seedlings falling over please help

i am growing in a bubbleponics system and my week old plants cant support themselves. they look healthy have new groth but wont stand up without being tied up. any suggestions i have my cfl lights 2 inches from them so i know there not streaching but the first couple days i did have the light way to high. is there any way to fix this problem? or are they going to have to be supported for the rest of their lives? Cause its kinda hard to put supports in rockwell cubes.
 
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Illegal Smile

Guest
When they don't stand there is a problem. How close are the lights and what kind of lights? Are you using nutes yet? How wet are they staying? Are stems discolored? What do the leaves look like?
 

super2200

Well-Known Member
While they are young is there any way you can get the rockwool cube deeper in the netcup? they can be sitting on the bottom of the cup covered with hydroton if thats what your using so the stem is supported more. I had a few stretch on my first DWC and found that after supporting the worst two that I had and dropping the lights they thickened up as I also had the fan blowing right on them after supporting. They may fatten up a bit and once the growing starts it wont matter if you keep the fan blowing on them and moving them pretty good, good luck and let us know how it turns out
 

fatman7574

New Member
Just support them with a net made of criss crossing strings attached to sticks taped to the reservoir sides. As long as you are using a nutrient with adequate calcium they will stiffen up fairly quickly.

As long as adequate calcium is supplied a fan is not needed and is actually often detrimental as it can cause clogged stomas. Oscillating fans should really only be used in conjuction with a humidistat and should only blow directly on plants enough (very liitle) to prevent air stagnation that can cause problems associated with high humidities such as decreased transpiration, decreased respiration, mold, mildew, fungus etc. While lowering the humidity increases transpiration, directly blowly air is not a desireable way to dehumidify as it can easily clog stomas. It is better to just control the humidity with a dehumidifier and leave the stem strengthening to proper calcium uptake not the mythology of fan use.

Or take it from someone like Roseman who uses massive ventilation and fans pointed directly at his plants and then states all plants need high humidity and therefore humidifiers. Ventilation is fine to control excessive temps, just don't blow air directly on the plants unless it is a very gentle breeze, preferably an oscillating breeze. Some peope try to control humidity and temperture both with an exhaust fan but that seldm really works well as although realtive humidity is related to temperature you can have a wide range of relative humidity at the same temperature so one fan or one thermostat can not really control both and do it well.
 
thanks for the help! i have moved the rockwell cubes to the bottem of the net pot for additional support to the stem and have an osilating fan running barely hiting them. I will let you know how it turns out. thanks again.
 

WeEdDeMoN

Well-Known Member
i use those one time use dental floss picks. just burn off the string and heat plastic to shape it...works great for me
 
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