Ideal light output for seedlings??

Hello everyone, I was wondering and can't seem to find a straight answer, what is the ideal amount of light with fluorescent lights to grow around 8-10 seedlings till they grow to a nice size... Like half a foot to a foot? I don't know, how ever big they should be before putting them under a 1000watt hps. I have two t-8 bulbs that are 54 watts 2,900 lumens each and around 4,500k I think, I also have a smaller 2 foot t-5 that's 24 watts I don't know the lumen output but i'm guessing it's around 2,000 since t-5's are efficient. So all together that's about 7800-8000 lumens. i'm going to try and use this set up anyways since I have it and want to start asap x) but if anyone has any coments or ideas on what would be better and how it would be better would be awesome, or some numbers on ideal lumen output ect.. Thanks in advance bongsmilie
 

jacksthc

Well-Known Member
its going to be difficult to pull this off fellow
and I veg under min lights with great results

you could start them off under the two t-8 and you want them side by side on a length of wood
so you can adjust the height, you need to keep all the top of the plants between 1-2" off the tubes at all times,
you will have to use dvd cases or something to lift some of the pots to keep every plant at the same height to stop any stretch

I would go for 6 bushy plants over 8-10 tall ones, would be best to top early and let the shoots grow vertical, so you can take a foot tall plant, pull the sides down so it becomes a 2 ft wide plant.
veg for a week under a 1000w light and flower
 
At first I had them under the 2 t-8's for them to sprout and once they did I put in the t-5. They germinated and sprouted and stared growing extremely fast. I'm just starting on week 3 now and things are fantastic!! I had 8 original babes under the light but I was offerd a few regualr random seeds so, I threw thoes under and they're doing good as well :) their first feeding was yesterday and they just fattened up like crazy in the first night so i'm hoping lift off is from here on out :D So back to the light setup I think it ended up being perfect only thing I plan on doing for change is to make a box of some sort, or like a cabniet chamber.. Somewhere where I can enclose it for more light and make it overall better and cleaner and organized.bongsmilie
 

jacksthc

Well-Known Member
At first I had them under the 2 t-8's for them to sprout and once they did I put in the t-5. They germinated and sprouted and stared growing extremely fast. I'm just starting on week 3 now and things are fantastic!! I had 8 original babes under the light but I was offerd a few regualr random seeds so, I threw thoes under and they're doing good as well :) their first feeding was yesterday and they just fattened up like crazy in the first night so i'm hoping lift off is from here on out :D So back to the light setup I think it ended up being perfect only thing I plan on doing for change is to make a box of some sort, or like a cabniet chamber.. Somewhere where I can enclose it for more light and make it overall better and cleaner and organized.bongsmilie
glade it work out for you, how big are the plants and what size pots they in ?
as you all 8 plants in 1ltr pots with a good root mass before flowering

The problem is you need the canopy to fill at least 1/3 of the space before flowering or your not going to pull the best yield you can under the light

(cabinet chamber) something just like mine :)

https://www.rollitup.org/t/vegging-plants-under-40w-t5s.878481/

I added a pc fan, main powered to remove the heat as it builds up quick in the room ( could even make a small carbon filter and add it on)

you could do a bigger version of mine
 
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I started them out in about 3" wide cardboard pots (I don't know what i was thinking) they soaked in water and held it and began to mold the bottom so I had to emergency transplant a week in. I went into some random containers I found in my house and drilled holes in the bottom they were all varied in size some tall some wide and short. It was actually cool to see how they grew differently 2/3 of my chocolates grew to about a foot with 7-8 nodes and inner growth by week 3 and the other one that was in a I think half gallon pot grew alot taller with about 5-6 nodes, so it seemed that smaller to big produced tighter node space. They are all around the 7-8 node mark (including 2 white skunk and 1 blue mystic) and prolly 1foot and a couple inches tall now and growing great inner growth. It's day 35 from sprout and I topped them about 5 days ago and they've already shot out their tops, i'm now under 4 32 watt t-8 shop lights and 1 t-5 hanging lower than canopy level and things seem great :) I just transplanted them today into 3 gallon pots which will be their final home and i'm planning on low stress training them for a little bit till I get a 600 bulb because i'm getting a vibe that just shoving them under a 1000 would be a tad harsh and seems a little more hectic than a 600 (heat and stuff) since it's my first go around. I think it's doing good so far and they've definantly been under these and still growing nice for longer than I expected, i think once I harvest this run i'm gonna put a few autos under these lights and just experiment with that see how things go :)
 
Figured it out... So this was around the time when I had to emergency transplant (except for this one, it was in plastic but i dont have pics of the others. They were about the same size)
 

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jacksthc

Well-Known Member
there look good :)
but you need the light closer to the top of the plants and you need to top the plants so they bush out in flower
 
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