Plants have weak stems

[clstgrower]

6 plants in a DWC System 14 gallon tub with 10 gallon of water mixed with 1/3 strength Flora series 3 part nutrient solution. The plants have weak stem. The plants are 4 weeks vegging. one week after I had a nutrient lockout occur. I can bend it which ever way I want too. Any ideas?

 

[Guest]

Yup - up the strength of nutes and put a fan on them. Give em another couple weeks and should be fixed.

 

[Rosy Cheeks]

As Klutter said, a well fed plant will have tougher fibers and be more resistant. Hydro grown plants generally grow faster than soil grown, and as they do, stems and twigs will be softer, and bend more easily. Light is another factor that will influence phenotype. A plant recieving more light will grow more compact (less lanky), shorter stems will bend less easily.
As to the fans, they have both advantages and disadvantages. Wind will make your plants grow more robust, but it also rips the moisture from the leaf stomata and forces the plant to transpire more. Studies of food crops exposed to a lot of wind also shows that plants yeild less.
Your plants don't really need wind, they need air circulation, to replenish the CO2. Therefore, extraction or air circulation is better than having a fan directed straight at the plants. Instead, you can grab your plants around the meristem and shake them around a little everyday. This will also reinforce the stems.

 

[BennyBlanco]

My nL pheno grows the weakest stems I ever seen.....but the buds are super fat....I guess thats a good thing...more bud less stem

 

[Guest]

I don't suggest uppint the nutes if the plants look ok, put a fan in there and tie them up somehow or use steak the main stem to a wooden pole you get at a craft store, or you can spread pig wire over the tops and prop the tops up one the wire.

Don't up the nutes I don't think thats the problem, what strain and what kind of lighting are you using? Plants don't even really need extra nutes to live the soil and water carry enough to make a plant healthy, fertalizers only assist in making the plant bigger which allows for more buds and bigger buds. Let me know how it turns out, peace

 

[clstgrower]

These are nirvana ICE Seeds. They are under a 250 watt hps light. Air circulation is good And there is a fan blowing right at the light to get that heat moved around so there is a light wind. I was thinking about upping the nutes too. WHat are signs of plants not having enough nutrients?

 

[Guest]

I don't know that plants can have no nute defiencies, a big cash cropper here on IC uses only spring water with no nutes so I don't thing that is the problem, what do you mean by weak are they creasing in the upper parts of the plants or are they just wanting to lean about from bottom? Are the stems soft or are they tuff like they should be, but elastically? My suggestion as of now stays the same, tie them up or use some kind of support, strings and nails are very simplejust tie a loos knot around the droopy plants, hammer in a nail and tie the string to the nail, or you could use some type of wire or steaks, if your unsure about you loose knot skills use trashbag ties, make a loop around the plant(s), then tie the string trashbag ties, then tie that to the nail. its simple.

If the plants are looking droopy or something like that you may want to hit them with some nutes. I just read about the nute lockout, I've never had this happen, and if the leaves are droopy and normal colored it is propably best to hit them with some more nutes but still tie them up in case they don't perk up.

 

[TNTBudSticker]

I heard that if the stems are weak its because of too much Nitrogen ,,,

 

[hogwild]

you might want to try foliar feeding with LK or with some botanicare grow, or some rhizotonic it will noticeably strengthen the leaves and its a good way to avoid over ferting. Theres a lot of contraversy about foliar feeding,i think foliar feeding is great... just use a weak solution and dont spray the plants when they are in direct sunlight. If you want to strengthen the stems you could also do some supercropping, that will guaranteed make your plant way stronger.

 

[Guest]

Sorry, but I'm going to stick with my original recommendation based on your description of the issue.

You stated that these were into their 4th week of vegging under a 250hps light. You're running DWC and only using 1/3 strength in nutes. Based on most posts I've seen, you should easily be at 1EC or even 2EC - meaning full strength in nutes.

The other item you mentioned was these plants were just now getting OUT of nute lock out. Lock out = Plant Can't Eat. Plant cant eat = Plant is starving.

Give them ladies what they need... a decent damn meal.

 

[Guest]

I now agree with the more food and the floar feedind idea, it worked out great for me before, perked the leaves up, made them nice and thick and very lush dark green, but before you start to mist you plants with fert water make sure that the food is able to soak up through the leaves, some ferts will kill plants this way.

 

[thc43]

silica is a must in recirc will add colour and strengthen stem while reinforcing nodes