When should I apply light?

I germed two seeds several days ago and planted them. They are in soil and are doing alright I guess, but they have not sprouted yet. Currently they are under a CFL, but should I remove the light until they sprout?

No, keep using the light. How many watts is it(actual watts, not equivalent)? What is the average temp, humidity, type of soil you're using, proximity to the light?

Keeping the soil moist, AND WARM is what will make your seedling(s) sprout. Make sure the light is close enough to the soil to keep it warm and they should pop up.

This is so inconsistant. So many people swear by germing in the dark. Which is it?!?! Does it matter if your using rockwool as a medium?

why do people use those CFL bulbs? i'd rather have one light than 35 small ones.

I'm in the same position. I popped mine in the dark. Now they're in party cups half filled with potting soil, on my desk with a 11w cfl lamp.

I'll keep mine on 24hr light until I can assemble a veg system in the next few days.

What have you been doing/how many days in are you?

This is my first time , so anyone else in the know on sprouting?

leave the lights on 24-0 until they're like 45 days old. if they haven't pre flowered switch the light to 12-12 to induce flowering. i find that 24-0 makes your plants crunk! hate cfl tho HPS all the way.

Khemi said:

This is so inconsistant. So many people swear by germing in the dark. Which is it?!?! Does it matter if your using rockwool as a medium?

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As long as you understand one thing, it all makes sense. The one thing is this, whether you wrap your seed in a damp paper towel and put it in a small dish, covered by Saran Wrap, and place it on something WARM(like a cable box which is what I do), OR just stick it a 1/2 inch down in some moist soil and put a lamp over it, what is eventually gonna make it sprout is the warmth of either the cable box or the light. It's NOT the light that makes it sprout(or not sprout), it's the warmth from the light(or the cable box). So what I'm sayin' is that it doesn't matter if it's dark or light, just warm and moist.

indianaman said:

leave the lights on 24-0 until they're like 45 days old. if they haven't pre flowered switch the light to 12-12 to induce flowering. i find that 24-0 makes your plants crunk! hate cfl tho HPS all the way.

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You can either keep the lights on 24/7 in veg, or keep them on 18 hours and off for six. Loads of ppl do both. I like the 18/6 times for a couple of reasons. One, the main goal for growing, FOR ME ANYWAY, is to duplicate "Mother Nature". Plants have a dark period in nature. Two, saves $$ on the electric bill. I don't know about anyone else but I don't just have a light on in veg. There's the light, the humidifier and the fan. I "Veg" all my plants under CFL's(see photo). That one was vegged for 6-7 weeks. So, I like to veg under CFL's. I do AGREE 100% with indianaman as far as flowering goes, HPS is the way to go.

first turn the light out till the first two horn leaves show also indiana man do your research on cfls before you diss them.

42 watt average $10.00 each

65 watts, = $23.99 average price

85 Watt, average $29.00 each




105 watt average $38.99 each




Or Look for Clamp Reflectors and Bulbs together:

use the 85 watt and 105 watt and you wont be dissappointed check out the rosemans pics and see what cfls can do.