18/6 cfl plus 4-5 hours of metal halide will be good for vegging? Any stress?

Slipon said:

hmmm .. now I dont know your set up and wher you plan to flower ? outdoors or a HPS ?

and I dont know anything about your space either .. or money/wallet ..

but if I had that light and space/money enough .. I would get my self a HPS for flowering ..

then I would use the CLFs for seedlings .. once they are a week or two .. throw em in under the MH and veg em for 3-4 weeks or so ..

then flower em under the HPS. .. but then you need 2 rooms and a space for seedlings .. and it will all cost power .. so if that is a isue ? and you only want to use what you have I would just grow em from start to finish with the MH .. use the CLFs fist week so you safe power and dont burn your small babys and maybe add em in flowering to provide more light as flowering plants need atlest twise as much ..

the switiching will most likely stress em .. and be a lot of work .. not saying its impossible .. could maby do it so its close to nature (wake light in the "morning" and "evening" and some strong MH light in the middel hours .. but I wouldnt bother I would just use that 250 MH all the way .. cept fist weeks as I said ..

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StoningBat said:

I dont think this answers your question but I've been using a 400w MH during the night and the sun during the day. This is my first grow and so far Im getting normal results compared to others grow. In my opinion, I would have the cfls output wattage the same as the MH you got so at the least your getting the electric bill of a cfl but the watt usage of a MH. Looking forward to seeing end results..

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lugiamp said:

Hi everybody, i'm an italian outdoor grower, and this time i'm going indoor I just love this forum, can't give up reading, really... i have got one question: i'm planning to veg with cfl (cool white) for 18/6... since i've got a metal halide (250 w) i was thinking about to turn on the lamp just for 4/5 hours during cfl to boost up vegging without costing too much in terms of electric bill.... anybody did so? will plants in veg suffer any stress, since mh is pretty much stronger than cfls? sorry if this is a double but i searched in the forum without any luck.... thank you everybody, and keep growing

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L33tGanjaMan said:

Hi Lugiamp, You will have No problem whtsoever vegging with your CFL and switching or adding your MH 250w.
Try to think also in terms of Nature and how we replicate the natural seasons characteristics with our indoors grows.. Its simple dood.. Cfl is your bright daylightsunshine to the plants,ask yourself does daylight stay the same Constant throught the day? The answer is of course not.. we have dimly light skies in the morning getting brighter through to the afternoon then gradually getting dimmer, yes? You with me?
So in actual fact i think your CFL with added MH for 4 or 5 hours will infact replicate nature well and benefit your Veg growth.
Try to make the 4 or 5 hours of MH in the midst of your CFL light period and not at the beggining or end and you will do just fine.
I understand also why you asked this question as the difference in light changes does and can cause stress and other irregularities within the plants However that is in more extreme cases of light changing i.e. veg under a CFL and then place it under say 1000w of MH.. :O would be too much of an initial change.
I myself use LED for Seedlings and Clones then 125w CFL for Veg combinded with 250w HPS for 4 hours then i flower with 400w HPS sometimes combined with CFL depending on the Hight of the plants for Light penetration through the leaf conopy.. this growing method i use for small grows in a Closet.

Hope you get good results, keep us updated dood.

Happy growing.

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