Help with slow growth

Matty22g

Member
I
Even without strong lighting the plants would normally be bigger than that so i would assume it's the strain. I had heaps of issues with my new grow including trying a new "organic" potting mix which turned out to be absolute shit and having to start using RO water as the council has done something to my water and it is now way too hard to use on plants. As soon as i transplanted to my usual potting mix and starting using RO water it was like a transformation. In all honestly i was days away from ordering new seeds and starting again they were that bad (woody stalks and shriveled leaves), now they are growing like crazy. Yes a HPS/MH bulb will help... More power more speed as they say. I've got my 3 babies under a 250hps bulb (my mh bulb had a crack in it and eventually gave up) and they are growing outwards about 1/2 inch a day and upwards about 1/2 inch a day except for one plant which should be my jack here from BCBD. I also have a God Bud which is suspiciously growing very fast and looking like a sativa so I'm assuming the morons switched them without noticing as the "Jack Herer" is growing super slow compared to the others which is exactly what everyone says about the God Bud.

Are you using RO water? If so i would say It's mostly the strain and the size of the pot (transplanting a small plant into a big pot takes time for the plant to grow a sizable root ball and you will see little to no growth until it does). Using those cheap chinese LED lights probably doesn't help either... I've had success in the past using CFL's but i always had at least one 125w 2300k in with them. Though since using HPS/MH bulbs you tend not to go back as the growth is ridiculous and the buds are dense af.

Also just noticed in the pics of your plant in flower you need those cfl's max 2-3 inches away dude. Might seem extreme but when i used cfl's i was raising them everyday so they didnt burn the leaves. After 2-3 inches cfl's have little effect at all you need that shit right up in their grill.

Oh and one of your plants is clawing slightly like my biggest one which is due to heat, humidity or ph. though your temps and humidity sound perfect so i reckon ph/phosphorous issue. Is that a big size difference on one of those pics with the new leaves either side or did you go too crazy topping? Look up leaf deformation
I'm honestly thinking it could be due to my water now, when i first moved in few months ago it was running out at ph of 5.0 now its about 6.2. I did have crazy deformaties on some plants but i sent those out to a buddies outdoor grow cuz his plants look phenominal and he knows fuck all about growing pot. And yea my cfls i put em a bit closer last night same with the led theyre all now like 3-4 inches away i kept the cfls away because i was worried about the heat and when they shut off they start to claw because theyre a bit colder than during the day. And no if youre talking about the plant in flower it may look bigger in the picture but its just been kept under lst dont even think it stretch on the light switch ahah popped its first hare 2 days after. But thanks for mentioning water its one of those things i never think of ive always filtered it since its city water and tried to keep ph in check but maybe ill start rainwater i heard RO was a bit pricey could be wrong but ill look into it thanks a ton
 

Borgarden

Well-Known Member
I

I'm honestly thinking it could be due to my water now, when i first moved in few months ago it was running out at ph of 5.0 now its about 6.2. I did have crazy deformaties on some plants but i sent those out to a buddies outdoor grow cuz his plants look phenominal and he knows fuck all about growing pot. And yea my cfls i put em a bit closer last night same with the led theyre all now like 3-4 inches away i kept the cfls away because i was worried about the heat and when they shut off they start to claw because theyre a bit colder than during the day. And no if youre talking about the plant in flower it may look bigger in the picture but its just been kept under lst dont even think it stretch on the light switch ahah popped its first hare 2 days after. But thanks for mentioning water its one of those things i never think of ive always filtered it since its city water and tried to keep ph in check but maybe ill start rainwater i heard RO was a bit pricey could be wrong but ill look into it thanks a ton
You would be suprised man I never used RO water I just used my tap water and had little to no ill effects from it. I remember the council sending me a letter in the last year about doing something to the water and thought nothing of it and my grow had been an absolute nightmare until i changed to my usual potting mix and started using RO water. In 3 days they went from borderline dead to 3 times the size so yeah RO water is definately worth looking at. Found mine in the cleaning section at the supermarket, 5L bottles for around $3 each which isn't that bad really. Two of them have lasted me 2 weeks now. Will need more when i transplant to the final pots due to the pot size but they are so healthy now i can't go back to tap water.
 

Matty22g

Member
Even without strong lighting the plants would normally be bigger than that so i would assume it's the strain. I had heaps of issues with my new grow including trying a new "organic" potting mix which turned out to be absolute shit and having to start using RO water as the council has done something to my water and it is now way too hard to use on plants. As soon as i transplanted to my usual potting mix and starting using RO water it was like a transformation. In all honestly i was days away from ordering new seeds and starting again they were that bad (woody stalks and shriveled leaves), now they are growing like crazy. Yes a HPS/MH bulb will help... More power more speed as they say. I've got my 3 babies under a 250hps bulb (my mh bulb had a crack in it and eventually gave up) and they are growing outwards about 1/2 inch a day and upwards about 1/2 inch a day except for one plant which should be my jack here from BCBD. I also have a God Bud which is suspiciously growing very fast and looking like a sativa so I'm assuming the morons switched them without noticing as the "Jack Herer" is growing super slow compared to the others which is exactly what everyone says about the God Bud.

Are you using RO water? If so i would say It's mostly the strain and the size of the pot (transplanting a small plant into a big pot takes time for the plant to grow a sizable root ball and you will see little to no growth until it does). Using those cheap chinese LED lights probably doesn't help either... I've had success in the past using CFL's but i always had at least one 125w 2300k in with them. Though since using HPS/MH bulbs you tend not to go back as the growth is ridiculous and the buds are dense af.

Also just noticed in the pics of your plant in flower you need those cfl's max 2-3 inches away dude. Might seem extreme but when i used cfl's i was raising them everyday so they didnt burn the leaves. After 2-3 inches cfl's have little effect at all you need that shit right up in their grill.

Oh and one of your plants is clawing slightly like my biggest one which is due to heat, humidity or ph. though your temps and humidity sound perfect so i reckon ph/phosphorous issue. Is that a big size difference on one of those pics with the new leaves either side or did you go too crazy topping? Look up leaf deformation
Oh and just realized the pic ur lookin at is a while go before flower cfls are a bit closer now just for side buds anyway so i could get the led closer n shes in a tent since then
You would be suprised man I never used RO water I just used my tap water and had little to no ill effects from it. I remember the council sending me a letter in the last year about doing something to the water and thought nothing of it and my grow had been an absolute nightmare until i changed to my usual potting mix and started using RO water. In 3 days they went from borderline dead to 3 times the size so yeah RO water is definately worth looking at. Found mine in the cleaning section at the supermarket, 5L bottles for around $3 each which isn't that bad really. Two of them have lasted me 2 weeks now. Will need more when i transplant to the final pots due to the pot size but they are so healthy now i can't go back to tap water.
You the man never thought of buying it either was just looking at RO systems so maybe ill go buy a couple bottles and some cal mag to see what kind of difference it makes do you add cal mag in your RO or does it really not make a difference in soil?
 

Mullumbimby

Well-Known Member
I think you need more, faster drainage.
You say quite confidently that they 'dry out in 2-3 days' but, if they are very small and slow-growing, it's hard to see how this could be the case. They look like they're in fairly decent-sized pots.
If it was me, I'd wait till I thought they were ready for a drink, then wait another half-day. If they don't start to droop , go another half and so on.
You might be surprised.
(the RO water thing sounds like a good idea too but small plants don't need much)\
Good luck :)
 

Matty22g

Member
I think you need more, faster drainage.
You say quite confidently that they 'dry out in 2-3 days' but, if they are very small and slow-growing, it's hard to see how this could be the case. They look like they're in fairly decent-sized pots.
If it was me, I'd wait till I thought they were ready for a drink, then wait another half-day. If they don't start to droop , go another half and so on.
You might be surprised.
(the RO water thing sounds like a good idea too but small plants don't need much)\
Good luck :)
Thanks i was gunna water tmro maybe ill try waiting till the day after see what happens you very well could be right
 
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