newbie idiot(me, don't get paranoid)

my seeds sprouted 6 days ago ( organic grow under 150 watt tubes) and have grown 4/5" but stem is helluva thin lookin ,maybe bit thicker than a toothpick and starting to bend. think it was becoz my light was bout 14" away. will this affect mt yield later. i gotta couple of toothpicks kinda supportin them and have just changed my light to 18/6. am i just dim or have i got a chance. will stems thicken? if not wot can i do. (im changin light in next cpl of days to 600watt hps.) do i shoot myself now, and am i makin sense?

You should do more research before going any further. But if you want to keep going, here's what I would do:

1. repot the plants into slightly bigger containers, but bury more of the stem. The buried stem will simply start to grow roots, so don't worry about this.

2. set up a small oscillating fan to give the plants some air. But the moving air also helps strengthen the stems.

3. Get the right lights!! Sounds like the lights you have now are not ideal, and probably too far away from the plant. If you are using cfls/flouro tubes, get them as close as possible to the plant without burning it. If you have/or are getting an HID light, use your hand to judge the heat from it. If it burns your hand, it'll burn your plants, so set it accordingly.

GL

thanks mate. i'm gonna re pot them tomorrow and i'd kinda wondered if u could put the stem deeper or build a little mound round as support so on the strength of ur advice i'll do that. i'm putting them into veg on an 18/6 under a 600w sodium. hopefully it'll all work out. i'm moving house so the poor little things are gonna get a bit traumatised , might as well get it all done at once. i'll keep u posted on the outcome. probably in a week i should see the results. cheers again.

dura72 said:

thanks mate. i'm gonna re pot them tomorrow and i'd kinda wondered if u could put the stem deeper or build a little mound round as support so on the strength of ur advice i'll do that. i'm putting them into veg on an 18/6 under a 600w sodium. hopefully it'll all work out. i'm moving house so the poor little things are gonna get a bit traumatised , might as well get it all done at once. i'll keep u posted on the outcome. probably in a week i should see the results. cheers again.

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Yep go ahead and bury the stem up to an inch below the first set of leaves - won't hurt it one bit. How old is your seedling? You may want to wait a bit longer before switching to the 600w light, because it'll have to be a good bit away not to burn the seedling, and that will cause it to stretch further. I would recommend useing your current lighting for another week, keeping it within two inches from your baby.

thanks for that. i've just done as u suggested and i will be keeping the light i've got on for another 6 days.( then i gotta give it back to my buddy). full tent and kit coming next week so wi ne luck i'll be in the green real soon. cheers

wat i did was kinda bend my plants stem frm side to side to stimulate wind to help them thicken up but not to the point wer i snapped anything jus lite bends will do

GeeTee said:

wat i did was kinda bend my plants stem frm side to side to stimulate wind to help them thicken up but not to the point wer i snapped anything jus lite bends will do

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why do that to your plants? They need the fan for air circulation. Stagnant air sitting round your plants aint good. A fan kills 2 birds with one stone.

gettin a small fan as well. should have planned this a wee bit more but moving house and everything up in the bloody air right now.

if u can man bury the stem as far as u can .

Geozander said:

why do that to your plants? They need the fan for air circulation. Stagnant air sitting round your plants aint good. A fan kills 2 birds with one stone.

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um... i dint say i dont have a fan blowin on them which i do but i also learned from an article in HT that says to do that also to stimulate wind

keep your light as close as possable

lights bout 2" away, got fan on. when i repot im gonna drop the stem a bit further into the soil. repotin soon. didnt have time today. wish the kids could feed themselves and just walk to the bloody school. thinkin bout gettin the wife to talk to the plants, give em a lotta co2 and move the air around, just gonna put a picture of myself in front of them. never get a bloody word in anyway. cheers evry1.