What is she doing???

[The Alchemist]

My little plant/sprout is only a week old and she is about an inch and a half tall but the two cannabis looking leaves(the ones with the lines on them) ar after pointing straight up.There not bending but actually growing vertically while the false leaves are growing horizontally!

Whats she doing? Is this a problem or does it naturally occur? I really need to find out asap cos i have to go away for the weekend tomorrow and i don't wanna come back to find her dead!!

 

[Guest]

It sounds totally normal to me like its just reaching for the light,what kinda light are you using and how far from the seedling is it?

 

[The Alchemist]

I'm using a 200w Envirolite and i keep it about 10cm or so from the plant?I always do the hand test to make sure it doesn't burn them!

 

[Esskie]

As SKELETOR has already said it sounds perfectly normal & that your youngsters are happy enough!?.

The distance from the light, if too far could cause the seedlings to stretch & become 'gangly' to the point where they can't support their own weight but either a 'splint' of various descriptions could be used or, if in soil? adding more soilmix to the pot so the surface is further up the stem should be fine.

Look at the Herijuana seedlings in the pic below, they just bolted!. After contacting the breeder (ReeferMan) he informed me that this did/could happen with this strain.
As they were in rockwool topping-up the soil wasn't an option but they soon strengthened up with the light lowered (2 x 125w EnviroLites) & the gentle swaying caused by the fan.


I know this isn't what you're experiencing Alchemist but it may come in useful?...the lowering of the light may just be what's required or I have heard cases of plants doing this in an effort to catch rain i.e; they're looking for water but if inside that isn't going to happen, or at least you hope not! lol.
Btw I've had a 125w EnviroLite 5cm from the tops of vegging youngsters & clones without any burn.

A 200w EV should be putting out adequate lumens at 10 though I would think?

Got any pics?

Regards, Esskie

 

[The Alchemist]

Thanls that rain thing is interesting cos i mist my plats occasinally and the pots were dry yesterday when i noticed they were growing upwards and then when i watered them and gave the sprout a misting a little droplet of water staed in between the leaves.
Is it a bad idea to top the soil up to support them i thought this could rot the stem?

 

[Guest]

Two tips when stareing a seedling is to leave an inch on top of the pot empty so that when the seedling goes through its initial stretch,you can go back and fill the pot the rest of the way with soil thus supporting the tiny stem better.Roots will grow from the buried stem,even if you bury a couple inches.Another tip and the bst is simply to keep the light as absolutely close to the top of the plant as heat will allow,this really cuts down on the vertical growth of a seedling and tends to make the plant grow more horizontally.For the first couple weeks of a seedlings life,I use a 2 lamp 4 ft shoplight and keep the lamp literally 1/4 inch above the tops at all times.After a couple weeks you'll be real surprised at the outcome

 

[The Alchemist]

Thanks for the advice i'll top up with soil tonight when i get home.

Another quick question do you or anyone have any experience with triploids? Also in one of my plants a root has dug down through my peat pot and come out the bottom.Its only one root and no signs of any other coming through.Is it bad to have this exposed like that and especially to have my whole plant resting on top of it?

 

[Guest]

Normally when I see a root poke through the cube,even a sigle root,into the 4 inch pot with soil it goes.You could wait a few days for more roots,it wont hurt anything.The weight of the cubes pressing down on exposed roots have never caused any problem for me.