Spindly girls...

[stinger_489]

Hi guyz...i have a little problem...i`m taking my cuttings from a very very bushy mom, they r rooting fast enough...vegging under a MH 400...when putting into the 12 hour room...i`m keeping them under a 600 MH with a 600 HPS on the next batch to the side so the clones are getting plenty of both...after 2 weeks on 12 hours i turn off the halide and blast them with HPS only...but girls are growing really spindly..temps are fine...nutes are spot on...ph for soil is fine...plenty of fresh air...can`t figure it out..yield is adequate and smoke is great...but i`ve never grown such spindly looking ladies..side branching is so damn thin i`m having to tie everything up..my mom plant is around 5inches around the bottom...yet the clones are lucky if they are hitting an inch round...this is more or less my first grown in soil and i`m not overly impressed...the mom is in her own flood n drain sytem with clay balls...the buckets are 11 ltr...soil is a john innes mix with a little perlite.
Nutes are Bio-G-power..

As already said...the yields are fine and the taste is great...just the skinniness of the girls turns me off a little...i like a little summat to grabba hold of lol..

Any ideas.?

 

[stinger_489]

i`m vegging them under a 400wt MH...they don`t stretch atall in the vegg room...only when i`ve put them in the flower room...none of my other varieties have done this..i just wondered if maybe it was a soil thing...i`ve grown the same clones in a flood n drain setup with great success..just i wanted to try something different.

 

[stinger_489]

Ok, after a suggestion off someone that the roots may be drowning (thanks for that)...i`ve taken one of the girls out the pot and the roots aren`t even half way down the pot yet the plants are 2ft6" tall..now then...i`m watering every other day or when the meter tells me the soil is dryish...would it help if i watered from the bottom...the 8x11ltr pots are sitting on a jumbo tray...in the bottom of the pots is a little spreader mat to stop the soil falling out when i fill them...will the root mat suck up the water into the soil...and if so will bottom watering encourage the root growth to go for the moisture.??

As said before i`m relatively new to soil growing so any advice off you experts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Guest]

Forget the meter and learn the wet and dry weights of the various containers you will be using,this is by far the best way to judge when it needs water.Every other day is too often unless you are in need of a transplant,its probably one reason your plants stalks are stunted.they cant really take up nutrition properly if you are constantly hitting them with water.I normally water every 4th or 5th day when starting in a container.As the root system grows the plant demands water more frequently,every 3rd day,then every other day.When I find myself having to water every other day because the plant demands it,I know its time to transplant up a size and the process repeats again,every 4th or 5th day then every 3rd etc etc.You must totally saturate the soil all the way through with a good bit of runoff then dont water again until the soil is pretty dry,thats why you want to learn wet and dry weights of your containers.The only way to really saturate the soil all the way through to the bottom is to pour rather slowly,it takes patience but its the proper way to do it.Don't guess at watering anymore,let the plants tell you when its time.

 

[stinger_489]

Ok skeletor...i`ll give it a go m8..thing is,...i`ve noticed a little leaf droop after 2 days of no water...i`ve been giving them around 500ml every other day in 11ltr square pots.

 

[Guest]

I'm not good at,hell whats it called everything by 10 damn I'm buzzed anyway I dont know how big those pots are 1 gal 2 gal?Are you watering all the way through till runoff out the bottom holes?If you are and you drying out every toher day it sounds like transplant time to me.You should never be in a position where you have to water every other day its not good for the plant,you need a drying out period

 

[stinger_489]

I`m guessing that they just over 2 gallon pots..and no i`m not watering till runoff...i`ll try that next time and see if there is any difference..

Thanx for the advice.

 

[Guest]

Not only until runoff,you can get runoff and still be not thoroughly soaking the soil all the way through,you have to take it real slow I normally will do 3 or 4 plants with a gallon jug just putting in a bit at a time.I'll use a full gallon for 2 2gallon pots or a full gallon for 1 3 gallon pot.I thnik I can do 4 1 gallon pots with a gallon water,maybe three.

 

[stinger_489]

Cheers Skeletor...ur advice is soundly noted....now i`m gonna go build me a fat one and get shitfaced...cya 2morra..

Adios

 

[stinger_489]

well skeletor...give yourself a pat on the back dood...i`ve just watered for the 2nd time in 7 days...girls love this new regime...maybe soil is the way to go ...thanx again m8eeee...i`m now lookin @ things in a new light.