Plants stretched due to poor light...question.

So I started my first grow...I thought I did everything right, but it turns out I bought the wrong veg lights and my seedlings ended up stretching quite a bit in their first week....They flopped over, but they are still beautifully colored and very healthy looking otherwise. Since then I put them under a 600W HPS lamp (only two plants..I plan to grow them to a medium size...anyhow..) and into DWC bubble buckets using lucas formula (1/4 strength veg formula). I was just curious how long it usually takes for lanky, stretched out seedlings to recover and start standing up straight after being put into sufficient lighting?

Thanks in advanced,
Ex

Edit: I looked on the forums and have seen other topics of this nature, but have been unable to find anybody to say roughly how long it takes for them to thicken/straighten up

It takes a week or two. Once they get a couple different set of leaves they will thicken up.

In the future, keep your cfl or flouros about 2" from them. Also, never feed a seedling. The nitrogen will make them shoot up.

You can read up on reducing stretch during veg. People that master growing squat and dense plants are the ones that really do well come harvest time.

Thank you thank you. Going to have some reading to do, but I really do appreciate the info and the help

are the seedlings in the bubble buckets now?

When you repot just bury the stems to your desired length.

Imstarr said:

are the seedlings in the bubble buckets now?

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Yes, they are about 5 inches long, and they are in bubble buckets now.


Thinn. I can't really burry the stems in hydroton to the desired level, as I would be able to in soil, sadly :/

high pressure sodium isn't sufficient for vegetative growth. That would be metal halide.

I know this. I have 2 t5 flouro fixtures that hold 2 bulbs each, that I had planned on using for veg, but they really didn't seem to be doing the job at all, and at the moment I really don't have the money to spare for another expensive light. I'm trying to make due with what I have

Try ramp the hydroton up around the stem a little n if not he need to support it some how and get a nice breeze blowing on it to thicken the stems up.

t5 are great for veg, if they are the broad spectrum grow bulbs

I'm pretty sure I got the wrong bulbs. I'll veg this lot in HPS and the next lot will be under 400 watts of CFL's. For now i've just cut toiler paper rolls in half to support the stems.

I'm not sure cuz I grow LED but can't you use MH and HPS bulbs in most 600W? You can find a cheaper MH for less than 400 CFL watts. But good luck with whatever!

Excise It said:

I'm pretty sure I got the wrong bulbs. I'll veg this lot in HPS and the next lot will be under 400 watts of CFL's. For now i've just cut toiler paper rolls in half to support the stems.

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they could have been originally stretching for the t5's just because they were too far away. although you may have a bad spectrum bulb or something.

you can get decent veg with an hps, but i'd try to get as much daylight/blue light in there as possible.

thats a good idea with the paper towel roll for the stems, whatever works for ya!

for your next grow tho, i would def invest in an MH if you have the money, even a 150w would be worth it.

either way good luck and I hope you girls beef up

Blow: Yeah I will have the money for either by the time I get my next veg period growing, but right now, I just can't spare the money.
Comatoke: I think that it was both the distance from the plant and the wrong bulbs. I will most certainly have a sufficient cool blue light the next time I grow, be it MH or CFLs. Thank you for the well wishes. Always appreciated!

-Ex

Ok, let's back the fuck up. I would never advise anyone to start using CFL. What size ballast do you have? What kind of hood?

You can get excellent 400 watt MH bulbs for $15. It's the only kind I use.

Save your money for a good hps

Right now i'm using a 600W HPS lamp with a digital ballast. The hood is a 24 inch batwing hood, nothing spectacular, but it came with the kit. The ballast is 600W but has the option on the back to switch to 1000W. As I look at the box it says it's a lightspeed super pro 600/1000W HPS/MH. I constructed a 5x5x7 frame and wrapped it in black and white poly, have a 4 inch exhaust fan. Hmm I live in a pretty remote place, on an island, and so far EVERYTHING i've tried to get for this grow had to be shipped to me, so I doubt i'd be able to get one for 15$ unless I get it from canadian tire or wal-mart.

Is that Vancouver island? Canadian tire is...well.. Canadian.

http://1000bulbs.com/product/88183/PX-MS4007200.html

http://1000bulbs.com/product/88147/PX-MS400.html

I just ordered a dozen of the top ones, they grow plants pretty dense, the normal MH spectrums work well too. You can run a 400 at 600, just have a small fan blowing on it. I've done this for 3 years and never had a problem.

Not sure about shipping to Canada

Newfoundland, the opposite side of the country, haha. Checking out the sites now!

Excise It said:

Newfoundland, the opposite side of the country, haha. Checking out the sites now!

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you dont have canadian tire in the maritimes?


Edit: nvm read further up

Going to check canadian tire in the AM to see if they have any selection. I doubt they will, but it's worth a shot. Even if they do, i doubt they will beat 1000bulbs.com prices, even after international shipping.