Hey guys and gals I have grown before but never inside and never hydroponically. Well I did some research and bought a 400 watt hps light with a mh conversion bulb. I read an artical that said this light should be good for growing up to 12 plants and that each plant should have a square foot to grow. So I decided on an ebb flood and drain system (I believe that is what it is called) anyway I built it myself out of pvc to accomodate 9 plants. The Plants are spaced 14" apart from each other. I am using flora grow, micro and bloom with big bud power for flowering. The system worked excellent however I had four seeds that I purchaced from nirvana and the others were some my friend gave me. Well I wanted to wait to start budding untill the plants were all 12" tall. The seeds I bought grew faster then the ones my friend gave me so when the others wer 12" the rest were 6-7" then I went out of town for a few days came back and they all had taken off like crazy the tall ones wer about 22" so I started the 12-12 process its been a little over a week and the tall plants are 30" in height and I did top them they have only been in the system for 5 weeks I pulled out two males yesterday and replaced them with 2 small females. I am just wondering if I have to maany plants in my system any help would be great. The pic I sent was from the beginng of the week before I pulled the two males and put in the two females. Sorry the pic isnt great because of the hps bulb Ill try to take another one in different lighting. Thanks Steve
that doesn't look too bad... just keep an eye on the tallest ones. if the grow guide your read was any good, it would mention "stretching" where your plants rapidly grow vertically. this happens when you switch your lights to 12/12 to flower... usually lasts between 2-4 weeeks. also...looks like your setup is fairly high off the ground, you might run out of room, depending on how high your ceiling is in your grow room. be carefull, not to let the plants grow into your light...especially if it's not AIR COOLED. happy growing
Thanks yeah its high I am actually going to lower it about seven inches to give me more room as I can only raise the light about another 8" right now the light is about 18" away how close can I get to the light? Its not an air cooled reflecter but I do have adequite ventlation and the room is staying right around 75 degrees f. How much more do you think the plants will strech?
18" is plenty... In fact you could probably even lower it, to maybe 10-12" just be careful not to let it get too hot. When you're not using an air coolable reflector, it will be much less forgiving. Putting your light closer might also slow the streching a little, but alot of that just has to do with genetics....its a balancing act... you wanna get your light as close to the cannopy as you can without it getting too hot. It sounds like you have really good ventilation, but it will most likely still be a little warmer under the light at canopy level than in the room. what you should do is hang a thermometer so it's at the canopy level and see what it says. as for how much more your plants will stretch, this is nearly impossible to tell. it's all in the genetics. even different phenotypes of the same strain can have varying traits including how much they stretch.
Thanks alot you have been alot of help I am going to look online now for an air cooled reflecter it sounds like this will help but next grow I think I will start the budding sooner I never expected the plant s to get this tall. 30" is small for the outside grows I used to do but with the amount of space I have its a little on the tall side for my liking at least it sounds like I have room to get closer to the light I think I will point a small fan at the top of the canopy to help untill I have an air cooled reflecter. Thanks again Steve