How much Light?

[Mr.GoodMorning02]

so im a first timer and i have a few 150watt = 40 watts powered cfls. only one kindb plant and seems to be coming along nicely. but being outa the house alot i dont leave them on all day to avoid the potential ofa fire hazard. mostly all night from 12am-10am. my question is how much light should i give him daily? i am pretty sure that the lights should stay on all day. any help towards this matter is much appreciated. :)

[Doc 007]

18/6 Veg

12/12 Bloom

[Mr.GoodMorning02]

so veg stage lasts until i see flowering? i think hes on the 30th day now. still small around 10 inches high. with the lighting situation i think his growth has been intereupted alil

[Jerry Garcia 2007]

No you induce flowering usually when they are 4 or more weeks old

IMO I would turn your lights on 24/0 or get a timer (your going to need one for flowering anyways) and set it to 18/6 and let them grow for another week or 2 too get bigger and stronger and to let them get use to a constant light source. Then set your timer for 12/12 (12hr on 12 hr off ) to induce flowering. Also get the lights as close as 2"to 3" from the top of your plants

As for your worry about burning down the house. CFL's produce so little heat you have nothing to worry about ( you could place a paper towel directly on one for days and it won't burn )

GL and Happy growing

[Mr.GoodMorning02]

happy ya said that about the lights. i think i will leave them on because i stepped out for a few days and forgot i didnt unplug them and everything was fine and she grew two levels. and yes they've been 2-3'' away while my one on top was 4-5'' so ill lower it dwn until it gets taller. good sh*t jerry, thanks

[Bluberrybudboy]

Hey... I read that plants grow better in the dark (more efficient use of stored energy etc), on stored up light energy. So i've been thinking bout doing a 1 hour on, 1 hour off lighting on my baby plant. My theory is they can't store much, so if one the light is on one hour they can store a bit an then grow faster during the dark hour. Its just a theory, so i wanted to know what everyone thinks

[Roughrider]

There's all sorts of theories on when and why plants grow bigger. The thing is, going to a 12/12 light/dark schedule tells the plant that it's time to reproduce, and it grows flowers. I'd be very careful of going to any sort of equal light/dark rotation until you want the plant...going back and forth with that stresses the plant in a way that more likely to give you a hermie.

Btw, depending on your placement and reflectors, two 40 watt cfl's are enough for one plant. It's about lumens, not watts. (Watts = energy used to make light, not the light itself.) Two 40 watt cfl put out around 5300 lumens...that's enough for about a 1.2 square foot grow to do ok. 2000 to 2300 lumens per sq. ft. is a minimum; 4000 plus is much better. The thing is, most people don't use the lumens they have. Keep your lights close and get reflectors and your plant will grow better and you won't need to add light, which will cut down on your heat, stress, and ventilation issues.

Also...if your plant was 10" and grew another 3-4", you're definitely in the area where you want to think about flowering. I don't know how much space you have, but that plant is going to grow plenty more during flowering.

[Mr.GoodMorning02]

gott a closet bout 1ft wide, 5ft high space. light hangs over arnd 3inch over. i have reflecting material draped over entire plant. small comp fan for circulation. no cam so no pic. im gonna get another 150 watt cfl once she gets bigger. maybe 2