So I’ve got a separate “nursery” cabinet that I raise all my seeds and clones in (autos and photos), before they eventually move on to their final homes.
I keep the lights on in there 24/7, just curious what other OG opinions are out there on light schedules for the first 2 weeks of growth…
These are the lights, in case anyone’s interested. I use a few of these led bars/strips in addition to an old led shop light.
I do 24/7 for clones.
18/6 for veg
12/12 flower sometimes 11/13 at the end of flower for longer strains
Houseplants I veg at 16/8 because I save 2 hours electricity
24/7. Only because I don’t have that many timers 
16/8 for veg because 16 is the most light I get outdoors on the longest days of summer and I figure that’s enough.
I have personally vegged some strains at 16/8 no problems but I have read some strains are finicky and now I don’t risk it
24/7 clones…everything gets dark time when i feel like it. Dark time =root development.
I’m sure exceptions can be made and I don’t run anything too crazy but this works well for me. It also allows the lights to be off when I’m asleep which is an advantage because my veg cab is in the bedroom
18/6 all the time
Thanks for your reply @Mr.Sparkle
Any advantages you’ve seen to 18/6 over other schedules like 20/4 or 24/7? Other than energy saving I guess…
Thanks for your reply!
What kind/brand of lights do you have your clones under, if you don’t mind my asking?
Curious how much attention I should be giving to PAR or PPFD, given that my clones and seedlings are under a constant light source.
Clones = 24/7
Seedlings = 18/6
PhotoVeg = 18/6
PhotoFlower = 12/12 (with far red led)
Autoflowers ALONE = 24/7
Autoflowers Sharing A tent = 18/6
I run 18/6 for everything but flowering. Flowering I do 12/12 or 11/13
To each their own I guess…
In my other grow spaces I have lights scheduled to be off during my morning routine (back on at 11am). This more-or-less forces me to concentrate on my actual work, rather than playing peeping Tom in my garden each morning.
Thanks for the reply @Pigeonman !
Do you do anything differently if the seedlings are Autoflowers? Or do you just treat all plants the same in the seedling stage, under 18/6?
Auto flowers I treat differently; but this is primarily with the feeding and soil prep stage as they are hungry tykes that need extra love at the start to reach their full potential by their end. So this means I’m heavier on the feeding right away with Autos vs photoperiods; which I slowly bring them up to full feed over a 3 week period. Any autos I’ve seen on OG where the grower mentioned being lite on the initial feedings and they had ADORABLE plants but as a result no real yield as it was stunted.
Last auto’s I did were under 24/7 UNTIL I needed to move them to my 2x4 which was in veg at 18/6 for photoperiods.
Seedlings get babied (as mentioned above). ProMix BX for the bulk of the solo-cup with a 1-2cm layer of worm castings on top which is what the seeds goes right into after it pops any length of tap root in distilled water. The cup gets watered around the EDGES ONLY to ensure no over watering, and when the plant grows it’s first true leaves I’ll mound BX around it’s base (on-top of the castings) to act as both a wick which will keep damping issues at bay, and to promote more roots to develop above the castings. 
So far so good. When this doesn’t work it’s either cause the seed never popped to begin with OR I fucked up my schedule.
I have not done anything but 24hrs for 30 days from start.
Wow, wealth of information here @Pigeonman thank you!
Have you ever raised seedlings in any other -non organic- mediums, supplementing with synthetic nutrients?
I ask because my current germination and seedling stages are carried out in “passive hydro” type solo cups, just coco/perlite, but I don’t start introducing nutrients until after week 1, for autos and photos alike. Wondering if I should or could introduce synthetic nutrients to Autoflower seedlings sooner…
Wow 30 days, phew.
I thought I was pushing it with 14, thanks I’ll definitely take this into consideration. 
I do 24 hrs of light once the seedlings are placed in the medium then once the cotyledons open I switch to 18/6 for remainder of veg.
Hey thanks for your reply!
Are you using any specific lighting/equipment just for your seedlings, or are they under the same grow light their whole lives?
24 hr until flower.
