Stretch ??

[horton711]

I'm into my first autoflower grow. I think I bit off too much for the first time by starting 6 DWC buckets but it's too late now....lol.
I have a little variety in plants with 1 White Widow XXL (Dinafem) , 3 King's Kush (GreenHouseSeed), 1 QuickOne (Royal Queen), and 1 Royal HIghness (RoyalQueenSeeds -- I believe this one is not an auto). The last two listed were freebies with my order so I figured what the heck, may as well germ them....
I'm trying to understand when I'll start seeing the plants stretch. They are roughly 30 days from going into their buckets and are all about 8 - 10" tall and very, very wide and extremely bushy. I now see pre-flowers so I thought I'd see them start to take off vertically. Perhaps it's my imagination, but these plants seem to be growing more in the horizontal direction than vertical. Is this normal? I have no "benchmark" go guide me and I'm curious to know if things are progressing as they should.
Oh, yes.... they are under 3 - 300 W LED's (20/4), housed in a 4 x 4 x 80" tent, and in 5 gal DWC buckets (homemade). RH is in the mid 50's and the temps are in the mid to hi 70's (I'd like temps to be lower and am working on getting a 400 CFM inline fan set up.) Using the AN 3 part nutes and calimag is on standby. Been feeding at the 1 ml/L rate so far.
I understand that I'm asking about several different varieties but I'm looking more for a rule of thumb about auto growth in general.
I'll have some pics tomorrow but not sure if I can edit them into this post yet.
Thanks for reading my long winded post....

 

[aridbud]

Perhaps it's my imagination, but these plants seem to be growing more in the horizontal direction than vertical. Is this normal? I have no "benchmark" go guide me and I'm curious to know if things are progressing as they should.

Never grew Royal Queen....do you mean they are filling out?

Yes, autos do that once in flowering stage. They still grow upwards, but girth is what's happening, I think.

Pics, then more explanation can occur.

 

[horton711]

pics

pics

Here's the only pics I can get at present. Had to use the phone cam. I'll have a new battery for the digital SLR on Tue and hopefully using it I can get the settings set up for better pics.....

The plants are filling in quite nicely but don't seem to be putting on the height I expected. I have done LST to try and open up the canopy.

Is there a way I can use my Samsung Galaxy S4 to get good pics? I tried all the WB presets without good result.

 

[aridbud]

Read up on your strains....all indicated "small, compact....."

That's what you have.....small, compact. Perhaps the DinaFem will show some upward growth before the end.

 

[horton711]

Thank you aridbud......

Small and compact indeed -- I've never seen plants so dang "thick". Just this AM I did note a good inch of vertical growth overnight. I think I'm acting the part of the over worried parent.....lol. I shall enjoy my small, compact plants.

Any suggestions re: pics? I can't figure how to get rid of the reddish cast.

 

[aridbud]

Thank you aridbud......

Small and compact indeed -- I've never seen plants so dang "thick". Just this AM I did note a good inch of vertical growth overnight. I think I'm acting the part of the over worried parent.....lol. I shall enjoy my small, compact plants.

Any suggestions re: pics? I can't figure how to get rid of the reddish cast.

Autos, even compact bushy ones, can have potency. Good things come in small or medium packages.

Just don't think of it in terms of a photoperiod as they are on different pendulum. Do LST lower branches to allow good circulation through the thick of it, if you can.

How far is your light from the plants?

Just grow with it, no preconceived ideas.

 

[Floridian]

For what its worth in general the closer you can keep your light to the tops,the less it will stretch.Thats why flo's are so good at the beginning I keep the light maybe 1/2 inch above the flo's for abou the first two weeks

 

[horton711]

LED's are ~16" from the plants. I have tried higher with no stretching and lower noting a little "discomfort" in terms of heat stress. When I saw the pre-flowers, I started slowly lowering the lights as the plants can tolerate.
I am definitely still thinking "photoperiod". The autos are a totally new experience and I'm sure that is part of my concerns -- and I see now I needn't be concerned. I actually like the compact nature of the plants other than trying to get them spread enough for the light to penetrate to the numerous bud sites. LST should have been started much earlier and I'll use that knowledge now in future grows.
As suggested, I'll "just grow with it" and learn from my first experience with autos. My last growing was >10 yrs ago and I can't believe all the change that has occurred.
Thanks for all the help and I'll try to get some better pics soon as I get the new battery and figure out how to use my camera properly. The pics I posted were from what's left of the battery and I know something isn't set right (F5, 1/125 shutter speed, flash forced on) with all the red tint I'm getting.
So much to learn but I'm having a blast doing so and the help and support from the forum truly is great!!

 

[aridbud]

Grow and learn....

 

[horton711]

Grow and learn....

Amen to that..... every day is a new learning opportunity!!

 

[Magrini]

I always feared an excessive stretch for my auto micro grows (40x40x80cm box). I used 6liters pots and always got short (max 30 cm from soil) and super bushy plants. Now I have a bigger box (80x80x160cm), let's see what happens.

 

[aridbud]

I always feared an excessive stretch for my auto micro grows (40x40x80cm box). I used 6liters pots and always got short (max 30 cm from soil) and super bushy plants. Now I have a bigger box (80x80x160cm), let's see what happens.

You learn each time you grow and enjoy what you finished!

Good luck!