WEAK STEMS?! HELP! 1st grow

[entersamman1]

Hey im trying to help a friend grow and his plants have weak stems that he needs to support with string and plastic forks lol. I have a few pics of the plants and i will post them.
Okay at first they were only under one 24w t5 fluorescent light and it looks like that wasnt even close to enough light. the stems are so weak and skinny that its not looking good. He found 4 more lights in his garage and idk what kind of lights they are. cfl i think fluorescent. He has two 14w lights, one 30w light, and one 26w light. and we narrowed it down to only 2 plants. They still have weak stems and can't support themselves. So with 4 more of these lights will they survive or is it still not enough light??.


the first 3 pics are from before we added more light today. and the rest of them are of the setup we have now. so is it enough!? or is it too late??

 

[slyfly]

im not sure about the light but replant th plant deeper and move light closer, also put a small fan or air blowing = increase stem size

 

[entersamman1]

sorry i forgot to add pics.

these are the pics of the new setup that we have now. 2 plants and all those lights.
will this work or no?!

 

[wilsoncr17]

thats enough light for veg, you may want to add more for flowering, but yeah, you want a stronger stem, hit it with the wind 24/7.

 

[spiked1]

It will certainly help, BUT bury the stems up to an inch below the cotyldons (first leaves)

 

[yamin]

lights need to b 2-5 inches from the plants

bury them till lowest set of leaves..... this will allow them to stand without support....

the stems gt so thin an lanky coz the plants were trying to stretch for the lights....

 

[entersamman1]

lights need to b 2-5 inches from the plants

bury them till lowest set of leaves..... this will allow them to stand without support....

the stems gt so thin an lanky coz the plants were trying to stretch for the lights....

Ya thats what ive been hearing. that they've been stretching for more light. so if i bury them up an inch from the first leaves and keep it goin they should pull through? or is it even worth it? we have 5 more seeds germinating right now. should we just start over?
oh and on friday we're getting a 400w HPS for flowering.

 

[yamin]

Ya thats what ive been hearing. that they've been stretching for more light. so if i bury them up an inch from the first leaves and keep it goin they should pull through? or is it even worth it? we have 5 more seeds germinating right now. should we just start over?
oh and on friday we're getting a 400w HPS for flowering.

yep just burry them like u said
i would let them live..... give them a little care an they'll pull through

they would highly appreciate the hps though..... an u can use it from germination onwards.... just dont get it to close....

 

[doobiee]

are you using mud? what mixture are you using?

 

[Krayven Sumhead]

Two of my babies did the same thang in 1" rockwool cubes. I just kept growing them, they straightened up on their own without any help from me. I didn't even prop them up. Now they are 18" tall with a stem diameter of about an inch. Just kicked into flowering cycle.

 

[bongholio]

if i were u i would just buy a 400w hps or 600w that will stop them from stretching and a fan will strengthen the stems to support the buds that grow

 

[Brick Top]

if i were u i would just buy a 400w hps or 600w that will stop them from stretching and a fan will strengthen the stems to support the buds that grow

Metal Halide gives the proper light spectrum for vegging. High Pressure Sodium would be better for flowering. He could buy a 400-watt HPS (maybe a 600-watt) with a MH conversion bulb and have the best of both worlds. That is what I would do.

An example can be found here:

http://www.htgsupply.com/growlights.asp?categoryID=1&subcategoryID=155&typeID=55

 

[entersamman1]

Metal Halide gives the proper light spectrum for vegging. High Pressure Sodium would be better for flowering. He could buy a 400-watt HPS (maybe a 600-watt) with a MH conversion bulb and have the best of both worlds. That is what I would do.

An example can be found here:

http://www.htgsupply.com/growlights.asp?categoryID=1&subcategoryID=155&typeID=55

Ya thats exactly where hes buying the HPS light from HTG supply. Reliable company??


and he's using the fox farm soil.

so replant them in a bigger pot an inch away fromt the first leave set??

 

[entersamman1]

UPDATE!!!! we burried them up to an inch away from the first leave sets and it looks like it is doing a lot better now. the fan helped a lot too. But now the problem is is that on one of the plants it has a couple brown spots on the leaves. we just got some Maxi grow powder nutrients (10-5-14) and we added it last night. but the brown spots were there before we added it. PH problems? nutrient problems? or what?? also the stems are purple. the guy at the hydroponics store said this is normal and it is storing nutrients for bloom. is this true??

here are the pics of them.

 

[entersamman1]

so these are the pics i left out!

purple stems!

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p1/entersamman1/purplestems.jpg

brown spots!

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p1/entersamman1/brownspots.jpg

nutrients!

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p1/entersamman1/nutrients.jpg

and the ghetto setup we have goin still!

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p1/entersamman1/ghettosetup.jpg


SO is this working better? or no?

 

[yamin]

lookin good...... they look much happier

purple stems cool.... brown spots not cool.... check out some threads in the plant problem forum