Seedling light schedule

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by Dank Dankington, Apr 4, 2016.

  1. What light schedule works best for seedlings?
     
  2. You'll get a range of answers between 24/0 and 18/6. Imma 18/6er meself.

    Be kind. Perfect your craft. Give more than you take. We are family.
     
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  3. You mean 24/0 right? Yeah I know I love you like 18/6 myself but was wondering if I can get faster growth with a 24 hour light schedule. What do u think?
     
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  4. I prefer 24/0 for seedlings and veg. No real reason 18/6 or 20/4 is fine too, it's mostly up to the growers preference.
     
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  5. Lol yeah. Thanks and fixed. I learned under two 18/6 peeps so I'm indoctrinated. I may try a 24 once my stock is up. I was taught that a 4 or 6 rest makes for a stronger plant even though it may cut the yield a hair and be a tit slower.

    Be kind. Perfect your craft. Give more than you take. We are family.
     
  6. AFAIK the main benefit of 18/6 or 20/4 is accelerated root growth (lights off is when roots grow more) at a slight cost of internodal length. The stretch really isn't that bad at all though I've never heard of it making that big of a difference in the long run.
     
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  7. For my guys it was almost a spiritual thing. They both essentially asked how I would feel without a rest period. Glad to learn the science behind it though!

    Be kind. Perfect your craft. Give more than you take. We are family.
     
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  8. I use 24/0 but there isn't much difference.
     
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  9. Every thing needs its sleep. However , im not a scientist nor a mj plant so who knows. !!! Im just a believer in sleep and growin strong wen asleep.. i also do everything i can to create gud roots that are healthy and strong... but who knows love.. so if the 24/0 works for you then stick with it. Its all about personal veiws n prefrence etc. Xxxx
     
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  10. From my experience, 24/0 for seedling reduces stretching. I've seen tons of pictures of sprouts and even though I'm a beginner, I think mine ranks pretty high in the prettiness factor because it's not all lanky.
     

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  11. Just do both. 24/0 for seedling to reduce stretching. 18/6 when its in it's vegging state. I'm an 18/6 type of guy.


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  12. I go with whatever I feel like at the time, give more consideration to the electric bill than anything else.
    Autos being the exception of course. With photos I'm more laid back.

    I think that as you become a better grower, you become more focused on things that have a bigger impact on growth rates, and things like... type of reflective material, brand of nutrients, and minor changes to lighting schedule take a backseat to things you know are going to have a major impact on growth rates. Somebody who runs 1kw lights is going to have different growth rates (and different nutrient requirements) than somebody who runs household cfl's.

    Running a commercial op, different story. Homegrown = whatever makes you happy.
     
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  13. Anything above 18 hours of light works, but I find 24/0 best, I get faster growth and shorter internodes

    I think you may be misquoting "roots grow best in the dark", or "roots don't like the light", as in the roots grow underground where it's always dark. Using clear pots or reservoirs in DWC is a bad idea. These plants grew under 24/0, but of coarse the roots are always in darkness

    [​IMG]

    It's not really about personal views and preferences when talking about facts. The fact being that not everything sleeps, plants do not sleep, not even all animals sleep
     
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  14. I'm wondering what light is best to start seedlings under that is both low cost, and low energy consuming. I hear people mention T5s a lot. I'm looking at amazon now but SO MANY options... it's overwhelming. I'll have a mars300 LED but it seems a bit much for just seedlings man.
     
  15. Use your 300 it puts out 140 watt draw that's what I use I just have the 600 model but same distances. I put mine 18 inches above canopy and no stretching so far. 4 different strains, I have in a 2x4 temps are 77 to 80.
    Good Luck


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  16. anything over 16 hours of daylight is fine.
     
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  17. I just started my first grow and asked the same question. I have a p600 in about the same size closet and both manufacturer and blog peeps said just use the led which I did. I'm only 3 days into seeds going into rooters. Both manufacturer and another platinum user told me to be at 40" though.

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  18. It depends on how many seedlings you have, but that LED only uses about 150 watts so it's pretty low cost. You can go as low as a 20w CFL per plant, they are very cheap but as you already have the LED it makes more sense to just use that, and they would only be good for a couple of weeks anyway. T5s are good but can you even get them lower than 150 watts anyway?
     

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