My newly purchased clones are drooping....need assistance.

I purchased some Master O.G. clones about 2 weeks ago from a local dispensary. After a traumatic experience (cat got into room and ate some of the fan leaves) the plants have started to grow new leaves and were looking healthy until today. We extended are grow box by two feet and switched them over from 4 32W T8's to a 400W MH. They have started to droop slightly and I just wanted to know if that was normal because of the light switch. Our box is running at about 85 (I know, working on getting A/C in there), with a 435CFM exhaust fan. The light is 36" above the plants since they are still small. I will be posting some pictures when I get home from work. If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated.

If anything the plants should perk right up when going under the 400. Have you changed your nut solution? Its important to test PH and PPM. In the cloner you shouldnt really be using any nuts except for maybe a little B-1 to encourage root grow. Then once you start your first week in Veg you should do have the recommended dosage of your nuts. I use Botanicare Pure Blend Pro 1 tbsp and 1/2 tbsp of Kalmag Plus per quart of tap water, check PPM first then PH. The PH should be around 5.8-6 and PPM should be around 1400-1500. Second week kick it into gear, 1 tbsp of PBP and 1/2 tbsp of Kalmag Plus. PPM at 1600-1800 to be safe and 5.8 - 6.0 PH. Keep reading forums, the info is out there.

even though it's small you could still drop your light down a bit to about 24" and if they do fine with that you could try dropping to 18". Just because they're small doesn't mean they don't love light.

to: cyboger34
This is a soil grow, and the plants do have a root system going. I'm using FoxFarm Ocean Forest with Alaskan Humus. I'm using a small amount of nutes, but have been doing so since the first week and I don't believe that to be the problem.
to: SwungChris
I'm a little hesitant with dropping the lights but I will give it a try. I have a C.A.P. Lumanaire hood with tempered glass with the fan running through the flange and out the exhaust ducting just to give you an idea of what i'm working with. Pictures will be provided soon just to get a better idea.

I am sure it is the light - they are not used to the intensity of the 400.
It will take a day or to to harden off to the new conditions.

to: Angelsbandit
Do you think I should also lower the lights as SwungChirs suggested? Thank you for your input, I really do appreciate it.

Mine did the same thing...
I had to put a cool mist humidifier in with mine to bring up the humidity and they did better.
The room was too dry, also keep an eye on the room temps and try to keep it at 75 Degrees under 80 if possible.

To: dirtsurfr
I have a Swamp cooler that i'm going to attach inside the box. I believe that should help cool down and increase the humidity. This forum is really helpful. I appreciate everyone's response and any further advice would be appreciated.

T8's are fine for clones and mother plants. Use 400wt MH only when plants are well established and can take the higher intensity light.

To Dave Eddy:

What do you mean by well established? I didn't think it was possible to give the plants to much light, heat maybe but too much light?

I don't think too much light is possible, definitely not with a 400w. But yes, as you guessed it changes the heat and the humidity. Thats my theory at least

Either way by established he means age and root sytem. If you can veg a clone for a week or two under flouros it'll be much more resilient.

to: rucca
Thank you for clearing that up. The clones did veg under T8's for two weeks, I think it's just a little shock from the light and humidity. I'm going to hook up the swamp cooler when I get home and I will keep you posted.

Too much light is an issue when the plants are not used to it.
They recieve far more lumens with the 400, and there would also be a temperature difference as well.

Leave the lights where they are until the clones perk up, then you can make your height adjustments.

to: angelsbandit

That makes sense. The temp actually went down from 90 to 85 simply because I got a better fan. The swamp cooler should help provide some humidity and reduce the heat. I will not touch the lights for now until they get adjusted.

Start with the lights way up for 1-2 weeks they will still get alot more than what their used to. These are mine at 2 weeks

2 things right off the bat.... like dirtsurfr said you need to do somethign to raise the humidity, keep it around 80% for the first 2 weeks then slowly drop it down to 60%~ after that..... humidity should be -50% for flowering.... and #2 the light intensity, the light is to close move it higher... to around 4 feet and slowly move it closer..... every day move the light a little closer to the plants untill they start to feel the heat.

Keep the light high and give them a while to adjust, they will be fine. One other thing don't kill them with kindness, don't over water.

i just started some triple og and sour grape clones from a disspencary i put them under a 1000 hps after about a week or so under floros kept about three and a half feet the first two days they did the same thing raise the rh and lower the temp they should do great just remember to always check your ph and ppm when watering remember its not called weed for nothing the littler you do to its the better off you are

Thank you all. To my pleasant surprise the plants responded very well to the light. When I went to visit my girls the leaves were no longer drooping, in fact, the fan leaves were facing up towards the light. It looks like they adapted very quickly. I'm very thankful for everyone's input and help. I will be posting pictures of my first grow in another thread sometime tomorrow.

When clones are transported from where they are rooted to another location you will always get setbacks because of changes in altitude mostly. That's why in British Columbia we have started destributing snips instead of clones. They will do better if they are budded close to where they were cloned. I would go with two four foot flouresents to help them through this. They are experiencing root failure because they are not strong enough to absorb the increased lighting.