Lighting phases?? 2nd grow ever

Hey all,
I am starting my 2nd grow, indoor, 3 clones about 1ft tall under a 1000W metal halide.
Im considering cloning them after their roots are stronger. But my real question is: What light phases should i used for each stage? my last grow was outdoor.
If anyone could refer me to a thread that breaks down lighting phases or if someone could articulate the on/off schedules that would be killer.

Thanks,
-D.Destroy

I always use an 18 on 6 off cycle for veg and a 12/12 cycle for flower

You can do 24/0, 20/4, 18/6 during veg (18/6 is the standard). When you want to flower 12/12 no exceptions...also when you should go HPS

Since roots grow fastest at night, unrooted clones should have at least 8hrs of darkness for best results. As MrDank said, flowering is always 12/12, so your only decision is what light cycle for veg. Again, the choice should be based, at least in part, on root growth. If you want roots to grow, give the vegging plants a night cycle. If you want to keep root growth down a bit, don't give them a night cycle. Since root binding is a real issue for mother plants, all mothers should be kept in 24/0.

I think 18/6 would be best for my living situation and my house fire paranoia, do i just switch to 12/12 when i am satisfied with the plants size?

yes when your plant is big enough just swap to 12/12 and way to go dont forget a plant doubles or triples in size in flower so keep this in mind for your grow space

If I'm dealing with a new strain, often I'll flower a rooted clone just to see how much it's going to stretch. Once I see exactly what it will do, I can decide how long to veg. I've had plants stretch anywhere from 20% to 400%.

If you're only going to grow 3 plants under a 1000, you may want to consider topping them a couple times. This will make the plants wider, while keeping vertical growth down. You can easily light up a 4' x 4' space...might as well use it all and drastically increase your yield. Look at my link below to see what topping does. All of the big plants have been topped and bent down and out.

https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/407048-20-000-watt-medical-grow.html

dylandestroy said:

I think 18/6 would be best for my living situation and my house fire paranoia, do i just switch to 12/12 when i am satisfied with the plants size?

Click to expand...

With the size and number of stalks, yes. The stalks (branches growing upward) that are biggest & closest to the light will form colas. Untrained, nearly all plants form a single main cola. More colas means more yield and also means more of the bud growing throughout all of flowering at canopy level, closest to the light and growing the most crystal. The down side is that bigger plants means more of everything; soil, light, ferts, etc.; and even a longer flowering time. Well-trained plants do make better use of space, though.

It's also important to give the plants a strong dose of Potassium when flowering begins. Doing so will hasten the start of flower production, by as much as a week in some situations.

zippythehippy said:

yes when your plant is big enough just swap to 12/12 and way to go dont forget a plant doubles or triples in size in flower so keep this in mind for your grow space

Click to expand...

Good info

i personally think one must never change the morning light schedule to terrible much
lights should come on roughly the same time throughout the whole grow i mean...

is there any error to thinking like that?

From what we understand, when the lights turn off is more critical than when they come on. The idea of keeping the light schedule as regular as possible is certainly without error.

i see...thanking you

im a broke ass student right now, so i dont have any timers, i just have a bottle of fish emulsion for nutes and good soil from composting, and the ballast and light i got from an electrician friend. I try to keep the lighting schedule as regular as possible, but youd think in nature irregularities like overcast and clouds wouldnt ruin a yeild. not that im going to go a day without the light or anything stupid like that.

How to i properly top a plant to encourage it to grow wider?