Newbie grower with height problem!

[NiFty]

Hi Guys.
I started my first ever grow off 5 weeks ago!
I've 6 plants going (Think they're Northern Lights or Northern Lights #5 - anyone know the diff??). They're in a little white wardrobe 2'6" x 1'6" x 6'6" with a raisable shelf with 6 x 2ft fluoros (4 warm light, 2 cool white) mounted underneath it.
Temps about 76F-84F and they have a fan blowing gently on em and they're getting light 24/7 at the mo.

They're in 6in pots ats the mo and I plan to grow 'em to 12in high then force flowering for a couple of weeks to find the girls. Then transplant them to 12" pots (hopefully 2 out of the 6 being pessimistic!) and go back to Veg for a while, prune them in 2 or 3 places to get a few heads going and then wait till they're about 18" to flower em properly!

They're a bit short and wide tho' (5in high and span 9-10in!). Is this cus of fluoro lighting and not hps? Or are the light too low or high (they're about 2-3in off the tops at the mo) ??

Would like to get hps but it's impossible to buy them by cash here in liddle old england! And don't want cops knowing what I've bought with my card. Anyone got any ideas to get my babies growing a bit taller? Or are they ok? They seem fairly healthy with thick stalks and lots of foliage. Any help is very welcome !!

[NiFty]

...And here's the grow room!

[newbeee]

Its a good idea to transplant your plants before u put them on to flowering. Transplanting is like taking someone to a new surrounding and leaving them there. The plant kind of has to get used to its new surrounding. I don't understand why someone would flowering just to get more grow tips going. Why don't u try topping or training. Sid's grow guide explains most of the stuff and the rest of the answers could be found in other threads that have been started before. Check those threads. Your temperature is fine as I can see...the only thing u should note is that the plants should feel a 15 degree drop in the temp. when its on the dark period. You know that nights are colder than the day time right ? We need to mimick the natural world or in other words make the plant feel at home in ur setup. When u keep the lights lower ( without heat killing r plants ) the plants tends to grow strong and bushier at the bottom. However, according many experts, the light should be 18 inches from the tops of the plant and this applies mainly to MH or HPS lights. But for fluro. I think its could be significantly lower as those do not produce the same temp. as an HPS. Just raise the lights a little and see how the plants react to it. When the have come to a satisfactory height ( 12 inches with a strong stem ) I would flower them, the height of the plants needs to match what's available in your setup. So it all depends on your own setup and ur own goals. Hope this helps at least a little bit. And also during flowering a plants can double or triple in height.

The Dude Abides!

[NiFty]

Thanks for all the advice newbeee!

The reason I was gonna do a 2 week flowering test is that I dont have space for 6 x 12inch pots! I was gona flower them for a couple of weeks when they get to 10-12inches high and hopefully whittle them down to 2 or 3 ladies which I DO have space for!!

I'll definitely bear in mind all your other advice though. Particularly about pruning them earlier and raising the height for a while!

Any more??

Cheers Newbeee!

[newbeee]

When I started I had 7 babies, but when I moved them to the big pots I had to pull the plug on 3 of them and I kept the helthy ones. Sometimes, the right amount of individual space for each plant is better than having a lot of plants in a cramped place. This could also mean more output per plants when it comes to harvesting. It all depends on your own decisions. Think about about....I think you will be fine. Reading is the key to getting everything done the proper way. Good luck to you.

[gr0wer]

newbiee i hear you on the yeild per plant but ther is an equalibreum where the yeild per square foot is better, if you want pretty plants give them room. But if you want quantity do SOG (look it up nifty) you will get less per plant but more total out of the same size. You can do SCROG and get a better eild mabey, im not shure whast beter yeild wise) but that would take longer because you have to veg for a longer period so you have more nodes to train. I would reccomend moving the ligths down by making the lights on a piece of plywod and hanging it on chains and have a good hood (hardwaer store) to hold the chains up. Or you can do what i do and jack up the pots by puting someting under them like a rubbermaid container or something big and stackable so yo can change the height as they grow. I would reccomend puting the plants in bigger pots asap because they will just get root bound adn slow growth of lower nodes. To check if there root bound look on the bottom of your pots and see if roots are sticking out then you know you need a bigger pot.

[NiFty]

Hi All,

Just a quick update 12 days ago.

I found a place that sells HPS lights in Newark, UK for good old untraceable cash See www.basementlighting.com

Anyway I fitted it up late lst week (430Watt Son T Agro) and look what happened! The shortest is 9 inches, the tallest is 13 - They've all doubled in height in something like 5 days!
I've put them onto 12/12 to sex them.
Once that's done I will remove the males n re-pot the females. Then I shall put them back to veg, take a few cuttings for clones from the best ones and flower them again ifter another 2-3 weeks. I can't wait!

If anyone is wondering if an HPS is worth it then this should be it! Go and treat yourself (and your babies!) You won't regret it!!!

[NiFty]

And another from a different angle...!

[gr0wer]

I would just continue the 12/12 insted of just sexing them and going back to veg. Otherwise they will outgrow your box, nice setup! You should find bigger pots now because i cna bet they are starting to get rootbound in those small 6" pots.

[unoit]

HIGH All, yes I agree with gr0wer.