How to determine plant age / stage ?

Hello,
I'm trying to clear something up and my search abilities are not working for it. I imagine this topic will depend on strain, if it's an auto or a photo, and other factors... but I was hoping there was a generalized notion of how I could determine the age of a plant. For example, does this image (taken from a post in another forum) work?



I ask this, mainly, because we are trying to follow a chart given by a friend who used to do hydro and recommended it for us as a general guide line for our feeding regime. Also, we are trying to set light distance according to age. The chart is:

FEEDING CHART (NOT INCLUDING PPM OF WATER)
Seedlings, Early Sprouts [0.2 - 0.5 EC] -> 100 to 250 ppm (Hannah) / 128-320 ppm (Eutech)
Early Vegging [0.6 - 0.8 EC] -> 300 to 400 (Hannah) / 384-512 (Eutech)
Full Vegetation: [0.9-1.4 EC] -> 450 to 700 (Hannah) / 576-896 (Eutech)

So, i guess my question is... when does Vegetative begin? When is "Early Vegging"? A wise grower says (if I understood correctly) that he wouldn't lower his lights (the same light i have) until "mid-veg" begins... how can I determine this?
I had understood many years ago (don't remember where from) that cannabis entered vegetative phase once the 5th real set of leaves was developed and the 6th set was starting to form. The image I shared above says it's a bit further on... when the 7th set is done and the 8th is starting to form. Which is right? What are your thoughts?

 

[Cancanngrow]

First, I'm not going to say info u've gotten from elsewhere (ie. Ur chart or from other growers) is right or wrong because imo there is no "right" or "wrong"...what's right in one facility/grow space/environment will be wrong (or more accurately, not work) in another. I find that adaptability is key to success. With that said, I feel that baselines r def helpful (but not law [emoji13]).

From what I read in ur post, my thoughts are:

- veg generally starts somewhere between the first set of real 3 fingered leaves (usually 3rd node) and the first set of real 5 fingered leaves (usually 4th node). I personally would say my plants were in veg when I start nutes which in my experience is usually 12-14 days from seed
- as far as nute dosing, I find less is usually more. Regardless of nute line ur using, start with 1/4 strength, then increase as needed. Better to increase than to be forced to decrease imo
- mentioned EC...I measure in PPMs...aim for 300ppms (500 scale) and increase as needed. I find in veg with full root system, I max at around 800-900ppm before flipping to bloom
- as for light distance, again, this will depend on type of light. If HID, I would start at 48 inches for seedlings and then lower daily watching VERY carefully how the plants r reacting. I feel that light distance early on is determined by what node spacing u want. If the plants r stretching, light is too far...if the node spacing is too tight (and I find it can be too tight making it difficult to care for the plants and train later), then they might be too close. If the plant leaves r showing ANY sign of stress or burn, then it's not just a little too close, its waaay too close

With all that said, the real measurement of what u should do and when, is the plants. They will "tell" u if it needs more or less of anything. If the plants r responding poorly to any of the above baselines, scrap the baseline and adjust to the plant.

Cheers

[HASHTAG]#cancanngrow[/HASHTAG]
IG - @Cancanngrow
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[Uro]

That chart seems to apply to photo plants only .autos are like it but cut all those times in half about from my experience .what do you plan on growing.

 

[elcoloan]

thanks for the replies! we just want to set straight our vocabulary/terms cuz most resources we read and recommendations we receive use those terms but we weren't sure what they mean.

@Uro , we plan to grow both photos and autos. right now we are testing our growing space with bagseeds which are probably photos, but already have an Auto Ak sprouted.

in terms of feeding we agree with you @Cancanngrow, we have found we must learn to read the plants needs and not stick complety to the charts.
lightwise, we have an 3500K autocob... we began following the brand's recommendations and then tried our own distances cuz plants seem to be stretiching too much, but went back to the initial recomendations... @BigSm0's advice has proven very true in our growing conditions.

anyhow thanks for the input. any other comments on this subject are super welcome.