keeping them in the same container will hurt both plants and neither will reach it's full potential. I've been experimenting with it on and off with them to try to make it work somehow and their sisters in single pots do much better. better than both of the other plants combined. even using 5 gallon containers their 1 plant per pot sisters in 3 gallon have still done better than both combined. thats why its a big deal. if you can show me grows that have succeeded where ive failed so far i'd love to see them.
anyway, stretching refers to distance between nodes pretty much, what it means is the space between nodes is increasing as it stretches toward the light. its a sign its not getting enough light b/c the light is too far away so the plant is stretching up to get more light.
ph'ing the water you give cannabis is usually pretty important. some people get lucky and have ideal water from their tap. you want a ph between 6.0-7.0 in soil(i shoot for 6.5 myself). ph meters run around $20-$25 but you can get less accurate strips or aquarium water dropper kits. just make sure the one you get is in the range you need to test of 6.0-7.0 if you get the fish tank one. cannabis plants do not flower automatically by themselves. the length of the dark period they get triggers flowering because the cannabis plants hormone that tells it to flower is destroyed by light so as the days get shorter the hormone increases. inside plants are put on 12/12 to do so. outside plants just need the days to start getting shorter, it doesnt have to hit 12 hrs of dark for flowering to start.
here is how i tell when to water. All credit belongs to 10k, the oriiginal author.
What is the "lift the pot" method? Added by: 10k
The "lift the pot" method is a widely practiced, and very accurate method of knowing when to water your container plants.
The best way imho, to know when soil grown potted plants need more watering is by checking how heavy the pots feel. This method is very simple to learn once you get the feel for how light a ready for watering pot of soil feels.
Get an equal size pot and fill it with your soil. The medium should be about as moist as a new bag of potting soil. Use this planter as a learning tool to get a rough idea of how much the pots should weigh before watering again. The pots with your plants will feel only just slightly heavier when the soil is ready for more water. Pick up one of your planted pots, if its noticably heavy, do not water it until it feels "light". Next time you water a planter, pick it up and feel how much heavier it feels compared to the sample pot of soil.
It only takes a few times picking up the pots until this skill is like a "second nature" to you. You wont even need the sample pot after you get accustomed to the lifting method.
Sure your plants are always putting on more weight as they grow larger, but once you're proficient at lifting the pots, you'll also know how to compensate for the weight of the plants with ease.
I dont know how to better explain this method of knowing when to water, but believe me, anyone who learns this method, will always know when its time to water.