Seedling time cycle - 24/0, 18/6, or 16/8 - Please help- my little ones just sprouted

[bigbudbobfrombc]

Hello. I will be keeping some of the seedlings as mothers indoors and will be taking cuttings from them. I was wondering, with the seedlings just sprouting (they just sprouted hours ago), what type of lighting schedule should I keep them on? I have read and read, and read some more, and found one thread where it speaks of keeping clones on a 16/8 schedule that mimicks the outdoor light schedule so that they don't pre-flower when transplanting them outside. I have also heard of keeping the lights on (2 35w CFLs) 24/0 for 2 weeks, yet I have also heard other theories. Should I keep the seedlings on a 16/8 schedule or 24/0 schedule? Common sense tells me that a 16/8 schedule would mimick mother nature. Any suggestions would be extremely welcomed. BTW, I have read a lot and searched many forums for a simple answer and haven't found anything yet. Thank you for your time.

 

[Smoke_A_Lot]

Hello. I will be keeping some of the seedlings as mothers indoors and will be taking cuttings from them. I was wondering, with the seedlings just sprouting (they just sprouted hours ago), what type of lighting schedule should I keep them on? I have read and read, and read some more, and found one thread where it speaks of keeping clones on a 16/8 schedule that mimicks the outdoor light schedule so that they don't pre-flower when transplanting them outside. I have also heard of keeping the lights on (2 35w CFLs) 24/0 for 2 weeks, yet I have also heard other theories. Should I keep the seedlings on a 16/8 schedule or 24/0 schedule? Common sense tells me that a 16/8 schedule would mimick mother nature. Any suggestions would be extremely welcomed. BTW, I have read a lot and searched many forums for a simple answer and haven't found anything yet. Thank you for your time.

you could use any of those lighting schedules.. 24/0 is kind of a waste.. i'd go for 16/8 instead or 18/6.

 

[purple_man]

high bro!

just keep em on 18/6 and all should be fine 16/8 would be interesting for pregrowing indoor and then transplanting outdoor... and 24/0 would be a "waste" of electricity in my opinion, also i don't know if its really healthy to give the babies no sleep at all...

hope this helps,
blessss

 

[groady-ho]

plants need to rest and regenerate..use 18/6..24/0 = stress...

 

[bigbudbobfrombc]

Thank you gentlemen very much. Also, I was wondering how often should I water them? They are in Fox Farm Light Warrior and it dries out pretty quick. Is it OK if I water everytime I notice the soil a little crusty? I have a small fan that is on low and is blowing directly on them.

My RH is 50% @ 78 degrees F. Should I place a bowl of water in there in order to raise the RH?

Here's my info:

GHS Church
GHS Super Lemon Haze
Closet grow
(2) 35w CFLs
Water pH of 6.5 roughly
CPU Fans circulating fresh air (in and out)

You guys are the best!

 

[Sinsemillian]

I veg under 16/8 if the strain(s) aren't very photo sensitive and are going outdoors. If they are photo sensitive I veg under 18/6 or 20/4 and hope they don't flower right away when put outdoors. Photo sensitive plants are tricky to keep in veg and not have them flower right away outdoors. It's kind of a trial and error thing wit them along with having worked with the particular plant b4. All cannabis reacts differentely under different veg times, ferts, light intensity etc indoors then transitioning to outdoor. All the best to you on your season.

p.s. do yourself a favour and take Lots of notes etc and make seeds of each strain you grow so next year you can Dial yourself in on them.
Doing this will give you more control over growing next year outdoors

 

[.clunk]

I veg my little ones on 24/0 under shop lights then when they get a bit bigger and need to be transplanted out of beer cups I put them in my room with a 600w and turn it to 18/6 so they don't start flowering when I put them out.
A few years ago I read an article somewhere that stated that a 24/0 light cycle is actually the most efficient use of electricity, they stated that the plant doesn't need any downtime and you get better growth this way, I think it was in an "ask ed" column in High Times or something, can't quite remember now. A good friend of mine uses this method with no problems at all.

 

[bigbudbobfrombc]

the cotyledon leaves are curling under. what could this be? is this normal? The temps is 80 degrees F with RH of 52%. I am using (2) 35w CFLs and they are roughly 2-3 inches above the seedlings. Please help

 

[OGfarmerted]

i do 24 hour, the plants grow more and faster since they are using the light constantly to build and photosythesize. light = sugars = carbs.
using cycles like 18/6 can also alert leo etc.. individuals to lighting regimens.
its not that much more on the bill to run it 24 hour.more bang for your buck in plant growth.

 

[bounty29]

I use 20/4.

 

[obscuredbycloud]

I use 24 for veging clones. I'm not going to say my way is better, but that is what I am doing with no ill effects, everything I have seen in my experience shows that they rock 24.

I am also going 24 for my seedlings. No experience so my thoughts might change, but they are really taking off.

 

[unclefishstick]

been using 24hr for years with no apparent ill effects or any skewing of sex in seedlings

 

[Colt122]

All depends on the strain.
If your starting at 16 hrs of light outdoors with Haze,unless its been crossed with a early strain I say it wont finish,of course you can bring them indoors again if thats your setup.
And given the strains I would go with 16 hrs light, same as the outdoors, my buddy uses 15 hrs.
Iam also 16hrs of light when I plant, my plants grow on a nighttime schedule as well, so they have adjust. But its easy to mess things up
The best thing is to remember what is what and make it better each year.

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

My experience has been a little different than the others.

I follow an identical path as you for mothers/clones. I have 3 week old seedlings working towards the first week of April when i take my first set of cuttings. Ill continue to use those 4 plants for cuttings up untill mid June.

I keep my outdoor mother plants on 15.5. I do this to prevent the buildup of auxins and other compounds produced within the plant that repress flowering. Once cuttings are taken,they are rooted under 24 hrs but once removed from the cloner and placed in soil, the lighting is kept at 14.5, which generally mimics outdoor daylenght.

I have done side by side grows using clones from a mother that both it and the clones were kept under 18/6 and another group kept as indicated above under 14.5. Without exception, the 14.5 clones finish up to 10 days sooner than the clones kept under 18/ 6. The same effect is seen when clones are taken from a mother that overwintered indoors. Ive found those clones to finish later than clones taken from a plant that was started in the spring and didnt overwinter indoors under artificial lighting.

Good luck with whatever you end up doing.

 

[flyer]

so if you veg and keep your mother in the same room with 16+ hrs of light would be fine right?
or does the mother need her own t5 ho light or 400 mh ?

 

[skunktoker]

24/0 thats how I have always done it seems to work fine .................ST

 

[OrganicMonkey]

I don't keep them timed, they are in a living area so I use a blue LED night light to keep them in veg. Sometimes the cool CFL is on for a day or more strait, other times the LED is on for 12 or more hours. I usually keep the CFL burning 24 hours when I am not in the room, as there is another area that is a veg space. I like to know that I can check on these all the time, so I even have green LED's for when they flower.

 

[B. Friendly]

Females Prefer:
wetter soil
co2
shorter day length ie 16/8
blue light ie MH = more important than anything else for females
higher humidity
do the above for more females

 

[bigbudbobfrombc]

Thank you guys for everything!

 

[.clunk]

I also forgot to mention that when I sex them, I go from 24/0 light cycle then to complete darkness for a day or two then back under 24/0 until they indicate. Usually they'll indicate within a couple days after this and in total I can sex them and have them back vegging and recovered in under a week. Some people might think it's bad for the plant but I've been doing it for 2 years with no problems and my good friend has been using this technique for the last 4-5yrs. I get even amounts of males/females which is good enough for me.