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Hardening up chilli

Scorpion

Scorpion

ok Ive got a few plants to harden up out of my grow room, just wondering if anyone has any efficient ways to get them good for the out doors.

Thanks chilli mummas
 
I usually just set them outside in small increments. I start with 30 minutes a day in morning sun and shade for the rest of the day and do this for several days. Then build from there, 30 minutes to 1 hour and so forth, until they can handle full sun without bleaching.
 
You have them under a sodium bulb? Aren't those bulbs are for fruiting and flowering not vegatative growth? The growth chart I followed said not to use HPS until your plant is big and starting to fruit / flower. I grew out all of my sprouts under a 400 mh for 3 weeks and then switched them to a 1000 mh for 3 more weeks per the suggested grow chart. The first 3 weeks they got light 24/7 as this makes them grow faster then I notched back the light time to 16 hours a day under the 1000 watt. Because the plants where already used to intense light before they went outside they had no issues at all. The first spot gets 4-5 hours of sun a day and didn't have any problems. I will be moving them to another area that gets sun for most of the day in the dirt this weekend.
 
Thanks LGHT. I have spoken to a few hydro/light buffs down this end and they said that growing under HPS has only a marginal difference between MH I did much like yourself, raised them on 400 then switched to 1000. So you think that 1000 tuffens them enough, thats great as i lost alot of plants a while back from not hardening properly after a 400. ive also got the room with natural air negative ventilation so they will be semi use to the air.

Thanks for your help mate,
Dave
 
Not sure what they mean about "marginally different". I use the eye hortilux super HPS light and the eye hortilux MH bulbs and there is twice as much light in specific range of blue for vegetative growth over the HPS bulb. The are full spectrum bulbs so they will also have light in all the wavelengths, but it's the double amount of light in the specific area that makes the difference.

Here is the tech sheet on all the bulbs with Spectral Distribution charts. CLICK HERE

As far as hardening I thought it would be a problem, but the first week they where outside they got 4 hours of sun and did fine. I think they should be ok with the move this weekend to twice the amount of full sun, but if they do not i'll let you know.
 
Cheers mate, I'll have a we look at the chart, Ive had them on HPS ever since there we little birthday...they seem to be cranking my yellow habs are at there 5th node after 6 weeks from planting, they are on a 18 and 6 cycle. But saying that they could well be at there 6th node if I use MH. I guess I was trying to save a buck....need to sell more sauce!!! lol!

Cheers once again
 
Not sure if it will "harm" your plants. It will definitely be ok if your use full spectrum lights because they are still getting the light they need it's just not AS focused. For me I did a ton of research and found a great resource that takes you through every stage of growth and gives you a good chart to show how much and what type of light the plant should be getting depending on it's stage.

Here is the lighting footprint that shows what wattage a light will put out and the area it will cover along with suggested distance over the plant. (of course the type of light hood and reflective media will come into effect as well, but it's a good general chart)
table.jpg


Here is a good chart that shows you the light and dark cycle the plants should go through, how much lumans they should be getting, temp, and light source. I followed the chart, but changed my light times so I gave them 24 hours of light until they got to the vegetative growth stage then dropped down to 18 hours of light. The only probelm I had duplicating was the suggested temp. Since I didn't have a climate controller or inline fan I tried to keep the room around the suggested temp, but I know I was off several degrees so next year I'll have all my equipment setup and will be spot on.
table2.jpg


Here is the full article that explains why "focused" types of light are important.

CLICK HERE
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for that! Do you know how long it took me to find something similar on the net! Crazy! Thats a great help! I have them cranking now on a new nutrient base and they are sitting on an 18 houyr on and 6 hours off cycle and they are doing well. Ill keep that we data table thats for sure!
Cheers
Mate
 
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