My young pot plant looks extremely healthy yet is growing slowly and very bushy

[GreenMeter]

My baby marijuana plant is looking extremely healthy at the moment, yet he seems to be growing very slowly and bushy. The seed i used to grow him with came from bag seed. When i initially germinated the seed, i used miracle gro seed starter soil and germinated him in a dixie cup and watered it decently before placing it in a completely drak closet. After about 3 days the seed sprouted and was looking very good. I placed the seedling under 3 26W Daylight CFLs under a 24/0 lighting schedule. It seemed to grow slow once hitting about an inch and half and halted there. I then found out the plant was rootbound and transplanted it to a 12" by 12" pot. The seedling is in a closet with dimensions 3 and a half feet wide, 2 feet long, and about 6 and half feet tall. Its in a closet where theres a horizontal bar going across to hang clothes on. I placed 4 light fixtures with 2 way sockets on each. So now i was totaling 8 26W CFLs concentrated on the plant, being within 2-3 inches from the plant directly. I have a small fan to help with circulation and a thermometer that ive been mnagaing to keep the temp at around 75 degrees 24/7. Under these conditions the plant started growing but it took a little over a week for it to come out of shock and stress due to it being rootbound before transplanting it to the bigger pot. The soil im using is miracle gro moisture control (for cost reasons at the moment). The plant is about3 and a half inches but is extremely bushy. It has 4 leaf sets discounting the frist two initial leaves and another 2 sets coming up right now. Each leaf set contains 5 leaves rather than the normal 3? Its nice and green sturdy stalk but doesnt seem to be growing any taller, rather its just branching out with new sets of leaves and isnt gaining any height. Any advice on what im doing wrong or helpful information? By the way its close to a month now but i think the size partially has to do with the root bound stress and the recovery time. Oh and im a first time grower as well. I also water my plant everyday because of the excessive lighting dries out the soil quickly and only water when soil is crusty. I do occasionally spray sterile water, such as spray feeding the plant like twice a day but with no fertilizers.

 

[simpsonsampson420]

My baby marijuana plant is looking extremely healthy at the moment, yet he seems to be growing very slowly and bushy. The seed i used to grow him with came from bag seed. When i initially germinated the seed, i used miracle gro seed starter soil and germinated him in a dixie cup and watered it decently before placing it in a completely drak closet. After about 3 days the seed sprouted and was looking very good. I placed the seedling under 3 26W Daylight CFLs under a 24/0 lighting schedule. It seemed to grow slow once hitting about an inch and half and halted there. I then found out the plant was rootbound and transplanted it to a 12" by 12" pot. The seedling is in a closet with dimensions 3 and a half feet wide, 2 feet long, and about 6 and half feet tall. Its in a closet where theres a horizontal bar going across to hang clothes on. I placed 4 light fixtures with 2 way sockets on each. So now i was totaling 8 26W CFLs concentrated on the plant, being within 2-3 inches from the plant directly. I have a small fan to help with circulation and a thermometer that ive been mnagaing to keep the temp at around 75 degrees 24/7. Under these conditions the plant started growing but it took a little over a week for it to come out of shock and stress due to it being rootbound before transplanting it to the bigger pot. The soil im using is miracle gro moisture control (for cost reasons at the moment). The plant is about3 and a half inches but is extremely bushy. It has 4 leaf sets discounting the frist two initial leaves and another 2 sets coming up right now. Each leaf set contains 5 leaves rather than the normal 3? Its nice and green sturdy stalk but doesnt seem to be growing any taller, rather its just branching out with new sets of leaves and isnt gaining any height. Any advice on what im doing wrong or helpful information? By the way its close to a month now but i think the size partially has to do with the root bound stress and the recovery time. Oh and im a first time grower as well. I also water my plant everyday because of the excessive lighting dries out the soil quickly and only water when soil is crusty. I do occasionally spray sterile water, such as spray feeding the plant like twice a day but with no fertilizers.

attempting to answer this question could be a little tough without pics.. but i will give it a shot...

first i agree that part of the stunted growth issues has to do with the roots being bound and the transplant and the incured shock from doing so..

it sounds like they are getting plenty of light so thats good as well...

first thing you have to remember is with 24/0 your plants will be more compact and node spacing will be tighter... and with floros, which is use with GREAT success (check my journal.. 6 weeks into flowering.. huge colas.. links below.. TONs of pics), you get an even greater affect since you can keep them so close.. this is why they seem to be growing out instead of up.. i also think you are dealing with an indica strain... they are shorter and fatter than sativas... so if you combine the stress your plants have endured, the fact you are using floros on a 24/0 light schedule, and that they are more than likey (from description) indicas i'd be willing to bet that you are about where you should be... ive noticed that my seedlings seem to take longer for rapid growth to start but once it does they take off like wild fire... but as you have said, they also seem to grow out before they grow up... i dont use the same kind of floros as you.. but there are similarities between what you are saying and my own experiences... and you have plenty of light right now that i imagine at this stage it would be similar to my HO floros.. anyways.. i wouldnt worry.. give it a week and see if growth doesnt increase rapidly...


good luck
sampson

 

[GreenMeter]

Would you recommend changing the light cyle to say...18/6? Or would altering light cycles in an early stage affect the duration of flowering or delay this process at all?

I'm currently getting my camera fixed, so i'll have pics up very shortly. I promise!

 

[simpsonsampson420]

up until now i have always used 24/0... after much reading online and researching and talking with people on here i am going to switch to 20/4.... so thats what i will recommend... it wont affect anything... wont delay flowering.. what it will do is cause a little stretching... when there is no light the plants will stretch upwards reaching for light... i always thought this stretching was bad.. but what the stretching does do is allows more light to penetrate into the plant and the canopy itself.. the more light the penetrates through = the more light your plant can use = the happier the plant is = the more growth that occurs = the larger the yield at harvest... imho i would switch, but i in no way have proof of this through my own experience yet.. but the logic is there, and i have read about many people who have already tested different cycles and there findings and comparisons.. again thats why i myself am switching...
but i think either way in about a week your plant will start exploding with growth.. i have had the same experiences your having now with wider growth vs taller growth over the first couple weeks.. after which my plants explode up and out even more...

 

[GreenMeter]

The first picture is taken from a bird's eye veiw. Its kinda hard to see but the stem is real short but its definitely growing more fiborous now.

The second picture is a horizontal view down at dirt level almost so you can see how its structured.

The third picture is an aerial view of the plant to see how plant is unfolding.

The last picture is the setup as a whole. The walls are tinfoiled completely in circumferences. The a small fan to help with circulation. and a thermometer to the right inside the closet (Can't see it from this view).

 

[simpsonsampson420]

dont see any pics bro...

 

[GreenMeter]

Hey does anyone know how to post pics up in a message? I'm new to this whole forum thing and all. I'm pretty sure their uploaded on my profile and all so you can check them out. I got more coming...the plant is just getting ridiculously bushy and out of control in the past 2 days.

 

[JackHerer]

Hey does anyone know how to post pics up in a message? I'm new to this whole forum thing and all. I'm pretty sure their uploaded on my profile and all so you can check them out. I got more coming...the plant is just getting ridiculously bushy and out of control in the past 2 days.

just look for the manage attachments bar in the reply section, its under all the post icons in "additional options"

cant wait to see

 

[GreenMeter]

Here are the pics finally

 

[GreenMeter]

Week 3 day 3

How do i stretch my plant? Or shouldn't i do that? Its just keeps bushling out into a canopy but the stem wont grow. But it is getting very thick and strong.

 

[Tyrannabudz]

Did you actually call your plant a he? Careful what you say. LOL

 

[GreenMeter]

Pics are up on my profile in my album for Week 3 day 4 and Weekd 3 day 5 pictures. Check it out and any advice for help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[GreenMeter]

I have Week 3 day 6 pics up. check it out! Given that its indica strain based on the way its short and fatter...how tall should it get before i start flowering? I know that plant doubles its size in flowering. I have a 6' tall closet so i guess im wondering how big should i let it get before flowering?

 

[GreenMeter]

Week 3 day 6 pics

 

[Beats]

While the majority of the soil appears bone dry, you plant appears over-watered in my opinion.

 

[dgoodnstuff]

What's the temp in the room with the light on? anything 85+ will stunt the growth hard. How many plants do you have? Id go with a 400 watt M/H during veg and 400 watt HPS during flowering for good light spectrum if you dont have more then a couple plants.

 

[DaBull]

They look pretty good actually. Fix the root bound issue and is there any way you can re-arrange the lights into a square instead of in-line?

 

[GreenMeter]

Yea i don;t water the whole circumference of the pot, only the soil in close proximity of the plant. But yea i also think i'm over watering due to the dark green leaves. I water it about once day, in addition to foliar feeding by spraying sterile water on the leaves, but no fertilizer in the water. My plant's leaf color is starting to turn and fade to a lighter green....is that a good thing? I'm laying off the foliar spraying (which is just sterile water from a faucet that's been sitting out for 24+ hours) for a while or limit the amount of times i do it a day. I'll have today's pics up later on. The plant seems to be gaining some height off of the 20/4 light schedule i switched it to 2 days ago, from the previous 24/0 light cycle.

The temperature is at a constant 75 degreesduring lighting hours and temperature is around 72 degrees when lights are off, give or take a few degrees. Given the dimensions of my grow space i really only have room for 1 healthy plant and my choosing of light is cfl's due to the fact i can regulate them easily and wont be afraid of fire issues or heat issues as i would with hps or M/H lighting.

I'm not sure how i would re-arrange the lights in a square position. I like the idea of it, and it just makes sense as far as emitting the most possible light on the plant due to the positioning of lights in a square. Given my set up and how my light fixtures are laid over the bar above the plants might be hard to configure that. Do you have any suggestions to as how i could go about doing that? Would it benefit the plant that much if i were to do that?

 

[Hydro929]

Yea i don;t water the whole circumference of the pot, only the soil in close proximity of the plant. But yea i also think i'm over watering due to the dark green leaves. I water it about once day, in addition to foliar feeding by spraying sterile water on the leaves, but no fertilizer in the water. My plant's leaf color is starting to turn and fade to a lighter green....is that a good thing? I'm laying off the foliar spraying (which is just sterile water from a faucet that's been sitting out for 24+ hours) for a while or limit the amount of times i do it a day. I'll have today's pics up later on. The plant seems to be gaining some height off of the 20/4 light schedule i switched it to 2 days ago, from the previous 24/0 light cycle.

The temperature is at a constant 75 degreesduring lighting hours and temperature is around 72 degrees when lights are off, give or take a few degrees. Given the dimensions of my grow space i really only have room for 1 healthy plant and my choosing of light is cfl's due to the fact i can regulate them easily and wont be afraid of fire issues or heat issues as i would with hps or M/H lighting.

I'm not sure how i would re-arrange the lights in a square position. I like the idea of it, and it just makes sense as far as emitting the most possible light on the plant due to the positioning of lights in a square. Given my set up and how my light fixtures are laid over the bar above the plants might be hard to configure that. Do you have any suggestions to as how i could go about doing that? Would it benefit the plant that much if i were to do that?

Soak the whole pot so that water drains out of the bottom a little and then wait till you can put your finger in the soil several inches and have it still be dry.'

Transplant that into a bigger pot and that should help as well.

To rearrange your lights make a square frame out of metal or wood and attach your lights horizontally on all four sides. I suggest metal so you don't burn down your house. Next get some 42w cfls for some of your problem I feel is too little light. You can also use some mylar and some plastic sheeting to make a cheap reflector. Good luck.

 

[GreenMeter]

Week 3 day 7 pics