Does it really matter how many watts you use to veg?

[PetFlora]

Excellent Question

The amount of light needed (at any given time) is relative to the amount of space allotted to the grow AND the overall size of the plants. 1-4 leaf sets can only process so much light. More than they need is wasted and can in fact burn the leaves, as well as overheat the top 1-4 inches of the surface of the soil, slowing growth.

If using 1000 watt to veg, you better have it far enough away so that the net effect to the young plants is less than 400 watts, and 200 watts even better. Once you hit 4+ leaf sets you an slowly lower the 1K, but be careful.

I will be using a Quantum T 5 Bad Boy (8 bulbs at 54 watts each = ~400 watts, to finish a lone surviving plant I started under a UFO 90 (LED).

I bought 8 each 2900 and 6500 bulbs. Instead of replacing all 6500s with 2900s, I can slowly introduce the 2900s. This allows me to mimic the light change from Autumn to Fall. It should be interesting.

 

[growshopfrank]

Food for thought, just like children any advantage given early in life is multiplied throughout the entire life. Too many growers seem to put little emphasis on light and nutrition of moms and vegging clones and it no doubt costs them plenty. end of rant. not really answering OP question but I find multiple lamp T5 fixtures work the best for vegging plants up to about 14" high if you haven't tried T5s you owe it to yourself to because all florescent lamps are not the same.

 

[Yes4Prop215]

You should not be seeing slow growth from flouros... esp T5's I'm using T8's for the time being and only reason my growth has slowed is because I raised the light a bit for clones, mom, maintenance etc.

How far away is your light? Flouros should be almost right on top on the plants...literally.. when i'm not f'ing with stuff, my flouros are usually about 2-3inches above them.

damn just checked my room again and its about a foot....fuck i keep making some dumb newb mistakes. the cords im using are maxed out so i gotta go find some ratchets or something that will let me lower 6+ feet....

 

[heady blunts]

good thread. i was wondering the same thing. vegging right now with my 400w turned down to 250. i think it might be about time to crank it up.

i've been experiencing slow growth but i'd blame my newbiness over the lower wattage. i seriously injured 4 of 6 plants by under-watering.

 

[Incognegro]

damn just checked my room again and its about a foot....fuck i keep making some dumb newb mistakes. the cords im using are maxed out so i gotta go find some ratchets or something that will let me lower 6+ feet....

Lol, no sweat, lower as soon as you can, and you'll see nice difference within a matter of days... especially if there only a couple inches tall.

I think the transitional lighting is very important.

If vegging under flouros alone, the time i noticed that may be the most critical is the transition from flouros to big HIDs. I've seen crazy things happen jumping from 2 flouros to multiple 1000 HIDs.
That's a big jump.

I've always suggested, going from flouros to a small HID then go up, or use a bigger HID, but from farther away...esp 1000 or more, and then work on lowering lights..

But, this is just my opinion and techniques

 

[250wscrogger]

ALWAYS USE HID FOR VEG.... end of story

Using t5's to veg will hurt your yield....

Stems will be thicker and internodal spacing will be much closer when vegged under HID


I get mad every time I see these people with like an awsome 8kw sealed flower room vegging under damn 432w t5's....and then wondering why they only hit like 12oz per 1k....idiots...
I feel like a LOT of people without proper knowledge/experience set up grows that are way too big for their own good and then they constantly make noob mistakes because they didn't get a good handle on growing BEFORE setting up a large show.... I don't like stupid people....

I think of these people like a spoiled 10 year old kid getting a $3600 vintage gibson les paul...before he even learns how to play guitar....

If you don't set up the plants to produce weight, you're not getting weight!

Don't be a fool, ALWAYS VEG UNDER HID!

 

[Hammerhead]

That's one of the childish rants I have herd in awhile. Calling us stupid how old are you your just a troll trying to argue when we had a great discussion going on. You dont have anything to contribute move on asshat. Take a good look at yourself before you start calling people stupid. That's your opinion I have excellent results using my t5. I would never use hid for veg. I know a few pro breeders that dont use hid for veg either.

 

[250wscrogger]

not trolling bro, just seeing a lot of people on here making HUGE mistakes by vegging under t5's for BIG ROOMS....trying to prevent people from having shitty crops due to insufficient veg lighting is trolling???? WORD.

Not an opinion, it's the straight truth.


Do a side by side.... I dare you.
You'll see that the HID vegged plants are much better plants overall.


You can call it a childish rant or whatever but I'm sure a lot of REAL growers who actually pump out weight would agree with me 100%....


please define "excellent results"
How watts do you run in flower and many pounds are you pumpin out per month vegging under t5's? Oh, a micro grower???? That's what I figured...

If you're just a small headstash grower, t5's are fine, but for multi kilowatt commercial grows, HID VEG is a must.

I wasn't even trying to offend anyone....just saying that a lot of people throw tons of watts at plants in flower, but skimp out on the veg and I see it hurting their yields...

I don't have anything to contribute???? oh man.....

Look out for my 4k perpetual stadium thread in a couple months... and my 20'x36' light dep thread in the spring....titled " Where the haters at? "
wait till you see my grows and then try to tell me I don't know what I'm talking about.............

 

[Hammerhead]

U can use what ever you want. you dont need to be an dick and call us stupid and dont know what we are doing. You make yourself look like an ass. I can guarantee you there are thousands of people that use t5 for veg and dont have problems. I talk with DG often she does not use Hid for veg.

 

[250wscrogger]

My bad....I guess I do come off like a dick sometimes....

People are gonna do whatever they want....



I'm just an asshole by nature, especially when I don't have any herb left...

 

[1quixotix]

On OG and CW from days gone by this wouldn't have been a topic.
Veg wattage should be similar to flower wattage.
Granted there are now high-fluting flouros and LED that may bridge the gap but for the OP's question, its HID all the way. There is a marijuana growing forum active today that Lucas contributes to and one of the topics he opened for discussion was veg watts vs. flower watts. Some of you may want to follow the discussion further.
If you want or need PM me and I will give you the link to the thread.
On a side note, it is fun to think of the possibilities of LED for veg and HID for flower. This is until LED overtakes the HID for indoor gardening...

 

[junior_grower]

well it all depends on what size your target is for. I personally use 4T8 flouros to pre veg before vertically hung dual 1000's, but I only need plants 12" tall. The plant will use any light you give it. The major difference is the efficiency of each light at providing the maximal usable wave lengths vs unusable waste ( not entirely accurate but simplified)

 

[Incognegro]

I've searched a ton, and not really found anything.

I've got a 400w vegging 15 plants vertically right now.

I also have a couple 1000w lights not being used......

So, is it really worth the power bill to veg using the 1000w instead of a 400w?

These plants are only about 12 inches tall.....I'm under the assumption that plants this small can't really appreciate more light due to their size....and if I am wrong, not in a way that makes using a 1000w to veg them financially sound.....yet. (until they get bigger)

I've seen guys vegging their entire commercial grow room with a 600w, and their flower room was 13k.

Discuss.

Does seem as we wandered off topic a lil and started discussing flouros.

In my own personal opinion, if you don't mind spending the $$ for the bill, then use the 1000. Yes, I think it's a complete waste of light, and unnecessary heat. I've used a flouros, 400, 600, and 1000 for vegging, but only used the 600 and 1000 on smaller plants IF bigger ones were in the same room (doing perpetual harvests.)
If they were started from seed or whatnot and were small, and were in the veg area BY THEMSELVES, then no, they never vegged under anything larger than a 400. Usually flouros til about 6inches tall, or maybe a couple nodes, then went under the 400. But all this was when I was actually taking the time to veg out plants for 6-8weeks at a time.

I ended up cutting down alot due to certain restrictions at the moment, tp the point whereas they veg under flouros til they're roughly 6-10inches, depending on me, and then go under the 1000 for flower...as they get older i lower lights.

So, I guess I said all that to say this...

It's up to you really..

Neither way is WRONG

 

[SupraSPL]

I guess it could also depend on what you are growing. Dense indicas can veg nice under HPS because the extra stretch works for them. On the other hand sativa doms will end up huge and floppy under HPS and do better with fluoros or MH. True the MH will give faster growth but the fluoro ends up more energy efficient.

As far as LED goes if it does anything well it is vegging, a good lamp will be 8X more efficient than compact fluoro. 30 LED watts in the veg area is too much for a 180 watt LED flower area (vegging topped plants to ~12").

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

its all about lumen per square foot and the emperor's squared law. so yes brake out the big lights

 

[Yes4Prop215]

damn guess i need to dump my t5s and go with some HID lighting....always learning something new...

so bump it up to 400 mh instead of the t5s? thats interesting because i just happen to have an old 400mh in storage from the old days

pissed off because i finally rigged up a nice double t5 setup attached to a peice of nice redwood board...it looks sexy! my 400mh is an ugly SOB...

.... I don't like stupid people....

i think thats a little harsh....hope this wasnt directed at me. im not a spoiled person i just didnt realize that t5s didnt work for veg until i came upon this thread...you always learn something new on here....growing takes a lot of research and work down to every little aspect such as hid vs cfls....i wouldnt say these people are stupid they just havent learned about HIDs in veg yet..

 

[The Baphomet]

I like a few 1000's

 

[guest121295]

I use T5's for my operating table, I use 1000MH to veg in the winter, 2 x 250MH in the summer.The T5's never gave me a great plant like the 1000MH.No doubts!!

 

[mean mr.mustard]

It doesn't matter if you have much money, or are short or tall, or even have a condom on.

It's all talk.

 

[Aksala]

I veg in a cab about 3'x6' with 4 tubes totalling 180w and I don't have any probs...

I always veg for a bit more in my flower room under the 1000w though. Usually about a week.