Longstem is indication of whats wrong??

[Greenfuzz]

I have 3 seedlings that have long stems and wanted to know whats wrong with them>?? A friend told me it was because the dripper was landing on its leaf petals....is this true?? what Can i do to fix it if its not??

[M4N14C42O]

stretched stems usually indicates the light is too far away from the seedlings or it isn't powerful enough.

[Greenfuzz]

its a T-5 floro and its 2ft in width there and sitting approx 6 in over seedlings.


Is there ne way to fix it ?? so they dont keep getting longer stem and no root system. and so there frickin leaves willgrow?

[BudBill]

Lower the light to about 2-3 " above them. Prop them up so they don't lay over and they should perk up. After awhile when they get larger you can repot them and bury the stem abit more.

Patience. :)

[Jack-a-Roe72]

You may need more light.

[Jack-a-Roe72]

what does that fluoro put out?

[M4N14C42O]

^google T5 fluoro

[st3wy]

I have 3 seedlings that have long stems and wanted to know whats wrong with them>?? A friend told me it was because the dripper was landing on its leaf petals....is this true?? what Can i do to fix it if its not??
I know exactly what is going on... the lights you are using have to many Red color wave lengths coming out of the light which produces more vigorous stem growth... what you want is foliage and you get that with the right mixture of red wave lengths(for stems) and blue wave lengths (for foliage)

[BudBill]

I know exactly what is going on... the lights you are using have to many Red color wave lengths coming out of the light which produces more vigorous stem growth... what you want is foliage and you get that with the right mixture of red wave lengths(for stems) and blue wave lengths (for foliage)
It is still probably that the light is too far away. Flos have a decently balanced spectrum but the light is spread out along the length of the tubes so the intesity drops quickly. 6" is pretty far for seedlings. Even under a cool tubed bank of flos you can have stretching but lower that bad boy to within 2" of the plant tops and it goes away.

[orison319]

could have males,, did he grow directly from seeds?

either this or he didnt plant seeds deep enough into soil. gently build soil around stem and it will be lower to the ground..lol....next time bury them in at least 1 1/2 inch in soft soil..
idk.. 6'' is high from seedling,

[BudBill]

could have males,, did he grow directly from seeds?

either this or he didnt plant seeds deep enough into soil. gently build soil around stem and it will be lower to the ground..lol....next time bury them in at least 1 1/2 inch in soft soil..
idk.. 6'' is high from seedling,
6" is average length for a male :D

[orison319]

:jester: no pun intended..lol but a "5 dollar foot long"... I couldnt resist..lol...

[st3wy]

The trick with the lights is to keep them within 2" of the tops of your trees

[Zoomboom]

Keep in mind some strains stretch a lot as seedlings. Sour diesel IBL comes to mind.

If the problem is genetic, chances are there is little you can do at this stage. As the plant progresses you can start LSTing (low stress training), topping, or even try a product called Bushmaster.

[orison319]

Keep in mind some strains stretch a lot as seedlings. Sour diesel IBL comes to mind.

.

yes this isnt a big issue, Sometimes they do.. Nothing to be to woried about, Its why we made jokes about it.. Remember the stem itself develops roots If you start them shallower and build soil up around them.

[Born25YearsTooLate]

What I've done with a plant like that that got leggy, was simply lay it over and cover the nodes with soil, and let it clone itself. (the nodes drop adventitious roots and since there's no axial tip hormone production, the plant develops what would be 'side stems' into new, full stems with it's own leaf tips.) I've trained one plant around like that into a loop nearly 6' long if the plant'd been standing. Had a dozen or so small shrubs after I upped the lighting. basically loosen the rootball, lay the stem over onto your soil, sift soil over, leaving the leaves exposed, and make sure the rootball's well buried again. (the only reason we loosen is to make sure we dont' break the stem) with the original rootball in place, all the little shrubs get nutrients from the stem (which doesn't rot, believe it or not) as well as from their own rootsets.

[orison319]

What I've done with a plant like that that got leggy, was simply lay it over and cover the nodes with soil, and let it clone itself. (the nodes drop adventitious roots and since there's no axial tip hormone production, the plant develops what would be 'side stems' into new, full stems with it's own leaf tips.) I've trained one plant around like that into a loop nearly 6' long if the plant'd been standing. Had a dozen or so small shrubs after I upped the lighting. basically loosen the rootball, lay the stem over onto your soil, sift soil over, leaving the leaves exposed, and make sure the rootball's well buried again. (the only reason we loosen is to make sure we dont' break the stem) with the original rootball in place, all the little shrubs get nutrients from the stem (which doesn't rot, believe it or not) as well as from their own rootsets.

you my freind are a genius..I was saying once that a Oaxacan strain can be trained to vine and grow, I also found that it was as simple cloning strain by doing exactly what you did and making new plants by buried the limbs, I think you can add a hormone to prevent rot also, But I never got any root rot either. Low humidity good soil management.. But I did this indoors and out,
They will be weak when you cut and transfer them, But thats with any clone.

[Born25YearsTooLate]

works a wonder with tomatoes, too.
:D

[young_hippy_4:20]

I have 3 seedlings that have long stems and wanted to know whats wrong with them>?? A friend told me it was because the dripper was landing on its leaf petals....is this true?? what Can i do to fix it if its not??

i have 3 sprouts doing the exact same thing.

[Born25YearsTooLate]

I've also had good success by NOT elevating the lights, but hanging the lights vertically, one 4' flouro strip per every 2' around the outside of the grow area, so the light output reaches all parts of the plants evenly (in the small closet I'd been using, I only have room for 3 fixtures like that, but the difference was huge and it helped the whole inside was flat white) You'll have to rotate the plants because of tropism, but that's a lot easier to rotate once a week than have to raise the light every 2 days.

Orison, part of the fun thing about laying the leggy stem out and bury it, is as so long you don't damage the stem, it won't rot, so it feeds the babies. You can let them get very strong before you transplant them, and that helps with the shockiness.

[Zoomboom]

yes this isnt a big issue, Sometimes they do.. Nothing to be to woried about, Its why we made jokes about it.. Remember the stem itself develops roots If you start them shallower and build soil up around them.


I didn't catch the part about this being a soil grow.

If he is keeping seedling (i.e. from seeds) for a hydro grow in hydro medium, it is an issue.:D


-ZB

[Born25YearsTooLate]

ZB- good point that. If it's a soil grow, then the suggestions hold, with a hydro grow, it's a whole different story, but the assumption isn't wholly unsound. I agree that a bit more information's needed, but it's definitely a light intensity issue. To be honest, the thought he might be doing hydro hadn't even crossed my mind.

short answer- the light intensity's too low- move your lights as close as you can without burning the babies.

long answer- see above posts. lol

[orison319]

I didn't catch the part about this being a soil grow.

If he is keeping seedling (i.e. from seeds) for a hydro grow in hydro medium, it is an issue.:D


-ZB
well I guess you can be right about that, but since I dont use those mediums I soppose Im at a lose with suggestions, I would only use those mediums had I more experience with them for clones and not seed starting> But that just me. I cant say how it would be resolved, I would still force stem into medium deeper.
Using rockwool I punctured a hole in it with a screwdriver for clone placement. Why not do the same for a seed? but havent used the medium in a long time.. Sorry couldnt be more help?

[FritzDaKat]

So on the subject of lighting, I've set up a small greenhouse in an unused bathroom here, so far all I've got for lighting is 5, 26 watt "Daylight" CFL bulbs (100 watt equivalent) hanging 4' above an oval bathtub. Nothings getting too leggy, my bottle gourd and tigger melons are doing well, Poppies are shuffling along and the Datura is doing it's thing in an area of about 5'x5' without using any reflective materials beyond the white wallpaper that was there to begin with, but I think I'd still like about 6 more of these bulbs.

The two nicest things I've found about them so far is that,,,

#1: They barely put off any heat comparied with HPS and other forms of gro-lights as 1, 100 watt equivalent bulb only eats 26 watts

#2: Quite easy to string an Octopus of simple light fixtures thruout your grow area and thanks to the low wattage demands of these bulbs, controll them all from one switch as opposed to the bulkier flourescant tube style fixtures.

[Born25YearsTooLate]

yep, that's part of the reason I've basically fallen in love with cfl's.

stealthy as far as purchase, easy to wire, easy to regulate, minimal heat buildup, and less chance of burning the tender little bits.