Hello. After stumbling across this forum a little while back I figured I'd give growing a few plants of my own a try. I germinated some seeds a friend gave me a few weeks back and maybe a week ago, transferred them into larger pots. They seem to be growing really fast. Full and leafy - but not tall. They don't look like the other plants I'm seeing on here in similar stages. Wondering if I could get your input. How these looking? Can you identify anything I'm doing wrong? I have them under 4 42watt? florescents. 2x 4100k and 2x 5100k. Up to a week ago I had the lights positioned only an inch away from the plant. I've since moved it maybe 6" away in an effort to get these guys to grow upwards. Planning on picking up a few CFL's to add some side light. You may notice on of the plants is a bit curled at the leaves. I think I may have over watered this one the other day. Thanks!
No problems, as far as their stature goes. CFLs usually make a plant short and stocky because the lights need to be closer in order to let the plant absorb all of the light it can. The plant has no need to stretch out because the energy it needs is right there next to it. By moving them further away you are depriving them of some of that light energy. CFLs do not have good penetration, meaning their energy is best absorbed no more than 4" away from the bulb. Put 'em back where they were unless you want to stress your plants a little bit. If you really want them to grow taller, invest in some kind of HID setup...MH(metal halide) for Veg and HPS (high pressure sodium) for Flower. Overwatering doesn't make the leaves curl up like that. They could have some heat issues, as I don't see any other signs of nute deficiency. If temp is okay, then it's probably a nute def. or a Ph issue. Ride it out to see if it gets worse before worrying though. Read ALL of the stickies here in the City...mainly the ones in Beginners and Indoor sections. They have ALL the info you'll ever need for a good grow.
Thanks for the quick reply. I suspect you may be right about the heat issue. I'm going to have to add a fan as it does get pretty warm in there. While I'm at it I'll drop the lights back down within a couple inches. I have been reading a ton (mostly the stickies) and have learned a heap from this site. What a great resource! Thanks for you input!!! Ceddy
Approaching 8 weeks in I thought I'd post a little update... Plants are growing tall! The top layers are full - mostly large leaves. Not sure if this typical for its stage but under the cover there is little going on. I switched to 2100K bulbs and started a 12/12 cycle maybe 2 weeks ago. Started with the nutes beginning of the week and added a 3rd 2 fluorescent bulb ballast. Just recently new growth is popping up in what used to be empty areas. Still no sign of flowering. Did I jump the gun? Am I just being impatient? Do I need to get some light hitting them from below? Check the pics! I'd appreciate any feedback. Note the color and way the plant on the far left is growing. All along this one has seemed weak. Leaves often droop and/or curl, stem is thin compared to the other 2. I'll admit I found the soil was a little on the dry side when I took these pics - prob the cause of some of the curling you see in the pics. I also raised the lamps for the sake of taking pics... they are otherwise always positioned just a couple inches away.
hey nice looking plants dude, i noticed in a pic theres a leaf sitting on the soil id remove that you dont want leafs touching soil & it wont to any harm to remove that & any low ones touching soil
your plants look real nice! its wierd that at 8 weeks they are not showing sex, at 5 weeks you usually have pre-flowers and then 1-2 weeks later you should def be able to see the sex. Actually, post some pics of the plants up close, its hard to see pistils from that far away. I would get on top of that cuz if u have a male there it might pollinate all your girls...
Thanks for the replies guys. I wasn't aware leaves touching soil was a bad thing. I've removed the dead ones. Out of curiosity, what is the reason for doing this? Yeah trust me, every day when I get home from work checking for any signs of flowering/sex is the first thing I do. Actually I came home today to what appears to be the very fist signs of white hairs sprouting on 2 of the plants. Very good news! No sign of balls on the 3rd so we"ll wait and see... I tried to snap some pix but couldn't get my cheap digi camera to focus where I wanted it to. My guess is they are slow to flower due to my noobness. Early on I think I was under watering them. Despite watering every 2nd day, I think I simply wasn't giving them enough. Surely that has to have a negative effect. Also I may have been a little late giving them nutes.
i think theres a few reasons why leafs touching/lying on the soil is bad im not sure on em but my mate had some nasty mold shit start growin where the leafs were touching
Looking good bro! I see that you probably raised the lights cause it looks liek a little stretch going on...its better in my opinion to have the more bushy. On my last grow i jsut added lights on the side walls of my grow space so that the plant was getting light from all angles. Keep up the good work! -Spent.ho
Right on. I have my lights set up in a way I can roll them up and down if or when needed. For taking pics I raised em way up. Typically I'll adjust the lights an inch or 2 away in the morn when I check on em/turn the lights back on. By the time I get home in the eve, the plants are often touching the bulbs. I keep moving them up as I couldn't imagine allowing the plants to touch to be a good thing. I've been thinking of add a couple of cheap desk lamps with 40watt+ CFLs aimed upwards into the plants in hopes of helping fill out the plants.