Plant growing very slowly under cfl's, please help.

Hi guys, so im busy doing a cfl grow and my plant is growing very slowly. Im using 340watts or 18000 llumens worth of cfls spread between 4 45watt and 8 20watt bulbs for my one plant. Its between 6 and 7 weeks old now and its still verry small. It has grown very bushy and stoky from the beginning but the actual size is very dissapointing for its age. So do you think my lighting is the problem, do i not have enough lumens? I know that slower growth is to be expected when using cfls but this doesnt seem right to me. The plant was topped about a week and a half ago and i began tieing down the branches a few days ago, so if anyone can help me out here or give me some advice i would be extremely greatful. I am growing in coco/ perlite by the way, im feeding every other watering with waterings accuring every 3 or 4 days usually and im growing from bag seed, which was some kind of cheese. Also my plant has had a droopy appearance since day one, the leaves never seemed to really perk up but im certain this is not from overwatering, i make sure the pot is nice and light before i water and i get good runoff every time. Could this just be the strain or are there other factors at work here?

It is pretty small for a month old but the training looks good man. I have 1 plant out of 9 that the leaves do similar and I’m sure it isn’t over or underwatered either.

GrowGorilla said:

It is pretty small for a month old but the training looks good man. I have 1 plant out of 9 that the leaves do similar and I’m sure it isn’t over or underwatered either.

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Thanks man, yeah i would say the training is the only thing that's gone well so far, but its actually closer to 2 months than 1, almost 7 weeks, so yeah very small for its age, but hasn't stunted at any point, just been growing at the same slow pace the whole time, I find that kind of weird.

Also I should mention that I topped off a decent bit, cut it about 3 nodes down because I needed a big enough cutting to use as a clone for sexing the plant, since im only growing 1 at a time and need to know sex asap. But yeah im sure cutting off that much (about 2 or 3 inches) must be a contributor to its current size.

I see a bit of nute burn, I grow up to about two foot plants in my veg box using 23W CFLs. The secret is to have them about one inch away. I use about 10 bulbs in a box tha has a footprint of about 2x1.5'. Growth is lush and fast.

ANC said:

I see a bit of nute burn, I grow up to about two foot plants in my veg box using 23W CFLs. The secret is to have them about one inch away. I use about 10 bulbs in a box tha has a footprint of about 2x1.5'. Growth is lush and fast.

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Yeah, I got a little nute burn a couple of weeks back, but i toned down the nutes and It seems to be mostly recovered now. And yeah I am keeping them about an inch away, maybe even a little closer at times. I have my 45 watt bulbs suspended horizontally above the plant and have the 20 watt bulbs being used as side lighting for now. Is having the bulbs horizontal the best way to do it?

If you have a recflector...
I use spiral CFLs and just hang them above in a little pendant thing I made so they are evenly distributed.

ANC said:

If you have a recflector...
I use spiral CFLs and just hang them above in a little pendant thing I made so they are evenly distributed.

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Yeah well i made a little box thing with reflective material on the insaide. This is my setup at the moment, and yeah i know a lot of that side lighting is unecessary at the moment, but im also keeping my little clone in there for its light period.

Looks very hot, do you have a fan on it?

I have one for intake, one for an exauste, and two more for circulation, they are all pc fans. Doesnt get too hot at all.

ANC said:

Looks very hot, do you have a fan on it?

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One thing i can note is that the lower leves are quite dry and crispy feeling, i have now way to control or measure humidity but i know its a bit low, im very much still a newby to indoor growing and i havnt looked too much into the effects of low humidity but do you think this could be a big factor in the slow growth?

Mo9000 said:

I have one for intake, one for an exauste, and two more for circulation, they are all pc fans. Doesnt get too hot at all.

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PC fans sounds like very small fans. Can you show us a picture of your fans?

Buba Blend said:

PC fans sounds like very small fans. Can you show us a picture of your fans?

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Sure thing they are all these 12v fans, and while they are quite small, they keep a good circulation in the closet (forgot to mention that its a closet grow) and it never gets very hot at all, dont really have space for a big fan in here.

Hopefully they are getting the job done IDK.
Something else to consider, these temp/humidity meters are sold at a variety of stores for $10, you should get one.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/AcuRite-Digital-Humidity-and-Temperature-Comfort-Monitor-00619HD/202260980

Buba Blend said:

Hopefully they are getting the job done IDK.
Something else to consider, these temp/humidity meters are sold at a variety of stores for $10, you should get one.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/AcuRite-Digital-Humidity-and-Temperature-Comfort-Monitor-00619HD/202260980

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Thanks man, but I actually live in a remote little place in a country called South Africa, dont know if you ever would have heard of it. Ive looked all over for temp and humidity meters around my area, but had no luck. Perhaps ill find something online that can be couriered to me, but thanks for the advice

do you get Amazon or allibaba? they have tons for sale

Coco? Should feed with every watering, maybe flush once every 2 weeks then feed right away. Shouldn't let coco dry out, it's not like soil.
SH420

blake9999 said:

do you get Amazon or allibaba? they have tons for sale

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Thanks man!

shrxhky420 said:

Coco? Should feed with every watering, maybe flush once every 2 weeks then feed right away. Shouldn't let coco dry out, it's not like soil.
SH420

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Well yeah i was feeding every watering, but I was getting some pretty bad burn, ive spoken to lots of people with a lot of experience growing in coco and it seems pretty widely agreed upon that feeding every watering is not necessary and that using just plain phd water every other watering is good to prevent salt buildup, (im certainly not having any deficiencies ) But ive always been told thats its far worse to over nute your plants than to under nute them . I was also watering more often before (about every 2 days) but I was getting algae growing on my perlite, so I am watering less often now (about every 3 or 4 days, I dont let it go like bone dry, just let the pot lighten up a bit), but thanks for the advice.

Well, not feeding every water, is obviously working for you. If you burn it you just tone down the nutes, not eliminate... but you and your experienced friends obviously know better,
Algae on perelite? You need better air circulation.

Sour d in 1 gal pot, coco, perelite, hydroton. It's never been flushed. I feed/water every other day.


Good luck, I'm sure it'll turn out fine. Keep in mind topping will slow growth a little.
SH420