My two week old plants were going slow under four 12 inch florecents so last night i hooked up my new 1000w HID and put it 8 inches away. Low and behold within a couple hours one plant died so i raised the light to a couple feet. This morning the others seem to be reaching for the light. The little stalks are growing faster than the leaves. What should i do?
Burry the stem, put a fan on them so they grow stronger and tie them to something for support. I use CFL's for veg as the HPS makes them stretch to much.
Thanks Wiz, I did bury the stems when i realized my florecents were too far away. I would think They will keep reaching until they get too close to the 1000w and then burn up. Thoughts??
LST them so they don't reach the light Also get some kind of cooling for your light if it doesn't have any (cool tube). I LST almost all plants even if they are not getting too big I still find it helps yeild and helps me plan my grow space better. You should look into Low Stress Training if you have not done it before, you can also still top, fim and supercropp them if you need to.
i can't LST them as they are only three inches tall with four small leaves. They are babies. I cant turn on my fan too high either or the plants will blow down (lol) there has to be a simple explaination. Maybe i should just put them back under the 12 inch florecents and let em grow slow until they get big enough to handle the 1000w???
That could work, the light is making them stretch but its also burning them when they get near to it. So you need to cool the light or stop the ladies from stretching (I'd do both). I leave them under the flouros unitl I want them to flower (usually 1 - 3 feet tall).
Thanks again wiz. The floros are not powerful enough to get them growing very fast at all. They are just for babies. The whole idea of buying the 1000w is so i could get them growing fast and high (4ft) and then flower with an HPS bulb. So really i have to cool the bulb. How do i do that?
A cooltube is a quick and simple way of cooling, I only use a 600w HPS and even that can run to hot. An AC unit can also help but they cost a bit more for a good large one. I'd probably put them under floros until they are big enough to LST and have stronger stems then you could veg them with the HPS or just put them into 12/12 if looking for a faster harvest. HPS can be a problem for veggies stretching but I did all my first indoor grows with one. You could also add some CFL's and have them near the plant that would stop some of the stretch. Good luck whatever method you go with.
That again Wiz. It all makes sense (pardon the pun) I cant seem to find a cool tube online. Where do i go for that?
I would think any hydro store would stock cooltubes, my local store does. I have even seen a great guide on here for making your own cooltube but you had to cut glass and do other kinds of DIY that are beyond me. You can also use a vented hood or even water-cooling but I have not tried these.