Need Help

[chaser]

Hello there

I got 6 plants growing, approx 12cm high, starting to get the 3rd set of main leaves.

My problem is that they all have very long stems, and tend to fall over as the leaves grow out....

what am I doing wrong? :(

any help would be appreciated!!

[Tead]

I would suggest a small support stick to help them stand up well while growing.

The long stems are what we call "stretched". This is an indication that they're not getting enough light. When the plants get enough light, they stop stretching up and spread out.

Give you plants more light.

Cheers!

[Ms.Fox]

^ Good info! +REP

[Weedpipe]

start u up a journal, ull get great advice all the way through ur grow, and its all free (how sweet is that) good luck with ur garden ...

[chaser]

hey, thanks for the tips!!!

havn't had the finances to set up something really properly, currently got a single 100W bulb in a grow space of 1 sqm, in a closet! I've grown white widow outside before, the weather in Cape Town, South Africa is great for outdoor growin, just I ain't got no garden no more :(
Regarding the lights, the bulb is about 80cm above the plants, should I had another bulb and lower the unit?

[Weedpipe]

what kind of bulb? mh, hps, cfl

[Tead]

Drop the light down (or the plant up) as close to the plant as you can get it without burning your baby.

Of course, as Weedpipe asked, what kind of light are you growing under?

Cheers!

[chaser]

mmmmmm....standard lightbulb I suppose,

It is 100W bulb, and thanks to the tinfoil I got covering the entire interior of the closet, its warm enough in there. I put brewers yeast / water mixture in every 2 days, and water them with a mixture made up of water from my fish tank, siphoned from the very bottom to get all the "good stuff" (read fish poo!)
They only 3 weeks old, hopefully i can post some pics tomorrow!!
PS: how do I go about submitting pics here?

[Tead]

wow... fish poo!!! Does it work well?

Ok... let's at least get you over to the highest wattage florescent bulb you can find at your local hardware store. They're cheap and will work. Don't pay any attention to the "equivilant wattage" marketing spew on the packaging, find the one that uses the most watts, and buy it. Florescents put out alot more and usable light. I must say here that there are much more powerful lighting options, but I bet you know that. I, personally, use a mix of flouro and LEDs in my veg cabinet, and sunlight to bloom.

The CO2 generator is a nice touch. In a sealed cabinet (a.k.a. your closet), CO2 can be a nice bonus.

Tin foil is a bad idea. It doesn't reflect evenly and can cause hotspots and burning. Simple white walls is a better idea.

Photo uploading instructions are here. There're a bit overwhelming to read, but the process is really quite simple.

Cheers!

[chaser]

shot for the info re light bulbs and tinfoil tead, I'll be making adjustments to the closet. Would white paper / cardboard work as well? the reason I ask is that I'm renting my place, and the closet is built in, so I cannot paint the inside lol.

The fish poo seems to work, the plants are only 3 weeks old and are about 11 - 12cms tall. High school chemistry gave me the idea of yeast and water, can't afford a CO2 tank so had to go old school.

[Tead]

CO2 tanks and dispersal systems are a bit on the spendy side... especially for a closet grow. Your answer is simple and easy. Well done. You'll see alot of posts about that same kind of system. My grow cab is as far from sealed as imaginable, so I don't do it, but I tried it once.

White paper on the walls or white cardboard would work. You can buy fancy stuff to line your walls with, but plain white walls work fine.

While you're at the hardware store buying a flouro light, you might consider buying 2 or more with a light socket "Y" adapter. That way you can hang 2 bulbs instead of 1. I put 3 of the Y adapters together and can power 4 bulbs from 1 socket.... kind of like a light bulb flower.

Cheers!

[Soniq420]

I recommend abandoning the incandescent and buy some CFLs -

achieve the correct spectrum