3 Likes
Lights are too far from the top of the plant. Thats why sheās stretching. Looking for light. Lower the lights 18" from the top of her. If the edges of the leaves start to curl up raise it to 24". Looks a little over watered. Let the soil dry out so she can get some oxygen. She needs to breath just like us. ( yes, Iām high) you can bury the stem for stability so sheāll stand at attention. Welcome @Pasolauren
13 Likes
Hey guys!
Iām new to the channel but I appreciate all the support you guys have provided for the community for AGES! So letās get to itā¦
Iām growing these plants from some old bag seeds (probably a year old) I saved and Iām pretty surprised by their growth to say the least. Since they sprouted, theyāve been in veg for about 4 weeks and yet theyāre only 3" tall?!
Iām so confused. The plant thatās standing upright has about 5 nodes, and the one laying down has 4 nodes, yet both are showing no lateral shoot development, which is odd to me because all the videos Iāve seen, by day 10-14, the plants first set of true leaves surpass the cup and itās ready for transplant, but I feel like my plants are way to small and need more root development.
Iām a new grower so Iāve already noted that the one that is laying down/stretching was due to a lack of light. Some other sources of error I already noted were my lighting, temperature, watering schedule, and maybe soil ph?
- Admittedly, my first novice move was I first started growing them with ONE regular 16W (1490 lumens/2700K) house LED lightbulb and the help of the sun (prob 3 or 4 hrs of direct sunlight-- itās been alot of overcast the past couple of weeks). I changed to 2 - 33W (2090 Lumens each/6400K) CFL bulbs about last week-- is this okay or should I just shell out the cash for a full spectrum LED panel/light system?
- I also believe I overwatered my plant heavily in the beginning. In week two, they both had only one set of true leaves still, or maybe two, and I called a grower friend of mine and he suggested I let them dry out before watering them again. I did that and have been using only a spray bottle with distilled water (to moisten the top soil and to wet the leaves) and two weeks later, we have the growth we see here nowā¦ but no lateral shoots/branchesā¦ also, the leaves seem very small to meā¦ the new growth leaves are definitely bigger than the old ones, Iām not sure if this is a nutrient deficiency or geneticsā¦ or from a lack of space for the roots in the potā¦ but do you guys have any suggestions?
- The soil im using is Kelloggās All Natural Indoor Potting Mix Organic Plus w/ about 1/16-1/8 of a teaspoon of Dr . Earthās Tomato & Veg dry fertilizer (4-6-3 blend; just enough for the 3.5" pot). Iāve seen some people say not to use any nutes until the plants get true leaves because theyāre sensitive-- is this true and could this have stunted their growth? Plus the overwatering? Also, the soil has a pH of 5.25-5.75-- I wish I knew this before because then I would have used the Jiffy Seed Starting Mix I have. Is this pH also hindering nutrient uptake for my plants?
- Since the dry amendments take a little time to kick in, I started adding some of Dr. Earthās pure gold all purpose 1-1-1 liquid fertilizer (1 oz in half a gallon distilled water spray bottle) to both at about week 3 every other watering, just enough to wet the top soil, and careful not to overwater. I feel like this is making more new growth steadily, and causing the new growth to be bigger-- as the new leaves have 3 blades as opposed to one on the older leaves. I just made a fertilizer tea from the DR. Earths tomato & veg mix and will be adding today, to see if this will make a difference.
- Since Iām using distilled water (I have a water filter that removes basically all heavy metals and impurities), and the fertilizers contains natural microbes, I was hoping I donāt need to adjust my pH. Should I? I really wanna do an all organic grow so if I do need to alter the pH of my soil or water, I want to use citric acid or baking soda, are these safe alternatives?
- Also, should I move the plants to their forever home? I want to put them in a 3 gallon pot. Do you guys think theyāre rootbound? I doubt it since there is new growth and im starting to see some shoot development I believe at some of the nodes now, since I added the all purpose 1-1-1 liquid nutes. Maybe they need the extra legroom?
Iāve been careful to watch my watering and also have been more strict on my lighting requirements. I also made a little grow box out of some usps boxes I got for free from the post office and just stuck some aluminum foil in there. I have a humidifier but no hygrometer. The temp in my apartment is about 72Ā°F-83Ā°F, and theyāre on a 18/6 schedule (some days, the lights were on for 24hrs by mistake). Now that theyāre in a box, I hope that I can control some of the other factors that contribute to a healthy grow. As they get bigger, Iām definitely going to need more CFL bulbs or a big light. What should I do guys?
Thanks for the info man! I figured about the lighting situation, I have the CFLās about 4" from them. But my thing is, theyāre 4 weeks old! Check my comment above to see where I went wrong and if you can helpš @Thatbaldguy
Severe lack of light and overwatering/damping off. Also; those peat pots tend to tank the PH and cause issues. You need 200 plug watts of LEDās to properly grow out your plant. Light is the main driver for all processes: less light, less growth and more reaching.
7 Likes
Thanks for that! Is it severe lack of light for both plants? Only one is stretching. I believe the other one has good spacing on the nodesš¤·š½āāļø but theyāre both 4 weeks old! I believe I definitely overwatered in the beginning but the soil Iām using, the pH is 5.25-5.75, could this be causing an issue as well? @Myfriendis410
1 Like
Also, I have two- 33W (each being 150W equivalent) CFLās in my grow box for now. Are these lights good enough for now?
No such thing as āequivalentā. You have to run high intensity lights for cannabis to thrive.
Your low PH could have some effect: I would suggest potting up into 3 gallon fabric pots with cannabis-friendly media.
You absolutely have to have good lighting to grow cannabis. This is the biggest investment indoor growers make.
6 Likes
Yea, Iām starting to realize that. the CFLās say their 33W, equivalent to a 150W replacement (incandescent bulb I assume) and they emit 2090 lumens each (6400K). Thereās a PAR Meter app called phototone I would like to try, so I can get an accurate measure of the PPFD the plants are receiving, but Iāve been skeptical. Iāve seen people grow with many CFL bulbs, usually at 26W each, and they get decent yields. However, it seems this is a solitary niche as everyone has either LED OR HPS lamps
Hi I grow with house bulbs, a CFL 6500k is in my seedling closet with two 2700k bulbs and a 3500k, total around 50W. I run them really close.
This is about as far as that will get me. Needs to go in the tent under bigger light.
Like that 150w eq = 33 real watts, a grow light might be called a ZX1000 and = 150 real watts. Hinting its equal to 1000wā¦ that woukd be OK for a plant or 2 in a 2x2 or 2x3 space.
Plant them in 3 or 5gal grow ābagsā add light and do less for them til theyre bigger and welcome to the grow fam
3 Likes
Its not ideal for flowering , buuutttt it can be done , but i used the $hit out of them back in the day for veggingā¦
23 watt 6500 Kelvin cfl bulbāsā¦
You can do anything, if you put your heart into it and donāt be scared to build stuffā¦
Make it work babyā¦
And actually the top pic is some new led bulbās mixed in , they will work tooā¦
7 Likes
Just make sure you always know what your doing, safety first, because god forbid you burning down the house and hopefully everyone survives, youāll be saying what was i thinking, here is week 4 of flower got some tip burn, so close yet so far away
3 Likes
I highly recommend one or two of these for anyone thats growing indoors or is just worried about fire safetyā¦
But i would also recommend doing research on whatever it is that you might be building for safety as wellā¦
7 Likes
Research is what I call the things that happen during the first 2 glasses of bourbon. Everything after that is development 
10 Likes
Thanks for the welcome bro, I appreciate it & your plants look amazing! So basically you have 4 lights for all those seedlings? I read some blog where this guy runs 2 - 26W CFLās at 6400K per plant for veg & then for flower, he adds 3 more 26W at 2700K. The slow growth of my plants are really forcing me to get a big full spectrum LED light
This plant is 3 days from sprouting and fingers crossed I learned my mistake and this one is betterš another bag seed tho, a different strain I believe
3 Likes
Welcome to the forum! The growmieās here will get you back on track. I canāt stress enough to spend big on the lighting. I run an AC infinity evo3 250watt LED light for one plant. Iāve spent on inferior lighting only to learn the hard way the importance of the right strong light. Also, looking at your post, that ph is low and way too much water and early for nutes. Like @dbrn32 said pot up to fabric pots (theyāre your friend!) and let that pot dry out until itās light as a loaf of bread and then water. Itās scary thinking how dry it must be, but cannabis thrives on the drench to drought cycle. Happy growing!!
4 Likes
Appreciate the welcome growmie! Iām def gonna get a big LED full spectrum light. Also, the biggest pots I have on hand are 10" terracotta, I think thatās a 3 gallon equivalent, but Iām def gonna invest in them fabric pots too!
And Iām def learning about that dry/wet formulaā:joy: Iām only using a spray bottle when I think theyāre dry now. I usually use Jiffy Seed Starting Mix in my garden and my new seedling was potted in that. Itās a mix of peat moss, coco coir , and vermiculite & it works so good but dries up kind of fast so I think itās perfect and I have experience with it. The Kelloggās soil was some replacement soil I got a while back because the jiffy wasnāt available 
but the Jiffy I see has a pH of 5.5-6.2 while the Kelloggās is much lowerā¦ planted the new seedling in straight Jiffy and Iām misting when dry, fingers crossed this one is much betterā:crossed_fingers:t4:
1 Like
Yes because Iām going for a mix of colors or spectrum. I want the high/6500k only about 25% of the total. Taking them a few weeks into veg, reds (2700/3000k) more photosynthesis, more for the $
1 Like
Your ladies are nice man! Hopefully I can get a lucky first grow like that lol. What lights are you using? And are you doing liquid nutes or are you growing organic?
Man thatās really inspiring! Itās definitely possible I see. Do you notice any difference in quality/ grow rates/ yield with cflās vs the big LED lights?