How soon can I switch from 24/0 to 18/6?

So Im just about 2 weeks into grow 1. So far, so good. I've only had one slight hiccup until this point, which I can say Im not too proud of... Like a big fucking half asleep hungover moron, I somehow stupidly managed to drop my fucking dome with my 6 lil seedlings in it. All over the place, I couldnt believe it as I saw it happen. I pulled my shit together and performed an emergency search and rescue. I picked threw the mess, gingerly grabbed my babies and began an emergency transplant into 3"pots. Running a mix of pro mix potting and seeding along with shrimp guano, feeding with only superthrive and seaweeds for now. They seem to be doing fine, 3 are thriving...one in particular. The other 3 have a slightly yellow/brown tip one one of their 2nd set of leaves. I assume I might have made my first mix of nutes a touch too strong. Corrections have been made, recovery seems to be coming along nicely.

My 2 upcoming concerns are as follows:

1-Im currently running a 24/0 photoperiod. I started from seed, and until my dome mishap all was going ahead as schedualed. The events that follwed put an end to all that. When should I make the change to 18/6, or should I say how much sooner/longer until I can or cannot?

2-When is the right time to start with my full feeding regiment? Im going to be running Botanicare, using Pure Blend Pro Grow & Bloom, Cal-Mag plus, Liquid Karma, Sweet Raw along with the seaweed and superthrive im using now.

Here's a look at the tiny lil troopers...:beerchug-2:

 

to hear about the "oopps".


Keep an eye on the babies, they will be alright. MJ is a tough plant.


You can change the lights any time u want. You can go 18/6 from the start if you wanted to.


You shouldn't need to feed your babies for a while. Wait until the lil starter leaves yellow.


Peace...

 

Truth.

 

Yes OFO, I am aware both 24/0 and 18/6 are veg regiments. I was just under the impression that 24/0 was best for getting one's beans to sprout above soil one germed and planted and for the first few weeks, like you would with fresh clones. These puppies havent slept a wink yet, they're going to EXPLOAD upward their first couple sleeps Im sure...


opcorn-2:

 

So let me get this straight. There is no reason to run veg lights 24/0? I was under the impression that with more light more growth. What r the advantages of sleeping? So does one see more growth with 18/6 or 24/0? Don't mean to hijack but this is all news to me.

 

I recall seeing a long lost thread somewhere here on GK mentioning a test where 24/0 & 18/6 was tried and there was no major difference between the two. 18/6 has always been the standard because of the power savings.

 

18/6 or 24/0 it's up to you save the electic with 18/6 or get closer nodes & shorter veg time with 24/0 just my 2 cents-Bud

 

agree! 24/0 for me till flower.

 

Me too . . . It's like 1 long perfect day.


24/0

 

24 here too......

 

Cool. Thanks people. Im not too worried about energy comsumption at this point, seeing as how im only running 2x 150w cfl (comsumption of 2x 42w standard). As these babies get bigger, I plan on adding 4 more 100w cfl's (consumption of 23w each). Total of 700 cfl watts consuming no more than 190w. Sounds like a good deal to me! :thumbs-up:

 

Hi Jesse. I don't won't to rain on your parade cuz u seem really happy about your lIghting situation but I'm certain that when dealing with cfl's you only want to consider true wattage and not the equivalent wattage. So inactuality when ur equivilent wattage of 700watts won't matter and your plants will truly only be recieveing and utilizing 190 watts and that's further dependent on how much distance is between the light and the plants. Obiously the closer to the plants that the lights are the better it's is for your plants. The further away the less light ur plant recieves from the same amount of 190 watts. I hope I didn. Make it to complicated. I came across this same situation when I bough my four 60 watt cfls. The 60 watts was equivelent and it's true wattage per bulb is 23 watts. So in really I'm lighting my grow room with 4x23=92watts. I hope my math is correct cuz I'm maaaaad high lol. It's goo that u plan on adding more light cuz the more light u use the beter ur plants grow lol. Hope I helped. Peace. asssit: :bong-2: :beerchug-2:

 

It has been tested side by side with clones there is really no difference. During darkness certain processes do occur but they can occur with the lights on as well, just slower. So you boost it's metabolism but don't let it rebuild as fast as it wants. So at either rate they will literally grow at the same speed regardless. 24 hrs on has NO advantage...DSP

 

Hello SCS, it's funny that you say 24 hours of light has no advantages and a lot of people agree but from what i have read there's a lot of data supporting 24 hr light period. To top it off there's no difinitive research that sets the record straight. From what I have read if you are going to use 24 hrs of light then it's best to use during veg. Some studies have shown that a plant grown in 24 hrs had double the root mass as oppossed to 18/6. But then again there's the same amount of studies that show that they gro Arthe same rate. I was reading some forums and these people where having a very heated discussion about the subject. I hear the vegtables in Alaska grow huge. And can't stop thinking that the light cycle up there contributes to the increase size that the vegtables acheive. Just a thought. I really don't know that much about the subject but it's very interesting topic.

 

my veg


I run a 400MH 24/0. I'm not particularly concerned about it. It seems all good to me. I really like the results. But then again, my veg isn't hidden at all. It's out in the open. You come over to my house, walk into the rec. room, and there it all is in plain sight in all it's glory.

 

I run all my moms and rooted clones on 18/6. I think growth rates are very very close to the same as when using 24 hrs lighting.


When it comes to counting watts I don't worry as much about wattage as I do Lumens. The important thing to remember with fluorescent lights is that their intensity is much less than a HPS or MH light. So you have to keep the lights much closer to the plants in order to get sufficient light penetration for compact growth with more branches and leaves and less stem length.

 

Seriously, Scotty? You don't worry about light containment and lumens per sq ft? Every time I see a wall-less grow op, I am wondering WTF aren't they containing the light for a more concentrated grow.


And honestly, I am shocked at how many people here on GK are growing 24/0 veg rather than 18/6.

 

hrmm....I dunno what to tell ya dude, It seems to work just fine for me. I don't veg very long. The girls grow big and they grow pretty fast. sorry to shock you w/the 24/0.


rest assured though my fellow toker, my flowering closet is light contained.

 

ive done both 18/6 and 24/0 and find the plant is in better condition for the tranition in my opinion at 18/6 it just seems stronger. I run the cloner at 24/0 but once I go fromm clone to medium it is 18/6

 

This is very interesting. So cloners go for 24/0 and veg is 18/6. I love the way my plants look with 24/0 and I'm not worried about the electric bill either since I'm only using 4x23 watt cfls. I haventtried 18:6 to be honest and I would hate to stop any growth from happening with the extra 6 hrs of light time. I'll have to try it in any case to really be sure.