New Grower New to forum, first grow journal of first ever grow!

[jeffsos3000]

I've run 24/0 for a few years now, and had no problems..

well thats good news to hear, dont get me wrong i like the fact that its short, my biggest concern is light penetration to the new branches that are starting to grow. if that even is anything to be concerned about at this earlier stage. should i maybe just wait it out another week and see if she starts getting taller maybe? i mean at some point its gotta start going into pre flower, something i havent seen any signs of as of yet. but it just hot the 3 week mark two days ago. think she still has around 6 or 7 weeks of growing yet before harvest period, give or take of course.

 

[jingo]

I would go ahead and raise that light up 5 in. LEDs are funny they can cause photoinhibition and keep your plants short without showing any other symptoms at all. other times if your light is too close you'll get some calcium deficiencies or really odd deficiencies showing up on your upper leaves. So I would definitely give that a try, it's also easier to get close in flower with these Chinese lights. Usually you want to start high and then lower it down as you're going.

I only gave the watering recommendation, because a lot of new Growers over water in that keeps them a bit small. But it sounds like you've been real careful so I would disregard that.

I found plants grow bigger in my garden with less nitrogen and I keep my plants a little bit pale. That's why I was thinking a reduction in nitrogen would be a good idea. Are you saying that you just now fead for the very first time?

I run 24-0 and the only thing I can say is my plants take longer to finish than other Growers but they just grow larger.

 

[jeffsos3000]

and i suppose the more important question would be, would a really short plant have any real side effects? is a healthy but short plant going to casue really reduced yield or something like that. i cant help but think healthy is healthy, and height is a little more irrelivant, ive read that some people say really short plants can make for some very dense buds, but ive read so mch information from so many different sources that it seems to be a one person says this and another says that kind of thing,lol.

 

[Frankthetank]

well thats good news to hear, dont get me wrong i like the fact that its short, my biggest concern is light penetration to the new branches that are starting to grow. if that even is anything to be concerned about at this earlier stage. should i maybe just wait it out another week and see if she starts getting taller maybe? i mean at some point its gotta start going into pre flower, something i havent seen any signs of as of yet. but it just hot the 3 week mark two days ago. think she still has around 6 or 7 weeks of growing yet before harvest period, give or take of course.

She may just be a slow starter...some plants take off like a rocket...some are a bit slower. They all finish, in the end. The most important thing is to give her optimal conditions to do her work in. Raise your light up, you can always lower it back down if need be....she'll start stretching. Other than that, make sure you're letting her dry out enough between waterings.

 

[jingo]

Well short will give you really dense buds simply because your lights don't have to penetrate anything. I think a plant that has a very difficult time in life and barely manages to produce a bud sometimes can be extra strong, but I would never try and grow that way on purpose.

 

[Frankthetank]

and i suppose the more important question would be, would a really short plant have any real side effects? is a healthy but short plant going to casue really reduced yield or something like that. i cant help but think healthy is healthy, and height is a little more irrelivant, ive read that some people say really short plants can make for some very dense buds, but ive read so mch information from so many different sources that it seems to be a one person says this and another says that kind of thing,lol.

Some plants grow like a christmas tree, some grow like a bush. Like I said above....feel free to tuck some of the upper leaves to expose the lower tops to the light.

 

[jeffsos3000]

I would go ahead and raise that light up 5 in. LEDs are funny they can cause photoinhibition and keep your plants short without showing any other symptoms at all. other times if your light is too close you'll get some calcium deficiencies or really odd deficiencies showing up on your upper leaves. So I would definitely give that a try, it's also easier to get close in flower with these Chinese lights. Usually you want to start high and then lower it down as you're going.

I only gave the watering recommendation, because a lot of new Growers over water in that keeps them a bit small. But it sounds like you've been real careful so I would disregard that.

I found plants grow bigger in my garden with less nitrogen and I keep my plants a little bit pale. That's why I was thinking a reduction in nitrogen would be a good idea. Are you saying that you just now fead for the very first time?

I run 24-0 and the only thing I can say is my plants take longer to finish than other Growers but they just grow larger.

this was actually my 3rd feeding with nutes. the forst two times i was running 1/4 strength, yesterday i upped it to half, was kind of following this tangs easy autofeed schedule on this last watering. i can definitly raise my lights up that 5 inches thats no problem to do. im not familiar with this leaf tucking that you mention though?

 

[jingo]

People Leaf tuck in different ways, I like to take a couple of the larger fan leaves one on each side of the plant Bend them around towards each other and tie them together with pipe cleaner. Just for a couple days to let the branches below them take off and get past those big fan leaves. Then you can choose a couple more and do the same thing after a couple more days.

 

[Frankthetank]

People Leaf tuck in different ways,

Well said, Jingo

I do it a bit differently (I'll tell you what I do...then you can choose which way you want to do it....Jingo knows his shit)....I just take those same leaves, and bend them down and kind of use a lower leaf to "pin" it down. It will bend back up, just keep at it day after day, basically just bending leaves to expose the lower tops, so they'll stretch up towards the light....here is a series of pics of the same plant, showing the result. Hope it helps ( hope you don't mind my chiming in, as well:smoking

 

[jeffsos3000]

People Leaf tuck in different ways, I like to take a couple of the larger fan leaves one on each side of the plant Bend them around towards each other and tie them together with pipe cleaner. Just for a couple days to let the branches below them take off and get past those big fan leaves. Then you can choose a couple more and do the same thing after a couple more days.

is that whats refered to as pony tailing?
i just went and raised my light those other 5 inches higher. i attempted to move a couple fan leaves out of the way but there pretty large and plant being so short i doubt they will hold very long,lol. i guess ill just wait it out a while and see if she starts to put on some height over the next week or so. im almost tempted to just remove a couple of the fan leaves at the stem. but i dont want to hurt the plant. thinking maybe ill just give it a bit longer and see what happens now that i raised the light those 5 inches.
so taking plant height out of the mix, how do you think the health is looking?