how to fight the stretch

sorry for ignoring your post commander, but i didn't see any reason to respond. it is what it is. eliminating one little thing from a huge list of carcinogens, may make you feel safer, but i doubt if it makes much difference in the grand scheme of things...

major cause of stretching is crowding and a all natural tea made from alfalfa will slow it down if fed during the 1st 3 weeks of flower.

I flower with T5's that are over 2 feet from my canopy and it has nothing to do with stretch cause I don't allow my plants to touch each other

Light.... Light>Stretch.

Silky Shagsalot said:

sorry for ignoring your post commander, but i didn't see any reason to respond. it is what it is. eliminating one little thing from a huge list of carcinogens, may make you feel safer, but i doubt if it makes much difference in the grand scheme of things...

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To me it sounds almost like you're comparing background radiation, or say a harmless little x-ray, to Uranium-235. Is there so much background radiation that you'd suppose a little bit of Uranium wouldn't kill you?

The other thing is the amount of the stuff people may be using. You just don't know. If you're growing it for yourself only then by all means, but if you're distributing it to others you have a duty to minimize the use of any toxic substances including pesticides.

so on a different note about the stretch
I think its just the strain I was worried because the buds were still tiny and didn't think they would fill out.
but over this past week they've nearly put on about 6x of what was there when I posted this. Litteraly alittle over a week
cuz those little far apart bud sites are big almost connecting bud sites

carry on with your argument
I'm not ganna put any nasty shit in my plants
I already live an extreamly unheatly life.
I don't wanna add to it haha

Nullis said:

To me it sounds almost like you're comparing background radiation, or say a harmless little x-ray, to Uranium-235. Is there so much background radiation that you'd suppose a little bit of Uranium wouldn't kill you?

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i use to work with radioactive isotopes, so a little of this or that doesn't really bother me. and i don't have a duty to anyone, for anything. pot isn't good for you either, full of tar.

paclo causes cancer....is that not enough?

Tar isn't even what causes cancer, ostensibly. Furthermore, Cannabis itself dosn't really, the tar comes from combustion (rather incomplete combustion).

Not all radioactive isotopes are created equal, which maybe you know. There is alpha, beta, gamma radiation along with x-rays. Alpha emmiters aren't so toxic unless they are ingested/get inside tissues (e.g Po-210).

The main problem is, with most pot growers it is never a "little" of anything. Just because "pot isn't good for you" we should end it right there and load our plants up with toxins? Alcoholic beverages aren't "good for you"; should distillers neglect to remove the methanol, or start adding a little more?

Like I said, if you grow for yourself then by all means. If you grow for other people, especially paying customers or medical patients then yes, as with any product sold for human consumption there is a DUTY to produce it as clean and toxin free as possible (which means not adding any more toxins). If you don't think so it's on you and karma.

I just don't buy the "so what everything causes cancer", "it's a drop in the bucket", "nothing is good for you anyways", "adding a little strychnine to your nachos wont kill you" sentiments.

On another note, I knew a girl in Elementary/Highschool whose father worked with radioactive isotopes (either medical or technology-oriented). He died young, of cancer.

...And poor Madame Curie.

the only research i have found that paclo caused cancer is when it was fed orally to lab rats. On the EPA's PDF that i could find, it says it has been banned for food crops because there are "No tolerances since it has no food uses." , not that it is toxic for human consumption. And primarily it seems they are more concerned with run off from spraying and leakage into groundwater, not toxicity from ingesting a product that was treated with it. http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/registration_review/paclobutrazol/paclobutrazol_summary.pdf

"The compound is expected to be systemically transported through the plant via the xylem" good thing no one is ingesting large amounts of stems.
also, as far as i can find, pgr's are primarily sprayed so residue left on the exterior of food crops would be easily indigestible, i could be wrong with my thinking that that would be different from the plant metabolizing it.

These very assertive claims of causing cancer are unfounded when correlated with proper application. And those claims seem to only come from the cannabis community.

Nice quotes and videos from labs making money from testing, scare tactics designed to bring them more customers. not that testing is not a necessary element, and i personally do encourage it, but don't get sold against something from the people who make money off of your fear.

Doesn't cutting back on your phosphorous help as well? Keep giving her veg nutes until weeks 2-3... More nitrogen, more bushy,less nitrogen more lanky. Any truth to this? Not sure

Many factors influence the stretch during the first 2-3 weeks after you flip the lights to 12/12. Many techniques were introduced above that can help reduce or control the stretch. Research them all and understand them because you WILL use them at some point.
My advice to you is to keep your nutes grow/veg nutes during those first weeks of flowering when your plant is stretching then switch to flowering nutes when the stretching phase seizes. Also, keep your light spectrum that of vegging spectrum also until the stretch seizes. I keep my MH and grow nutes until after the plants stop stretching! MH will reduce the stretch during that phase.
Happy growing bro

Beblunted said:

hello all just had a question about. Ways to fight the stretch

I'm to sure what causes the excess stretch during flower?
my last grow wasn't so bad but the nodes still seemed pretty spacy
this grow I've got going
there almost 52" tall

I'm in soil Zen blend(next run,perlite/vermiculite,it works for me)
under a 600watt hps
temps 78-85 lights on
advance nute
micro grow bloom b52 and big bud
on sixth week of flows and they still seem to be moving

what do you do to combat it help

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Where did folks get the idea we are suppose to fight stretch in Bloom?

It cannot be done.

And it is just more hippy myth.

There are two things called stretch. Don't mix them up.

1) Veg stretch. To be minimized by light distance
2) Bloom stretch. LEAVEITALONE! It is making room for bud sites.

DirtyMcCurdy said:

Doesn't cutting back on your phosphorous help as well? Keep giving her veg nutes until weeks 2-3... More nitrogen, more bushy,less nitrogen more lanky. Any truth to this? Not sure

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No truth to that. I use the same feed for 16 weeks.

texasjack said:

Bush master is a PGR, a known carcenogen banned in the US for food crops. Just so you know.

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It is labeled that way but it is not.

You need to LST and put in more cooled vertical hid lighting . You will never eliminate stretch all together its normal for healthy flowering plant to do this.
I would be more concerned if you buds were loose,soft, stretched, stemy etc caused by excessive heat and weak lighting, cfls for eg.

*BUDS said:

You need to LST and put in more cooled vertical hid lighting . You will never eliminate stretch all together its normal for healthy flowering plant to do this.
I would be more concerned if you buds were loose,soft, stretched, stemy etc caused by excessive heat and weak lighting, cfls for eg.

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Or if you don't add Silica and they fall over.

Yes if stems get too soft and branches flop around and snap.

Doer said:

Or if you don't add Silica and they fall over.

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There's no proof that silica helps either.

Doer said:

No truth to that. I use the same feed for 16 weeks.

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Whats the NPK of your "feed"?

Also, keep your light spectrum that of vegging spectrum also until the stretch seizes. I keep my MH and grow nutes until after the plants stop stretching! MH will reduce the stretch during that phase.
Happy growing bro[/QUOTE]

Agreed. The blue spectrum in mh reduce the stretch.