air circulation to strengthen stem and tap root. Domes are for clones. These seedlings are 5 days old and as you see, one is over 3cm. 9 days later, with 24/7 air circulation they're nice and stout.

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Chenoid said:

Thanks for that, I should've paid more attention to what my man was doing (he died last year). And yeah, now that I think about it more, he only had clones in the dome. I just thought because it's still pretty cool here at night (down to maybe 10 degrees C inside), I needed the dome over the seedlings (which are on a heat mat) to retain the heat. I was also wondering if I could put the rock wool cubes in a pot now, as I figure the heatmat will dry out the cubes? Do I really have to wait for the roots to show through the cube? Now that they've sprouted they're my babies and I don't want them to keel over and die. Cheers

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elgatonegro420 said:

Download a lux meter on your phone. Seedlings like about 2000 to 4000 lux. Light intensity and distance makes more sense once you see it a little different. Distance is more for coverage of canopy in a sense. It also helps to not burn or heat the plants up. I would use 100 w floros about 6 to 8 inches away and get the same result using a 200 w led at 30 percent around 18 inches to 2 ft away.

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elgatonegro420 said:

Download a lux meter on your phone. Seedlings like about 2000 to 4000 lux. Light intensity and distance makes more sense once you see it a little different. Distance is more for coverage of canopy in a sense. It also helps to not burn or heat the plants up. I would use 100 w floros about 6 to 8 inches away and get the same result using a 200 w led at 30 percent around 18 inches to 2 ft away.

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quirk said:

I'm not familiar with rock wool cubes I germinate in Jiffy pellets and like you, utilize a heating mat. I transfer to final pot day after sprout and the tap root is always emerging. But here's the deal. I grow autos exclusively and they pretty much take anything you throw at them.

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