New Grower New grower: third set of seeds...

[Couch_Lock]

Nice sized grow area too, Trichome.

 

[Filthy_Casual]

"actually smart"

 

[LearningMore]

Grow update: all 8 seeds sprouted in their jiffy pellets and have been transplanted into HF soil (with 30% perlite). 5gal cloth pots. I increased the light as some were stretching initially. At~8500 lux (dimmed to ~25% and 30”) as of this morning. I suspect inadequate light played a role in the stunting of the last grow (after being told I light-burned my first seedlings I never really increased the light on the second batch...especially because they never stopped being seedling size). Soooo, I’ve been reading a TON about lighting and of course, as @Jaydot pointed out, the “guidelines” are all over the place. My education is math/science, so I really like following data, but I’m going to try to get better at “reading” my plants.

Based on @Couch_Lock ’s experience with his HLG 550, it seems I should go ahead and raise my light to 40” and go full strength? Any metrics that you experienced growers can provide to give me some “guardrails”? Any other lighting suggestions/guidance? Thanks

 

[Couch_Lock]

8 five gallon plants in a 4 x 4? Not enough room once they grow 3-4 weeks. Its crowded with 5,, four in a 4 x 4 (5 gallon fabric pots) is what most do.

Most ppl dim the light to 50% and get 32" away. I did that in the past, my dimmer no longer works so I now go 40" at 100% and let plants grow into the light......if they get within 24" its time to jack up the light......minimum 30" at 100% light, once they reach full size (5 weeks old).

 

[Jaydot]

Grow update: all 8 seeds sprouted in their jiffy pellets and have been transplanted into HF soil (with 30% perlite). 5gal cloth pots. I increased the light as some were stretching initially. At~8500 lux (dimmed to ~25% and 30”) as of this morning. I suspect inadequate light played a role in the stunting of the last grow (after being told I light-burned my first seedlings I never really increased the light on the second batch...especially because they never stopped being seedling size). Soooo, I’ve been reading a TON about lighting and of course, as @Jaydot pointed out, the “guidelines” are all over the place. My education is math/science, so I really like following data, but I’m going to try to get better at “reading” my plants.

Based on @Couch_Lock ’s experience with his HLG 550, it seems I should go ahead and raise my light to 40” and go full strength? Any metrics that you experienced growers can provide to give me some “guardrails”? Any other lighting suggestions/guidance? Thanks

From what I think I've learned you should always push your lights as far as your plants can tolerate,
I guess that comes with experience of seeing how your plants react to the light lol.
I know that when you try to find information they suggest 7000lux 200umol 15dli, all those low numbers.
And on the other hand when you look at the experienced growers they all ignore that science.
There's also the fact ruderalis originated from constant daylight, and then there's people that run 24h lights on autos,
and if you think about it in the outdoor the plants are exposed to direct sunlight which reads over 100k lux
Mine are now dimmed down to 200 watts @ 32" and people would still tell me to turn it up lol.
Obviously I still don't know what I'm doing and its a day by day learning process for me.
But I do believe this is the science most go by, the more light the better.
I did read that big changes can stunt a plant, so if you do change your intensity maybe do it gradually through the day.

 

[BoCoGrow]

My education is math/science, so I really like following data

Then you will probably enjoy this video

EDIT: if you do like that video, Dr. Bugbee has others on YouTube, including one dedicated to grow lighting

 

[LearningMore]

Then you will probably enjoy this video

EDIT: if you do like that video, Dr. Bugbee has others on YouTube, including one dedicated to grow lighting

I’ve watched so many of his videos, as well as migro. Excellent info, just trying to “apply it”!

 

[LearningMore]

8 five gallon plants in a 4 x 4? Not enough room once they grow 3-4 weeks. Its crowded with 5,, four in a 4 x 4 (5 gallon fabric pots) is what most do.

Most ppl dim the light to 50% and get 32" away. I did that in the past, my dimmer no longer works so I now go 40" at 100% and let plants grow into the light......if they get within 24" its time to jack up the light......minimum 30" at 100% light, once they reach full size (5 weeks old).

I have a second tent they’ll be split into (just saving the electricity while small).

Thanks for the parameters with your HLG - so hard when people use other brands/spectrums.

I know that the apparent-light burning of my first batch of seeds has me paranoid, so I guess I’m looking for reassurance that I’m not pushing too hard (every chart is so conservative compared to what experienced growers do). Damn, I do not want to screw up a third set of seeds.

 

[LearningMore]

From what I think I've learned you should always push your lights as far as your plants can tolerate,
I guess that comes with experience of seeing how your plants react to the light lol.
I know that when you try to find information they suggest 7000lux 200umol 15dli, all those low numbers.
And on the other hand when you look at the experienced growers they all ignore that science.
There's also the fact ruderalis originated from constant daylight, and then there's people that run 24h lights on autos,
and if you think about it in the outdoor the plants are exposed to direct sunlight which reads over 100k lux
Mine are now dimmed down to 200 watts @ 32" and people would still tell me to turn it up lol.
Obviously I still don't know what I'm doing and its a day by day learning process for me.
But I do believe this is the science most go by, the more light the better.
I did read that big changes can stunt a plant, so if you do change your intensity maybe do it gradually through the day.

Clearly you and I both researched extensively yet got caught by the “art” beyond the science. Those “stated” parameters vary so much, but they are so low! From my deep-dive into lighting the last couple days, I have the same understanding: more is generally better (as long as water/temp/RH/nutes are good), up to ~700umol (without CO2). I have been slowly dialing up over the last couple days on my seedlings (I’m upping the light on my stunted second grow, too. I never upped the light from “seedling” numbers because they were so stunted by the soil, but I’m sure the low light compounded it - pushing them harder up on the light, as nothing really to lose...).

Did you start a grow journal on your new grow?

 

[Jaydot]

Clearly you and I both researched extensively yet got caught by the “art” beyond the science. Those “stated” parameters vary so much, but they are so low! From my deep-dive into lighting the last couple days, I have the same understanding: more is generally better (as long as water/temp/RH/nutes are good), up to ~700umol (without CO2). I have been slowly dialing up over the last couple days on my seedlings (I’m upping the light on my stunted second grow, too. I never upped the light from “seedling” numbers because they were so stunted by the soil, but I’m sure the low light compounded it - pushing them harder up on the light, as nothing really to lose...).

Did you start a grow journal on your new grow?

Yeah pretty much, I feel like one way to look at the plants is if the conditions are good is the way the leaves are pointing,
when they enjoy the light you can really tell by the way they are sticking out their leaves to absorb the light.
I havn't made a journal yet, I'm waiting to see if anything goes wrong in the first couple days.
I'm really paranoid about the fact my run off ph in coco is very random, but they say not to look at runoff ph in coco and only focus on EC.
And my ph down citric acid brings down my ec level from 0.5 to 0.4 is tripping me out aswel lol.
But atleast they didn't turn lime green on the first day *knocks on wood*
Here's some close up pics