Ok so i have read just about everything on here before I decided to write this thread. So I have 6 plants about 4" they are going on about 4 days they are looking good everything does this early. Getting to the lights i have 350 watts, i know more would be better, but thats what i got, they are compacts flo's. so the question is when should i be switching to 18/6? and what nutes do you pref? and when could I possibly start getting them into flowering stage and switching to 12/12? Anything is greatly apprciated
If you've got them on 24/0 right now you can leave them there. While there is healthy debate over 24 hours veg as opposed to 18 hours veg, both work. I have always used 18/6, but after reading a post by a respected grower on here the other day, I am going to try vegging 24/0 this grow. Here is the thread with the info about light schedules: http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/334605-light-scheduel-info-rumpleforeskin.html As for changing to 12/12.......you can change whenever your plant gets to half the size you want it. Plants stretch when the light schedule is shortened, often doubling in height.
Careful it is a debatable issue. I used to grow under the 24 rule but switched to 18 once i took a few college plant bio courses and started asking some other growers about there thoughts. The bottom line is hormone levels can be thrown off when not introducing a dark period. Its kind of a weird chemical debate. After testing 24 for 1 week 3 week 18, 2 week 24 2 week 18 ect. I found i was getting much healthier Root growth introducing a 18 light period straight out the gate for veg cycle, although it never seemed to affect yield or quality of a finished product. So in the end...it seems to save electricity at least
Even that is debatable. Some proponents of 24/0 hold that while 18/6 saves electricity per day, it slows the plants' growth and so you end up having to run 18/6 longer to get to the same amount of vegging, so you end up using that electricity you thought you saved anyway. I am not advocating one side or the other, I've heard all the arguments on both sides and realize that without solid, scientific studies/tests of this issue we never will really know for sure. And, of course, since MJ is illegal there isn't much funding floating around for controlled experiments on MJ growth, so we are left with a hodge-podge of anecdotal evidence of independent growers. Personally I use 18/6 as a way to manage heat better, my grow is in a garage so subject more to the swings in outdoor temps, and I have lights out during the warmest part of the day (not in winter but other times of the year) so that the grow doesn't get too warm.