Dumby Question -figuring things out
- Thread starter Gregzky
- Start date
Bobby Long Buds
Well-Known Member
Your slow growth is more likley temperature or light related. Or possibly just genetics as slow veg growth happens with Bubba Kush for example. The plant does not know if it’s in organic dirt or not as long as the base nutrient needs are being met be it chemical or other.
Bobby Long Buds
Well-Known Member
Temps are good so it’s genetics or you are asking too much of your light. Is your grow space 3’x3’ or a bit smaller? 40 true led watts per square foot is pretty standard.
Bobby Long Buds
Well-Known Member
So your tent is bigger then your light can likley handle. Expect puffy buds near perimeter of tent. But you have not outgrown the footprint of your light yet. Also I think you could have grown those seedlings in the solo cups untill at least 6” tall. This helps with drydown times. You may need to drop your light. But I doubt that’s it.
Could they be overwatered? Sorry just guessing here.
Could they be overwatered? Sorry just guessing here.
Bobby Long Buds
Well-Known Member
They can get so dry that you would wonder how they are not dropping. Like feather light. Should they? Maybe not feather light but let the top get dusty dry at least. I would just try your light for this run and save up for a HLG or timber light big enough for the whole tent. Just my opinion as I don’t love purple lighting.
RangiSTaxi
Well-Known Member
To be fair , small plants do take forever to get going, they have tiny leaves 99 percent of light is being wasted at this point in that tent, think solar panels and surface area, we are solar light farmers with exponential growth as we develop more leaf area.
consider getting a tiny 2 foot x 1 foot reflective cloning tent with 40 -80 watts of fluro or , led bars. to grow the seedlings, mine grow 15cm high and root bound before they enter my main tent and are ready for 12/12 flower within a week. harvest ....and the new seedlings are strong and ready to go in to the 4x4... no downtime.
Ok what I would do, if you want fast growth you shouldn't over pot next time, by that i mean, start it in a small seedling cell 5 cm x 5cm and get it root bound first before up shifting to a slightly larger size pot, if a small plant is put into a too large pot relative to plant size (if it doesn't already have a strong root structure) it will stall and growth will be slow. number one,
second you blurple light is lacking seriously in light frequency and power , but as this is what you already have and if you dont want to or cant upgrade, i suggest adding a 4 x 150 watt white clf bulbs to the grow tent 1 hanging in each corner with the LED in the middle.
that might sound extreme to you or too costly but with out them in a 4 x 4 tent you wont be able to produce anything half decent im sorry with that 200 watt blurple Led light. ( it maybe cheaper to get a 600 watt HPS minimum ,ideally a hlg 550, even that does far better in a 3x3 than my 4x4)
consider getting a tiny 2 foot x 1 foot reflective cloning tent with 40 -80 watts of fluro or , led bars. to grow the seedlings, mine grow 15cm high and root bound before they enter my main tent and are ready for 12/12 flower within a week. harvest ....and the new seedlings are strong and ready to go in to the 4x4... no downtime.
Ok what I would do, if you want fast growth you shouldn't over pot next time, by that i mean, start it in a small seedling cell 5 cm x 5cm and get it root bound first before up shifting to a slightly larger size pot, if a small plant is put into a too large pot relative to plant size (if it doesn't already have a strong root structure) it will stall and growth will be slow. number one,
second you blurple light is lacking seriously in light frequency and power , but as this is what you already have and if you dont want to or cant upgrade, i suggest adding a 4 x 150 watt white clf bulbs to the grow tent 1 hanging in each corner with the LED in the middle.
that might sound extreme to you or too costly but with out them in a 4 x 4 tent you wont be able to produce anything half decent im sorry with that 200 watt blurple Led light. ( it maybe cheaper to get a 600 watt HPS minimum ,ideally a hlg 550, even that does far better in a 3x3 than my 4x4)
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RangiSTaxi
Well-Known Member
The problem with dropping the light lower with blurple (blue, Red, Orange etc) leds as in this one is you dont get the appropriate light color mixing before it reaches the leaves , this actually can slow growth considerably, and keeps the plants very compact or very stretched out, depending on the blurple light its self. internodal spacing and photosynthesis
unlike white light leds or HPS, or CFL or halides. where lowering the light is more flexible
in your case this may have worked as blue light has a shorter wave length than red. but i think adding white light of some form, helps even if its a small cfl
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RangiSTaxi
Well-Known Member
Hi the 150 watt CFL usually have a built in ballast already, and a screw in fitting like hps bulbs has, they should be easily sourced from your grow shop or even hardware store. They pretty much just plug in with a cord. A couple will help a lot , try mount them horizontal rather than vertical. you can get them with shades to reflect light downwards as well, they fit a standard hps or halide screw fitting.
Bobby Long Buds
Well-Known Member
Those cfl bulbs pictured are about 50$ each and lasted me about a year when I ran them. That’s why I replaced those with Hlg 65’s. Much happier with every aspect of the led light. And it might last me more than 10 years for not much more then double the price.
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