Best way to avoid leggy seedlings

I've had my seedlings in for about a week or less....

I have a grow fluorescent a few inches from the top of the propagator. What is a good rule of thumb to get nice healthy strong stemmed wide plants

If these look like shit, just tell me... My first grow and i want nice plants hopefully if they arent looking as they should be looking i can fix them

I just got a little worried when i saw a picture of a plant that was half the height of mine and had a million leaves...

Basically trying to keep plants short

Hey your plants look a bit stretched i had the same problem move the light to about 1 inch from the plant if your using cfls. Also get a small fan (computer one if u have) place it near the stems and have it blow on them it will strengthen the stem and make it larger. If your plants continue to stretch you sgould invest in an HID.

I have an HID - 600w MH

Should i really bring it down to 1 inch wit that heat?

I have a propagator hood on to keep the humidity up should i take it off and expose the plants to the fans that are in the room?

I've also been leaning towards not using the MH because right now in the peak of the summer temperatures are peaking.... im trying not to fry the babies

Also, what does it mean when the spikey leaves point upward, leaving the smooth rounds ones flat?

No don't bring your MH down to one inch he was talking about cfls. I keep my seedling under a flour for a few days and then repot them and I just pot all the way to about 1 inch under the first set of leaves and then put in my veg room under my MH and no more stretchy.

how far under ur MH

streched like a fucker

see... i'm using aMH and its so hot that it dries out the water in no time... i tr yo water as little as possible, but i end up doing it once a d ay .... which im guessing is ok....

i cant get the light to close to the babies without them frying... the humidity in the propagator dries out really quick too...

how am i suppose to strengthen the stems if i keep the hood on.... if i take the hood off the water dries out EVEN quicker

if i keep the hood on i cannot get fan to the stems to strengthen them...

i'm in quite a pickle

PS... i also see that different levels of the nutrients can also avoid leggy plants.... maybe i should increase my nutes to half strength instead of 1/4 strength?

how hot is it in there?

nooo nutes for plants that small, they are still seedlings youll kill em

I keep my MH about 1 foot to 18 inches away from the plants, but I have a/c in my grow rooms so temp is not really an issue letting me get the light close to the tops.

with the grow room door open it goes low 90's

i hear everyone say that 1/4 strength nutes are ok for seedlings...

and img etting pissed off that the stupid things wont get strong stems...
I took the hood off and exposed the seedlings to the MH about a foot an h alf away and turned on two fans at medium speed... one tipped over...

they are sleeping right now, but i jsut need strong stems and more sets of leaves to grow kuz it looks to me the plants r wanting to get taller and not fatter.


boo hoo

1/4 strength nutes is good for seedlings when they are ready, like another 2 weeks for you.

The plants may have tipped over because of the fans or from the heat of the light. Low 90s is way too hot. You want it at 85 max. You will end up with strong stems if you grow them in the correct edition. The reason they are stretching is lack of light. Get some cfls and put them so close they almost touch the plant. You are not going to get stronger stems in a day or two. If they are falling over, use toothpicks or something to prop them up until they can stand on their own.

They will grow fatter and taller. But with out enough light, thye will continue to stretch. Growing weed takes a lot of patience, and I mean a lot! Chill out, you plants look like they are only like 3 days old. Do you know any 3 day old children out there are strong and can stand on their own? I doubt it. Give it time, they will grow.

And I forgot to add, the plants that were the same height as yours but with a lot more leaves were probably clones and not seedlings.

OOOOO very good input... thanks....

wheres a good place to get cfl's at a decent price...

i hate the hydroponics dude around here who said i could just use the MH bulbs to grow out of seedlings... i cant nearly get my MH down far enough to avoid stretching...

I have a 13W stand up fluorescent directly on top of the plants now... Will that be ok?

Also.... how should i work the time under the moisture dome and time exposed to the wind for strong stems?

chrome9k said:

OOOOO very good input... thanks....

wheres a good place to get cfl's at a decent price...

i hate the hydroponics dude around here who said i could just use the MH bulbs to grow out of seedlings... i cant nearly get my MH down far enough to avoid stretching...

Click to expand...

Why are you not able to lower the light? How far are your plants from the light, what wattage of the MH? It sounds like you need better ventilation too.

I live in a hot area. and outside temps get about 95 as it is.... nite time a tiny bit cooler. I do need proper ventilation, but at the time i need to be cost efficient. the room is build perfectly for the cooler and cold rest of the year.

MH 600w - is about a foot and a half away .... i cant get any closer for cause of burn.

any suggestions?


still have the question about the dome/exposure to wind question

You can get them at Wal Mart. Get the daylight spectrum, 6500k. They are like $7 for 2. You can get a light fixture for a ceiling fan there too for like $4 and it will hold 4 of those cfls for you. Just buy a cheap extension cord, cut the female end off, hook the black to the black or one with writing on it, and the white to the plain white cord. If there is a green one on the extension cord, just put that one on a screw on metal to ground it.

I use 3 of these fixtures, and anywhere from 100-300watts of cfl for veg. Each one will cost you about $20-$25 per fixture with bulbs and everything. You can get 130cfm computer fans for exhaust if you are just using the cfls. You can get them from ebay for like $10 each. Hook these up to a 12v adapter from Wal Mart for like $10 and you are all set for veg. Flower with the 600watt is a whole other story though.

With my seedlings, I don't use any domes once they sprout. And there is always air blowing around my veg and flower room. Air circulation, intake, and exhaust are keys to a successful grow.

thanks so much... i'm a tiny bit hazy on the directions to make my own fluorescents...


I'm also trying to find some 130 cfm computer fans... but wont i have a problem with odor during the flowing stages with these types of exhausts?

http://cgi.ebay.com/92mm-38mm-Delta-12V-Fan-130cfm-2-Ball-Bearing-FFC0912DE_W0QQitemZ290247038264QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

Are your grow room walls black or is that just where you took the pic?

You will have a problem with odor using any fan if you don't have a carbon filter. If you are trying to set things up right, it is going to cost you like $400 for a good fan and carbon filter for a 600watt setup. If you want to kind of just rig it up, you can spend about $200. Or you can spend like $10 and just hope no one smells it.

What are you confused about on the CFLs?