First grow, any advice?

These three are my first babies... started them out under t5s (110watts) just put the oldest under 400watt hps this morning. They're on a 12/12 cycle (i know it should be longer, but i dont like keeping the lights on for too long when i'm out of the house)... do they look like their on track? just looking for some advice to maximize my babies potential...

thanks
j

you gotta get past it and just give them light longer

Your 12/12 cycle is no good try 16/8 and how old are they?

Yeah 12/12 for veg is not a good idea, possible, but not good.
If people seeing your lights on while you not home is you problem you should hang some blankets over you windows or something to make it light proof, Then run like an 18/6 or a 20/4, something with alot more light time. This will maximize you babies potential.

Basically, 12/12 is going to keep your plants very small and go against the whole point of vegetative, which is to get as MUCH light as possible. 12/12 is for flowering buddy.

Chemical Ali™ personally would run 24/7 for 4-5 weeks

the larger one was planted 3/12, the other 2 on 3/18... the germinated for 2 days before i put them in soil... i'll put them on 16/8 and pray my dog learns how to use a fire extinguisher. i dont plan on using the t5s for much longer, but the area that the hps is, even with the fan and ventilation, makes me nervous because of its weight... my only real concern is if something happened and my dog was stuck in her crate... (im such a good mom!) thanks for you help!

So guys, I started my babies on 24/12 lighting (i think they should have a little bit of rest... plus my other plants need to get some solo time in the light ... watermelons, tomatoes, etc...) they are starting to grow like monkey nuts! I let a friend borrow my camera, so i'll take some pics later for a lil more advice. Its alway nice to hear kind (or even not so kind) words from fellow hortis!

Thanks for having a place for us to grow and complain =0)

24/12 whats that? isnt it 12/12 or 24/0 or 18/6....? But yeah this is a great forum I luv it.

hey dsrtsno, good to hear from you. i dont think your plants need that much rest imo, but cant wait for some new pics to see how its going

secure your lights with chain links if you are afraid they will fall.

thanks guys! here are the pics... the lil one is still pretty small compared to the other two, but looking at the pics from last week, holy sh1t has she grown... im putting some more lights in the box with the 110w t5s... maybe just another 50watts... right now i have some seedlings enjoying it 24/0 and they're looking pretty happy... started germinating on 4/8 and over the past 12 hours have popped out of the soil and spread out as much as my other ones did in 2 weeks, so that makes me happy...

thanks for everyones input.

OH i'm feeding the larger one a mixture of banana, egg shell and molasses diluted of course... and she seems to really like it. i wanted to make my own food for her and go as organic as possible. there are some other herbs in her pot as well (and a freakin watermelon plant, must have been in the scooper when i was filling in the soil, so i think i'm going to take her out and replant her... but i dont want to bother her either so i dont know.. any advice? do you think the chives and basil will take up a lot of space (root wise?) its a gallon pot shes in now...


OH and it wasn't so much a fear of the light falling (though it is heavy as a b!tch) its just the immense heat it puts off in the small space i had it in, was in the process of building a second box for it, so i could put the hps and the t5s in the same area after everything was finished sprouting and all that... i got some lifts for it that i'll use once i have everything finished... i know i should have finished first, but my grandmother sent me a container of her blueberry seeds and i couldn't wait. yes.. my grandmother. she loves me.. =0)

Plants need 24/0, 20/4 or 18/6 for veg and 12/12 for flowering

your babies have really grown nicely. i like the idea of going organic with it too you think you could take some pics of the new chamber? i really want to build something similar

hey, sorry it took so long to get back to the post... i'll put up pictures of it later this week, been crazy busy with work