my plant is falling over, should i stake it or transplant and bury??

[Canadian Sin]

Hi, Im a first time grower and have had couple of oopses already (lights). My lights were not strong enough, so my plant streched and fell over. Its about 5" high and a week and one day old (not including fist germination steps) Its under 3 42w 4700k cfls now and is looking much healthier. I have it staked right now, but is this the best way to do it? or is transplanting and burying almost up to the leaves the best way? Ive read posts claming either works, but what is actually better for the plant in the long run?

 

[pointswest]

Either method works. If you bury the stem deeper more roots will develop along the buried stem. The prop will also hold the plant until it gets bigger. Your main issue is stretching your plant with low light. An increase in light will help a lot. Most people recommend about 70 watts/plant. Now with your additional lights you will see better results. I would probably transplant it to a level just below the last node.

 

[raw225]

yea deffenitly get more cfl's or put the plant outside in the sun. you can also put soil up around the stem to the leaves.. thats the best thing to do with every grow i heard

 

[Canadian Sin]

Perfect, so then transplantation sounds like the best way to go TY for your advice both of you One quick question about transplantation, how do you protect the roots from being damaged in such a young plant during transplantation? ie) should you let the soil get pretty dry first, should you wear gloves, ect. Sorry, very curious, dont want my plant do die, i love this little lady alot

 

[raw225]

what you do is ON EVERY TRANSPLANT: water the entire plants soil really good, once you do that you put one hand on top the soil with the stem between any 2 fingers, then you turn the plants pot upside down, the plant & soil should come out in 1 peice ( you make have to shake a lil bit if it doesnt come right out. have the other pot ready with soil in it, put your plant in the new pot cover sirroundings with soil. im gonna find this thread that explains the same way but a little better than i did

works like a charm...good luck with your lady

 

[zorr]

Hmm, I had the same problem with one of my girls falling over twice...This was due underwaterting....In vegging every 3 days for feeding was sufficent now in flowering with more CFL's added 2 days min or it will fall over.....are you sure this issue is due to a small pot size? Be nice to see some pic's of what is really going on here? =)

 

[zorr]

Perfect, so then transplantation sounds like the best way to go TY for your advice both of you One quick question about transplantation, how do you protect the roots from being damaged in such a young plant during transplantation? ie) should you let the soil get pretty dry first, should you wear gloves, ect. Sorry, very curious, dont want my plant do die, i love this little lady alot

I tend to let them dryout some before pulling from pot, kinda keep the soil together better, but have done them wet as it wasn't the solid pot of soling coming out, just in chunks....No need to worrie once you transplant give it a day or two and things will look fine...

 

[pointswest]

Absolutely right about removing the plant from the pot. Make sure it is watered in completely to hold the soil column together. Sometimes giving the pot a little squeeze on each side, then with your fingers between the stem, and covering the top of the soil, use a snapping motion to eject the soil plug, then immediately place into a larger pot and water in.

 

[Canadian Sin]

Oh TY so much for you help guys! I have another quesiton (sorry I know Im full of them), Im running 3 42W cfls, now on the box for the lights it says you cannot use them with an electronic timer. I was wondering if any of you grow by cfls and what exactly will happen if you plug the lights into an extention cord, then plug into a timer. Is this a fire hazzard, or will this just shorten the bulbs life span? Is it ok to ignore this warning? My girls "night time" starts at 6am, her "dawn" is 2pm. Im a stay at home mom, so Im usually home to plug and un plug, but its a pain to get up at 6 am just to unplug the lights lol. Also, Im worried about it not being as exact as it should be... anyone have any clue about this?

 

[nl3004.kind]

i've used cfl's on timers for years (mostly as supplemental lights) and i've never had a problem... life span, heat or fire haven't been an issue, however that is just my experience... if you want exact timing, use a timer, don't overload your electrical system, and don't worry... also you will see substantially better results if you upgrade to 75 or 100 watt cfls, and most grow stores have even better quality "grow" cfls for a reasonable price (though for the first two years all i used was warm spectrum 75 or 100 watt cfls)... hope that helps...

 

[Canadian Sin]

This is my little lady pre transplant

 

[nl3004.kind]

just based on the pic, i'd say move those lights much much closer... i use the "hand" method... if i can put my hand under the lights and it doesn't hurt after a minute or so, it's ok for the plant too... i think i read it in the cervantes grow book... an awesome resource for mmj growing ...

 

[Canadian Sin]

The lights are actually only about 2 to 3 inches away, its just the angle i took the pic at I have a digital thermometor and try not to let the temp at the leaves go above 83F ( I read on a page that 75F-83F is optimal growing temp?). I just set this up yesterday after a disaterous start by listening to someone about iridescent light bulbs (ugh). She looking MUCH healthier than she did yesterday. Im just worried about moving them closer, as they are a bit hot and Im really scared of burning her. Though I will take a new pic tomorrow after I transplant and show the set up of the lights at plant level, then maybe you can tell me if it looks ok or not.