Apologies in advance if this has been covered, but Ive searched and cant find a definitive answer..

With an auto flower strain like Lowryder, if grown under lights, which lighting spectrum is needed?

They have very little vegetative growth which leads me to believe that a 6500k light (blue spectrum) is not really necessary as they come into flower so quickly/early...

Using a 2700K light (red spectrum) would make more sense as flowering is the majority of the plants life.... so it would improve the yield.

The thing that trips me up..... is that auto flower strains are recommended to receive lighting on/off 20/4.... or even 24/0 through their entire cycle...which to me is used as a veg technique... not a flowering technique?

So... lol... what I want to know is... red spectrum or blue through the entire cycle of an auto flower..... or both?

Cheers!

id say a mix of two would be the best! i was asking myself about growing under blue spec and everyone said mix it up

right now im growing a lowryder dwarf mix...for the first 2-3 weeks it was under a 400 MH (blue spec).. once it started showing sex i went and switched it to the 400 watt HPS...i been doing 18/6 the whole cycle... autos respond to age not change of light cycle so it dont matter

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Cheers for the reply guys =D
But Im sure you understand what I mean by the lighting schedule suggesting use of a vegetative spectrum...?

All information I have read states that auto flowers respond to light.... lots of light.... to thrive, not darkness as needed to flower....

I guess I just wanted to know if auto flower strains have an exception to the rule... or they have a mix and match just like every other plant =D

Cheers again

use 3 - 23watt(100watt equivalent) 2700K with only 1 or 2 - 23watt(100watt equivalent) 6500K and keep the girls light schedule at 18 on/6 off.... everything will go as planned! good luck

if u gonna grow a lowryder of any sorth with CFL's yea mix them up with blue and red spec...if u got a HID light system u can start with MH and then switching to HPS...they grow best Under 18/6-20/4 or 24/0 the choice is yours...

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u can go with all blu spec the whole grow or red spec..it dont matter aslong as they are getting over 18 hours of light..like i said the choice is yours

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Cool
Thanks for the info.
If its a case of choose your poison... I think that I might lean toward the idea of using blue spectrum CFL's
Efficient power usage especially for 20/4 lighting

As much as some people would crucify auto flower for its lack of yield... using CFL's for the entire cycle would be very efficient in method

Cheers again.

autos is a good plant to start off with.. very easy to grow

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Okay... here is my thoughts for a .. I guess you would call it a 'Micro grow'

Auto flower strain... SOG style...

4x T5 48" 6500K HO bulbs@54W each
4x T5 48" 3000K HO bulbs@54W each

Bulbs are around 5000 Lumens each...

All in the same shroud.. think sunbed style.

Or I can have 8x of the same bulb... but Im led to believe now that a mix and match of both spectrums at 24/0 lighting would be ideal...

Combined power of 432 Watts... without ballast issues...

So... 432W power usage (no ballast), 40 000 lumens (mixed spectrum) nice and close to a SOG of autoflowers at 24/0 lighting?

What do you think?
Cheers!