I'm growing 5 plants, (Kaya Gold, feminized), under a 400w HPS light (I know the MH ones are better for vegging - next time), in a closet (with anti-detection countermeasures taken). Have been topping the plants, and recently did some rudimentary LST (this grow i'm more trying to get an idea of how the plant grows, advanced techniques next grow). I planted them in the first week of april, and transplanted them from small pots to the ones they're in now last weekend. Early in their life, they were somewhat heat stressed, but that's been dealt with by improving the ventilation and changing the position of the light. Been on 18/6 light cycle since the second week (first week was 24 hour, and a weaker light). Several of the plants are beginning to show sex characteristics. One of them (number 5), was always more vigorous, and pistils were visible weeks ago, and now 3 of them (1, 2, 5) are showing them. My question is, when should i switch the light cycle to begin flowering? Thanks I've attached photos of the plants - apologies for the sub-standard pictures (cellphone camera). I wasn't able to make it take a decent picture where you could see the pistils.
welcome new one--------- if your growing in a cabinet-size dictates when you switch to flower. plan on the stretch thats the first weeks of flowering so you dont max out headroom. your pics will be better if you turn off that hps first.
How much of a stretch should i plan on? Are you saying that i'm currently at a point where i could start flowering? Also, re: turning off hps for pictures, i get nervous about doing that because people talk about how light anomalies cause the plants to get unhappy. I havn't gotten a clear idea of how careful i have to be about that.
Your plants can double to triple in size (depending on the strain) during flowering. So, take their current size, multiply by 3, add the distance your lights have to stay away from the tops of your plants, and if you have headroom left you can veg a bit longer.