Confused Bout When To Bloom

Raw911 · Apr 7, 2015

ok. I've read to wait till you get alternate nodes....I've seen to wait until at least 4 weeks .... I've seen wait till certain height.
I have 6 plants. 3 white widow and 3 hash plants. The white widows are 12-13 in in height has 7-8 nodes and 7-9 finger leaves now the HP is shorter due to strain but it's bushy.
I'm in week 4 now. So is it ok to put into bloom starting week 5 or no?

Just read soooooo many different things I'd figure id ask the forum people who probably have better experience with this

All suggestions are greatly appreciated

420circuit · Apr 7, 2015

Depends. How much headroom do you have? Longer veg time means more roots, taller plant, usually more yield, so it really depends. Did you top them? I find that topping down to allow just 4-6 branches gets me more large buds and since I hate trimming, most of the lower stuff gets trimmed out before it gets a chance to flower. But not always. The first time I grow a strain it's fun to let it go and put into flowering when about 18", just enough to keep it out of the light, but sometimes I hit the light anyway because I am just having fun and running around naked in the grow most days. (It is warm in there.) I like to take the top of the veg plant off and put it into a cloner so I can keep the strain without buying any more seeds. New growers seem to like overwatering and feeding too much, something to watch out for if you are new. JK about running around naked. Maybe if it was 20 years earlier.:D

420circuit · Apr 7, 2015

Forgot to point out that the grow method, pot size, matters too. Are you flowering in 5 gallon pots? That has been my sweet spot considering space and light, but everyone's situation is different. Got a decent light? I prefer 600W because of my home's wiring. I like the house and don't want to burn it down.:D That's a Blueberry in DWC at 6 weeks in last post, this is a Northern Lights in hydro/aero early/midway thru flowering. Had to stop growing NL because people kept falling asleep on the floor.:)

G gnome · Apr 7, 2015

I say if its a strain you have never grew before I'd play it safe and go a lil on the short side. So about 12" assuming you have normal ceiling height

420circuit · Apr 7, 2015

Credit to Seedsman for the genetics, Botanicare for the nutes and StinkBud for the hydro design.

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G gnome · Apr 7, 2015

Its really a matter of preference

Og Gong · Apr 7, 2015

I would say bloom Sativa's at 12" and indica's at 18". Start small work your way up. The bigger the plants the more water, food, co2 and attention they will need. Not to mention 2-3hr trim time per plant if you trim solo lol

Raw911 · Apr 7, 2015

I'm in a 6'11" 4x4 tent so I still have some headroom. But I think I'm going to bloom beginning week 5 which is this Sunday

Raw911 · Apr 7, 2015

Now this may be considered dumb but this is what happened. I started growing with a small sunburst 400w lamp. Ended up getting a tent then decided to step my game up. So I got a solis tek matrix 1000w ballast,radiant 6" reflector , inline fans and carbon filter... Now what I've been doing is running a 1000w mh bulb at 600w ( I've been on 24/0 from start) now I have a hortilux 1000w dual arc bulb and a hortilux 1000w super HPS bulb. I'm not sure of which bulb would be best and can I stay at 600w?

I say 600w cause I'm not sure of how much this is gonna impact my electric bill. Don't want wife to go off bout bill.

SUGGESTIONS NEEDED!!!!

Og Gong · Apr 7, 2015

Raw911 said:
Now this may be considered dumb but this is what happened. I started growing with a small sunburst 400w lamp. Ended up getting a tent then decided to step my game up. So I got a solis tek matrix 1000w ballast,radiant 6" reflector , inline fans and carbon filter... Now what I've been doing is running a 1000w mh bulb at 600w ( I've been on 24/0 from start) now I have a hortilux 1000w dual arc bulb and a hortilux 1000w super HPS bulb. I'm not sure of which bulb would be best and can I stay at 600w?

I say 600w cause I'm not sure of how much this is gonna impact my electric bill. Don't want wife going to t tizzy on me.

SUGGESTIONS NEEDED!!!!

If you are using a dimable 1k watt ballast and dim to 600watt your still paying for the 1kwatt electric bill. Try to put an amp meter on that circuit and you will see what it's pulling.

Og Gong · Apr 7, 2015

If you run a 600w bulb you should use a 600w ballast.

Raw911 · Apr 7, 2015

Og Gong said:
If you are using a dimable 1k watt ballast and dim to 600watt your still paying for the 1kwatt electric bill. Try to put an amp meter on that circuit and you will see what it's pulling.

Wow I didn't know that I'd still be at 1000w even with setting on 600w. If that's the case the what da hell may as well let the 1000w rip then.

Og Gong · Apr 7, 2015

Raw911 said:
Wow I didn't know that I'd still be at 1000w even with setting on 600w. If that's the case the what da hell may as well let the 1000w rip then.

Yes the hydro store owner near me didn't know either I was kinda mad he didn't know the equipment he was selling. I would ask him questions he couldn't answer like what you just asked. The only way I found out was an amp meter on the circuit.

Raw911 · Apr 7, 2015

Og Gong said:
If you are using a dimable 1k watt ballast and dim to 600watt your still paying for the 1kwatt electric bill. Try to put an amp meter on that circuit and you will see what it's pulling.

Not to dispute what you said but I just thought I'd let you know what I've found on the solis tek web site.

Yes, the ballast amperage draw will decrease as the ballast is dimmed.
Below is a output chart for 120/240 volt:

120v 400W / 600W / 1000W / SOLISBOOST
Input current. 3.5A / 5.25A / 8.75A / 9.1A

Of course they will say whatever to sell products also.

jinxjj · Apr 8, 2015

Like others have said, I'd flip them when around 12 inches tall. You will be shocked how tall they stretch a few weeks into bloom. Good luck bro!

Og Gong · Apr 8, 2015

Raw911 said:
Not to dispute what you said but I just thought I'd let you know what I've found on the solis tek web site.

Yes, the ballast amperage draw will decrease as the ballast is dimmed.
Below is a output chart for 120/240 volt:

120v 400W / 600W / 1000W / SOLISBOOST
Input current. 3.5A / 5.25A / 8.75A / 9.1A

Of course they will say whatever to sell products also.

I have the solis tek 1k watt lol i put an amp meter on the circuit and read 8.3amps with a 600w bulb in there dim to 600w you still pay for 1k unless they fixed this problem.

420circuit · Apr 8, 2015

Seems like running at 1000 makes sense as long as the house wiring will support the load and you got the temperature under control. You can trim a little off your electricity bill by reducing the lights on time a bit, there are people reporting better yields with some strains with less than 12 hours of light. I am running 9 hours and 45 minutes on time currently as a test and am not seeing any substantial reduction so far, but the grow is not done yet, so I can't say for sure, but so far my results are encouraging.

Og Gong · Apr 8, 2015

420circuit said:
Seems like running at 1000 makes sense as long as the house wiring will support the load and you got the temperature under control. You can trim a little off your electricity bill by reducing the lights on time a bit, there are people reporting better yields with some strains with less than 12 hours of light. I am running 9 hours and 45 minutes on time currently as a test and am not seeing any substantial reduction so far, but the grow is not done yet, so I can't say for sure, but so far my results are encouraging.

I believe if you run 13on/11off , 11on/13off, 10.on/14off instead of the normal 12on/12off in bloom you can get different Flavors and yields. All depends on the strain and its origin. Kinda like what DJ Short talked about. May take longer to finish with on times less than 12hrs.

Lazerus00 · Apr 9, 2015

I agree with what both you guys are saying but its just my two cents that for your first grow...or three to play it as simple as possible and just run 12/12...when you get a lil more experienced playing with the numbers for flavor and whatnot can be good thou

G gnome · Apr 9, 2015

I don't recommend doing any of that stuff. Sounds like your just begging for hermi's. A plant needs 12 hrs of uninterrupted darkness.
Lets not try to reinvent the wheel on our first rip.

Og Gong said:
I believe if you run 13on/11off , 11on/13off, 10.on/14off instead of the normal 12on/12off in bloom you can get different Flavors and yields. All depends on the strain and its origin. Kinda like what DJ Short talked about. May take longer to finish with on times less than 12hrs.

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