Stretching et al

[texasboy26]

:howdy:
Not sure if I should even be here.

This is a constant problem, even from my photo days.
Its the period as and after seedlings and before vegetative.

1. They come out of seeds with cotyledons and their plugs are moved to cups and grow one or 2 real leaves in opposite directions before they stop for a week or 3 (all growth is going on in the roots, or so Im told). But they all stretch. Just like in the attached pictures. I use CFLs for vegging and later move them to a 400 watt hps tent. I can only slow down the stretch if I use one CFL for each plant less than an inch from the leaf surface.:smoke:
2. Then in the 3 or 4th week the leaves start coming out in opposite directions and by the 5th week they are as big as most of the plants I see here that are 20 days old. I just dont know how to grow them right during this age. I aint worried about them in their adult stage, its just that I think I could do way better if I could take care of the early stages better. :cry:
   

I use Canna Coco and all their nutes. I have 2-400 watt hps grow tents and use CFLs for vegging.

 

[surffreak23]

As far as HID lighting, HPS lights will cause more stretch during seedling/veg stage, than MH because the spectrum is not as complete and the plants begin to grow in response to the reduced spectrum absorption...
Are you using a cool spectrum (5000-6500K) CFL bulb for your seedlings? This will be better than a warm (2700-3000K) spectrum...
As far as the growth of your plants compared to others, simple things like low or high temps can easily cause a lag in growth as can plenty of other environmental factors... Genetics also plays a role, Autos don't grow as fast as Photos in early life but then they accelerate as they begin to get their roots down...

 

[SeNiOr-FuN-gHi]

do you have a fan running on them? and also how many watts of cfls are you using, that seems quite curious because i had similar problems with stretching and that was caused by the hps light i was using, when i used cfls on my little seedlings it seemed to put an end to it.

 

[surffreak23]

do you have a fan running on them? and also how many watts of cfls are you using, that seems quite curious because i had similar problems with stretching and that was caused by the hps light i was using, when i used cfls on my little seedlings it seemed to put an end to it.

This is usually in part because you can get the CFLs or T5s closer to the plant without burning, I personally use a 125 watt CFL, "Cool spectrum" (6500 Kelvin) for seedlings...

 

[texasboy26]

Thanks yall
Aint no HPS near the babies
Cant get my cool temp cfls any closer.
Seniorfunghi asks about a fan but goes no further saying its all the lights. Hmmm
Are there any other factors influencing stretching? Water? Nutes? Soil? Air? Wind?

And although everybody talks and writes about germination and then Vegetative growth, Nobody writes a thing about the gestation period just after germination when nothing is apparently going on until the vegetative period when there are suddenly 4-8-16 new leaves. I think something is wrong with the way I do it because my plants appear weeks behind those posted here

 

[surffreak23]

And although everybody talks and writes about germination and then Vegetative growth, Nobody writes a thing about the gestation period just after germination when nothing is apparently going on until the vegetative period when there are suddenly 4-8-16 new leaves. I think something is wrong with the way I do it because my plants appear weeks behind those posted here

The main thing that happens to autos right after germ is, the cotyledon leaves and the first true set of leaves pop out, then the top growth slows almost to a stop while they send out a huge taproot that digs very deep (1-3 feet, possibly longer depending on strain, considering how big autos usually are that's long!), and once it hits the bottom of the container the top side starts growing more noticeably again, and by then sexing is usually about a week or less away.... A good way of speeding things up during this phase is to use a heat pad that you set under the pots, warm roots are happy roots! (But don't fry them...)

 

[texasboy26]

The main thing that happens to autos right after germ is, the cotyledon leaves and the first true set of leaves pop out, then the top growth slows almost to a stop while they send out a huge taproot that digs very deep (1-3 feet, possibly longer depending on strain, considering how big autos usually are that's long!), and once it hits the bottom of the container the top side starts growing more noticeably again, and by then sexing is usually about a week or less away.... A good way of speeding things up during this phase is to use a heat pad that you set under the pots, warm roots are happy roots! (But don't fry them...)

Right thanx

 

[JM]

check out marijuanan botany in the tips / tricks knowledge base... lots on controlling stretch in there.

 

[iLuvIndica]

Invest in a 2ft 4 tube T5 ho. ripster and andybotwin use florescents exclusively if you look at there posts you can see them pulling 1+oz per plant using the floros only crazy but they work i have one for veg stage nvr had probs with stretching. Only thing ive heard to cause stretching really is lighting either your using a warm spec when your suppose to be using cool or the intensity isnt there try a different brand or larger size cfl. How many watt cfls are you using ?

 

[texasboy26]

How many watt cfls are you using ?

23 watt and 40 watt cfls blue spectrum. No burn