Grow lights - how long to run
 

howdy,
I am currently running my indoor bananas on 18 hrs of a 600W HPS lamp. I was told this would be best to keep them from growing too tall, initially. any idears on this? They seem to be enjoying the long hours of lighting and are growing very well.

I wanna post pics, but i don't have a digital camera yet. Sux!
GROW ON.

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

No idea how to help you, but I will post, so that this thread is alive until someone with experience crosses it. It's a tough growing in your zone, what plants do you grow like this?

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

thats kewl.

i am growing banana's (i got 3 dwarves and 1 ice cream i also got 3 elephant ears that are gonna be huge!!! - monster strain). everything is indoors so the winter wont bother them. i worry that if they all take off with this lighting setup there will be no room in my apartment to move!!!

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

There most certainly will not be a place, when Ice Creams start growing. They are monsters in statue, 15 feet ~ 4,5m when adult. You will eventually have to start growing them outside very soon. :D

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

yes, i am worried about the ice cream getting too big. i figured i could try to control the size with lighting, pot size, etc... i have no where to put him outside since i am in an apartment.

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

Ice Cream is too big to be limited like that. Why not try any of Dwarf varieties (there's plenty of them)?

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

i have 3 dwarves going now. 2 cavendish and 1 red. they all look amazing growing under the light. 1 of the cavendish is recovering from root/corm rot after an unsuccessful transition from soil to hydroponics, but he looks like he is making a come back. this would be great if he does cause then i can put him back in and grow him hydroponically.

yeah, that ice cream is gonna be too big. may have to give him away at some point.

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

Dwarves should be fine. Have you considered trying to grow the nanas outside in the summer?

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

i dont have any space outside - i live in an apartment with no patio or outside area to myself. i have no choice but to grow them indoors. besides, the summers out here are kinda crummy with a mixture of cloudy, sunny and rainy days. i have them under a 600W HPS grow light. i am running them at 18hrs of light. they seem to be growing very well.

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

Well don't you have a place in front of the appartment?
I started there my gardening career. :D In front of a block of houses.

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

yeah, i could put them out front. but i kinda like em in my living room. they look kewler inside and are gonna grow to monstrous proportions!!!!

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

My hydroponic banana is now bigger than the mom it came from last summer. I'm guessing it will have to go back outside into dirt at sometime. Trying to hold off until about March as its hot as h outside right now.

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

i have been trying to grow a hydroponic dwarf cavendish, but he really took a hit when i first put him into hydroponics from soil - major root rot. he is recovering right now and if he makes it and develops water roots then he will be good to go for hydro.

as far as transferring from hydro back to soil, is it a good idea? i read that soil roots and water/hydroponic roots are not the same and the plant will take time in transitioning from one to the other.

do u have any new hydro pics? any banana hydro pointers? thanks

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

I usually run my lights for 14 hours a day. You can keep your ice cream banana, you'll just have to keep cutting it back if it gets too tall. It's not the ideal kind for your situation though--like it was suggested, a dwarf might be better for you.

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

hello,
thanks for the feedback. i have my plants on a 16 hr on and 8 hr off cycle. i did have it at 18hr on, but i thought that was a little much. i have 2 dwarves that i know i can keep inside and another dwarf on the way. i dont know whats gonna happen to the ice cream, but i will take care of him when the time comes.

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

When you think of it, most places close to the equator have only about 12 hours of daylight and bananas like it fine there. I have been doing 14 but that might really be more than is necessary.

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

Our summers are little more than 14 of active light, so it should be enough to have only 12 to 14.
Good luck.

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

dear banana growers,
i read that to keep plants in the vegetative state, run them under grow lights for 14-18 hrs. then, when u want them to flower you drop down to 12hrs. that is kinda the rule of thumb i am following.

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

I think if the corm is good size and the temperatures are not crazy it shouldn't be an issue. I'll get some more pics up this weekend. Serveral issues leading me to doing that

- size. its getting harder for my 1 Procyon 100 to handle

- roots. They turn black very quickly. Luckily it just keeps putting out new roots. I'm worried its going to stall because it can not make an extensive root system.

I just moved the mom into a 45gal smartpot and am giving good fertilizer now and its taking off very very quickly. It was a huge corm though.

Re: Grow lights - how long to run
 

i gave up on the soil to hydro thingie.

i tried with 2 plants and they died. it is kinda funny, cause everywhere i read they are like, just wash off as much soil as you can and the plant will be fine. yeah right.

i actually rinsed with water and hydrogen peroxide numerous times before the transition and did just about everything to make it work, but the roots just rotted out something awful.

i noticed that the base of the corm just turned black and necrotic. at one point i trimmed off about half the corm and let the plant bubble in water, anti-fungal/rooting powder and a bit of nutrient. he actually started to grow with this combination, so i switched him into a rockwool cube to try and get the roots growing. from that point, growth of the leaf and the roots ceased, so i just gave up.

what a nightmare!!!

i may try again in the future, but i am still recovering from the mental anguish of it all.

Rock n roll!