Hello all and sorry if this subject has been beat to death. i don’t see it with a casual search of the site, so putting it to the experts…again.
From what i’ve read, i think, a plant is considered a seedling until either a) 2-3 weeks have passed from sprout and/or b) it is well enough established that it can appears able to stand up to a transplant. Then it passes into the vegetative stage which lasts an additional (and roughly i understand) 3-15 weeks before being forcibly moved into a flowering stage by adjusting the amount of light we feed the plants. Do i have that all right?
I fully recognize that there is no absolutely definitive break between the stages. I get that. But i want to understand the approximate time frames that apply to the common terminology of this hobby.
Thanks in advance for all the expert input. If my assumptions stated above are incorrect please just tell me. I have no ego in this and want to learn from the masters. Best to all.
There’s no hard and fast rule that everyone has agreed on. Some say they’re in veg from the day they break ground and don’t define a separate “seedling” stage. But most will understand what you mean when you say seedling - really small still. For some transition to flower occurs when the plant is flipped to 12/12, others say it’s in flower a week to 10 days later when buds start to appear. Neither way is right or wrong.
Typically, when seed banks indicate a flowering time of X weeks they mean weeks since buds started appearing. So if you’re a flower-starts-at-flip kind of guy you add week or so.
thanks for the responses. i appreciate the expertise here, and i’m sure it gets tiring for the pros to keep reading the same questions from every newbie. but what an incredible resource. now if i can just get some buds to grow…best to all.
I consider vegging when I see the first set of five finger leaves. I can’t be sure of that’s scientifically correct, but to me, that’s when they start growing quickly.