when should I start my 12/12 cycle?

hey guys its my first grow and I've had them vegetative for over a month now (about 6 weeks) and doing 18/6. When do I start the 12/12 cycle and when I do this do I still use the 6500k bulbs or do I switch over to 3000k then?

My main question is how do I know when to start the flowering stage, these are not autoflowering or anything. Is there a certain height or do I look for any signs of perticular growth? and yes I know these plants are close together, next time I will put in seperate buckets and I know the clear container isnt a good idea ethier. I'm using t5's and fox farm soil and nutrients

you can go 12/12 when ever you want ,

just keep in mind that it will double in size and some triple in size when you flip to 12/12

if you want a 4ft plant then flip to 12/12 around 24 "


when you switch to 12/12 i would trough some 2700k bulbs in their

more 2700k for flower and 6400k for veg

You can put them on 12/12 from seed if you want. It is really up to you and how much room you have height wise.

It's recommend 22 inches as far as height.. I wait until preflowers emerge showing deffinative sex.. As far as the lights t5 don't put out enough lumens to do anything extraordinary.. Stepping up the light will increase the yield... Any other questions ask me..

Well a good time is the first sign of pre-flowers. This is equivalent to a teenage boy/girl growing pubes and starting puberty...sort of.
The plant is sexually mature and is physically ready to begin flowering. Waiting for pre-flowers to begin the flowering stage also gives a better chance of not getting hermies too (when using feminized seed).

That being said, a lot of people don't follow this rule with great success. Out of four plants I have going, 3 showed pre-flowers at the same time on day 29 (from germination), and one showed pre-flower today, finally, on day 41.

you say the t5's dont put out enough lumens but I've read great reviews on the "tek two" i am using when it comes to yields. I am using a tek two which is 2 t5's pushing out 10,000 lumens and another t5 light pushing out 2,000 lumens and 1 more t-8 light that is a photosynthesis bulb (5000k). Can I use this 5000k bulb with flowering since it is a red tint or should they all be 3000k? In the future I'll be getting a 250w HPS for flowering (which I planned on buying but im strapped for cash). I just hope they turn out female and I get some decent bud off them.

1 of my plants is not as bushy as the others, my thoughts because of this are maybe its male? The other 2 are sprouting leaves all over but this particular one is not as much. Next time I'm going for feminized seeds and using t5s for growth and hps for flowering and next time will be some high times quality seeds )

so as soon as I switch to the 12/12 should i take out all 6400k bulbs and put in 3000k ? just want to make sure before I buy them

bearhoney420 said:

you say the t5's dont put out enough lumens but I've read great reviews on the "tek two" i am using when it comes to yields. I am using a tek two which is 2 t5's pushing out 10,000 lumens and another t5 light pushing out 2,000 lumens and 1 more t-8 light that is a photosynthesis bulb (5000k). Can I use this 5000k bulb with flowering since it is a red tint or should they all be 3000k? In the future I'll be getting a 250w HPS for flowering (which I planned on buying but im strapped for cash). I just hope they turn out female and I get some decent bud off them.

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When flowering it's actually best to use both red and blue color spectrum. For me, optimal flowering lighting would be one 250w MH and 400w HPS for flowering in my closet, preferably in cool tubes sharing one adjust-a-wing reflector.
....yeah...awesome
...*cough cough anyways...

The reason you want both spectrums is so you get the best of both world. Blue to reduce internode stretch and red for more and larger flowers.

thanks man, I am glad I found this site, otherwise I would've just used 3000k bulbs. I wish I could afford a setup like yours, hopefully I pull some bud out of this flourescent setup for now. I figure I'll replace the 2 bulbs in the tek two with blooming bulbs and keep the t5 6400k bulb as well as the 5000k t8. Just got the plants out of their 6 hr stretch of darkness and man did they grow ! I am going to have to do 12/12 soon because the biggest plant is close to 2ft.

Is there something I do at first to make it go into flowering mode like a full period of 24 hr darkness or do I just start on 12/12 and once it gets 12hrs of darkness that forces it to flower?

when you want it to start budding Sativa about 6 ft high indica about 3 to 4 ft high

the 2 stages are vegetative and flowering right? it'll just start budding on its own while doing 12/12 ? is that all I do till the end is just keep it on 12 hrs and off 12 hrs? just ordered some 3000k bulbs

bearhoney420 said:

the 2 stages are vegetative and flowering right? it'll just start budding on its own while doing 12/12 ? is that all I do till the end is just keep it on 12 hrs and off 12 hrs? just ordered some 3000k bulbs

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12/12 & she (hopefuly) will bud, you should start to see anywhere from 7 - 14 days, & mixing your lights will help give you a full color spectrum, if you are sticking with T5's, just remember to keep them real close to the plants, they not the best for light penetration but some good results can still be achieved, good luck on your grow.