Something you need to consider is that most of the manufacturers are pretty liberal with their recommended coverage. In general you look for about 400 umols for veg, and about 600-1000 umols for flowering. They should provide a par map that gives those readings.
I always like adjustments to be made gradually and then given some time to adjust. There’s a pretty fine line between growing well, too much light intensity, and stretching, so you really need to monitor how your plants react to your adjustments. The veg switch only is almost all blue wavelengths, so it will keep your plants fairly short and nodes packed tight. So it could indeed be growing well but short. If you introduce the bloom switch with them, it will provide some red and you should see them get a little taller. You will also have more power and higher intensity from your light that way. As @Donaldj pointed out, you can play with light height too to get them to or reduce stretch.
The short answer to your question, if you lower it a couple inches give it like 5 days to adjust. That way you’ll actually see if you get a little close for your plants liking.
So for the 400 umols you suggest then i need the light at around 36" which is pretty much where it is at the moment
For 600 - 1000 umols then it will need to be around 24" - 18"
One thing to note tho is im not sure if the par map is for both the veg and bloom switch on at the same time or if it is for one or the other?!?
Guessing that it is for both?!?
If that is the case would it be worth putting the bloom switch on now?!?
So im thinking that im jus gona leave the light at your recommended heights based on the plants par needs
So while im in veg ill jus leave the light at where it is and then worry more about height once i switch to flower
Think ill hit google and see if i can find par readings for my light depending on if the veg switch or bloom switch or both is on!
I think it’s pretty safe to assume that’s with both switches on. They’re going to want to advertise them highest levels I’m sure. So 36” with both switches on, or maybe 20-24” with just the veg switch are probably good baseline starting points.
And then for flowering, doing that gradual reduction in height down to about the 18”-20” mark above canopy would probably be good. Some plants will be a little more or less sensitive to light intensity, that’s why I use the term baseline. And as plants grow you may have to raise lights to maintain same distance. They’re all live numbers that should be pretty reasonable.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the footprint of light will get smaller as you lower it. Depending on how many plants and the size of plants, you may want to run it a little higher than ideal to get the coverage needed. So you should definitely do some looking at where you get the best balance of coverage and intensity for the stage your in.
How many true sets of leaves does she have? Its looks like maybe four from the photo? When she gets 5 to 6 is when I would start giving full watering to run-off.
So i think im gona put the bloom switch on now and keep it at the height its at until im nearly ready to start flowering
Will keep a close eye on them to see if any problems arise but going by the par map i guessing that it should be fine (i.e. 36" gives around 400 umols which is as you suggested)
I only have 2 plants, was only gona do 1 but ended up with 2 seeds so thought id do them both
Theyre about 12" apart and im gona do them as a scrog and make them grow into / under the light to make best use of the light footprint
One good thing with flowering being way off in the future i dont have to worry about light height for a while!
He just meant not to count the feeding leaves, the first two that you see when they sprout.
You want to water when it’s needed. The best way to know for sure is to get a feel for how heavy pots are when they’re dry as opposed to freshly watered. Too many variables to determine watering by age or size. Conditions and overall plant health play into that quite a bit.
Ah so you mean dont count the first 2 “smooth” leaves
Just the ones that are ridged and look like cannabis leafs!
Got it!
So once ive got another 2 proper leaves then itll be time to water with the run off method
But first ill need to see / learn what the pot feels like when its dry
And from then on itll be water when pot feels light / dry
Am thinking that itll be hard to pick the pots up once ive got the scrog on the go so will be looking into soil moisture meters to tell me when to water!
Know theyre bigger than whats probably recommended but as its my first time i didnt want to do any transporting of my plants from small pots to bigger pots and risk transplant shock!
Basically ive gone from peat pellet straight into these pots where theyll now stay in till theyre done!
Trying to keep everything as simple as pos until ive got one (hopefully!?!) successful grow under my belt
Take it i should jus carry on watering the way i am at the moment (small bit of water in a circle 3 times around the plants, water again when soil feels dry) until they get a bit bigger?
As they do look nice n green n healthy (ive now started taking pics with the led light off and just using the flash on my camera so the pics are what they actually look like) im guessing theyre getting all the water they need
One thing about the fabric pots is that as they are made of fabric they have a better air flow through them so they dry out a bit faster than an ordinary solid pot