Hey All,
I’m a newbie with 3 autos in their first week after planting/sprouting. I have the light someone mentioned earlier in a 2x4 grow tent. Wanted to know if you all recommend following the light setting/stages that come with the instructions and heights? (see the pic) Not sure if this was meant to apply for growing weed?
I started out with 2 450w Viparspectra’s .They weren’t the Dimmable ones and only had veg and bloom switches. I had them set on veg only at about 20" from seedlings. With them not having a dimmable switch I assume that they would be at full power. If you notice that your stems are getting too much height before sprouting new set of leaves lower lights down a couple inches. Here’s what plants looked like at 15 days after breaking soil.
This is what they looked like at one week.
After looking a little closer at your data sheet, maybe start them out a little higher. I’m just not sure if the lights you have are comparable to the Viparspectra’s I have. But if you do set them up higher same thing applies if you notice seedlings getting a little leggy then lower them a little.
Do you recommend following the “using hours” times…I’ve been running the lights 24hrs on since planting as I want to keep the tent warm though.
I just finished 3rd grow. On all 3, I ran lights on 18/6. I can’t claim that is the best schedule for seedlings . I’ve seen people claim that 24 on is best for the first week and some claim that it’s fine to go less. I’ve had good results with 18/6. It is important once they get veg stage that they have some dark period. I’ve only run autos once and kept them on 18/6 through veg. When they started to Flower I switched to 12/12 .
If you are running autos, which I assume you are from the beginning of your post. Lighting times are not gonna much matter. They are gonna flower when they want to. My understanding is this is predetermined from the day that they break ground. I usually keep my autos on an 18/6 throughout the grow. That being said, I have had some flower quickly and others take much longer. I have one that is showing no signs of flowering although, I have already harvested another auto that was planted at the same time. I do also have 6 photos going in the same tent, I will be switching them to flower, possibly in the next 2 weeks. Then my autos will be under 12/12 as well. Like I said, my understanding, not gonna make a difference. As far as the light height @Bulldognuts is spot on. The distances given in the data sheet are only for reference, not set in stone. I hope that helps 
I ran a Viparspectra PAR600 for a 4x4 tent. It wasn’t enough light. I ran all 3 switches as you will need all the light you can get.
