Stems stretching out??? Advice please...

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Growtegery

Well-Known Member
My seedlings are growing really tall and stretching out. They are getting top heavy from the weight of the emerging leaves and are sagging a bit. They are about 4 inches tall and only 10 days into the grow including the germination. Don't get me wrong I'm happy they're growing fast, but is this ok?
 
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Growtegery

Well-Known Member
Just had another thought...I am using a 400W HPS right now and I've read that they are mostly used in the flower state. Could the light be the reason its not developing a strong stem? Also, it is a primarily sativa strain.
 
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bfq

Well-Known Member
no, the HPS will work great for vegging.

you need to move the light closer so the plant doesnt stretch to reach it and you need to add an oscillating fan to make the stems stronger.
 
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Growtegery

Well-Known Member
Thanks BFG. I won't be getting a fan until Friday so not for another 5 days. Hopefully that won't be too late. As far as moving the light closer I think thats out of the question. I have it about 2 feet away from the plants but the temp in the grow room is already at 85 degrees. I'm afraid if I move it closer that I will fry them...
 
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bfq

Well-Known Member
move em closer. 85 is the high end of ideal but they can take higher a lot better than they can take stretching for the lights.

also, you need an exhaust fan to drop those temps.

2 foot away is too far for anything but the hugest of lights.
 
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Growtegery

Well-Known Member
Yeah i hear you but Ive already got an exhaust fan. A 95 CFM squirrel cage blower and its still not doing the trick. How close should the light be to the plants at this age?
 
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bfq

Well-Known Member
the lights should always be the same distance from the plant tops... namely as close as possible ;)

lower the light to about 6-8 inches over the plant tops and put your hand over them. if it is too hot for your hand raise the light a couple inches and try again. too hot for your hand, too hot for the plants.
 
TreeDweller79

TreeDweller79

Well-Known Member
You could consider pinching them at a node, this will slow the vertical growth immediately, and make it a little bushier quicker while widening the trunk a little. In the past I have done this to the very first set of leaves with a microscope and the results were wonderbar.

If you want a long unbushy one, you could kinda lean the tall one you have toward the edge of the pot to start training it, for a scrog setup. I have spun the tall young ones around a dowel, then when they get strong and stand up on their own you can remove the dowel. You can get adults with cool corkscrew lookin designs that are thick as shit.
 
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Growtegery

Well-Known Member
TreeDweller79 said:
You could consider pinching them at a node, this will slow the vertical growth immediately, and make it a little bushier quicker while widening the trunk a little. In the past I have done this to the very first set of leaves with a microscope and the results were wonderbar.

How do I pinch them at the nodes? I'm not familiar with this. You don't mean topping do you? Bare in mind that they are only at their second node.
Click to expand...
 
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Growtegery

Well-Known Member
Ok so I tried moving the light down by a foot. This still leaves a foot between the light and the plants. The temp shot up from around 87 to 94 in a matter of minutes. I added a frozen water jug to lower the temp and raised the light back up but it seems I'm going to need to get a fan today. I'm really running out of ideas about how to lower the temp. My next thought would be to buy a portable AC but I'm already $500 into this project...
 
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Growtegery

Well-Known Member
Yeah I have the blower hooked to a 4" dryer tube sending air out of the tent and another 4" tube running out the side to the next room where the air is being drawn in at. Will an oscillating fan lower the temp, or is it just going to blow air around with hardly any affect on the temp?
 
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leojapsky

Well-Known Member
400 hps has a 12-36inch range......the closer the hps the more lumens per sq. ft. but keeping temp in mind ......pinching is also great....if your still worried just find a pen and flex-string....tie it up to support it.......
 
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bfq

Well-Known Member
Growtegery said:
Yeah I have the blower hooked to a 4" dryer tube sending air out of the tent and another 4" tube running out the side to the next room where the air is being drawn in at. Will an oscillating fan lower the temp, or is it just going to blow air around with hardly any affect on the temp?
Click to expand...
the oscillating fan will actually raise your room temps because it is an electric motor and just moves the air around.
 
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medgrower49

Well-Known Member
If your having that much problem with heat you may have to invest in a a/c unit, unless you change your light to cfls or something the heat problem in not going to go away.

Or you can get a cool tube for your ballast and that should help as well.
 
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Growtegery

Well-Known Member
Pinch? As in trim or what? Any place where I can read up on pinching? And yes I decided that an AC unit is inevitable. The good news is that I can turn the AC to the house off so that should counter balance the energy use.
 
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