Growing indoors has advantages and disadvantages, similar to growing outside. Indica strains are perfect for indoor growing because of their short and wide plant growth compared to the thin and tall growth of Sativa strains. The Vegetative Stage The vegetative stage begins from the moment the seed is planted. Then it begins to grow out its stems and prepare for budding and the flowering stage. The vegetative stage usually lasts anywhere from one week to about 40 days. During this period it requires a standard daylight cycle of 18 hours on – 6 hours off for the best results. Some growers prefer a 24 hour light cycle during the vegetative stage. This stimulates quicker and faster growth. Either one should work fine, as it’s just a matter of how much you want to charge your electricity bill or how fast you want to have your plants enter the flowering stage. However, a standard 10 hour per daylight cycle may work better for pure Indica strains. The Flowering Stage After 40 days or so, (basically whenever you want to stop the vegetative stage) the light cycle needs to be switched to a 12hr on/12hr off schedule to promote the start of the flowering stage. This stage starts as soon as you modify the light cycle. Now your lovely plants are getting ready to produce the sweet buds. Use good judgment, based on plant size and health, when choosing the time to enter the flowering stage. For optimal growth, most hybrid strains can be induced into the flowering stage after about 40 days. Please note that different strains when matched with various growing techniques produce different yields. Some strains can take a longer time to mature and be ready for the flowering stage. You should know exactly what planstrain you’re growing. And it’s a good idea to look up the average height when grown indoors. What grow lights should you use for the vegetative and flowering stages? The best grow lights to use for the vegetative stage would be any kind of fluorescent bulb. This is because the plant loves lots of blue spectrum light. The blue spectrum of grow lights can come in the form of various fluorescent bulbs. These are commonly found because of their low height output and efficient blue hues of light. And because growers create high demand, you can find the blue-hued grow lights for plants at any store, be it hydroponic or not. It’s recommended to use high energy and heat consuming Metal Halide lights (these types of bulbs give off nice blue hues of light) When you use grow lights that consume tons of electricity, you expose yourself to the risk of having your energy bill draw unwanted attention from authorities. But then again, there’s no need to deal with anything other than blue hue fluorescent bulbs for indoor growing until your plants are in the flowering stage. During the flowering stage, High-Pressure Sodium grow lights work best, either alone or in conjunction with the fluorescent lights. Don’t worry too much; you can get away with it because the lights will be on for 12 hours a day and they’ll consume less energy and heat. Another important aspect about grow lights is that the plant requires blue and white light (Metal Halide & Fluorescent lights) for the vegetative stage and red, orange and yellow light (High-Pressure Sodium Bulb) for the flowering stage. Useful links to get your growing essentials: GrowAce fluorescent bulbs GrowAce High-Pressure Sodium grow lights
What Type Of Grow Lights To Use For Indoor Plants?
If you plan on setting up a home grow, it’s essential that you choose the right and best led grow lights at the right growing stages for your plants. Grow lights for plants or specifically for plants are essential in two development stages; the vegetative stage and the flowering stage.