Marijuana will stay in the vegetative growth cycle if it is given anywhere between 18 and 24 hours of light per day. The vegetative growth cycle is usually only two to four weeks long in most indoor strains and will be completed in the third to fifth months of growth depending on the marijuana strain and conditions. The marijuana plant can only grow as fast as it can produce energy required for new growth. The more large leafs it has the better it is a photosynthesis and so grows faster and faster. With perfect hydroponic conditions strong marijuana strains can grow up to six inches per day. Once you are past the middle of the vegetative stage the number of blades on each leaf will decline and the stem (phyllotaxy) changes with internodes, the space between two sets of leaves on the stem, will start to decrease in length. Buy LED Grow Lights today These are trusted partners to delivery Best LED Grow Lights worldwide. High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lamps generally only have 3-6% of their spectrum in blue which is why they are generally not recommended during the vegging phase.

The most popular choices are T5 fluorescents and Metal Halides (MH) and full spectrum LED grow lights. Micro growers often use compact spiral fluorescents (CFLs). They work fine, but are not nearly as efficient (light to heat ratio) as T5s, LEDs or MH. Relatively new to the scene are LEDs with the top models working brilliantly. Another new entry to the field is Ceramic Metal Halides (CMH) which display a fuller spectral distribution than standard MH. That is not an easy question to answer because it depends on your plant spacing, genetics, state of maturity, room temperature, the distance of the lamp to your plants, the reflectivity of your walls, the efficiency of your lamp and so on. A general guideline for MH and T5 is to have a minimum of 50 Watts of power for each square foot but you can get away with far less using LEDs. Your lights should be on from 18-24 hours per day. If you choose less than 24 hours, a timer is highly recommended to keep a regular schedule. A big part of your lighting is capturing the photons that are not directed to your plants.

Covering the walls with flat white paint, mylar film, or Reflectix all work well. Be sure to keep your grow room between 70°F– 85°F (21.1°C– 29.4°C) degrees during the day. It is OK to have a 5-15 degree drop at night. Humidity should be in the 45 – 55% range. Get plenty of fresh air and keep it recirculating. More about the correct temperature for marijuana. Cannabis requires three primary or macro nutrients for optimal health. These are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K) or NPK.Scion Tc Tires Tirerack All plant-food labels include the percentage of these three elements in numerical form and are presented as N-P-K levels. Pajama Sam T ShirtThe optimal ratios for growing weed are up for debate. Loss Weight TownsvilleMore about marijuana nutrients is here.

Micronutrients are equally important, but only very tiny amounts are required and many, if not all, are readily available in potting soils without the need to add extra. If you are growing hydroponically, then these must be added regularly. These micronutrients or trace-elements  are: Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Sulfur (S), Manganese (Mn), Boron (B), Zinc (Zn),  Iron(Fe), Molybdenum(Mo), Chlorine(CL) and Copper (Cu). The second biggest damager of your weed after overwatering is over-fertilizing. No matter how many times this is stressed, new growers seem to have the need to ‘push’ their plants. More is not better. Excess nutrients will ‘burn’ your cannabis plants. A sure sign of ‘nute-burn’ is that the tips of most of the leaves will turn brown. This is how your plants attempt to void the extra chemicals. For very young plants (1-3 weeks) use nutrients at ¼ of the manufacturer’s recommended level and then s-l-o-w-l-y increase over time to full strength.

Note that every and tolerances and that the manufacturer’s recommendations are only a guideline. If you observe your plants carefully, you will learn what they need. Less is better than more, as less may slow growth a little, but more can stunt or kill your marijuana plants. Once again, there is no correct answer. Some growers switch at two weeks to create small, single bud cannabis plants; others will veg their plants for up to four months to create monsters. The variation is enormous and depends largely on your goals and setup. It is important to note that your cannabis plants will ‘stretch’ or continue to add height after the flowering phase is induced by switching your light cycle regimen to 12/12. The amount of stretch is strain dependent, but the general rule of thumb is that indicas will double in height and sativas will triple in height and hybrids will be somewhere in between. This is useful for determining the maximum height to ‘veg’ before switching.

Let’s say that your HID light must be no lower than 16” above your plants and your container size is 12” and the highest the bottom of your lamp can be is 84”’ and you are growing a sativa. Your actual vertical plant growing zone is 84” (lamp height) – 16” (lamp distance to plant) – 12” (container) height = 56” / 3 = 18.7”. This gives you the maximum height for your sativa plant before switching to flowering. In the same setup, an indica strain would require 56”/2 or a switch at 28” in height. The vegetative period is the main growing phase for your cannabis plants. It is where they try to reach their full growth potential and bulge out into a full-bodied, beautiful cannabis plant. At the beginning of this phase your cannabis plants should be roughly 3-4 nodes high, with stems 4-6mm thick. In nature, the vegetative period takes place in summer, when wild cannabis has long, sunny days to take full advantage of the sun. This causes the plants to shoot up, producing an abundance of new branches and leaves.

The cannabis plants will also bulk up the thickness of their stems and branches to help support more weight as it grows. As the summer comes to an end, and the days get shorter it will trigger the next stage within the cannabis plant, the flowering stage. The advantage of growing indoors is that you have full control of the light cycles, meaning you can transition your marijuana from the vegetative stage to the flowering stage when ever you want, keeping it in a vegetative state for as long as you need - you can use an 18/6 photoperiod whilst your cannabis plants grow, and when you are happy with the size of them you can switch to a 12/12 photoperiod to simulate the change of This will trigger flowering within the plants. Most cultivators allow their cannabis to grow in the vegetative stage for 1 up to 4 weeks before forcing the change. Occasionally you may find a cultivator who goes straight onto a 12/12 photoperiod from the seedling stage, forcing the plants straight into bloom.

There can be an advantage to this if you know what you are doing. It forces your cannabis plants to remain small, allowing a cultivator to fit many more plants into their grow room. A higher amount of smaller plants can yield a greater amount of bud then a fewer amount of larger plants. Most cultivators will subject their cannabis to an 18/6 photoperiod using a HID light. Always make sure that the amount of light hours remains consistent. Inconsistent photoperiods can cause a lot of stress in a growing cannabis plant as it will not understand what is going on – possibly stressing it to the point where it goes into self preservation mode, becoming a hermaphrodite. In terms of color-band, a bulb on the blue spectrum will be best to encourage strong stem and leaf growth (see our article on color bands). Nutrients are an important part of your cannabis grow, they provide your plants with essential components they need to perform their bodily functions. Within this stage your plants are going to need a lot of nitrogen;