How many hours of light do I need for veg growth?

hi Dyold, welcome to 420mag,

yep is totally fine to use the hps for both veg and flower, you might get slightly more stretch with the hps but running 1000watts im sure their will be very little stretch, how ever you do have another option, they sell a dual spectrum hps bulb, or if your ballast is a digital ballast then you can run both a mh and hps bulb in it so could swap them round for each stage of growth,

but to answer your question yes you can and it will be find, you will get great results and have a very nice harvest at the end,
 
Would you have a brand (that would be available in WA state) of Nutrients that are carcinogen free, don't have to be Organic as long as they are carcinogen free. Thank you in advance and great website, full of lots of useful information.
 
not sure on the nutrients as ive only used one brand but their not a sponsor anymore,

any of the sponsors nutrients work well as most growers on here are using them and get great results, as for carcinogen i cant really help with that as i just dont know enough, but if you want click on the top link in my signature below then post a comment in my journal asking for advice on nutrients, you will get a lot more help that way as many more of the regular growers follow my journal so you will more likely get a good response if you ask the same question in my journal,

i just dont know enough about nutrients or different types to be of much help, i know the sponsors do some amazing products and i wont the member of the month competition so ill be testing some products when they get delivered,

their is a new sponsor on this link below, the products he sells are what ill be trying pretty soon,
they sound like really great produts and he sells a small sample pack which is enough for 2 plants i think, basically its 3 different bags of nutrients, one for seedling stage, one for veg stage and one for flower stage, very easy to use and no need for mixing the 3 together, you use use each one for each stage of growth, so the sample bag would be a good option so you can sample the product and see how well it works, plus it should be enough for one plant so you can test it before you buy anymore,

click here for the new sponsors products

hopefully someone will jump in and offer some advice on nutrients but ive not used many brands so cant really comment to much, but i know our sponsors provide some amazing products that work well with these plants, fruit and veg nutes are ok but its very easy to get it wrong using these as the plants dont react well to these stronger nutrients, ive had major problems using fruit and veg nutes so will be sticking with products provided by the sponsors,
 
Hey mate,
In regard to nutrients, I grow in soil and try to keep it organic as I can, I find using Seaweed extract to be great for soil/plants - Im an not 100% on if carcinogen free but it may well be?
Ive used a few different nutes and you dont really need much if you have a good soil base, once the plant is of a decent size if will require some food, N,P,K are basic nutes and any with microbial action,amino acids etc should see you thru..
Hope this helps, If need any other info or wanna see what I do drop by one of my journals in my link;) Later guyys!! Smokemup
 
thanks for the advice smoke, im just not that well up on nutes to know whats in them,
 
Hello: I am growing my first med crop in a small grow box called the cash crop it is only 2 X 3 but has all the bells and whistles. I have three seeds that are a week old and I grew them in the dark with no fert. in distilled water. I have shoots that are 2 or 3 " that were white yesterday and I am trying to understand a light schedule. I have full spectrum bulbs that came for vegetation and then blooming bulbs for flowering to harvest. I was afraid because they were white, so I added light yesterday and less than 1/8 tsp per gallon of distilled water 'moon dust'. Please, how long should my light cycle be? It has been on since yesterday around 2 pm. Thank you for any help!
 
Hi, welcome to the site.

what growing medium are you using, the seedlings should only be in the dark until the start growing out the ground, so we either use the water method or paper towel method and leave them in the dark until the tap root starts growing then plant them in the medium we are using, or i use soil and plant direct in soil and put them under lights as soon as they sprout,

so you need to use the full spectrum bulbs for veg but full spectrum bulbs will also be good for flower, i currently use a 400watt dual spec hps and it does me great for both veg and flower,

right lets get onto the light schedules,

as long as the plant gets more than 14 hours of light per day then it will stay in veg, but 14 hours of light is not the best schedule to use im just telling you that anything more than that and they will veg,

now the most common light schedule is 18-6, so 18 hours on then 6 hour off, this gives the best root growth.

how ever these plants will grow under constant light so 24-0 from seed, a lot of growers use this schedule as it keeps plants a bit shorter during veg and helps bush them out, the only downside is that when you flip 12-12 for flower the plants stretch for a longer period of time,

so personally i go with 18-6 or even 20-4, so 18 hours on and 6 hour off, or 20 hours on and 4 hours off, and stick to this schedule until you want to flower the plant off.

not sure on the nutrients your using or what moon dust is so let us know what nutrients your planning on using and if you got them with the set up, you will need something for veg ad something for flower but we can discuss this when we know what you got.

so what kind of lights do you have, are they led? cfls? or hid, you also need to keep an eye on temps as you dont want them to hot or to cold for the plants,

so first of all get the light schedule setup and use a timer, i prefer 18-6 as it aids with root growth and the more roots the plant has got the more feed and water it can provide so in theory it should produce a bigger plant which from my own experience is true, ive used all schedules including the following for veg
17-7
18-6
20-4
24-0
gas lanter routine (i find this schedule the best but no longer use it as i grow autos but this schedule gives the best results from my own experience but is strain dependent or some im told.)

GLR is 12 hours of light,
5.5 hours of dark
1 hour of light
5.5 hours of dark then repeat.

but as this is your first grow then go with something simple that wont get messed up,
so id say pick anything from the following
18-6
20-4
24-0
the first number is the lights on time, using timers makes sure you stick to the schedule you choose and will prevent problems.

then stick with that light schedule until your plants are the size you want them, then when you flip to 12-12 for flower you need to think about plant size, when you flip 12-12 the plants will stretch for a few days and can easily double in height and some tripple in height depending on age of the plant.

so id say for your first grow id go to 12-12 when the plant is half the size you want it to finish at, so lets say you want to harvest a 2ft plant, well then id flip to 12-12 at 1ft high then it should finish around 2ft at harvest.

welcome to the site and feel free to ask any questions you like or let us know what your unsure of then we will be able to assist you.
 
This is what I can find on Moon Dust. I received it from the folks who built my grow box. They said it would be all I ever need? I am reading other reviews and I guess I should start looking for something better. Any ideas? They (my plants) are at 3 1/2 weeks and getting the spotting and crispy ends. I have moved them up to 4" under light and I don;'t know anything else to do. I have turned off timer on lights so they stay on 24/7. Here is what I could find on Moon Dust:

Moon Dust is an All-In-One nutrient designed specifically for our Sunlight Sheds turn-key units.
Instead of purchasing over 10 different products, Moon Dust combines the best of several well tested plant additives and base nutrients for a well balanced start to finish formula.
Simple for beginners, but powerful enough to out grow nutrient programs the pros use.
Outstanding for all plant types.
Super concentrated, pH stabilized, and superior chelating (the way the plant foods interact with each other).
Includes beneficial additives such as Carbohydrates (similar to CarboLoad), Humic Acid (similar to Grandma Engy's), Silica Blast (similar to Barricade), Kelp Meal (similar to Iguana Juice), and other vitamin complexes (similar to Vita Boost Pro).
Includes over 18 Beneficial Funguses (similar to Piranha), 19 Beneficial Bacteria (similar to Tarantula), and 2 Trichoderma Species for outstanding symbiotic assistance for accelerated plant health.
Moon Dusts base fertilizer consists of 19-8-13, with a well balanced formula for growing from start to finish, instead of difficult to use grow and bloom formulas. It also includes added Calcium and Magnesium for extra strong cell walls, and higher insect tolerance.
 
ParkinsonsPat said:
This is what I can find on Moon Dust. I received it from the folks who built my grow box. They said it would be all I ever need? I am reading other reviews and I guess I should start looking for something better. Any ideas? They (my plants) are at 3 1/2 weeks and getting the spotting and crispy ends. I have moved them up to 4" under light and I don;'t know anything else to do. I have turned off timer on lights so they stay on 24/7. Here is what I could find on Moon Dust:

Moon Dust is an All-In-One nutrient designed specifically for our Sunlight Sheds turn-key units.
Instead of purchasing over 10 different products, Moon Dust combines the best of several well tested plant additives and base nutrients for a well balanced start to finish formula.
Simple for beginners, but powerful enough to out grow nutrient programs the pros use.
Outstanding for all plant types.
Super concentrated, pH stabilized, and superior chelating (the way the plant foods interact with each other).
Includes beneficial additives such as Carbohydrates (similar to CarboLoad), Humic Acid (similar to Grandma Engy's), Silica Blast (similar to Barricade), Kelp Meal (similar to Iguana Juice), and other vitamin complexes (similar to Vita Boost Pro).
Includes over 18 Beneficial Funguses (similar to Piranha), 19 Beneficial Bacteria (similar to Tarantula), and 2 Trichoderma Species for outstanding symbiotic assistance for accelerated plant health.
Moon Dusts base fertilizer consists of 19-8-13, with a well balanced formula for growing from start to finish, instead of difficult to use grow and bloom formulas. It also includes added Calcium and Magnesium for extra strong cell walls, and higher insect tolerance.
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wow thats a high nute formula I dont think you needed to and any at the moment . That high amount sounds like outdoor stuff you mix in soil. it a powder or liquid? what does the suggested feed scheduled say to add and how often?
 
I used less than 1/16th of a tsp per gallon distilled water. Oh man, now my little Akorn White Widow is in trouble and she was a perfect model. I'm gonna take these pics and pass them along, the leaves are just disinigrating into dust and I am thinking I should probably just toss these unless you think I have a chance to perhaps breathe new life into them. I don;t know how to post a pic here as an attachment. I don;t know how to get the url address of a pic, I only know how to attach it as though it were a new thread.
fondly,
P
 
hi everyone
my plants are about 2 weeks old and they are about 1" tall i thing they are to small for 2 weeks, how far do i keep my light from them i'm using a T 28 light system
 
for the last couple of months of been trying a new product, its very easy to use and works very well indeed,
its one of our sponsors, i know you might think im just trying to put our sponsors products but its not about that for me, if i get good results then i like to pass on the information so others can take a look at the product and consider using it,

the sponsor is dogget simpson nutrients, you get 3 bags of nutes of 2 if you just want the veg and flower stage feed which is all ive used so far out of the 3 bags ive got.
so far ive used bag 2 which is to be used all the way through veg, 1 table spoon per gallon is the dose and thats all you need, no mixing different micro nutes or anything like that, its a powder feed you just add to water then water the plants, then same with bag 3 or flower stage feed, again you mix 1 table spoon of bag 3 to a gallon of water then you water the plants, ive not needed to add anything else to it and im very happy with the results,

it easily compares to what i was using before which was 4 different bottles of liquid nutrients which needed to be mixed at different doses for each stage of growth, dogget simpson takes all that mixing out of the equation by producing a product that works at the stated dose using just the bag for the stage of growth your in, plus the price is great as it last a long time,

sometimes we tend to give these plants way to much then we run into all sorts of problems, but dogget simpsons has been working very well and the growth im getting is spot on, i cant fault it so far,
well worth a look
 
barzitt said:
I have a friend running 24/24 and I am using 18/6 for vegging. He says he's getting more growth but I heard plants need to sleep. Is this true?
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They need to rest alright but not when you want them to continue growing. with 24/0 they'd keep growing and not bud at all. Same is true with 18/6 for all intent and purposes. Giving them 12 hr dark periods will induce to go budding. So they will not rest at all. What's important is not to stress your plants.
 
weed4u69 said:
hi everyone
my plants are about 2 weeks old and they are about 1" tall i thing they are to small for 2 weeks, how far do i keep my light from them i'm using a T 28 light system
Click to expand...

How close are they? With florsent tubes they can be closer than hps cause they dont give off heat, but if you have pics that would help.
 
exile19 said:
How close are they? With florsent tubes they can be closer than hps cause they dont give off heat, but if you have pics that would help.
Click to expand...

sorry haven't sent it yet I got a new phone took a picture but to aerospace for me to send going to sprint in a few hope to have it tomorrow for you

but I put them in just water for a couple of days and hope by then you can help me little scared because its 3 weeks and they are only 2 1/2 to 3 inches tall
.
 
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