plants touching??

[nelsonjacob]

i have about six plants in my closent right now, they are set in soil with 20/4 light, also i have just begun topping them one at a time and they have begun to touch, i am not sure whateach strain is and they have not shown their sex yet i am just wondering if them touching is any problem

they are about 3 to 3/3.5 mons old stared from seed

 

[cruzer101]

No problem man.

I wondered that when I started growing too. Now I grow them together all the time. Bend and tie them to a screen. Sure you want light to as much of the plant as possable but light does penetrate the top canopy and is enough to grow under it.

One thing that happens when they touch (I havent seen being a problem though) is some times moisture will form between the leaf. If the plants get real big and are in a small space you would need some circulation fans blowing up from under the canopy.

Hope that answers your question. When they are small, no big deal.

 

[llewop211]

Those are some old plants, what kind of lights are you using? If the plants are touching, meaning you will run out of room soon, you should switch the lights over to 12/12. Your plants will continue to grow to another 2-3 weeks after the lights have been turned to 12/12. A 12/12 light cycle will cause your plants to show their sex and start flowering. Crowding plants into a small space can make air flow around the leaves and buds difficult. When leaves are directly touching they will accumulate water between them which can lead to problems. It's also really hard to keep humidity down in a fully grown-in space. Make sure you have plenty of fans blowing air through your plants and you should be fine.

 

[nelsonjacob]

i may be a couple weeks off one how old they are, as for lights i have four flouresent's, two with plant/aquarium blubs, one with a grow blub, and one with a cool white blub the plants are about 2 feet tall, and when touching i just meant the leaves are touching i am not running out of room yet i will be soon, i was wondering when i switch the lights to 12/12 how much will they grow before they show their sex? i heard that they double their size?

 

[cruzer101]

When you switch to 12/ 12 lets say your plant is 1 foot. most will stretch about 8 inches then show sex. in the next 6 weeks they will grow about another 16 inches.

So if you flip at 12 inches you will finish at 36 inches. Its about triple.

I think a better way to sex your plants is to take a clone from each when they are small, label them, start them at 12/12 and sex the clone. Then pull the males.

Sounds like your plants are pretty tall for indoor. I hope you have more then floros to flower with. I would suggest you top them and flip now.

 

[nelsonjacob]

ok i topped three of them awhile back i was sort of doing them one at a time just experimenting kinda. should i top them and put them on 12/12 the same day or should i top them and then wait till i see the new growth before i go 12/12, and the reason they are so tall is cause i had the lights so high at first and i was told that they had to strech towards the light.

and all i have is the lights i am using now i heard they would bo ok for flowing, is there something else i should get? would getting more of the lights i have now help the situation any or should i save my money for something better?

 

[DoeEyed]

ok i topped three of them awhile back i was sort of doing them one at a time just experimenting kinda. should i top them and put them on 12/12 the same day or should i top them and then wait till i see the new growth before i go 12/12, and the reason they are so tall is cause i had the lights so high at first and i was told that they had to strech towards the light.

and all i have is the lights i am using now i heard they would bo ok for flowing, is there something else i should get? would getting more of the lights i have now help the situation any or should i save my money for something better?

Touching is ok. A look at my oldest girls - there are five plants there, and as you can see, they are all up in each other's business. lol
Stretching is not a good thing - you definately don't want to do it on purpose. Keep your lights close. I think you'll definately need more lights to flower, especially if they are two feet tall already.

 

[nelsonjacob]

thanks for all the info, and i moved my lights way down last night so the plants wont be needing to strech anymore for light, i am about to go to 12/12 and was wondering if there is some way to get them ready for that or do i just go strait to 12/12 i was thinking it might go in steps or something?

i am also going to be getting some more lights today any adice on good ones for flowering would be helpful.

 

[BUDDZY]

they can touch. best if they dont so you can get light to the lower foliage but its not a problem. i agree with the fan idea. when i switched mine to 12/12 mine grew over 1 ft in a week, then didnt get any taller. but the most bud growth will happen in the last 3 weeks.

 

[burnbig420]

thanks for all the info, and i moved my lights way down last night so the plants wont be needing to strech anymore for light, i am about to go to 12/12 and was wondering if there is some way to get them ready for that or do i just go strait to 12/12 i was thinking it might go in steps or something?

i am also going to be getting some more lights today any adice on good ones for flowering would be helpful.

it depends on how much money you want to spend. the best spectrum of light would be an hps ( high pressure sodium) it puts off an yellowish light which is best for plant flowering..

i dont remember how many plants you said you had but you should either go with a 400watt. or preferably a 600 watt. which would provide deeper canopy penetration which you need for tall plants.

a 400 watt. will cover about a 4 by 4 space and a 600 about 6 by 6 space.

 

[brainwarp]

It is not a problem for them to touch, but as they get bigger they will block out light to lower branches of their "neighbor." That will lower your yield by a bit if yo do nothing.

As they show sex, you'll weed out males to solve that. If they are all female seeds or you're lucky enough to get all females, you'll want to spread them apart as much as possible.

If they are all in the same pot, you can spread them apart by "low stress training" (search that for more info) with wires or string.

 

[DoeEyed]

You don't have to go in stages, just switch to 12/12 when you're ready. If you have the money, go for at least a 400w HPS. Best prices I've found are here: www.htgsupply.com . They can be tough to get ahold of at times, but they have the best customer service, bar none.

 

[nelsonjacob]

ok thank you very much, i am going to but them into budding really soon i just lowered the lights so the plants dont strech to them, i am going to wait a week or two before i go 12/12 to give them a little more time to grow, as for topping do i only want to top the plant one time at the top so it splits or do i want to top it in more than one place?