What to do if you over-veg? (A LOT...)

[phattybudz]

Well I'm running DWC in flower and vegging plants in double-stacked 4'' rockwool cubes in an ebb and flow under a 400 watt CMH.

My vegging plants are getting ridiculously huge, roots are exploding, they are already 2.5 feet tall and I've got almost another month of flowering left to go before I put them in the dwc and flip them, and I have to wait for roots to establish in the bucket before flipping right?

I have been topping them and pinching them like a mad-man, but they are still growing vertically pretty fast...I'm worried they'll grow into the light if I let them get much taller before flipping.

I'm leaning towards shutting off the 400 watt light and putting in 2 100-watt CFL's in order to slow them down but I wasn't sure if they'd stretch more or something...

Any other strategies for slowing down veg height while keeping them healthy?

 

[Bgreenheadband]

I started a similar thread......basically people suggested less nutes....less light ..and lower temps.....

I feel like the low temps have worked the best....but I am about to start a thread asking if it will do any long term damage to the plants.....good luck!

 

[tokatronic]

I don't grow myself, but what about defoliation? There's a huge thread about it in the hydro-section of the indoor growers forum. It seems as it stunts the growth heavily.

 

[MrBlue2]

bushmaster is a great product that will stop vertical growth completely. but be carful it will make your plants bush out real hard.

Another option is to get rid of some of the plants and grow fewer really large plants in your flowering room. many setups can be easily modified to accommodate fewer larger plants, but it depends on your setup.

you can also just strait cut back your plants to were you want them to be. some strains take well to heavy pruning and some strains don't.

 

[Herbal extasy]

I don't grow myself, but what about defoliation? There's a huge thread about it in the hydro-section of the indoor growers forum. It seems as it stunts the growth heavily.

Yeah I second that, it slows down. Don't do it with soil plants. I never get same kind of growth than before defol. In DWC no probs though, but I did not seen any advantages in it either.

 

[phattybudz]

Thanks for the tips guys! I threw in smaller lights and will chop em down to where I want em when it's time to flip... thinking about pruning roots back too because they're exploding out the bottom of the rockwool like a little alien world...

 

[FreezerBoy]

Color me confused. If you're in 4" rockwool, stick with e&f to the end. Why flower for a month and then switch to DWC using the wrong media with only a few more weeks to go? For DWC, limit rockwool to 1" cubes (or lose it altogether) and place in the tub the moment seed sprouts or clones show roots and lose the E&F altogether.

You can do 4" cubes in DWC but, it defeats the purpose, minimizes the benefits and increases the possibility of root troubles.

 

[hopleaf]

bushmaster will solve all your problems. veg as big as you want then right when you switch the lights give em a nice application of bushmaster. you will be amazed at how it limits the stretch period.

 

[LittleAmsterdam]

TOP THEM !

 

[phattybudz]

Freezerboy wrote: "If you're in 4" rockwool, stick with e&f to the end. Why flower for a month and then switch to DWC using the wrong media with only a few more weeks to go? For DWC, limit rockwool to 1" cubes (or lose it altogether) and place in the tub the moment seed sprouts or clones show roots and lose the E&F altogether.

You can do 4" cubes in DWC but, it defeats the purpose, minimizes the benefits and increases the possibility of root troubles."

Sorry I wasn't clear in my OP... I'm not switching during flowering, I just have another month (3 weeks now) before my flowering dwc chamber finishes up.

I am using 4'' this time because when I started this veg I didn't have an ebb n flow setup (I was handwatering so I didn't want them to dry out in hydroton.) Next run I will throw my clones right into big hydroton baskets for sure. Haven't seen any problems with my current flowering run (also in 4'' rockwool/hydroton baskets) but I know straight hydroton is better.

@LittleAmsterdam: I have been topping and pinching the crap out of them since birth but they were still growing vertically a little too fast, the lower wattage lights seem to be slowing them enough.

Thx guys!