help? times on lighting for each stage, what soil mix? an more

hey i need to know the EXACT time of lighting i should use for each stages of marijuana(Germanating, Vegetative, Flowering, Harvesting[like when dryin] and also after Cloning), i have been doing research but i can not get a straight answer. i dont have very much money for this project so im going to use cfl's (if that helps give to me times) i also dont know how many lights i need should be using. i plan on starting with one plant and cloning off it and keeping the orginal female plant going while regenerating it. plz help i plan on 3 gallon planters and poly wrap(the wrapping paper from the dollar store) and finaly i cant make my own mixture for soil. i have been told not to use ones with chemicals because the plant will hold them and make it taste all gross. plz helpp

Preferably early on you would use less intense lighting for 20-24 hrs lights on to encourage good strong growth.(seedling, germination, clone) For this phase i've had great success with 13 watt CFL bulbs I usually use 6 depending on the number and height of the plants.

As veg phase begins i'd switch to an 18-20 hrs of lighting a day, but still could use 24. You can still use CFL here but it gets more tricky as they really don't produce enough lumens, but with proper placement and a good eye you can still achieve good results.

Flowering you want no more than 12 hrs of light and be very sure that the night does not get interupted, this is a key factor. I use a 11 hour light and 13 hour darkness for my plants. This is where CFLS may not be strong enough unless you have atleast 300 watts available, and you would want to make sure they have as close to a 4000 kelvin rating (mostly red spectrum) to achieve best results.

For flower I would highly recommend a HPS light of atleast 400 watts.. you'd be surprised what you can find on Ebay as long as your carefull.. I got my brand new 1000 watt HPS on there for 250 bucks shipped to me with a 2 yr warranty on ballast and 1 yr on bulb.

For curing and drying you want complete darkness and low humidity with temps above 55 but below 85. Also make sure that its not in an area devoid of circulation as this is important as well. The high temps will dry to fast and the low to slow.. while the light degrades the potency of what you've worked for.

Use any soil you want the plants not picky just make sure that you flush the plant with nothing but water for 7-10 days before harvesting.

Just use some sort of top soil, potting soil, with perlite in it if you want to use soil. If you check out the picture of my one plant that I have up in one of my posts I used Schultz water retention blend that has vermiculite, perlite, and potting soil.

Anything else I didn't cover? be glad to help Pass along knowledge!

This is a plant I grew with my 6 cfl's after this point in its life I used HPS

Oh never cut a clone or top your plant untill it has atleast a 5 finger set on its leaves.

hey neighbor im also from washington what you really want to do is what medcaniman said i personally would go and buy sunshine mix #4 at your local garden stor or hydro store ( depending on what side of the mountain your on ) the indoor garden would have everything you need but are a little pricey you could go to mcclunkys? i think thats how its spelled they sell in bulk tho just depends how much ya got.. but read read read trial and error keep notes on specific plants and see what works and what doesnt.. wish this post was was 2 weeks earlier i had a 400w xtra sun ballast for sale with a aircooled hood for 80 bucks.. steal of a deal i just never used it lol i only use 1000wers..

medcaniman said:

Oh never cut a clone or top your plant untill it has atleast a 5 finger set on its leaves.

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so true... i tend to get retard plant if i take clones to early or to late into flowering

medcaniman said:

Preferably early on you would use less intense lighting for 20-24 hrs lights on to encourage good strong growth.(seedling, germination, clone) For this phase i've had great success with 13 watt CFL bulbs I usually use 6 depending on the number and height of the plants.

Click to expand...

medcaniman said:

As veg phase begins i'd switch to an 18-20 hrs of lighting a day, but still could use 24. You can still use CFL here but it gets more tricky as they really don't produce enough lumens, but with proper placement and a good eye you can still achieve good results.

Flowering you want no more than 12 hrs of light and be very sure that the night does not get interupted, this is a key factor. I use a 11 hour light and 13 hour darkness for my plants. This is where CFLS may not be strong enough unless you have atleast 300 watts available, and you would want to make sure they have as close to a 4000 kelvin rating (mostly red spectrum) to achieve best results.

For flower I would highly recommend a HPS light of atleast 400 watts.. you'd be surprised what you can find on Ebay as long as your carefull.. I got my brand new 1000 watt HPS on there for 250 bucks shipped to me with a 2 yr warranty on ballast and 1 yr on bulb.

For curing and drying you want complete darkness and low humidity with temps above 55 but below 85. Also make sure that its not in an area devoid of circulation as this is important as well. The high temps will dry to fast and the low to slow.. while the light degrades the potency of what you've worked for.

QUOTE]


Medican man pretty much covered lighting .... Good Post !


For soil ... This is the best I've seen .. and pretty much .. what I've had success with ... with slight twists .....


https://www.rollitup.org/subcools-old-school-organics/44686-subcools-super-soil.html

Click to expand...

jackdirty said:

so true... i tend to get retard plant if i take clones to early or to late into flowering

Click to expand...

If marijuana hasn't put out its first set of five finger leaves its genetics aren't completely dispersed yet, so if you were to cut from it then it would only have half of the genetics of the plant.

But your right pretty much its trial error and some book keeping to make sure you know what you did and can figure out where you went wrong, and also plenty of READING get informed as much as you can.

medcaniman said:

If marijuana hasn't put out its first set of five finger leaves its genetics aren't completely dispersed yet, so if you were to cut from it then it would only have half of the genetics of the plant.

But your right pretty much its trial error and some book keeping to make sure you know what you did and can figure out where you went wrong, and also plenty of READING get informed as much as you can.

Click to expand...

Wow, I have never read or talked to anyone who said the genetics are not complete until the first set of five finger leaves. I would say to wait until plant is growing well to clone but the part about genetics not being dispersed yet is well....how do I put this....
nonsense. All of a plants genetics are there when it is in seed form, sprout, seedling, and all through the life cycle.

ok then... peace out
mustang

Read a a college level botanical science book, if you cut to clone a plant or top it before it has reached this point it doesn't completely pass on its full DNA characteristics because of its immaturity.

alright, so five leaves till i can clone and sunshine mix #4, and im out by seattle lol