Should I veg longer or start flowering? Pics

Hey. I’m in a tricky situation here. Got tent out in the hot garage. Temps never go above 86 and humidity never above 70. According to the vpd I am looking good. Until you see the leaves on the plant. They are showing signs of heat stress so I’m guessing this isn’t a strain (fire OG) that likes heat. The thing is they’re growing really well with new growth everyday and it’s nice and green with no spots or yellowing or anything. No nutes fed as of yet either. Distilled water and FFOF soil. Growing under 2 blurps with a total of 240 actual watts. Well my question is, should I veg this til September and start flowering with the cooler weather or should I just switch now and hope for the best? My setup is not permanent and I already know it’s too hot in the garage but it’s all I can do for right now. My tent is only a 2x4 so could I even veg that long with this space? There is no way I can put ac in garage. Trying to get the wife to let me move into the house. When I tell her the plant is too hot and that it will be a waste of time and money she just thinks I’m being too dramatic. She doesn’t know shit about weed or plants.

The plant was planted directly in middle of pot lol. I know it doesn’t look it. Maybe my lst is a lil whack. Btw it’s 4 1/2 weeks from seed.

Hhhhmmmm almost looks like overwatering laziness. Do you have any fans you could put in and get air moving? The idea of vegg until September is Guna make those plants way too big for your space if they grow even halfway decent. If I were you I'd focus on getting things cooled down. Also if you time things right you could have your lights run at the coolest time of day and flower them. That's what we do in our indoor, run the lights during the coolest part of the day.

GL

Well honestly I have only watered every other day. I have used a half gallon of distilled the last two watering. Too much? And I don’t know if it’s because it’s in a smart pot but I don’t see any runoff and there are holes. I am already running at night. 6pm to 12 pm on 18/6. It doesn’t stay 86 that’s the highest it’s gotten and we’re in a heat wave right now. Which I’m sure will be all summer basically. It usually stays a steady 82 at night but then during the hot times it gets higher. Humidity goes up with lights off. Thinking of getting a dehumidifier for garage. Should I place in garage or in tent? I do have a lot of air flow. Doesn’t look like wind burn though.

dannyboy602 said:

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Cool. Will that bump up humidity though?

PuffinPine said:

Well honestly I have only watered every other day. I have used a half gallon of distilled the last two watering. Too much? And I don’t know if it’s because it’s in a smart pot but I don’t see any runoff and there are holes. I am already running at night. 6pm to 12 pm on 18/6. It doesn’t stay 86 that’s the highest it’s gotten and we’re in a heat wave right now. Which I’m sure will be all summer basically. It usually stays a steady 82 at night but then during the hot times it gets higher. Humidity goes up with lights off. Thinking of getting a dehumidifier for garage. Should I place in garage or in tent? I do have a lot of air flow. Doesn’t look like wind burn though.

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When you water you need to water thoroughly and let it dry out good inbeteeen. Watering every other day seems a bit excessive. Also not getting any runoff means your not watering thoroughly. Smart pots are awesome and the only pot I use. These plants like the little dry spell between waterings. I actually let my girls wilt to get the watering schedule dialed in. Having your soil constantly wet is no good and will actually make plants look like yours above and slow growth or stop it completely. What size are your smart pots?

Indacouch said:

When you water you need to water thoroughly and let it dry out good inbeteeen. Watering every other day seems a bit excessive. Also not getting any runoff means your not watering thoroughly. Smart pots are awesome and the only pot I use. These plants like the little dry spell between waterings. I actually let my girls wilt to get the watering schedule dialed in. Having your soil constantly wet is no good and will actually make plants look like yours above and slow growth or stop it completely. What size are your smart pots?

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It’s in a 5 gallon. I poked holes on the bottom. I just stuck my finger in and it is a little moist. I guess I should wait then. Would those watering woes cause this with my plant or do I have overwatering and too high heat? I will let that soil get bone dry before I water again. I remember you told me that I could start using nutes at 5 weeks. It’s a few days shy of 5 weeks so should I?

dannyboy602 said:

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This is awesome, thanks for sharing that

PuffinPine said:

It’s in a 5 gallon. I poked holes on the bottom. I just stuck my finger in and it is a little moist. I guess I should wait then. Would those watering woes cause this with my plant or do I have overwatering and too high heat? I will let that soil get bone dry before I water again. I remember you told me that I could start using nutes at 5 weeks. It’s a few days shy of 5 weeks so should I?

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Honestly I'd wait until you get her straightened out before you start nutes. That size plant in 5 gallons with the temps you explained above can go a while between waterings. Our natural reaction to heat is adding more water. When a plant is overwatered it looks droopy and lazy much like yours above. Overwatered plants need time to dry out good. I suggest you put a fan on low and get some air moving past the pot itself. It's always better to underwater your plant than to overwater it. Underwatered plants literally bounce back to life right before your eyes. How long has she looked droopy like this?

Like I said get a fan moving air around the pot. Smart pots don't need any holes poked in the bottom BTW.

PuffinPine said:

Cool. Will that bump up humidity though?

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In a closed system it will a little, yes although I grow and cure in 55rh with good results. Do you have a hygrometer?

When I water a 5 gal cloth pot it takes 4 litres per pot for run off.

Indacouch said:

Honestly I'd wait until you get her straightened out before you start nutes. That size plant in 5 gallons with the temps you explained above can go a while between waterings. Our natural reaction to heat is adding more water. When a plant is overwatered it looks droopy and lazy much like yours above. Overwatered plants need time to dry out good. I suggest you put a fan on low and get some air moving past the pot itself. It's always better to underwater your plant than to overwater it. Underwatered plants literally bounce back to life right before your eyes. How long has she looked droopy like this?

Like I said get a fan moving air around the pot. Smart pots don't need any holes poked in the bottom BTW.

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Well here is my setup. Tower fan pointed at wall because it’s too strong right on the plant. Another clip on fan blowing over top. It’s not a rustle. It looks like a windy day inside lol. Sorry for the blurple but you can at least see how the fans are set up.

dannyboy602 said:

In a closed system it will a little, yes although I grow and cure in 55rh with good results. Do you have a hygrometer?

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Yea I have one in tent. The garage is insulated well in attic but walls are not. It doesn’t get quite as hot as it does outside.

coreywebster said:

When I water a 5 gal cloth pot it takes 4 litres per pot for run off.[/QUOTE

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so you use a whole gallon? That’s 4 liters right?

PuffinPine said:

Yea I have one in tent. The garage is insulated well in attic but walls are not. It doesn’t get quite as hot as it does outside.

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For $20 it'd be a cool thing to try. Worst case it bumps your rh up too high and you can't use it. It was just an idea.

PuffinPine said:

Well here is my setup. Tower fan pointed at wall because it’s too strong right on the plant. Another clip on fan blowing over top. It’s not a rustle. It looks like a windy day inside lol. Sorry for the blurple but you can at least see how the fans are set up.

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As long as you got the air moving and it's not directly beating the crap out of your plant. She needs to dry out now. Next time you water take let's say a gallon of water. Slowly pour the first half of the gallon.....then wait about 15 minutes before you add the rest. This gives the soil a chance to soak up the water and get the spongs effect going. I like to see about a cup of runoff. If you need to add more water to get that runoff that's fine. Just let her dry out really good inbeteeen waterings. Like I said, a wilted plant from underwatering is much easier to correct than overwatering.

Indacouch said:

As long as you got the air moving and it's not directly beating the crap out of your plant. She needs to dry out now. Next time you water take let's say a gallon of water. Slowly pour the first half of the gallon.....then wait about 15 minutes before you add the rest. This gives the soil a chance to soak up the water and get the spongs effect going. I like to see about a cup of runoff. If you need to add more water to get that runoff that's fine. Just let her dry out really good inbeteeen waterings. Like I said, a wilted plant from underwatering is much easier to correct than overwatering.

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Ok I can handle that. Thanks a lot for your help.

dannyboy602 said:

For $20 it'd be a cool thing to try. Worst case it bumps your rh up too high and you can't use it. It was just an idea.

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I like the idea actually. Even if it does bump the humidity a little since I planned on getting a dehumidifier. Well maybe I just can’t grow in summer. Maybe if I grow in fall and spring and early winter. I’m in NY so winter will have its own set of problems.

PuffinPine said:

Ok I can handle that. Thanks a lot for your help.

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A few things you can look for to be sure it's time to water is obviously the weight of the pot. Lifting the pot will tell you if it's still holding water or not. 5 gallons of water soaked soil weighs a good bit compared to when it's dried out. I also look to see if the soil is pulling away from the sides of the pot. When soil gets nice and dry it seems to shrink and you'll see a bit of space between the soil and pot. Lastly which is the method I've used for years. Let's say I water on a Monday for example. I'll watch my plants super close for first signs of wilting. If I notice them starting to wilt on Thursday night, then I know every 4th morning I need to water. Let the plants tell you when their thirsty. Sticking your finger in the soil can be tricky if the bottom of or core of your soil still has lots of moisture. I suggest you start lifting your pots to check weight or do like I mentioned above and get it really dialed in.

Again GL

PuffinPine said:

so you use a whole gallon? That’s 4 liters right?

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Yeah, sometime I use 6 litre. Slowly is the key with cloth pots, water with 1-2 ltr give it a few min to soak through and do it again, repeat until you have good run off.