Perpetual harvest, lighting question..

I was wondering about perpetual harvests, and how to keep all the plants close to the light. Say my flower room was small, like 4'x2'x5', and took cuttings every 2 weeks, so harvests come every 2 weeks. When you harvest, and put new plants in to flower, how do you keep them close to the light..if I only had 1 light in the grow room? Do people just let them stretch? or better to try to prop them up onto something to get them closer to the light?

Keep light on adjustable hangers. Raise light when needed, or lower light when needed.

Thank you for the response The thing is, I was wondering about having an even canopy. Like if I put clones in to flower every 2 weeks, they will end up being all different heights. I do have an adjustable light, which I love....but once I set it to the tallest plants, the new ones that just go in the room will be a lot shorter. I was mostly curious if I just left the light close to the tall ones, if the small ones will stretch too bad? Or would it really be recommended to prop up the small ones onto a crate or something? I know, lame question....I'm just a noob and not sure how much stretch there would be, and how important it would be to keep them as close as possible to the light.

Just prop them up on something for that even canopy. You will learn with time. good luck

You need to make yourself some "Booster Blocks" to set under the shorter plants. You can use anything from an empty can, an old book, to some lumber (whatever you got laying around!).

The shorter the plant, the bigger the "Booster Block" you use. As the plants proceed to grow, reduce the size of the block to maintain an even canopy.

Thanks guys! That's what I was kind of thinking, just wanted some pro's advice

That's how I do it as well.

You can stuff a 600w into that space.

You don't have to worry about any plants stretching with a 600w from that distance.

But yeah, booster blocks help.

I've only got a 400w, which was why I was curious about the stretching. Easy enough to prop them up onto something though, so no biggie Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated.

Phone books wrapped in saran wrap to make them waterproof work very well for this.

-spek

its not worth trying to grow perpetual with one light. you will yeild more if you just run cycles.

I use a 4x4 tray in my perpetual grow and move my plants from one side to the other side. My finish line has more led lighting than the start side of the tray. The first week they go in, they sit in the tray to get use to the LEDs. Then I use either an upside down pot or a 5 gallon bucket to get it closer to an even canopy.

irieie said:

its not worth trying to grow perpetual with one light. you will yeild more if you just run cycles.

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Really? What makes you think so? If you are running a constant 2-2.1 EC solution, the only theoretical advantage is that you can start with a lower light height whereby a perpetual light needs to be set in consideration of the maximum mature plant height. However, that may well be offset by the increased canopy penetration which is endemic to a perpetual due to the mix of varying plant heights. In any case, if the yield of a perpetual is lower than a cycle, I believe the difference to be negligible, particularly in consideration to the purpose of a perpetual: a continuous supply.

In answer to the OP's question, I would say put the new plants in the middle of the tray and move them towards the outer edges as they mature. If the light is positioned in the center of the tray, this method provides a reasonably balanced light supply and, with the proper reflector and height, distributes the light in such a way that all plants receive similar light output while the taller plants are far enough out that they don't get fried by the bulb.

Also, in contrast to various so-called expert opinions, canopy penetration on such a setup may be aided by selective defoliation of light blocking fan leaves. Depends on the strain. User 'collective gardener' has posted what I have thus far found to be the most pragmatic information on this topic in his epic "20,000 Watt Medical Grow Op Construction".

TheMystified420 said:

Thank you for the response The thing is, I was wondering about having an even canopy. Like if I put clones in to flower every 2 weeks, they will end up being all different heights. I do have an adjustable light, which I love....but once I set it to the tallest plants, the new ones that just go in the room will be a lot shorter. I was mostly curious if I just left the light close to the tall ones, if the small ones will stretch too bad? Or would it really be recommended to prop up the small ones onto a crate or something? I know, lame question....I'm just a noob and not sure how much stretch there would be, and how important it would be to keep them as close as possible to the light.

Click to expand...

U can can put ur clones on a 5gal bucket or something to get them up off the ground....

Booster blocks OR use a CFL as a side-light, positioned right above the babies.

spek9 said:

Phone books wrapped in saran wrap to make them waterproof work very well for this.

-spek

Click to expand...

What the hecks a phone book?

woodsmantoker said:

What the hecks a phone book?

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You know, the antiquated things with phone numbers. You can usually find them in the library next to the dewey decimal system catalog filing cabinets

-spek

To get the most out of perpetual gardening you need to have at least 2 separate rooms/spaces. One dedicated veg room and flower room. A third room/space makes life much easier.

my perpetual is happy with an EC of 1-1.3. 2.x? ack. sounds like an AN lineup of neut soup.

I use 8 4' t5 daylight spectrum tubes on my moms 24 hour. When it is coming close to the time to take snips a 400w Mercury vapour MH goes on 18L/6d. Of course the watering frequencies are increased as well to the moms etc. Two cool white t5 4' tubes for the cloning bin, on 24 hour light cycle while clones are in bin. A 1kw HPS for budding and two 8' x 8' rooms. I keep a desk with drawers and chair in the mother and clone part in an effort to keep thing organized.