what does stretching mean in cannabis plants

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by jayjay5396, Jun 4, 2011.

  1. hi i ive got my plants (veg stage) under a 400w HPS people are telling me my crop is stretched i wanna know what that means, am no expert but my plants are looking good so what does people mean by stretching
     
  2. Most of the time stretching comes as a result of lights being to far away. You see it a lot with CFL's. How far away is your HPS?
     
  3. stretching is from lights too far away. They are reaching for the light.
    My 400w MH is about a foot away. they grow short and fat
     

  4. you're using a flowering bulb to veg. which is o.k. but metal halide is better for veg. stretching in veg, is usually caused by the bulb being too far away from the plants. but if you're growing a sativa dominate strain, it could be it's just a pheno of the strain. stretching also occurs in flower, in the first couple weeks. expect more for a sat. dom. strain.
     
  5. its 32 inches away m8
     
  6. Adjust the light to be 12 inches away. You will know if the heat is too much when the top leaves begin to wilt or get droopy.
     
  7. i was gonna get MH but my m8 had HPS his was growing his plants so i just followed suit

    is this the MH bulb i need my 400w ballast is magnetic not digital and it says on it HS1 and M1 my hps works in it so i guess the M1 stands for MH????

    [ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0050B0N2Y/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B004X5U21U&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1ADCSQRYEZ7AJN6X0ZY8]Metal Halide MH 400w Workshop or Grow lamp light bulb. E40 Screw fit. 240v.: Amazon.co.uk: Lighting[/ame]
     
  8. HPS is fine. 32 inches is not. Put the light as close as is comfortable for your hand (heat). Probably 12 inches or so.
     
  9. thats another problem i have the heat ive got it down from 45c to 35c ive getten it down a bit but struggling to get it down further, normal room temp at this time of year is between 28c - 30c thats without the light on and what you described my plant does look limp at the top so it even too hot at 32 inches

    am also thinking if i managed to get all this equipment extractor fans, coolers extractor pipes, and i get police at the door all them 100s of pounds worth of stuff gets taken away from me i cant chance that i want good weed but am more worried about losing my stuff ive paid £80 so far for my light and desk top fans if i lose them i wont be happy if i bought the rest of the gear and lost it all id most likely slash my wrists
     
  10. If you don't solve the heat issues you won't be able to put the light close enough and you won't be able to grow good weed. temp is important.
     
  11. am gonna get this room cooler for £15 next time i have some money its got 5 stars so its gotta help some what

    here it is what do you think

    [ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00364W4CY/ref=cm_rdp_product]Daewoo DHS 3002F 2000W Electric Fan Air Cooler / Heater: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics[/ame]
     
  12. Can you find a regular fan? thats a heater with a fan setting. and the fan setting probably only has 1 speed...
     
  13. #13 LivingCanvas, Aug 26, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 26, 2011
    If you need to get your temps down, you could look at air cooled reflectors. My cab setup is using a Sun System 4 reflector with 4" ducting to pull air out of the cab, through my carbon scrubber, through the reflector cooling the bulb, and vent it out of the cab. (4" Vortex 177CFM inline fan ~$110 online)
     
  14. Stretch can mean two different things. One is when the plants are reaching for light and grow with too much space in between the nodes. But stretching is also a phase the plants go though when they begin the flowering stage. The plants grow so rapids for the first two or so weeks of flowering that people call it the stretch. For example someone might say "You're plants are 2 feet now, but after stretch they will be more like 4-5."
     

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