weak stem

[courtcourt420]

Hey everyone... Happy new year! um question, ive got 4 seedlings that seemed to be doing great when i got home yesterday after being gone for 5 days, but their stems are VERY weak! what do i do? how do i strengthen them? i have something free standing in the soil to lean the seedlings up against so they dont fall over and snap.. but other than that, im have no clue. help me out! thanks!

 

[le1337need]

do you have a fan blowing on the plants? It will help strengthen the stems, make sure you put it on a low seeting and have it oscilliate if at all possible. the fan acks like the wind in nature and stretches the cells of the plant which makes it stronger.

 

[courtcourt420]

we just set it up today... we were rushing before we left and forgot to do it. but now its all good. are there any nutrients that can help?

 

[Blowback]

No just the fan for a couple of days should do the trick...good luck

 

[skunkushybrid]

How far away are your lights? What lights you using?

 

[courtcourt420]

there about 2 ft up above them.. we just moved them under the 400 watt hps.. they were under regular florecents.

 

[shiva]

I think part of the problem is also that they were reaching for the lights. I had this problem with my first 2 seedlings and I offset the light to one side for the first week or two so it lit the stem too. That with a nice fan and my stems are really solid now.

 

[courtcourt420]

oh ok. so i guess i should adjust even lower then shouldn't i? maybe a foot above?

 

[FallenHero]

if you put an hps 1 foot above seedlings you will see undesired results, move it down slowly, and try to keep the temps down.

 

[mogie]

Cut a straw into sections. Then split the straw down the middle. Use this to help prop up your seedlings. Works great.

 

[courtcourt420]

yeah we ended up not moving the light... we can already see improvements after adding the fan.. so i think everythings going pretty good.

 

[skunkushybrid]

In a couple of days you'll want to get that light closer to the plants. I know you're supposed to have the lights further away during veg' than flower... but I like to keep mine as close as I can pretty much all the way through. With the use of 2 fans I can get a 400w hps 6-8" away from the tops of the plants. The benefits of HID lamps all but stop 2ft down... so if you can get the light to 6" you are making for a fat 18" cola. Add some heavy drying towards the end of flowering period to get the plants to make more resin... starving them a little does this too, also trimming (pruning) the actual bud. Towards the end of flower it's good to stress them out a little.

 

[courtcourt420]

So where should i put the other fan? should i put it right under the light so its constantly blowing on it to keep the temp down?

 

[shiva]

I tried Mogies idea with my weak stems of splitting a straw and pushing it into the earth to secure the stem and hold the plant upright - this may have worked for you mogie but my little seedlings died... the straw seems to stop any circulating air getting to the seedlings stem in order to thicken it so it's not something that i would advise using on seedlings at all!

 

[nongreenthumb]

I personally like to give the stem a regular wiggle of the stem not to strong to break it but a nice wiggle and a slight bend plus you can smell your hand afterwards and it smells fucking gorgeous but on the other hand it does wind you up.

 

[courtcourt420]

yeah we were actually shaking the little chamber they're in to give em little boost of movement.. they seem to be strengthening right up.

 

[skunkushybrid]

Yeah... one fan blowing the stems and the other blowing between the light and the top of the plants. A good tip is to hold your hand over the tops of your plants... if it feels uncomfortable for your hand then it will be uncomfortable for your plants.

 

[FallenHero]

I tried Mogies idea with my weak stems of splitting a straw and pushing it into the earth to secure the stem and hold the plant upright - this may have worked for you mogie but my little seedlings died... the straw seems to stop any circulating air getting to the seedlings stem in order to thicken it so it's not something that i would advise using on seedlings at all!

Really, i used the straws on all my plants and it worked quite nicely.

 

[courtcourt420]

yeah im using things to prop u my weaker babies too... it seems to always help... i plan on taking it out when they become stronger.

 

[skunkushybrid]

I honestly feel that you shouldn't aid young veggers in standing up. Even if they do stretch and fall over, or their stems are too weak. Once you get the fan, and the light close enough they will stand up on their own... and grow nice thick stems. On my 1st grow, after getting locked up for 3 days, I had 40 plants do this (stretch and fall over). Got the fan, moved the lights closer... within 48 hours all of them were standing upright again, no need for support.